 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 March 17th
– 22nd Texas BASS Federation State Championship Fishing
Tournament (TBFSCFT) held on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Altogether,
we received 280 complete names and addresses for the 284
participants in the TBFSCFT tournament. Surveys were mailed to
280 TBFSCFT participants. Of these, 193 surveys were returned
and 11 were reported as non-deliverable by the U.S. Postal
Service, providing an effective response rate of 74%.
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The majority (91%) of
TBFSCFT participants were from parts of Texas other than
the counties surrounding Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Only 2%
of the anglers traveled to Rayburn from out-of-state to
participate in this tournament. Most (22%) anglers
traveled 201-250 one-way miles (or 402-500 miles
overall) to participate in the TBFSCFT event.
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Most (20%) TBFSCFT
anglers had been participating in recreational fishing
for between 26-30 years, with an average of 31 years.
This is an active group of fishing enthusiasts: the
average number of days spent fishing “since this time
last year” was 75 days. |
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Most anglers (79%) listed
black bass as their first species preference and 90%
listed black bass as one of their three most preferred
species. |
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Ninety-five percent of
the TBFSCFT anglers indicated that fishing was their
most important outdoor recreation activity among other
outdoor recreation activities. |
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Ninety-two percent of
TBFSCFT anglers indicated they or someone else in their
household owned a powerboat. Most (47%) TBFSCFT anglers
owned boats between 20 - 22 feet in length; their
average powerboat length was 19 feet. Most (33%) anglers
reported owning 11-15 rod and reel combinations; the
mean number of combinations owned was 17. |
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A majority (59%) of
TBFSCFT anglers reported that most of their friends
participate in fishing. A majority (73%) of TBFSCFT
anglers indicated that some of their co-workers fish,
while only 14% indicated that most of their co-workers
fish. As expected, since tournament fishing is a central
life interest for this group of anglers, most (50%)
anglers indicated that most of their vacation trips
included fishing. |
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The majority (87%) used
the Internet to obtain fishing information during the
previous year. Likewise, a similar percentage (98%)
reported that they subscribed to one or more fishing and
boating magazines during the previous year. Most (40%)
reported they subscribed to two magazines with 28%
reporting they subscribed to three magazines.
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When asked if they had
ever become involved in the fishery policy-making
process, a minority of TBFSCFT anglers indicated they
had done so. Most (39%) 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. |
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A majority (57%) of
anglers indicated they have participated 1 - 5 times
previously in a Texas BASS Federation State Championship
Tournament event (not including the 2002 event). This
was the first Texas BASS Federation State Championship
Tournament event for 25% of the anglers. |
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Most (31%) anglers spent
six nights in the Sam Rayburn area during this five-day
TBFSCFT event. An additional 39% spent seven or more
nights in the local area during the TBFSCFT 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, the
majority (79%) indicated they brought no additional
friends or family members with them. About 12% of the
TBFSCFT anglers reported they brought one or two persons
with them to the event. |
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Most (47%) anglers
indicated they were very satisfied with the tournament
event; an additional 14% 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 six items: “I
would like to fish other tournaments like this one”
(88%), “Tournament staff were always helpful” (87%),
“The lodging facilities in the local area met my needs”
(85%), “My fishing skills were tested in this
tournament” (84%), “I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament”
(83%), and “The tournament was well worth the money
spent to make this trip” (78%). A majority of anglers
disagreed with one statement dealing with the catch
aspect of the tournament event: “I caught what I
consider a trophy fish” (77%). Most (47%) TBFSCFT
anglers indicated they were disappointed with some
aspects of the tournament. |
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Over 80% of the TBFSCFT
anglers made expenditures in each of the following seven
categories in either the Rayburn study area or elsewhere
in Texas: automobile transportation (100%), fishing
tackle and equipment (96%), groceries, snack foods, and
drinks (95%), restaurant meals (95%), boat operation
(94%), lodging (89%), and boat launch fees (83%).
Lodging was an expense for nearly everyone participating
in the TBFSCFT event and was the largest average
expenditure made by anglers ($222). Fishing tackle and
equipment is also one of the five largest average
expenditures and is important since a majority of
participants made this expenditure. The next three
highest average expenditures were automobile
transportation ($107), restaurant meals ($104), and boat
operation ($91). |
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Average angler
tournament-related expenditures were extrapolated to all
TBFSCFT anglers participating in the 2002 event (n =
281). The greatest expenditure made by TBFSCFT anglers
was for lodging while at the tournament site ($62,594).
This overall expenditure was 26% of the total tournament
expenditure made by TBFSCFT anglers ($236,953). The next
five largest expenditures were for fishing
tackle/equipment ($33,733), automobile transportation
($30,110), restaurant meals ($29,174), boat operation
($25,708), and boat repairs/upgrades ($24,167). The
remaining expenditure centers were all less than 10% of
the total expenditures by anglers ($236,953).
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Out-of-state anglers
participating in the 2002 Texas BASS Federation State
Championship Fishing Tournament at Sam Rayburn Reservoir
spent $3,697 in the local area and $684 elsewhere in
Texas. The latter expenses were probably for gasoline
and other auto-related expenses involved in travel to
the Rayburn area. Total tournament-related expenses made
by residents of the six-county study area who
participated in the tournament totaled $8,115 or about
94% of total expenses by this group. |
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The $177,455 in direct
expenditures made by nonresident anglers for local goods
and services generated an additional $93,858 in economic
output, resulting in a total output of $271,313 and 6
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 generated
an additional $0.54). |
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The state level impact of
the five-day TBFSCFT event was negligible due to the
relatively small number of tournament event participants
from out of state (6 out-of-state tournament anglers
spent $4,381 in the state of Texas) as result of
participating in the TBFSCFT event. |
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