So, with the hype around the new DNR rules and the number of comments to our latest post about the rule changes I figured I could follow up with a study I did back in November on the economic impact bass tournaments bring to an area.
To start, I am no expert on studies like this, I don’t have a Ph.D., but I do have a business degree now and I know a great deal about how tournament fishing works and how much anglers relatively spend in a weekend of fishing. And of course, I am super passionate about things like this. So passionate I am up at midnight writing this because I feel like it’s information worth sharing.
This whole idea sparked me about two weeks before the Marshall Fishing Cup in Summersville to survey the anglers to see how much they spent during their time in Summersville. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked by the results.
Below I am going to share on average what each tournament angler spends on a weekend of tournament fishing and then how much a 50-boat tournament can bring to an area.
We surveyed a random 38 teams. Single-day event.
Lodging
Total Spent: $1,482
Per Team Average: $39
Note: A lot of the teams in the competition were within an hour and a half drive.
Fuel
Total Spent: $4650.82
Per Team Average: $122.39
Note: This would account for both towing vehicles as well as boat fuel.
Food
Total Spent: $1,963.84
Per Team Average: $51.68
Note: This would include breakfast, and lunch, as well as drinks, snacks, and ice.
Tackle
Total Spent: $2,443.02
Per Team Average: $64.29
Note: While there isn’t a ton of tackle options in Summersville, this should be interesting to those stores that do hold tackle.
Miscellaneous Items
Total Spent: $1439.82
Per Team Average: $37.89
Note: This could be anything from oil to toothpaste.
Totals (38 Boats)
Total Spent: $11,979.50
Per Team Average: $315.25
So, my thought is, if you average $315.25 per team per event and you have 50 boats, that is going to give you a grand total of $15,762.50 per event spent in a community. My immediate thought is how on earth can someone argue that bass tournaments are bad for an area?
In the grand scheme of things, $15,000 might be money that certain communities would laugh at, but I would be hard press to believe that there are communities out there that could truly see a tremendous amount of value in bass tournaments. They could be appreciative of a tournament in their area rather than the typical traffic that is in the area.
The great thing about bass tournaments is that they are not like holidays that only happen once a year. A bass tournament can be held anytime of the year minus a few months when the weather might just be too cold or in some cases way too hot. There were well over 900 tournament permits given out last year in West Virginia and therefore 900 chances that money was brought to an area because of it.
