TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — You don’t have to care about sports to appreciate what they can put in your pocket. Sports run up the score in the local economy.
When U of A Basketball scores, local businesses do too.
Fans may buy a new set of their team colors and get together.
Swayde Griffin says when the Wildcats win he’s more inclined to order some food, or go out to share that winning feeling.
“I'm probably more likely to go to a bar, I'd say, watch a game, you know, get with my friends, and probably more likely to go to a game if it's a big game, you know, that type of thing.”
“Tucson is a U of A town, and the better the Wildcats do, the better all the restaurants and bars do in Tucson.”
Grant Krueger has five restaurants and bars through his Union Hospitality Group.
He says it helps that U of A basketball is usually good but it really helps when they’re this good—number one in the country with 17 wins and no losses.
“So this drives far more interest in the games. We get both pre game visits, people coming before the games at McHale and post game, particularly when the home team wins, everybody loves to go out and celebrate afterwards.”
You don’t have to love sports to cheer for what they bring to the economy.
The most recent U of A study looks at 2023. It says University of Arizona athletics pump about 265 million dollars into the state economy and support 840 jobs. Those jobs have a combined income of 33 million dollars—enough to make winners of people who’ve never stepped on a court.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
