Opening Day$$$$$

I attended two football openers last weekend. The home teams (Navy, Ravens) came through in both cases and the experience in the stadiums was every bit as exciting as you would expect from a partisan crowd.

But while engrossed in the games, I also had time to observe how spectator sports directly impact the local economy, and while providing a valuable tourism promotional vehicle.

(NOTE: I could not possibly do a scientific study of tourist spending by myself, so Ashley and her mom generously volunteered to observe the scene in several downtown establishments with me after the game.)

Economic impact studies can tell you a lot, based on formulas. Ticket sales provide zip codes, which translate into room nights and restaurant meals, with concessions and merchandise added on according to whatever multipliers are used.

But they don’t tell you about the neighborhood entrepreneurs who offer space in their driveways, or sell bottled water on the sidewalks leading to the park. They don’t factor in the PTAs who operate parking lots at the nearby elementary school to pay for playground equipment and supplies, or the Rotary Club volunteers who direct stadium traffic as a fund raiser for their community grant programs.

You might call it the underground economy; in Annapolis it's as much a tradition as the Herndon Climb.

It’s hard to calculate how many delis and rolling barbeque pits get the call for tailgates, since the numbers change every week. But the restaurants downtown can tell you how many extra staff they schedule, starting Friday night, when Navy plays at home. The corridor between the City Dock and the stadium is pretty much a moveable feast and shopping excursion.

In that shoulder season between the end of summer and the beginning of holiday parties, Navy home games rule the hospitality industry.

I’ve referenced the beauty of the stadium and its setting many times. This is echoed by anyone who has attended an event there in the past few years. Now consider what that means when most of those games are broadcast.

Whether the network is small or large, it still reaches far beyond the attendance of any given game. What they see is produced by a high def camera crew. So instead of having the beauty of Annapolis and pageantry of the Naval Academy seen only by those holding tickets, it is now available to every set with a sports TV package.

(It may even appear on those phones my kids have. I haven’t figured that Ap out yet.)

The telecasts show the cool stuff, like the F-18s thundering overhead, and the view of the Severn and the Bay, visible from the camera deck.

In short, broadcast along with a Navy game is a free commercial for visiting beautiful, historic Annapolis. It’s the kind of exposure that’s hard to match and a price that’s pretty unbeatable. While Annapolis hosts many other large events (the annual boat shows come to mind) they aren’t the kind of thing that garner national attention.

That’s the beauty of sports events -- they are watched all over the world, and they do include information about their location as part of the broadcast.