Hoopfest: Using longitudinal economic impact data to assess the success of a strategic reorientation

The authors report the economic impact of a strategy change for a nonprofit sport association, Hoopfest, over an eight year period. Hoopfest organizes the largest annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world. The study employs an economic impact methodology because the local community expressed a concern with related economic development issues. An initial assessment indicated the two-day tournament had an overall economic impact on the region of about seventeen million dollars. Twenty-two thousand people competed in the tournament and at least another one hundred thousand people watched the event. Hoopfest officials were challenged by a simple question: how could they enhance the economic benefits of this basketball tournament?