Boys & Girls Track and Field

2000 IESA State Track & Field

Results of Economic Impact Study

The IESA has received the economic impact study of the 2000 State Track and Field Meets held in East Peoria on May 12-13 and May 19-20.

The study was prepared by the Sport Marketing Student Association and Bureau of Tourism & Recreation Research at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois. Dr. Doug Turco, Director for the Bureau of Tourism and Recreation Research, helped to coordinate the efforts of the students who were involved in the project. Mr. Qi Tang was responsible for the computerized statistical coding and Mr. Tim Hendricks was the student leader of the project. In addition, ISU students Jose Chavez and Tera Vujakovich assisted with the project.

An executive summary of the survey findings revealed:

**Most spectators (56.8%) stayed in East Peoria one night, 4.5% stayed two nights, and 38.6% did not stay overnight in East Peoria.

**Spending for lodging by spectators totaled $889,566. The average spectator group spent, on average, $66.16 at the event for food beverage, and souvenirs.

**Total spending by spectators at both meets in East Peoria was $362,508.

**There were 350 teams that participated in the meets over the course of the two weekends. Approximately 33% of the teams stayed overnight in East Peoria, spending an average of $368.15 for lodging accommodations.

**The total direct impact of the teams on the local economy was $277,028.

**The total direct spending in East Peoria attributed to the 2000 IESA State Track and Field Meets was $639,536. This represented direct spending totals by spectators of $362,508 and competing teams of $277,028.

** In addition to their spending in East Peoria, spectators and teams contributed to an estimated $174,303 to the Peoria economy.

**The total economic impact of the 2000 IESA State Track and Field Meets was $813,839.

"I want to thank the ISU Sport Marketing Student Association and Dr. Doug Turco for their efforts," said IESA Executive Director, Steve Endsley. "The findings of the study clearly indicate that our two meets have a major economic impact for the cities of East Peoria and Peoria."

Both meets were held at the EastSide Centre. East Peoria Robein serves as the Class A host and East Peoria Central is the host of the Class AA meet. The track at EastSide is the home of East Peoria High School. The 2001 meets are scheduled for May 11-12 (Class A) and May 18-19 (Class AA).