COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri has been a vital part of the economy to its home base in Columbia, Mo. since it was founded in 1839. A subset of the University, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, provides a very significant impact to the local economy, to the tune of $247 million in fiscal year 2013 when including induced and indirect costs, and a total direct economic impact of $142 million.
Those figures were arrived at through a study conducted by a group of Mizzou MBA students, who announced their findings today in a press conference held at the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. The study was jointly commissioned by the Chamber and the Columbia Convention and Visitor's Bureau. The research was conducted by a team of graduate students from the Trulaske College of Business' Crosby MBA Program at Mizzou.
The study, which acquired data from the MU Athletic Department, J.E. Dunn Construction and numerous subcontractors, local businesses and Columbia Regional Airport, found that the total economic impact with induced and indirect costs figured in came to a robust $247,160,770 in the 2013 fiscal year. Indirect and induced revenue was calculated using the U.S. Department of Commerce's BEA RIMS II Multiplier, which is a standard multiplier for economic impact studies.
In layman's terms, these numbers represent additional local expenditures that would not have otherwise existed. This includes salaries, purchases from local businesses and student tuition. The MBA group stated in their presentation that their study shows that sporting events not only generate local expenditures, but also create new jobs and economic opportunities throughout the city of Columbia.
The total direct economic impact from the 2013 fiscal year for MU Athletics came to $142,117,870. Direct revenue was calculated by combining fan revenue and corporate revenue. Fan revenue was calculated by adding venue revenue and non-venue revenue and applying the appropriate revenue allocation for in-town or out-of-town interactions.
The group's methodology for the study included the sum of the direct revenue (i.e. – immediate effects of changes in tourism expenditures), the indirect revenue (i.e. – near-term re-spending of the direct sales, such as company re-spending and increased wages) and the induced revenue (i.e. – delayed household spending of income earned directly or indirectly, such as housing, food, transportation, etc.).
The MBA group, which included students Ben Becker, Ryan Leer, Lauren Himmelberg, Parker Leppien, Nathan McCormick, Aaron Senne and Heather Webster, found that out of town fans contributed over $31 million to the Columbia and mid-Missouri economy in fiscal year 2013, while in town fans contributed just under $13 million on their own.