The 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome boosted economic activity in Italy by €262 million, according to an independent report.
The figure, a record for a Ryder Cup held in Europe, is an 11% increase on the €235million generated in 2018 when the biennial contest was held at Le Golf National in Paris, France.
Researchers from Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) took into account spending by all spectators and other event attendees, plus all organisational spending, including by Federazione Italiana Golf (FIG) on the course and infrastructure upgrades, as well as other indirect or induced spending.
More than 271,000 people from 100 different countries attended last year’s contest at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, where Europe, led by captain Luke Donald, reclaimed the Ryder Cup with a 16½ -11½ victory against the United States. It was the first-time the Ryder Cup had been held in Italy, which became only the third country in continental Europe to host the biennial contest, following Spain in 1997 and France in 2018.
Other key findings from the report include:
• Spectators staying in paid accommodation in Rome during Ryder Cup week generated in excess of 318,000 commercial bed-nights, which was worth €34million in revenue for the local accommodation sector.
• There was €72million in non-accommodation related expenditure by spectators.
• Around 19% of event-specific visitors to Rome decided to extend their visit prior to or following the event.
• Almost two-thirds of international spectators who visited for the event expressed a desire to return to Italy for leisure purposes in the next year, fuelled by their Ryder Cup experience.
The report concluded that: “Ultimately, an event responsible for €262million of economic activity in Italy is testament to the time and resources committed to delivering such a memorable sporting spectacle. These findings vindicate the decision to award the Ryder Cup to Rome.”
Guy Kinnings, Chief Executive Officer of the European Tour Group, said: “The figures highlighted in this independent economic impact report demonstrate the major benefits that Ryder Cup delivers for a host country through spectator and visitor spending, as well as an enduring legacy.
“From a sporting and fan engagement perspective, Rome 2023 has already gone down as one of the greatest Ryder Cup’s in history. We can now confidently conclude that the 2023 contest at Marco Simone also generated record financial rewards, providing a significant direct boost to the economy in Rome and in Italy.
“We would therefore like to thank the Italian Government and the Federazione Italiana Golf for their bold vision in helping to bring one of global sports leading events to Italy for the first time.
“I’d also like to recognise two magnificent teams: Team Europe, led by Luke Donald, who performed so wonderfully inside the ropes, and everyone at Ryder Cup Europe, who worked so tirelessly on all facets outside the ropes to deliver the greatest Ryder Cup played in Europe.”
The team from Sheffield Hallam University utilised the same eventIMPACTS.com compliant approach as used previously in Scotland (2014) and France (2018) to estimate the direct economic impact of the 2023 match at three levels of geography – Rome, Lazio and Italy – as well as the wider economic activity supported by the event.