NBA League & Liga Endesa players. The World Basketball Championship 2014.

Sporting events have always been major catalysts for the tourism industry. Historically, major sporting events have had a long-term positive impact on the tourism of a region. In fact, this positive impact is not limited to just major sporting events like the Olympics and the Common Wealth Games. National leagues of different games such as basketball also increase tourism revenue for the host cities.

A case in point is the National Basketball Association (NBA) league of the US and the Liga Endesa of Spain. Both these leagues are popular in their respective countries, so the stadiums are packed for all important games. Many times, fans travel from different parts of the country to watch their favorite players in action, and this influx of tourists gives a boost to the local economy.

When fans come to a city to watch a game, they tend to spend on transportation, food and lodging. As a result, the local taxi services, hotels, shopping malls and restaurants get a higher revenue. Other tourist spots in the city are also benefited because visitors who come to see the game like to explore the region. This additional revenue gives a boost to the local businesses and tourism areas. Besides these tourism staples, nightlife entertainment is a major revenue grosser. Many popular nightlife businesses get completely booked during important games and this augurs well for the industry as a whole. In other words, most players in the tourism industry get to enjoy higher revenues when their respective cities host important basketball games.

One of the highlight games of the NBA season in the US is the All-Stars Game played during the mid-season. In this game, fans get to see their favorite heroes, celebrities and even emerging players as they battle out a friendly game in front of a packed stadium. This game is one of the biggest crowd-pullers of the NBA season as it attracts fans from all over the country, and sometimes even from different parts of the world. As a result, these games give a big boost to the city hosting the game every year. Reports show that more than fifty thousand tourists travel to the host cities to watch the game. This influx of tourists results in the booking of thousands of rooms and this excludes the NBA players, corporate sponsors and others who need more than six thousand rooms themselves.

For example, the 2011 All-Stars Game of NBA that took place in Los Angeles gave an additional revenue of $85 million to the city. Out of this revenue, $60 million came from tourists who spent money on transportation, stay, shopping and dining. The remaining $25 million came from the city's residents who spent it on their day out. Overall, these amounts contributed to the economy of Los Angeles in a significant way. In 2010, Dallas hosted the games on its then one-year old Cowboys stadium, and this event was a huge success in terms of tourism and economic impact. This event brought in 108,713 spectators, which was a record for the All-Stars NBA game. This huge audience resulted in an economic impact of $268.5 million, the single biggest impact of a weekend basketball game.

Like the NBA league, the liga endesa or the Spanish Basketball league also brings in much revenue for the local economy due to the many tourists who come to watch the game. A study conducted by Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro SAD shows that the average economic impact of a game amounts to 191,224.88 €. In Spain, it is not only the private tourism players that benefit from the game, but also the public administration. The same study shows that the return on public spending is 172.53 € for every euro that the public administration spends on the game. Though some of these returns come from advertising and marketing, a good percent comes from tourism. Fans who come to watch the game spend money on local businesses, and this amounts to revenue in the form of taxes to the local government.

The impact on local businesses also goes up during important games, due to tourists and the players themselves. In the words of the basketball coach, Mr. Juan Carlos Berlanga., “For the follower of basketball, this sport is not only a great show, it's a passion, which attracts thousands of fans to follow a team or a particular competition, such as this year's World Basketball Championship in Spain”.

The above studies go to show that professional basketball players play a big role in bringing in more tourists to a city, thereby increasing the economic impact of the game. In this sense, basketball leagues do more than merely entertaining fans. They inadvertently help local businesses to get more revenue that in turn improves the overall economy of the city. This boom in the city's economy means more jobs for its residents and a better quality of life. It is also beneficial for the local governments because they get additional tax revenue that they can spend on infrastructure projects to further boost the livability of the city. All this results in a significant economic impact for the host cities.