Tourney injects millions into economy
Sport’s top stars will lure spectators in droves
More than a week before the start of the WGC-FEDEX St. Jude Invitational, more tickets had already been sold than for any other golf tournament ever held in the Memphis area, according to tournament director Erin Stone.
And the ticket sales are expected to keep pouring in, Stone added, citing the years of event-management experience that taught her than the last 30 days before an event usually see the highest uptick in sales than any other point.
“Because it’s the World Golf Championship, it’s an elevated tournament and an elevated playing field,” Stone said. “We’re expecting casual fans. We’re expected social seekers. We’re expecting entertainment seekers. We’re expecting more than the golf lovers.”
Although an annual PGA golf tournament has been held in Memphis for about 60 years, the WGC-FEDEX St. Jude
Inside
Invitational is different.
The competition is expected to bring most of the world’s top 50 golfers to TPC Southwind and that translates into huge economic impact for Memphis and Shelby County.
Only four such events in the World Golf Championships’ series are held each year. The other three WGC events were in Austin, Texas, China and Mexico.
In the past, the Fedex St. Jude Classic, which was not a WGC event, brought in about $20 million in revenue. But because the best players in the world will attend, fans are expect to come out in droves, bringing their pocketbooks with them.
Plan ahead: Weather conditions to expect for the event. 5A Giannotto: WGC event means a great deal to Memphis. 1B They’re here: Pros work out jet lag. 1B
The revenue for the weekend is expected to more than double to at least $40 million with the possibility of peaking as high as $60 million, according to Kevin Kane, president of Memphis Tourism.
Stone said those numbers are in line with what other cities have seen in the past with other World Golf Championships.
Kane said notable tourist attractions like Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum may not see huge upticks in visitors over the weekend if a large group of the expected tourists are mainly interested in golf rather than Memphis’ musical or social history.
“Hotels, restaurants and retail are usually the big winners,” Kane said, adding those industries will likely see the greatest share of the economic impact.
‘We’re preparing for an onslaught’
One of the restaurants hoping to draw in customers this weekend is Hog Wild.
Owner Ernie Mellor said his barbecue catering company has been selling food at the Fedex St. Jude Classic for nearly a decade and sales have been steady and predictable for most of that time. But this year, he’s expecting to see much more.
“With the change in the tournament going to a World Golf Championship and the playing field being top 50 in the world, we expect a lot more out-of-town traffic, a lot more tourists visiting out city,” he said. “We hope that they will crave Memphis barbecue and give us a try.”
Mellor said, as in past years, Hog Wild will donate a portion of the proceeds to St. Jude. But he’s hoping to see a big leap in profits.
“We really think we will probably increase our sales somewhere in the 30% to 50% range, if not higher, than in previous years,” Mellor said. “We’ll be prepared for an onslaught... We’re expecting 30% to 50% more but I’m hoping I’m wrong. I hope it’s 100% more.”
In the past, Mellor said he could usually count on the Wednesday before the official start of the competition to be a good day for sales as fans watch their favorite golfers practice for the competition but Fridays are usually the best day
WALLACE THE BRAVE
for sales and he thinks that will be the case this year too.
Joining Mellor in “The Pit,” a section of TPC Southwind dedicated to celebrating Memphis barbecue will be other local and tourist favorites Rendezvous, Central BBQ and Germantown Commissary.
“It’s a great event for the city itself from Southwind all the way to Downtown and all the to Germantown and Collierville,” Mellor added.
World Golf Championship could have lasting economic impact
For months, Stone’s team has been preparing the TPC Southwind site for the wave of golfers, workers, fans and journalists from around the world.
They have been building out the area where The Pit will go, they have been building out the corporate suites that companies have purchased — this year saw more of those kinds of sales than past years too — and they have been getting the course ready for competitors.
Stone would not specify how many tickets and corporate suites were sold.
The days leading up to the tournament are for finishing touches to get the site “fan ready,” Stone said.
While this is the first year for a WGC competition in Memphis, Stone said she hopes this will kick off a long relationship that brings the World Golf Championships to Memphis every year.
“It’s not a one-hit wonder,” she said. “It’s a multiyear commitment.”
Beyond the busy weekend for restaurants, hotels and retailers, Kane said he is particularly excited about the army of reporters coming to town.
“The out-of-town media that is coming here to cover this is significantly higher than the out-of-town media that typically covers the golf tournament,” he said. “The journalists are literally from all over the world. They usually talk about the location in addition to the golf...this tournament is going to bring exposure for Memphis as a destination.”
Kane said he hopes for a great economic weekend but he also hopes for articles and television specials that highlight Memphis’ gems to raise the city’s profile and draw tourists to other attractions for years after the golf championship ends.
Desiree Stennett covers economic development and business at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at desiree.stennett@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2738 or on Twitter: @desi_stennett.