News

SAN ANTONIO, TX — The 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl and Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship combined to bring more than 105,750 out-of-town visitors to San Antonio and generated a direct economic impact of $73.1 million for the City in December 2007, according to a survey conducted by Strategic Marketing Services and SportsEconomics. An Alamodome record sports crowd of 66,166 for the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl between Penn State and Texas A&M translated into a bowl record $42.6 million direct economic impact for San Antonio. The previous record direct impact for the bowl was $35 million for the 2004 game between Ohio State and Oklahoma State. The 2007 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship matched up two out-of-state universities who had never played in San Antonio (#1 Missouri and #9 Oklahoma) in a game that was ABC/ESPN?s most watched college regular season broadcast of the year with over 11.8 million viewers. The 50,620 out-of-town visitors who attended the game delivered a $30.5 million direct economic impact to San Antonio topping the $12 and $19 million impacts the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship generated the previous two times the game was played in San Antonio in 1997 and 1999, respectively. “The Valero Alamo Bowl is proud last year?s games made such a significant contribution to San Antonio?s economy,? said Derrick Fox, President/CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl. ?Our ongoing partnership with the Alamodome, the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of San Antonio and Valero continues to yield impressive results and will add to San Antonio?s well-deserved reputation as one of the nation?s top destinations.? The study also determined that out-of-state visitors stayed an average of 3.8 days for the Valero Alamo Bowl and 2.4 days for the Big 12 Championship, while both games delivered fans with average household incomes in excess of $93,000. Moreover, 48 percent of the Bowl and 34 percent of the Big 12 Championship out-of-state visitors indicated this was their first trip to San Antonio. ?From a tourism standpoint, these games are a tremendous boost in that they draw a large out-of-city fan base to our City during what is typically a slower time of year,” said Scott White, Executive Director, San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau. “In addition, the games provide tremendous national exposure to our destination assisting the City with our mission of promoting San Antonio as an Authentic American City. The games stimulate interest in San Antonio and serve as an ambassador for the pride and passion we have for sports and sports fans.? Last year?s Big 12 Championship marked the third straight season the Valero Alamo Bowl and Alamodome have hosted a second college football game with the East-West Shrine Game after the 2005 season and the Texas A&M vs. Army game in September 2006. ?The Valero Alamo Bowl has established itself as the signature annual event for the Alamodome,? said Michael Sawaya, Director of the city?s Convention and Sports Facilities Department. ?The bowl?s success has paved the way for the city hosting other college football games that benefit San Antonio?s economic cycle of visitation. San Antonio?s reputation for hosting major sporting events and its attractiveness as a national tourist destination will continue to be important considerations as we bid on future events. Our commitment is to ensure that the Alamodome will be maintained as an exceptional venue that will be marketable to many different and varied events.? ?We spend a lot of time proactively getting input from our teams, fans and other partners,? said Fox, ?and from our perspective, the City of San Antonio?s expenditures on the Alamodome over the last four years have been money well spent. The visiting teams give us great reviews of the facility and the new turf, the fans are appreciative of the video and sound system improvements and the construction of the new suites has been a success as all 52 suites have sold-out for each of the four games we have hosted the last two years.? The 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl will be played in San Antonio?s Alamodome and will again feature teams from the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences. The game date and time is expected to be announced by the end of April. In 2009, the Valero Alamo Bowl will promote Notre Dame?s first ever neutral site ?home game? when the Fighting Irish play Washington State in the Alamodome on October 31. NBC will televise the game nationally. Highlights from the study include: Valero Alamo Bowl–December 29, 2007 ?The 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl featured the largest crowd in Alamodome football history as 66,166 packed the Alamodome. ?There were 55,174 visitors in attendance from outside San Antonio that stayed an average of 3.8 days and each had a direct spending impact of $880. ?Visitor direct spending derived from the Valero Alamo Bowl was $42.6 million. The total direct and indirect economic impact of this visitor spending was $73.7 million. The event had an additional $2.7 million incremental tax impact on San Antonio. ?Forty-eight percent of the out-of-state visitors indicated this was their first trip to San Antonio. ?Seventy-six percent of those surveyed listed the Valero Alamo Bowl as ?their primary reason for visiting the area.? ?Valero Alamo Bowl attendees averaged 41 years of age and a household income of $95,000. Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship Game–December 1, 2007 ?There were 50,620 visitors in attendance from outside San Antonio that stayed an average of 2.4 days and each had a direct spending impact of $760. ?The direct visitor spending derived from the Big 12 Championship was $30.5 million. The total direct and indirect economic impact of this visitor spending was $52.8 million. The event had an additional $2.1 million incremental tax impact on San Antonio. ?Thirty-four percent of the out-of-state visitors indicated this was their first trip to San Antonio. ?Big 12 Championship attendees averaged 42 years of age and a household income of $93,000. The complete impact analysis studies are available on the Valero Alamo Bowl website through the following links: https://www.alamobowl.com/pdf/Big_12_Championship_Economic_Impact_Report-2007.pdf https://www.alamobowl.com/pdf/Valero_Alamo_Economic_Impact_Report-2007.pdf Survey Contacts: ? Richard Irwin, President, Strategic Marketing Services, (901) 678-3476 ? Dan Rascher, President, SportsEconomics, (510) 387-0644 ? Derrick Fox, President and CEO, Valero Alamo Bowl, (210) 226-2695 ? Scott White, Executive Director, San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, (210) 207-6700 ? Michael Sawaya, San Antonio Director of Convention, Sports and Entertainment Facilities, (210-207-8553 For more information, please call Rick Hill at the Valero Alamo Bowl at (210) 704-6388 or visit www.alamobowl.com. Top 10 Valero Alamo Bowl Football Attendances 1. 66,166 Valero Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2007 (Penn State vs. Texas A&M) 2. 65,875 Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30, 2006 (Texas vs. Iowa) 3. 65,380 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1999 (Penn State vs. Texas A&M) 4. 65,265 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2004 (Ohio State vs. Oklahoma State) 5. 65,232 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2001 (Texas Tech vs. Iowa) 6. 64,597 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1995 (Michigan vs. Texas A&M) 7. 62,016 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 2005 (Michigan vs. Nebraska) 8. 60,780 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 1998 (Kansas State vs. Purdue) 9. 60,028 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30, 2000 (Nebraska vs. Northwestern) 10. 56,229 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2003 (Nebraska vs. Michigan State) Top 10 All-Time Alamodome Sports Crowds* 1. 66,166 Valero Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2007 (Penn State vs. Texas A&M) 2. 65,875 Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30, 2006 (Texas vs. Iowa) 3. 65,562 New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons, Oct. 16, 2005 4. 65,380 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1999 (Penn State vs. Texas A&M) 5. 65,265 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2004 (Ohio State vs. Oklahoma State) 6. 65,232 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2001 (Texas Tech vs. Iowa) 7. 65,035 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship, Dec. 4, 1999 (Nebraska vs. Texas) 8. 64,824 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship, Dec. 6, 1997 (Nebraska vs. Texas A&M) 9. 64,597 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1995 (Michigan vs. Texas A&M) 10. 64,583 AT&T Corps Classic, Sept. 16, 2006 (Texas A&M vs. Army) *The South Texas Billy Graham Crusade, a free event on April 6, 1997, has the highest announced crowd in Alamodome history with 66,835. Outside of the Billy Graham Crusade, the only other Alamodome crowd in excess of 60,000 in the history of the building was the WWF Royal Rumble on January 19, 1997 with an attendance of 60,525. 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl Notes ? Penn State ? 2nd most rushing yards in Alamo Bowl history ? 270 ? Penn State ? 2nd highest rushing average in Alamo Bowl history ? 6.6 ? Texas A&M ? ties most fumbles in Alamo Bowl history with 4 ? Ties biggest come-from-behind win in Alamo Bowl history. Iowa led Texas 14-0 before losing 26-24 in 2006. ? Fourth time in Alamo Bowl history that the team who scored first did not win: Oklahoma State ? 1997, Colorado ? 2002, Iowa ? 2006 ? Justin Brantly ? Texas A&M ? Longest Punt – 67 yards ? Justin Brantly ? Texas A&M – Best punting average ? 55 yards ? Sean Lee ? Penn State ? ties most tackles with 14 ? Evan Royster ? Penn State ? 5th Longest Run ? 38 yards ? Mike Goodson ? Texas A&M ? Ties bowl record with 2 rushing touchdowns ? Daryll Clark ? Penn State ? ties second highest rushing average ? 8.3 yards per carry ? Evan Royster ? Penn State ? third highest rushing average ? 7.2 yards per carry Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award ? Mark Dodge, LB – Texas A&M Defensive Player of the Game ? Sean Lee, LB ? Penn State Offensive Player of the Game ? Rodney Kinlaw, RB ? Penn State