Ripped skin, bruised bones, traffic jams – and according to the Rhode Island Sports Council, $23 million. That’s what the 1999 Gravity Games brought to Rhode Island this past summer. An economic impact study, sponsored by the Gravity Games, NBC Television and the state, showed that the 1999 Gravity Games had a “significant impact on the economics of the City of Providence and the state.”
The $23 million figure is an estimate of the total sales impacts – direct plus indirect – associated with the month-long event. The study reports that an estimated $17 million was generated from direct sales associated with the Gravity Games, mostly through meals, beverages, hotels and construction materials.
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The study found the total event attendance to be approximately 205,500 – of which 54,400 were estimated to be non-Rhode Island residents.
Non-residents reportedly spent an estimated average of $80 daily per person. According to Octagon Marketing, an event management group, the Gravity Games also generated approximately 14,425 room nights in downtown and area hotels.
Timothy Tyrrell, a professor in the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Resource Economics, supervised the study.
The success of the Gravity Games shows the positive economic impact sporting events of this magnitude can have on a city like Providence and on the state of Rhode Island,” said John Mousseau, executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Council. “It also shows what can happen when you have the wave of tremendous cooperation between the public and private sectors which we enjoyed for this event.”
The Gravity Games signed a three-year contract with the state to host the event through 2001. They have followed in the footsteps of ESPN’s “Extreme Games,” which also debuted in Rhode Island 1996, but were lured away by San Diego where they continue to flourish.
The Gravity Games – which have an annual budget of $15 million — are a joint venture between publishing giant EMAP Petersen, Inc., and NBC Sports.
Among the alternative sporting events are inline skating, downhill skateboarding, street luge, wakeboarding and freestyle motorcross contested on downhill, water, vertical dirt and street courses.
Stacey Lippman, president of Petersen Brand and Marketing, said the Gravity Games came about after the company bought a collection of magazines that included Skateboarder, Surfer and Gravity Magazine, among others.
The Gravity Games were seen as a unique advertising opportunity by several companies. Toyota signed on as the exclusive automotive sponsor. Don Cecconi, the company’s merchandise and marketing, told the Providence Business News that the company saw the event as an opportunity to capture the attention of an audience that has not been a traditional stronghold for Toyota.
Other sponsors included Union Bay Sportswear and the U.S. Marine Corps.
Mousseau also pointed out a team of local partners and sponsors that helped make the Gravity Games a success, including; the Providence Journal, BankBoston, the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re very much looking forward to the return of the Gravity Games in July 2000,” said Mousseau.
