Report: The Natty exceeded Indy expectations
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The numbers are in, and organizers say the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship game in Indianapolis exceeded expectations, both in terms of economic impact and media exposure. A report from Maryland-based Rockport Analytics suggests the overall economic output of the event was $156.6 million, above the projected $150 million the four-day event in January was expected to generate.
The number includes $53 million in local wages for tourism industry workers, who were reeling from the devastating impact of the pandemic.
Additionally, the report estimates there were more than 1,000 media visitors who attended the event and Indy benefitted from more than $34 million in media exposure. Viewership for the Alabama-Georgia game, at 22.6 million, was the largest non-NFL audience in history.
The report, commissioned by the local organizing committee, found that about 56,000 people visited Indianapolis for the game, spending an average of $281 per day.
Some additional takeaways from the report:
- Generated approximately 66,700 room nights, taking about 27 percent of available hotels in the Indy metro area
- Each visitor spent an average of $281 per day in Indianapolis (typical spending per day by visitors is $177)
- The average length of stay of game-ticketed visitors was 3.4 days.
- 24 percent of visitors came from the state of Georgia and 10 percent from the state of Alabama.
- For 68 percent of visitors, this was their first trip to Indy, and 72 percent cited they are likely to return.
In an interview with the Indianapolis Business Journal, 2022 Indy College Football Playoff Inc. President Susan Baughman said the study’s results prove the College Football Playoff is an event worth hosting for Indianapolis. But she said a future bid will be dictated by the CFP team’s priorities, particularly as it looks to expand the full playoff to 12 teams.
“There could be an opportunity with the expansion in some way, but I think to bid on the weekend—the national championship—again would be great,” she said. “I think it would be worth seeking it again, and we will have all eyes on those opportunities” moving forward.
Baughman will be a guest on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, from Lucas Oil Stadium, this weekend.