The Competitive Edge

Today the fiftieth state [Hawaii] became the first state to average $4-a-gallon for regular gas at $4.007. California is second in national average at $3.948 while Wyoming has the cheapest gas at $3.243.

Q: Do you know what the NFL Pro Bowl, PGA golf tournaments, EA Sports Maui Invitational (college basketball), Pipeline Masters, Honolulu Marathon, Iron Man, College Football Games all have in common?

A: They all have a huge economic impact within the islands of Hawaii

Before I begin to educate you on what could be Hawaii’s newest industry let me start by defining a sports fan

Sports fan- noun: an enthusiastic devotee of sports…

A.K.A. Someone that generates a continuous flow of money, “cash cow.”

For the state of Hawaii the traveling sports enthusiast are the cash cow of all tourist segments whether state officials recognize it or not. You may be asking yourself, ‘why should a state covet a group of sports hooligans who only visit on certain weekend of the year?’ Well let me tell you, they spend money and LOTS of it- according to the Utah Sports Commission sports are over a $1 trillion a year industry with and additional $700 billion spent in outdoors and recreation.

With perfect year round weather, a competitive natural environment and the friendliest of people the opportunity for economic growth through sports is huge and one that the state must invest more in now while they still can.

Currently the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) allocates between $7 million and $8 million a year to develop sports tourism, with over half of this investment is paid out to the NFL Pro Bowl- $4 million, and the PGA Tour tournaments- $1.7 million, for marketing, hosting rights and the opportunity to showcase the islands in the middle of America’s frigid winter.

As a result of these marketing efforts traveling fans spend over $28 million locally during Pro Bowl weekend. Additionally, while it is difficult to measure the amount of tourism created by the sheer exposure of the islands by the internationally televised game the economic value of the Pro Bowl could easily exceed $50 million.

There is more to Hawaii sports than the NFL as visitors who participant in sports are a huge revenue generator for the state as well. A study by SRI International estimated that 12.5 percent of out-of-state visitors to Hawaii or international travelers golf once or twice during their visits, amounting to nearly 100,000 golf-related trips yearly, with golfing travelers spending more than twice a day that spent by non-golfers. Thus these financials justify the $1.7 million PGA investment by the HTA as the total value of the golf industry in Hawaii is $1 billion alone.

In addition to golfers, marathon runners, especially those from Japan love to spend money. A report prepared for the Honolulu Marathon by Hawaii Pacific University’s Travel Industry Management program says 21,885 of the 28,635 registered runners in the 2010 race were visitors, and that 17,905 of them were from Japan. The study says the marathon generated more than $100 million in economic impact, based on estimates of visitor spending per day. And for the more extreme marathon runners the Iron Man has been an important revenue source for Kailua-Kona for over 30 years.

Local sports are an important part of inter-island commerce as Hawaii’s community hosts several surfing, paddling, open-water swimming and several other competitions including the Na Wahine O Ke Kai and the Molokai Hoe throughout the year. Michael Story, brand manager for the HTA says that the HTA indirectly supports island ocean sports, “because events like these are significant in their realm — arguably the world championships of their events — and so significant to our culture and community and important for our destination.” Also these sports participants have the power to influence an events success on the islands.

As you can see the chance to leverage the 50th state as THE marquee location for any sporting event is now. By leveraging tax incentives similar to the film and entertainment industry Hawaii could be financial competitive to cities such as Miami and Los Angeles whether it is an AYSO soccer tournament, a better University of Hawaii football team/matchup or secondary endemic event. This unique financial growth opportunity is at an all time high as leagues and fans renegotiate valuable contracts with potential host cities around the world; the time to act is now.

It should also be noted that in 2008 the state approved $185 million for improvements to the aging Aloha Stadium.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser and Hawaii Tourism Authority