Common Sense Institute research experts Kamryn Burner Glenn Farley crunched the numbers surrounding the economic impact of the WM Phoenix Open. Published on Tuesday of tournament week, their report estimated “that approximately 750,000 attendees will participate over those seven days – including 114,000 attendees who are visiting from outside of Arizona.”
All those people leave behind a staggering amount of money: “$407M in combined contributions to state GDP.” Furthermore, although Arizona is no stranger to high-profile sports events, “unlike many of the others, this [WM Phoenix Open] is also a regular, annual event. This makes its estimated $400 million contribution to GDP a core and recurring part of the state’s regular economy. The regularity and predictability of the event means it is easier to build a fixed infrastructure around the open and incorporate it into the state’s ongoing sports and tourism economy.”
Key Findings
- $208M: Estimated combined direct spending by visitors of the WM Phoenix Open over the week’s events, including the four day PGA tournament. Non-resident spending accounts for $88.7 million of this total.
- $407M: Combined contribution to state GDP expected from the entire weeks events at this year’s Phoenix Open. And $174 million of that impact comes from spending by out-of-state visitors who contribute net-new activity to the state.
- $13.0 billion: Estimated direct sales by Arizona’s hotels, casinos, sports and other professional performance venues, and other components of the state’s Sports and Tourism sector in 2025.
- 322,900: Number of people directly and indirectly employed by Arizona’s Sports and Tourism sector, or about 10% of the state’s total workforce.
- 5%: Projected average annual growth rate of the sector over the next decade.
