Pounding the pavement in an Oro Valley marathon, swinging a club on a Northwest Side golf course and pedaling through Marana toward the finish line of a bike race are as healthy for the economy as they are for participants.
The combination of road races, bicycling events, PGA Tour golf and tennis tournaments brings millions of dollars each year into Oro Valley, Marana and unincorporated Pima County.
The February PGA Tour's Chrysler Classic of Tucson at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort alone will infuse the Northwest with $13.5 million during the week of events.
If The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana is successful in luring the internationally televised 2007 Accenture Match Play Championship from California, that tournament could bring in millions more.
And the residual effects of these sporting events last long after the participants, spectators and supporters have gone home.
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El Tour is a powerhouse
El Tour de Tucson, the 109-mile bike race that goes through the Northwest Side, brings $14 million to Tucson during race week, organizers estimate, and an additional $11 million throughout the year, said publicity director Melanie Rineer.
The residual benefit comes from people who travel to Tucson for the race and return at other times of the year for vacation, and local riders who patronize area businesses while preparing for the race.
"The trickle-down is amazing," Rineer said.
Rineer estimates that organizers pay about $20,000 to law enforcement agencies on the Northwest Side for security during the race, but figures are not tracked on the amount of money race participants spend specifically on the Northwest Side.
The PGA Tour's Chrysler Classic of Tucson, played at the Northwest Side's Omni Tucson National Golf Resort, 2727 W. Club Drive, generates $13.5 million in revenue, said Tucson Conquistadores public relations coordinator Joan Liess. She said spending from the 144 players, their families, caddies, spectators and corporate sponsors adds up during the week of events.
"All those people spend a lot of money when they're here," said Liess, who estimates 30 percent of the spectators come from outside the Tucson area. "It's a terrific revenue generator. This is a wonderful way to showcase Arizona because it's televised nationally. People get to see beautiful Tucson, Arizona, for four days on television."
Match Play TV audience global
The potential for exposure would be even greater if the Accenture Match Play Championship moves to Marana from Southern California next year. The tournament features the top 64 golfers in the world and is televised in the United States and more than 140 countries, according to James Cramer, public relations director for the PGA Tour.
"A tournament coming to town brings a large number of people outside of the players," Cramer said in an e-mail interview. "In addition to caddies, there are swing coaches, representatives from the equipment companies. A good number of the players bring their families. The sponsor often uses the event as a platform to entertain their top clients and can bring hundreds of guests."
Two footraces — the Holualoa Tucson Marathon and The Arizona Distance Classic — bring a combined total of $6 million into the area each year, organizers said, and both attract runners with relatively high incomes.
The Tucson Marathon and its half-marathon and relay race typically attract about 4,000 people. Sixty-two percent of the participants in the 2004 Tucson Marathon, which runs through Oro Valley, were from out of town. Their average personal income was $62,000, with more than half the runners making more than $50,000, according to the marathon Web site.
Hotels, including the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, the Westward Look and the Holiday Inn Express, were completely booked by October in advance of the December marathon, said assistant race director Elisa Kinder, in large part due to the marathon.
Promising debut for Bingham
Last spring, in its inaugural event in the John Bingham racing series, the Valley of the Gold Half Marathon, Northwest Medical Center 5K and Splendido One-Mile Senior Stroll attracted 1,500 participants and brought $3 million into the community, according to David Babner, president of John Bingham Racing.
Last year 75 percent of participants came from the Tucson area, 8 percent came from elsewhere in Arizona and the rest came from out of state, said Megan Sanders an event manager with John Bingham Racing.
This year, Babner said, organizers are trying to lure more out-of-towners.
Babner said his event organizers design their races around other events and attractions in the community so participants can combine the competition with a family vacation. This year for the March race, his organization is also promoting Cactus League baseball games as an added attraction for people who come from the Midwest to run the half-marathon.
"There are training programs in Chicago that are training people to come and run the Arizona Distance Classic and because the (world champion) Chicago White Sox are there . . . we are putting together a package that includes tickets to the White Sox game," Babner said.
"We're putting together a weekend event, not just a race. Everything we do is based on producing events, not just races, and trying to include as much of the community as possible."
Tennis events contribute
Smaller events that attract participants and spectators from across the country, including a series of United States Tennis Association tournaments at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador and the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo bike race, bring hundreds of thousands of dollars a year into Northwest Side communities.
Tennis tournaments at El Conquistador are especially profitable for Oro Valley's economy, said Jeff Weir, the town's economic development administrator.
The tournaments are "very, very favorable for us because they tend to stay there and eat there and it's more money for us," Weir said. "Some events get more regional, national and international exposure. We could never afford to get that kind of advertising impact, so it's important for Oro Valley to get that kind of impact. They always show off the good parts."
However, he said, the value of these events goes beyond the money they bring into the community.
"It's good economically and it's also good because the people living here also participate," he said. "Our concerns are more than economic. People living here want to do those things. It's a special pride in doing it locally in your own hometown."
Let the games begin
Big sporting events on the Northwest Side include:
● Holualoa Tucson Marathon
● The Arizona Distance Classic half marathon
● El Tour de Tucson bike race
● Tour of the Tucson Mountains bike race
● 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo bike race
● Chrysler Classic of Tucson golf tournament
● Tennis events such as the United States Tennis Association Winter Nationals, the Copper Bowl, the USTA Junior Team Tennis Nationals, the SAZ/Hilton Women's Professional Tournament and the USTA Desert Wheelchair Classic
