Steve Lackmeyer wrote an article for NewsOK this week that focused on the business aspects of the UFC’s impending visit to Oklahoma City on Wednesday for Ultimate Fight Night 19: Diaz vs. Guillard. The article offered the following tidbit related to UFN 19’s estimated economic impact:
Laura Kriegel, director of marketing and communications at the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, is estimating a $1.2 million economic impact from the match with an assumption that 90 percent of the attendees will be local. She said the impact from the national exposure will be much greater.
“We know the UFC does a great job when they are televising a match in promoting that city,” Kriegel said. “Oklahoma City is going to be mentioned a lot — and that gets our name out there.”
Payout Perspective:
We’ve all read the NY impact study through MMAFacts.com, but it’s nice to finally see an economic impact study done on a smaller UFC show.
It’s interesting to note the OCCVB’s estimate that nearly 90% of those in attendance will be locals. Typically anywhere between 30-60% of those attending a major UFC event (i.e., a PPV) are locals.
With only 10% of the crowd from out of town, that means less money to local transportation, hotels, restaurants, bars, and shopping centers than what would normally accompany a major UFC event; and the estimated impact reflects this reality.
Nonetheless, any time a sporting event can visit a small city and produce $1.2 million in economic spinoff over the course of 3-4 days, it has to be considered a success and worthwhile venture.
Note: The actual theme of the article was to highlight Century Martial’s sponsorship of the event. The organization is apparently the world’s largest supplier of martial arts equipment, and also stands to benefit greatly from the UFC partnership.
Leave a Reply