2016 was another record-breaking year for the Baton Rouge Area Sports Foundation.
In supporting 53 events ranging from marathons and swim meets to youth sports tournaments and even a taekwondo championship, the foundation generated a roughly $38.3 million estimated economic impact. That’s a 12% increase over the $34.2 million economic impact the foundation generated in 2015—which also marked a record year.
“It was about as good a year as you could hope to have” in light of the August flood, says BRASF President and CEO Eric Engemann, noting three events were cancelled as a direct result of the flood and a fourth was also scrapped due to a separate weather event. “If we would have been able to have those four cancelled events we probably would have been close to $40 million.”
Last year’s largest event in terms of economic impact was the Louisiana Marathon, which drew just over 8,400 competitors and generated roughly $5.3 million for the local economy. Engemann says an increase in events like the marathon, which stretches over three days, are precisely the kind that led to the increased economic impact last year.
“When we were breaking down the numbers, one thing we we noticed that really helped last year were events that lasted just an extra day or two,” he says. “When you can keep people in town for even just one extra day the economic multiplier is pretty significant.”
As for this year, Engemann thinks the economic impact of the events lined up thus far “will be real close” to last year, noting some events are still being lined up for the fourth quarter. He adds the foundation will not be counting the United States Bowling Congress Women’s Championships—which will take place over 79 days this summer in Baton Rouge—in its tally for this year because the event is such an outlier. Communities playing host to the annual bowling competition can expect an economic boost estimated at roughly $40 million during the course of the tournament, according to the bowling congress.
2017 also marks a new era for the foundation. Longtime President and CEO Jerry Stovall retired at the end of 2016 and handed off the reins to Engemann, who had served as vice president for the past four years. Stovall continues to serve as a consultant for the foundation.
Stovall says it was gratifying to retire after back-to-back record years, but adds that “it’s one of those things that you need not get too excited about, because next year Eric is probably going to knock that record in the dirt.”
See the complete BRASF 2016 annual report.
—Steve Sanoski
