By Matthew Clark
mclark@scbiznews.com
Published Sept. 29, 2015
The Carolina Panthers have been quite a draw over the first three games of the regular season. In their first two home games, the National Football League franchise based in Charlotte has drawn 146,656, ranking eighth best in the league.
But, before the season got started, it was Spartanburg that reaped the benefits. According to Chris Jennings, director of the Spartanburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Panthers training camp held over 20 days at Wofford College sparked more than $8 million in economic impact for the city and county. Jennings said that is a record for impact of the Panthers.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (red jersey) helps break the team down following a preseason scrimmage with the Miami Dolphins a Wofford College in August. (Photo by Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez)
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Early estimates were in the neighborhood of around $6 million.
“We kind of blew that out of the water,” Jennings said. “Now, that we have all the numbers in, to have an $8 million impact is tremendous and shows the commitment in Spartanburg County.”
A research report from Clemson researcher Bob Brookover, showed the economic impact of the Panthers’ camp also supported 174 jobs and produced $1.8 million in local and state tax revenue. Last year, the Panthers’ camp generated around $5.2 million and had approximately 49,000 visitors compared with the more than 77,000 visitors to Panthers’ camp this year, also a record.
“There are only 11 communities nationwide that host offsite training camps. Spartanburg is one of those communities, and the partnership between the city, the Panthers and Wofford College is stronger than ever,” said Allan Smith, president and CEO of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce. “There are $8 million reasons why Spartanburg and the business community look forward to seeing the Panthers every year.”
Brookover’s report also showed that the impact of visitors coming to Spartanburg from 50 miles away or more was $5.2 million. Jennings said Greenville was the metro area with the most visitors but Charlotte, Columbia and Greensboro, N.C., also ranked high.
“It was a good mix of North Carolina and South Carolina,” Jenkins said.
The Panthers are just part of the economic impact pie for Spartanburg. According to Jennings, tourism has become quite a boon for the area as more than 1,000 tourism-related jobs have been created in Spartanburg since 2009.
Tourism impact output has also increased over the last six years. Jennings said nearly $225 million has been output in 2013-14 compared with around $160 million in 2008-09.
An even bigger draw than the Panthers’ camp this year was a pair of softball World Series tournaments hosted in Spartanburg. Between the ASA and NSA softball tournaments, there was a total impact of $10.57 million in 2015. Those two tournaments generated net state government revenues of $1.88 million and local revenues of $584,000.
“Youth sports have really paid off here,” Jennings said. “You don’t get them every year; in fact we may not get anything like it until 2017, but we are working to bring more of that business back here.”
Additionally, Jennings said the tournaments supported 230 jobs in Spartanburg County and kept 17 of the county’s 34 hotels occupied.
“Folks are spending money on hotels and restaurants, and the hospitality tax goes to the parks department,” Jennings said. “It is good all the way around.”
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