Walmart FLW Tour Reels In Bucks, Not Just Baits

By the time you read this, someone will have pulled a prizewinning bass out of Beaver Lake and motored home with the 2011 Walmart Open championship.

Yes, after a one-year hiatus, the Walmart FLW Tour returned to Rogers during the first week of March. And among the many facts and figures tossed out in the days leading up to the event was this nugget: the estimated economic impact of the tournament on Northwest Arkansas is expected to be “nearly half a million dollars,” according to a news release.

Having only recently started paying serious attention to those kinds of numbers, the initial reaction was: Half a million dollars? Says who?

It turns out that number was the result of an analysis conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research, which is part of the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business. Frankly, when the CBER speaks, it’s worth listening.

In this case, listening prompted a request for more details about the analysis. An executive summary was provided and read.

Essentially, the CBER analyzed Walmart FLW Tour survey data and found the average size of each party of visitors was 1.8 people. The average stay was 7.6 days, which presumably means a lot of those who took the survey were contestants who came early and stayed late.

The economic analysis was then conducted by extrapolating those results to the total number of tournament visitors. It also was taken into account that the expenditures of 85 percent of the visitors are attributable to the event.

Ultimately, it was determined the visitors spent an average of $877 — not counting entry fees or the purchase of an Arkansas fishing license — during the tournament.

As a result, a total of $410,000 of general expenditures in Northwest Arkansas was reached. Calling $410,000 “nearly half a million dollars” seems like a bit of a stretch, but especially given the current economic climate, very few people are going to sneeze at $410,000.

Of perhaps even more interest were the specific ways in which visitors spent their money. According to the CBER analysis, more than $98,000 was spent for lodging at Rogers hotels and motels.

There also were a total of 3,625 meals eaten by visitors during the event. A total of 94.9 percent of those meals were consumed in Rogers.

And though specific numbers weren’t provided, the analysis revealed that lunch was the least popular meal eaten. Breakfast and dinner thus contributed to the majority of the meals consumed.

 FLW Outdoors also was found to have spent a total of $182,625 due to the Walmart FLW Tour stop. According to the CBER’s work, the company’s expenditures included payments to the John Q. Hammons Convention Center, TV production, an angler banquet, the VIP fishing event, the Children’s Miracle Network event and a sponsor dinner.

As for those aforementioned fishing licenses, they added up to $5,168. For those interested, an estimated total of $960,000 was spent on entry fees, though, again, those monies are not factored into the impact on Northwest Arkansas.

The bottom line, however, is an event like the Walmart Open provides a nice revenue spike for a lot of businesses in our neck of the woods. Maybe that will ease the pain of anyone who planned to fish the same waters as the pros or got stuck in traffic as fans flocked to weekend weigh-ins at the John Q Hammons Center.

Put one last way, you don’t have to be an expert in the dynamics of the Storm Wiggle Wart to know the Walmart Open is a keeper for Northwest Arkansas.

New Website Unveiled

FLW Outdoors announced the unveiling of a newly redesigned website on March 2, the day before the start of the Walmart Open on Beaver Lake.

Located at the same Internet address, the new FLWOutdoors.com features “a cleaner, fresher look while maintaining its user-friendly organization,” according to a news release.

“We have spent the last several months analyzing our site, researching, exploring technological changes and reviewing input from our readers and fans,” Trisha Blake, president of FLW Outdoors’ marketing division, said in the release. “We are proud to introduce our most comprehensive redesign of FLWOutdoors.com “The site features easier navigation, improved aesthetics and many new features that will continue to make FLWOutdoors.com the premier online destination for both tournament and recreation anglers alike.”