For the last four years, the “rodeo class” at Trinity University has conducted an economic impact study of the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, which opens today with results of the students’ marketing research.
The four year study shows the positive impact to the city growing steadily each year. In 2015, the 18-day event had a cumulative impact on the City of San Antonio of $252,816,879.
According to Mario Gonzalez-Fuentes, assistant professor of marketing in the Department of Business Administration at Trinity University and leader of the class, "The main objective of this study is to calculate the economic impact generated by the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo (SASSR) on the San Antonio area. For this purpose, we defined the potential economic impact of the event as the expected increase in general sales attributed to expenditure generated by participants in activities outside the Rodeo but within the San Antonio area. The research tool used for this project was the in-person intercept interview. Two types of questionnaires were designed—one for patrons and one for exhibitors. Data collection varied by daypart and interviewers were stationed in every area of the Rodeo.”
The cumulative impact of patrons, exhibitors, and volunteers is immense—at almost $253 million annually that is more than the projected sales tax revenue for all of San Antonio.
Patrons travel from Mexico and Canada and as far away as Germany, Italy, Iceland, and Australia according to the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo’s International Committee whose job is to welcome international guests. The study results show that patrons who are visitors spend more than twice the local attendees. Noteworthy is the economic impact of participants in the livestock shows and competitions who stay for an extended time period and occupy area hotels. The Junior Livestock Shows is one of the largest in the nation with over 20,000 entries. And there are entries from all 254 counties of Texas, except five. In terms of Rodeo patrons, Ticketmaster reports show that 45% of Rodeo ticket purchases are outside of Bexar County.
Not many economic impact studies can register the economic impact of a volunteer force, but with more than 6,000 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo volunteers—many of whom take vacation time to work for the 18-day event, their impact alone is measureable at over $14 million.
Additional survey results indicated that Rodeo participants are also highly engaged in social media and sourcing information from websites—thus the organization released a new phone app this year and newly designed website.
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