The May 6, 2001 Bass
N Bucks Fishing Tournament: Participants’ Characteristics,
Attitudes, Expenditures, and Economic Impacts
David K. Anderson,
Robert B. Ditton, and Chi-Ok Oh
Studies of fishing tournaments and their participants are conducted for various reasons. First, they are a useful means for better understanding present clientele in order to attract additional participants through marketing efforts. Second, they provide a useful means for evaluation and participants feedback on events as planned. Third, they provide the basic understandings for posing various “what if” scenarios for future tournament events. If additional family-oriented activities were increased, for example, what effect would this have on the communities adjacent to the Rayburn Reservoir? And finally, they provide an opportunity to demonstrate that an event has a positive economic stimulus on the local area and to what extent. In particular, local and county officials should be interested in the amount of new money attracted to their respective area as well as re-expenditure effects. Tournament officials should be able to use expenditure data effectively to demonstrate current and projected economic impacts as well as to provide support for public and private sector investments necessary to sustain these economic impact levels.
There is a rich tradition of research on saltwater tournament studies here in Texas and elsewhere. Several of these studies have been used by tournament officials to leverage additional support, counter claims by other interests, or simply to “get some respect” for recreational fishing tournaments and recreational fisheries in general. The Texas A&M University Human Dimensions of Recreational Fisheries Lab has completed ten studies of saltwater fishing tournaments and their participants between 1985 and 2000 (see, for example, Ditton and Loomis 1985; Ditton and Arneson-Bewley 1986; and Ditton and Loomis 1988). We recently completed a second socio-economic study of the Texas International Fishing Tournament in South Padre Island- Port Isabel (Ditton et al. 2000a) and a second study of two offshore tournaments held this past summer in Manteo, NC (Ditton et al. 2000b). Results from the aforementioned studies have been available from the Texas Sea Grant College Program; the work completed this past summer in North Carolina will be distributed by the North Carolina Sea Grant College Program. Consequently, these results and the methods used to achieve them have been subjected to wide scrutiny and results have been used in policy-making efforts. In freshwater environments, the economic impacts associated with bass tournaments are widely discussed and referenced but much of the work has been completed on a proprietary basis and hence methods and results are not generally available for peer review purposes. We have reviewed three previous socio-economic studies of the Bass Masters Classic ( Bryan 1995; Green 1996; Green 1997) for insights to bass tournament clientele and their economic impacts. If such studies have been completed for bass tournaments here in Texas, we have been unable to locate them.
Executive Summary
The impetus for this study grew from a need to better understand the overall extent of angler expenditures at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in a study being conducted for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Data collection was accomplished with a mail survey of the May 6, 2001 Bass N Bucks (BNB) Tournament held on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Altogether, we received 312 names and addresses of the 323 participants in the BNB tournament. Surveys were mailed to 312 BNB participants. Of these, 202 surveys were returned and two were reported as non-deliverable by the U.S. Postal Service, providing an effective response rate of 65.2%.
~The majority (57%) of BNB participants were from parts of Texas other than the counties surrounding Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Less than 20% of the anglers traveled to Rayburn from out-of-state to participate in this tournament. Most (39%) anglers traveled 51-100 one-way miles (or 102-200 miles overall) to participate in the BNB event.
~Most BNB anglers had been participating in recreational fishing for between 36-40 years, with an average of 33 years. This is an active group of fishing enthusiasts: the average number of days spent fishing “since this time last year” was 98 days.
~Most anglers (87%) listed black bass as their first species preference and 96% listed black bass as one of their three most preferred species.
~Ninety-four percent of the BNB anglers indicated that fishing was their most important outdoor recreation activity among other outdoor recreation activities.
~Ninety-seven percent of BNB anglers indicated they or someone else in their household owned a powerboat. The majority of BNB anglers owned boats between 20-22 feet in length; their average powerboat length was 20 feet. Most (28%) anglers reported owning 11-15 rod and reel combinations; the mean number of combinations owned was 19.
~A majority (69%) of BNB anglers reported that most of their friends participate in fishing. A majority (60%) of BNB anglers indicated that some of their co-workers fish while about one-third (31%) indicated that most of their co-workers fish. As expected, since tournament fishing is a central life interest for this group of anglers, most (47%) anglers indicated that most of their vacation trips included fishing.
~Most (81%) used the Internet to obtain fishing information during the previous year. Likewise, a similar percentage (83%) reported that they subscribed to one or more fishing and boating magazines during the previous year. Most (35%) reported they subscribed to two magazines with 27% reporting they subscribed to three magazines.
~When asked if they had ever become involved in the fishery policy-making process, a minority of BNB anglers indicated they had done so. Most (40%) indicated they had attended a public hearing on a fisheries matter; about a quarter reported calling or writing to a public official on a fisheries matter.
~Most (40%) anglers indicated they have participated 1-5 times previously in a Bass N Bucks tournament event at Sam Rayburn (not including this year’s event). This was the first BNB event at Sam Rayburn for 5% of the anglers. Overall, a majority (55%) of BNB anglers had participated previously six times or more in a BNB event at Rayburn.
~Most (35%) anglers spent two nights in the Sam Rayburn area during this one-day BNB tournament event. An additional 29% spent three or more nights in the local area during the BNB event. An additional dynamic in an economic impact assessment is the number of additional friends and relatives (non-tournament participants) that accompany anglers to tournament events. In the case of this event, just less than one-half (49%) indicated that they brought no additional friends or family members with them. About 30% of the BNB anglers brought one or two persons with them to the event.
~When anglers were asked how they learned about the tournament, the most frequent source of information was through their network of friends (38%), followed by mail advertisement (18%) and a variety of information sources. The Internet was reported as a major information source by only 13% of BNB anglers.
~A majority (52%) of anglers indicated they were very satisfied with the tournament event; an additional 30% reported they were extremely satisfied. Eleven follow-up questions were asked of all anglers to probe particular reasons why anglers may have been satisfied or not satisfied with the tournament event. A strong majority of anglers agreed (either agree or strongly agree) with the following five items: “Tournament staff were always helpful” (93%), “I would like to fish other tournaments like this one” (91%), “My fishing skills were tested in this tournament” (88%), “I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament” (86%), and “The tournament was well worth the money spent to make this trip” (83%). A majority (70%) of tournament participants felt that lodging facilities in the local area met their needs. A majority of anglers disagreed with two statements dealing with the catch aspects of the tournament event: “I caught what I consider a trophy fish” (83%) and “I caught more fish than I expected in this tournament” (57%). Most (57%) BNB anglers indicated they were disappointed with some aspects of the tournament.
~Over 80% of the BNB anglers made expenditures in each of the following five categories in either the Rayburn study area or elsewhere in Texas: boat operation (96%), automobile transportation (95%), groceries, snack foods, and drinks (90%), fishing tackle and equipment (85%), and restaurant meals (83%). Not only was automobile transportation an expense for nearly everyone but it was also the largest average expenditure made by anglers ($355). Lodging is also one of the five largest expenditures and is important since a majority of participants made this expenditure. The remaining other three high average expenditures were made by relatively small percentages of tournament anglers: fishing guide fees (2%), boat repairs and upgrades (8%), and “other” (27%).
~Average angler tournament-related expenditures were extrapolated to all BNB anglers participating in the 2001 event (n = 312). The greatest expenditure made by BNB anglers was for automobile transportation to and from and while at the tournament site ($110,783). This overall expenditure was 47% of the total tournament expenditure made by BNB anglers ($234,452). The next two largest expenditures were for boat operation ($26,248) and lodging ($25,840). The remaining expenditure centers were all less than 10% of the total expenditures by anglers ($234,452).
~Out-of-state anglers participating in the 2001 Bass N Bucks Tournament at Sam Rayburn Reservoir spent only $20,016 in the local area and $459 elsewhere in Texas. The latter expenses were probably for gasoline and other auto-related expenses involved in traveling to the Rayburn area. Total tournament-related expenses made by residents of the six-county study area who participated in the BNB tournament totaled $33,187 or about 74% of total expenses by this group.
~The $168,515 in direct expenditures made by nonresident anglers for local goods and services generated an additional $92,732 in economic output, resulting in a total output of $261,247 and 4 full and part time jobs associated with or generated by the tournament event. The average output multiplier was $1.54 (i.e., every dollar spent in the economy generate another $0.54).
~The state level impact of the one-day BNB trail tournament event was negligible due to the relatively small number of tournament event participants from out-of-state (53 out-of-state tournament anglers spent $20,475 in the state of Texas) as result of participating in the BNB event.
