RESEARCH

Quantifying impact. understanding potential.

In 2022, The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics commissioned a study conducted by Philadelphia-based firm Econsult Solutions to evaluate the economic impact of sports in Centre County.

"In the aggregate, sports events and associated activity generate an annual economic impact of $417 million within Centre County, supporting 4,315 jobs with $133 million in employee compensation.

Impacts of this economic activity within Pennsylvania are $467 million.”

- Econsult Solutuions, Inc.

Some other key findings:

• Penn State football home games are the biggest drivers of sports economic impact, generating $87M in visitor spending and accounting for about 890,000 out of Centre County’s annual 1.7M attendees.

• Other Penn State athletic events draw 666,500 attendees, while countywide events at venues such as Nittany Valley Sports Centre, C3 Sports, Centre Region Parks and Recreation facilities attract 150,000 people annually.

• Sporting event visitor spending totaled $102 million — $17 million of which came from non-campus events — and generated a total of $149 million in total economic impact for the county.

This study will help benchmark the regional impact of sports as a baseline for the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance as it seeks to further grow the sports and entertainment sector.