Stampeders.com Staff

CALGARY -- The economic impact assessment of the 2009 Grey Cup Festival was released today by Tourism Calgary. The festival, featuring a number of events leading up to the 97th Grey Cup game, ran from Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, 2009 in Calgary, Alberta.
 
The four-day festival saw over 121,000 fans in attendance with 46,020 attending the Grey Cup Classic at McMahon Stadium. An estimated 32,000 fans in attendance over the course of the festival were from out-of-region, and their spending, in combination with expenditures made by the 2009 Grey Cup host committee totaled $35.3 million. These expenditures generated an estimated $81.0 million in economic activity for the province of Alberta, of which $61.0 million occurred in the city of Calgary. The total net economic activity (GDP) generated by the event was $39.5 million throughout Alberta, with $28.4 million occurring in the city of Calgary.
 
Considerable tax revenues were also supported by the event, totaling $13.0 million. Federal tax revenues of $7.3 million were supported by the event, while also supporting provincial tax revenues of $3.7 million and municipal revenues of $2.1 million, of which $1.8 million were in the city of Calgary.
 
A survey, conducted by EventCorp, found that the 32,000 out-of-region visitors stayed over for an average of 3.6 nights in Calgary. Of this group, 20,000 used commercial accommodations and collectively spent $4.3 million on lodging. Excluding on-site spending at the game, the survey found that the aggregate spending in the Calgary area by out-of-region visitors was $28.8 million. A total of $5.1 million was spent in restaurants and bars, $3.3 million in food and liquor stores and $3.1 million was spent in retail stores. Personal vehicle expenditures totaled $2.6 million while $1.6 million was spent on transit and for-hire transportation. Net expenditures on Grey Cup souvenirs reached $3.4 million while $2.4 million was spent on other types of recreation and entertainment. Total spending on other festival-related activities at the Grey Cup reached $3.1 million.
 
“Once again Calgary has proven we can throw a great party,” said Randy Williams, CEO, Tourism Calgary. “These kinds of events have great appeal, and are one way we showcase Calgary to the world. The boost to the city and the local tourism industry from the Grey Cup Festival is outstanding – over $28 million generated through new tourism expenditures in accommodation, hospitality, retail and transportation. What a terrific result.”
 
"We far surpassed our estimates for both attendance and economic impact,” said Malcolm Kirk, Chairman of the 2009 Grey Cup Festival Committee. “The Grey Cup Festival was a total team effort, and a lot of people were involved in making it such a huge success. I’d like to acknowledge the Calgary Stampeders for bringing this wonderful event to our city, and the Government of Alberta, The City of Calgary, our sponsors, and volunteers for their support. Special thanks to the fans, players and visitors for making this one of the most memorable Grey Cups in history.”
 
The 2009 Grey Cup game saw the Montreal Alouettes narrowly defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 28 – 27 in the last seconds of play. The 97th Grey Cup was watched by 6.1 million Canadian viewers on TSN, the largest audience in the station’s 25-year history. More than 14 million Canadians tuned in for a portion of the game, representing the largest Canadian television audience of the year and the most-watched Grey Cup game in history.
 
The economic impact summary was commissioned by Tourism Calgary and the 2009 Grey Cup Committee, utilizing the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance’s Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model (STEAM) and point-of-experience surveys conducted by EventCorp Services Inc. A total of 6,420 valid surveys were completed. The margin of error to mainstream Festival Survey results is within 1.6 per cent and to Game Day Survey results within 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.