RESEARCH
Quantifying impact. understanding potential.
Arts, culture and entertainment are impacting the Centre County economy in big ways, according to the results of a new 2024 study commissioned by the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau (HVAB) and the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance (HVSEA). Conducted by EConsult Solutions, the study quantifies the current economic impacts from arts, entertainment and cultural events; associated visitor activity; employment; and operations of the county’s creative industries.
“The annual operations of arts, cultural, and entertainment establishments in the county, relevant activities at Penn State, and spending by patrons, generates a total economic impact of $317 million in Pennsylvania, supporting approximately 2,710 full time jobs and $80 million in employee compensation.”
- Econsult Solutuions, Inc.
Key findings:
The nearly 900,000 arts, culture, and festivals visitors to Centre County in 2023 spent $98 million annually. This influx of spending generates an annual economic impact of $120 million within Centre County, supporting more than 1,200 FTE jobs.
Arts, cultural, and entertainment establishments, along with relevant activities at Penn State, support approximately 1,000 direct full-time employees and spend $102 million annually to support their operations. This spending generates an annual economic impact of $162 million within Centre County, supporting a total of approximately 1,300 FTE jobs.
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.