Last fall’s Vanier Cup university football championship generated more than $2.4 million in economic activity for London, Ont., a new study suggests.
Officials with Tourism London unveiled the results of the study, conducted by Sport Tourism Canada, on Tuesday.
The study, which used the results of more than 800 attendee surveys collected by Tourism London during and after the event, estimates the Nov. 26 game at Western University helped support $2,410,727 in local economic activity.
The tally is based on the initial expenditure by the event organizers, along with the combined spending of out-of-town participants, staff, spectators, members of the media and others.
Locally, the 57th Vanier Cup, which saw The Laval Rouge et Or beat the Saskatchewan Huskies 30-24, supported roughly 18 jobs, nearly $700,000 in wages and salaries, about $403,000 in tax revenues, and contributed just over $1 million in GDP to London’s economy, the study says.
Province-wide, the event supported an estimated $2.8 million in economic activity, and contributed $1.3 million in GDP to Ontario’s economy, according to the study.
According to the surveys conducted by Tourism London, roughly 72 per cent of attendees were from southwestern Ontario, including 57 per cent from London and eight per cent from Middlesex or Elgin counties.
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About 64 per cent of those surveyed identified as men, while 35 per cent identified as women, with 0.5 per cent as non-binary. Just over 44 per cent of those surveyed were over the age of 55, while 20 per cent were between the ages of 45 and 54.
Roughly 87 per cent of attendees surveyed ranked their experience at the event and in London as either excellent (around 53.5 per cent) or very good (around 33.5 per cent).
In a statement, Zanth Jarvis, the director of sport tourism at Tourism London, said the agency was pleased to have worked with Western and U Sports, the body which governs university sport in Canada, in bringing the Vanier Cup to the city.
“This nationally televised event was a tremendous success and provided us with another opportunity to showcase London as an excellent sport tourism destination,” Jarvis said.
“As we continue to recover from COVID, it’s also important to see the significant economic impact this event had on our local economy.”
Western President Alan Shepard said in a statement that it was a “terrific honour” to host the game at Alumni Stadium, adding that the university was “delighted” by the local economic impact the event had.
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