I. Introduction

The KeyArena is located on the west side of Seattle Center, and it serves as the home for three professional sports teams, as well as the location for concerts, family shows, and other events. These events attracted 1.1 million people in the year 2005 to KeyArena. This report documents economic impacts of KeyArena on the King County economy. It also provides considerable information on visitors to KeyArena, and summary information with regard to the businesses associated with KeyArena.

This report was funded by the Seattle Center, and was undertaken as a part of a larger project focused on the economic impact of the entire Seattle Center[1]. The report is based upon two surveys. One survey was of visitors to KeyArena. Section II reports the results of this visitor survey. GMA Research Corporation interviewed 601 groups of patrons at KeyArena from April 2005 through December 2005. While the visitor survey’s primary purpose was to provide data for the economic impact assessment, other data were gathered that were of relevance to this research project and of interest to staff at Seattle Center and the Seattle Center Foundation. The second survey was of sports teams using KeyArena and the Seattle Center’s business activity in support of sports and other events at KeyArena. These organizations were asked to provide information on their business activity that could be used with the economic impact estimates. These data were provided directly by these organizations to the consultants.

This report is organized as follows. First, we present results from the survey of visitors to KeyArena. Then, we report results from the survey of businesses located on or using KeyArena. The next section of the report presents results of the economic impact analysis. This part of the report is divided into two components. The first section presents aggregate economic impacts, while the second section presents economic impacts associated with “new money”—income that comes from outside the region that would not flow here if the activities at KeyArena were not present in the local economy. The final section of the report reflects on the results presented here, and includes some suggestions for future research. Appendix I contains a copy of the questionnaire used for the patron sample, and a tabulation of the sources of survey data. Appendix II contains a copy of the questionnaire that was answered by sports businesses using KeyArena, as well as by the Seattle Center for its business activity at KeyArena.

II. KeyArena Visitor Survey

The questionnaire included in Appendix I was administered by the intercept method at KeyArena. A sampling plan was developed by GMA Research Corporation that was designed to gather patron surveys from a statistically reliable sample for KeyArena. The number of interviews conducted at KeyArena are reported in Appendix I. The interviews taking place at KeyArena were conducted at Sonics, Storm, and Thunderbirds games, as well as at three concerts. Of the 601 interviews conducted, 596 or 99.2% were considered to contain valid data for the purposes of this study. The small percentage of surveys not considered to be valid excluded key information needed to calculate visitor spending, such as the number of persons in the group, their primary trip reason, and spending estimates. Figure 1 indicates the composition of valid interviews by type of event.

Figure 1. Percentage Share of Valid Visitor Surveys by Type of Event

N = 596

Attendance at KeyArena used for the purposes of this study was estimated to be 1,104,451 persons. This number is based on data reported in Appendix I, and it is a combination of estimates provided to the authors of this study for the years 2004 and 2005. We relied on data for both 2004 and 2005 to compile this report; data provided to the authors indicate modest changes in attendance at KeyArena in these years. Figure 2 presents estimated attendance by category at KeyArena used in this study. This figure, when compared to Figure 1, indicates that the surveys of sports patrons were a slightly higher percentage of overall attendance compared to actual attendance. All interviews of non-sports attendees were conducted at three events, two concerts -- U-2 and Paul McCartney, and one family show, Disney on Ice. KeyArena is also used for many other events each year in addition to concerts and tenant sporting events. These events include college graduation ceremonies, business meetings, other sporting events, and family events. Figure 2 documents estimated attendance shares at these types of events at KeyArena. The sample of patrons generally is in accordance with this estimate of attendance at KeyArena. In section II of this report, tables that are labeled “Concerts” are reporting data just for people interviewed at KeyArena Concerts. In section IV, data labeled “Concerts” includes estimates for KeyArena concerts and other events that took place at KeyArena in the study period as a matter of convenience in the tables.

Figure 2. Composition of Attendance at KeyArena 2005

Characteristics of KeyArena Visitors

This section presents a summary of responses describing characteristics of people interviewed, including the size of the groups visiting KeyArena, their primary trip purpose, and a set of responses regarding their socioeconomic characteristics. The tables in this section of the report include responses from visitors interviewed at sports and concerts at KeyArena as described in Figure 1, and for the entire sample. The statistics reported as “Total” are not weighted by the relative importance of patron activity in each category of activity, but, rather, represent the composite sample of patrons, unless otherwise noted.

KeyArena patrons were asked if the primary reason for their trip was to attend the performance/exhibition/event at which they were interviewed. Table 1 presents results from this question, and it indicates that over 98% of trips were made primarily to visit KeyArena. Clearly, KeyArena is the primary destination for the overwhelming number of its visitors. Most people indicating that they had some other primary destination were on business or social trips.

Table 1. Responses to “Was the primary reason for your trip today/tonight to attend this performance/exhibition/event?”

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Yes	97.3%	99.6%	98.2%
No	2.7%	0.4%	1.8%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	372	224	596

Table 2 reports the size of the groups interviewed at KeyArena. It shows the percentage of the groups in each category of visitors by party size. For example, 10.5% of those interviewed at sports events were alone, while 55.6% of the parties had two people in them. Table 2 also indicates the mean (average) size of parties, and the size of the median party (group size halfway through the sample). Generally the mean is higher than the median, because of the skewing effect that relatively few large parties in each category have on the calculation of the mean. There is little difference in group sizes attending sports and non-sports events at KeyArena.

Table 2. Number of People in Party

# of People	Sports	Concerts	Total
1	10.5%	7.1%	9.2%
2	55.6%	58.9%	56.9%
3	13.2%	12.9%	13.1%
4	13.4%	11.6%	12.8%
5	2.4%	2.2%	2.3%
6	1.9%	4.0%	2.7%
7+	3.0%	3.1%	3.0%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Mean	2.74	2.72	2.73
Median	2	2	2
N	372	224	596

The visitors to KeyArena were asked to identify their gender and age, and to also report the gender and age of up to seven other people in their party. Table 3 presents a summary of responses to this question regarding gender. Overall, slightly more females were in visitor groups to KeyArena than males in the sample. When weighted by attendance, this percentage becomes 48.9% male, and 51.1% female.

Table 3. Gender of KeyArena Patrons In Sample

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Male	51.3%	44.6%	48.7%
Female	48.7%	55.4%	51.3%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	907	574	1,481

Each person responding to the question regarding age and gender was asked to indicate their age and the age of each of up to seven additional persons in their group. Table 4 presents the results of an analysis of responses to this question. Somewhat fewer of those interviewed revealed their age compared to their gender (N (number) on age = 1,394 versus N = 1,481 on gender), about 85% and 90% of the total number of people included in the valid sample, respectively. The data in Table 4 indicate a slightly varying mean age of visitors to KeyArena sports and concerts events. People in the entire sample had a mean age in their thirties, while the mean age of adults (those 18 years or older) was 40 at sports events and 39 at concerts.

Table 4. Age Distribution of KeyArena Patrons In Sample

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Up to 11	7.5%	12.9%	9.5%
12 to 17	5.6%	5.4%	5.5%
18 to 24	10.9%	7.3%	9.5%
25 to 34	18.9%	21.1%	19.7%
35 to 44	26.3%	26.4%	26.3%
45 to 54	17.3%	20.6%	18.6%
55 to 64	10.7%	5.8%	8.8%
65+	2.8%	0.6%	1.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	859	535	1394

Mean	36	34	35
Mean Adults 18+ Years	40	39	40

People responding to the visitor questionnaire were asked to indicate their highest level of educational attainment. Table 5 presents results from this question. About one-third of the respondents had up to a high school degree, another twenty percent had some college, while over 44% indicated that they had a bachelors or post-baccalaureate degree. It is likely that some respondents checking postgraduate degree should have checked four year college / university degree, as the layout of the questionnaire was not as clear as it could have been for this question.

Table 5. Educational Attainment of Interviewed KeyArena Patrons

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Some High School	3.0%	0.9%	2.2%
High School Graduate	35.4%	34.5%	35.1%
Some College	19.2%	16.8%	18.3%
Four-year College/University Degree	11.0%	13.6%	12.0%
Postgraduate Degree	31.3%	34.1%	32.4%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	364	220	584

Respondents were asked to identify their occupation, using the categories listed in Table 6. These are not occupation categories typically used that define positions by type of work (such as executive/managerial, professional/technical, sales, clerical, or blue collar), but rather are another grouping deemed appropriate for this study. It is clear that most respondents to this question were either working full-time or were self-employed.

Table 6. Occupation of Persons Interviewed at the KeyArena

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Working full-time	66.4%	68.5%	67.2%
Homemaker	2.5%	2.7%	2.6%
Retired	7.9%	3.2%	6.1%
Working part-time	4.6%	6.3%	5.3%
Military	2.2%	1.8%	2.0%
Not Employed	2.5%	0.5%	1.7%
Self Employed	8.7%	8.6%	8.7%
Student	3.6%	3.6%	3.6%
Other	1.6%	5.0%	2.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	366	222	588

Visitors to KeyArena come from a wide variety of geographic locations, as reported in Table 7. Local visitors (people living in King County) account for the largest share of sports patrons, but most patrons at KeyArena concerts were from outside King County. Of the King County residents in the sample, 34% were from Seattle zip-codes, while 66% were from other parts of King County. The total estimated visitation in Table 7 and Figure 3 is based on the estimated number of visitors to categories used to estimate the total number of KeyArena visitors.

Table 7. Origin of KeyArena Visitors

	Sports	Concerts	Total
King County	64.4%	42.9%	56.5%
Other Washington State	28.1%	39.6%	32.3%
Out of State	7.5%	17.5%	11.2%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	360	212	572

Figure 3. Origin of KeyArena Visitors

Patrons were asked to indicate how many people lived in their household, and Table 8 reports results from this question. Households in the sample have a somewhat smaller size than the size of groups interviewed (see data in Table 2), implying that in many instances visitors came with friends or relatives to KeyArena on their trips. Median and mean household sizes are lower for sports than concert patrons.

Table 8. Household Size of KeyArena Visitor Groups

	Sports	Concerts	Total
1	14.4%	9.3%	12.5%
2	42.1%	36.7%	40.1%
3	17.5%	22.8%	19.5%
4	17.5%	23.3%	19.7%
5	6.5%	5.6%	6.2%
6	0.8%	1.4%	1.1%
7 to 10	1.1%	0.9%	1.1%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Mean	2.69	2.87	2.76
Median	2	3	2
N	354	215	569

The ethnicity of those interviewed is reported in Table 9. This table indicates that most of those attending KeyArena activities are Caucasian. These data are for the person responding to the survey, so their group might have had different ethnic composition. Sports events attract a more diverse crowd than KeyArena concerts.

Table 9. Ethnicity of Interviewed KeyArena Patrons

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Caucasian	77.1%	88.6%	81.4%
Asian, Pacific Islander	9.6%	3.8%	7.4%
Native American	3.1%	0.5%	2.1%
Hispanic, Latin	3.1%	5.2%	3.9%
African American	7.1%	1.9%	5.1%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	353	211	564

The final question regarding characteristics of KeyArena visitors was related to their household income. An encouraging 90% of the valid sample answered this sensitive question, one that typically gets a smaller response rate than other eco-demographic questions. The results for this question are reported in Table 10. These data record a very similar distribution of income for KeyArena sports and concerts patrons. The median household income is in the $60,000-$74,999 category. The King County median household income was estimated to be $59,718 in 2005[2]. However, 43% of KeyArena visitors are from outside King County, and it is beyond the resources of this study to analyze the comparative income distribution of the communities from which these visitors have come, and the incomes reported in this study. Overall, it appears as though incomes are predominantly in the “middle income” group for visitors to KeyArena.

Table 10. Household Income of KeyArena Patrons

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Under $20,000	5.9%	5.0%	5.6%
$20,000 to $39,999	12.5%	12.5%	12.5%
$40,000 to $59,999	17.2%	16.5%	16.9%
$60,000 to $74,999	15.4%	17.5%	16.2%
$75,000 to $99,999	19.9%	18.5%	19.4%
$100,000 to $124,999	12.8%	13.0%	12.8%
$125,000 to $249,999	12.2%	11.5%	11.9%
Over $250,000	4.2%	5.5%	4.7%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	337	200	537

Section Summary

KeyArena sports and concert visitors are well represented in the survey of visitors reported in this section. KeyArena was the primary reason for most of their trips. Two person groups were most common, but there are many individuals making KeyArena trips and also many groups involving more than two people. The gender of visitors is roughly evenly split between men and women. The typical visitor is in their thirties, but all ages are found in KeyArena visitors. People surveyed were generally well-educated, with over 44% having at least a bachelors degree, and 63% having at least some college. Over 75% of those interviewed were working full- or part-time, or were self-employed. About 6% were retired, and the balance was made up of either homemakers, persons unemployed, or students. Over 43% of the visitors to KeyArena were from outside King County; most of these came from elsewhere in Washington State (32%), while 11% came from out-of-state. Of the King County residents, 34% reported Seattle zip-codes. The household size of the average group of visitors was slightly less than three persons. Most people interviewed were Caucasian (81%), and median household income was between $60,000 and $75,000.

KeyArena Visitor Activities

This section reports results of questions related to activity at Seattle Center by visitors to KeyArena. It reports on their participation in various activities at Seattle Center on the trip at which they were interviewed, as well as their activity over the course of a year.

Many people visiting KeyArena also participate in other activities at Seattle Center on their trip. In many cases these other activities are also counted by Seattle Center as visits, such as a person attending a concert at KeyArena who rode the monorail to Seattle Center would be counted as attending the KeyArena, and also counted for their monorail ride. KeyArena patrons were asked to identify these activities with regard to the trip on which they were interviewed. Table 11 reports results of this question. This table indicates that almost all of those interviewed at a sports event or a concert replied that they were attending these activities. This table also indicates that the average patron also participated in an average of one other activity, most commonly engaging in dining and shopping, or visiting an attraction or museum at Seattle Center. It should be noted that some of these other activities would be subject to tickets or admission fees (such as visiting the Space Needle or going to EMP).

Table 11. Activities Participated in on Visits to KeyArena (columns are the percentages of people interviewed at the type of event who said they engaged in the activities listed in the rows)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Sports	99.5%	0.9%	62.4%
Arts – Including Concerts	8.6%	99.6%	42.8%
Dining & Shopping	27.7%	33.9%	30.0%
Attractions & Museums	30.1%	28.1%	29.4%
Major Festivals	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%
Seattle Center Public Programs	2.4%	6.3%	3.9%
Other-Campus	10.8%	12.1%	11.2%
Other	16.9%	25.4%	20.1%
Total Citations	196.2%	206.7%	200.2%

Sample Size	372	224	596

KeyArena patrons were asked to identify how frequently they came to Seattle Center to attend five categories of activity: ticketed sports events, ticketed cultural/arts performances/exhibits, free cultural/arts/performances/exhibits, festivals, and community gatherings. The frequency of answers to these questions is presented in Tables 12A-12E. Each table shows the percentage down a column of those interviewed at a particular type of activity indicating their frequency of participation in the activity on the title of the table. For example, regarding coming to a ticketed sports event, of those interviewed at a KeyArena sports event, 22.8% indicated that they came weekly to a sports event at Seattle Center, 36.0% said they came once or more per month, 28.5% said they came three or four times each year, 5.1% came once a year, 6.5% came less than once per year, 0.5% said that they never came to a Seattle Center sports event, and 0.5% did not respond to this question. With regard to this same question, 0.4% of the people interviewed at a KeyArena concert indicated they came to a Seattle Center ticketed sports event weekly, while 19.6% reported that they never came to such an event. There is a clear tendency for some non-response to this set of questions by people interviewed at an activity different than the focus of the question. However, it is evident that most people interviewed indicated that they had some participation in ticketed sports events, ticketed arts events, free arts events, and festivals on an annual basis. The responses were much lower with regard to coming to community gatherings at Seattle Center.

Table 12A. Ticketed Sports Events (% down column)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Weekly	22.8%	0.4%	14.4%
Once or More per Month	36.0%	6.7%	25.0%
3 or 4 Times per Year	28.5%	29.9%	29.0%
Once a Year	5.1%	13.4%	8.2%
Less than Once a Year	6.5%	19.2%	11.2%
Never	0.5%	19.6%	7.7%
No response	0.5%	10.7%	4.4%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	372	224	596

Table 12B. Ticketed Cultural Arts/Performance (% down column)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Weekly	0.5%	0.4%	0.5%
Once or More per Month	4.6%	2.2%	3.7%
3 or 4 Times per Year	23.1%	29.9%	25.7%
Once a Year	21.0%	24.6%	22.3%
Less than Once a Year	15.3%	28.1%	20.1%
Never	13.4%	6.3%	10.7%
No response	22.0%	8.5%	16.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	372	224	596

Table 12C. Free Cultural Arts Performance / Exhibits (% down column)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Weekly	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%
Once or More per Month	5.6%	2.7%	4.5%
3 or 4 Times per Year	21.2%	17.9%	20.0%
Once a Year	20.4%	17.4%	19.3%
Less than Once a Year	14.2%	14.3%	14.3%
Never	16.7%	25.9%	20.1%
No response	21.5%	21.4%	21.5%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	372	224	596

Table 12D. Festivals (% down column)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Weekly	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Once or More per Month	3.2%	2.7%	3.0%
3 or 4 Times per Year	26.3%	21.4%	24.5%
Once a Year	29.6%	23.7%	27.3%
Less than Once a Year	11.0%	13.4%	11.9%
Never	12.9%	21.9%	16.3%
No response	16.9%	17.0%	16.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	372	224	596

Table 12E. Community Gatherings

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Weekly	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Once or More per Month	1.9%	1.8%	1.8%
3 or 4 Times per Year	9.7%	4.9%	7.9%
Once a Year	14.0%	10.7%	12.8%
Less than Once a Year	15.9%	15.6%	15.8%
Never	30.6%	39.3%	33.9%
No response	28.0%	27.7%	27.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	372	224	596

People were asked how long they expected to stay at Seattle Center on their current visit to KeyArena. Results for this question are presented in Table 13. This table indicates that most people expected to be at the Seattle Center for either two or three hours, or four to eight hours.

Table 13. How Long People Expected to Stay on Their Visit Today (% down column)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
One Hour	0.3%	0.0%	0.2%
2-3 Hours	46.5%	31.7%	40.9%
4-8 Hours	47.8%	55.8%	50.8%
Over 8 Hours	3.8%	11.2%	6.5%
No response	1.6%	1.3%	1.5%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

KeyArena visitors were also asked how many times each year they came to Seattle Center. Table 14 reports responses to this question, which display an enormous range of reported frequencies of visits. Although all of these people were interviewed at KeyArena, some of them indicated making zero visits per year. People interviewed at KeyArena Concerts reported an average of four Seattle Center visits annually, while those interviewed at KeyArena sports events reported a much higher average attendance—twelve trips per year. These averages correspond well to reports of attendance at ticketed sports events and ticketed cultural arts/performance contained in Tables 12A and 12B.

Table 14. Number of Times Visitors Come to the Seattle Center per Year (% down column)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
0	0.9%	5.4%	2.6%
1	5.2%	15.3%	9.0%
2	4.3%	12.9%	7.5%
3	7.8%	13.9%	10.1%
4	6.4%	9.9%	7.7%
5	6.4%	9.4%	7.5%
6	4.6%	8.4%	6.0%
7 to 10	12.8%	12.4%	12.6%
11 to 15	12.2%	5.9%	9.9%
16 to 25	16.8%	3.5%	11.9%
26 to 50	19.7%	1.0%	12.8%
51 to 100	2.0%	1.0%	1.6%
101 to 200	0.6%	1.0%	0.7%
300	0.3%	0.0%	0.2%
Average	12	4	6
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
N	345	202	547

Section Summary

KeyArena visitors typically engage in more than one Seattle Center activity on their visits to KeyArena. The average visitor engages in two types of activity on their KeyArena/Seattle Center visit, typically an admission to the KeyArena event at which they were interviewed, along with dining, shopping, or a visit to attractions and museums. KeyArena patrons’ frequency of use of Seattle Center varies significantly, with the typical sports patron coming to the Seattle Center twelve times per year, while the typical concert patron reported four trips per year. Some people come to Seattle Center everyday. Most KeyArena visitors come to ticketed sports and arts events, as well as free arts events and festivals annually, but their frequency of attendance is highly variable. Most KeyArena visitors stay at Seattle Center for between two and eight hours on their visit.

Visitor Spending

KeyArena visitors were asked to record their estimated expenditures related to their trip to KeyArena. Patrons were asked to report only those expenditures that they would attribute to attending the activity that was their destination on the day of the interview. The few patrons whose primary trip reason was not to visit KeyArena often recorded costs for airplane travel, hotels, and automobile travel that were very high, given what they were doing at KeyArena. Expenditures that did not appear attributable to the KeyArena visit were removed from the analysis of visitor spending. Table 15 reports average expenditures per person for the valid sample. The reported expenditures for tickets / admissions for concerts is considerably above the value for sports. This high reported cost for KeyArena concert tickets was a result of interviews conducted at two concerts with ticket costs well above the average for KeyArena concerts, as will be discussed below.

Table 15. Average Expenditures Per Person in Sample

	Sports	Concerts	Composite
Tickets/Admissions	$45.40	$108.72	$70.18
Souvenirs and gifts	7.80	15.84	10.95
Parking fees	3.90	2.73	3.44
Bus/ferry/taxi	0.86	1.22	1.00
Auto travel	5.34	5.97	5.59
Food / beverages before or after event	11.85	12.74	12.20
Food / beverages at the event	9.05	5.49	7.66
Entertainment	2.31	3.10	2.62
Lodging / Accommodations	2.31	17.66	8.31
Air travel	3.29	19.19	9.51
Child care	0.63	0.30	0.50
Other	3.63	4.74	4.07
Total	$96.37	$197.71	$136.03
N	944	607	1,551

Spending by visitors to the KeyArena varies by region of origin. Table 16 reports average expenditures reported by visitors in the valid sample, divided into visitors from King County, from elsewhere in Washington State, and from Out of State. For those visitors traveling from outside King County costs for travel, food and beverages, and lodging / accommodations rise significantly. Spending also increases on souvenirs and entertainment for those traveling from outside King County.

Table 16. Spending Per Capita by Region of Origin in Sample

	King County	Other Washington	Out of State
Tickets/Admissions	$57.63	$81.61	$88.46
Souvenirs and gifts	8.59	12.57	17.04
Parking fees	3.78	3.02	2.99
Bus/ferry/taxi	0.52	0.98	2.87
Auto travel	4.09	5.06	11.33
Food / beverages before or after event	8.95	15.83	15.52
Food / beverages at the event	7.02	7.32	12.78
Entertainment	1.96	3.23	3.50
Lodging / Accommodations	0.35	5.12	29.58
Air travel	0.96	3.09	61.92
Child care	0.70	0.27	0.25
Other	4.08	2.37	7.21
Total	$98.64	$140.47	$253.44

It was necessary to adjust reported spending on KeyArena concert admissions to have these values be in accord with data obtained from Seattle Center on admissions paid for KeyArena concerts and other non-professional sports events. Seattle Center records report for KeyArena Concerts and other non-professional sports events $14.9 million in admissions receipts in 2005, and $15.7 million in 2004 (including NCAA playoffs), very similar statistics.

The ticket spending reported for the U-2 and Paul McCartney concerts were much higher than the average KeyArena concert. The average patron interviewed at the U2 concert reported spending $124.49 on tickets, while for the Paul McCartney show this figure was $205.55. Data provided by the Seattle Center showed 2004 receipts per capita for events other than concerts to be $12.91. Total admissions for 2004 were $15.7 million. Using $12.91 as the average admissions expenditure for non-concert events, and an estimated 149,651 admissions to events other than concerts, yields an estimated expenditure of $1.93 million on tickets/admissions. The balance of revenue for KeyArena concerts was estimated to be $13.78 million, which would imply an average ticket cost of $58.13 given the estimated attendance of 237,052. This is consistent with Figure 4, which shows the number of concerts and their ticket prices in 2004. An average ticket cost of $58.13 was used in the estimate of total concert ticket outlays, rather than the average from the survey data.

Figure 4. Distribution of KeyArena Concerts Ticket Prices in 2004

KeyArena sports and arts visitors engaged in activities besides those taking place in KeyArena that were subject to admissions or ticket expenditures. These expenditures would have been reported along with their sports or concert ticket costs in the survey of visitors, given how this question was worded. Some 35% of the concert patrons checked some other activity that would have had a ticket/admission cost, while 41% of those interviewed at sports events reported these activities. We do not know exactly how much this spending was beyond the KeyArena tickets. This is other activity at the Seattle Center that has an economic impact, and needs to be included in this analysis. Table 17 presents a listing of activities cited by KeyArena sports and concert patrons subject to admissions or tickets in venues outside where they were interviewed.

Table 17. Distribution of KeyArena Patrons citations of things subject to admissions/tickets

	Sports # Citations	% of Total	Concerts # Citations	% of Total
Arts	32	8.6%	0	0.0%
Pacific Science Center	26	7.0%	8	3.6%
Sports	0	0.0%	2	0.9%
Festivals	9	2.4%	14	6.3%
Fun Forest	16	4.3%	4	1.8%
Monorail	19	5.1%	8	3.6%
Museums	16	4.3%	15	6.7%
Space Needle	35	9.4%	28	12.5%
Total	153	41.1%	79	35.3%

Using the average expenditures reported in the Seattle Center report for admissions/tickets at these sites yields an average of $4.14 for additional admissions by those attending KeyArena concerts[3]. For those interviewed at a sports event, the mean was $9.73. Excepting the citations for arts, the mean for those interviewed at a sports event is $3.65, very close to the value for concerts. An analysis of the 32 cases where sports patrons checked arts, finds that reported ticket costs in only 3 of these cases are large enough to cover the sports event as well as an arts event with an average ticket price for all Seattle Center arts events. Thus, it seems reasonable to not include in tickets/admissions an allowance for arts spending by sports patrons. Based on this analysis, if the concerts frequency for arts is accurate (solution to an overall estimated Seattle Center attendance model suggests that it is), then of the $44.94 in tickets/admissions reported by sports fans, $41.29 is for sports admissions, and the balance on other admissions. Using the estimate of $58.13 for KeyArena concerts, an additional $4.14 was spent on average by these concertgoers, or an average of $62.27.

We do not have any sample data for people attending the other events identified in Figure 2. We have assumed that their spending is the same as KeyArena concert attendees, except for tickets/admissions. This would make their ticket/admission outlays to be $17.06 ($12.91 + $4.14). These values have been used to estimate the total spending in Table 19. For sports this is $2.61 million in other tickets/admissions, and for concerts it is $1.6 million. This spending has been treated as a purchase from the sector 37 in the Input/Output model (arts, recreation, and accommodations)[4].

The average estimated expenditures per visitor after these adjustments are reported in Table 18. The average outlays reported for concerts is for both KeyArena concerts as well as other events taking place at KeyArena. These expenditure estimates were used to calculate total KeyArena visitor expenditures. These data have also been weighted to take into account the estimated number of patrons by region of origin. The average spending by sports fans differs slightly from the Seattle Center economic impact assessment, as that study included some responses that did not report their region of origin, while the present study is based on responses with region of origin data.

Table 18. Adjusted Average Expenditures Used in Modeling, weighted by attendance and shares by region of origin and concerts/other KeyArena events

	Sports	Concerts	Composite
Tickets/Admissions	$45.40	$44.77	$45.18
Souvenirs and gifts	7.80	17.51	11.20
Parking fees	3.90	2.90	3.55
Bus/ferry/taxi	0.86	1.20	0.98
Auto travel	5.34	4.96	5.21
Food / beverages before or after event	11.85	14.45	12.76
Food / beverages at the event	9.05	5.92	7.95
Entertainment	2.31	2.83	2.49
Lodging / Accommodations	2.31	9.98	4.99
Air travel	3.29	17.59	8.30
Child care	0.63	0.48	0.58
Other	3.63	4.47	3.93
Total	$96.37	$127.05	$107.11

Total spending by KeyArena patrons was estimated by multiplying estimated attendance figures by the values in Table 18, to obtain total patron outlays. These estimates are reported in Table 19. It should be noted that tables beginning with Table 19 are expressed in millions of dollars. This table reports total spending by KeyArena sports visitors of $69 million, and spending by KeyArena concert and other visitors of $49 million, or a total of $118 million. Well over half of this spending ($68 million) is for goods and services other than tickets / admissions to KeyArena events. It should be noted that the total for sports here is slightly different than in the Seattle Center report, because we accounted for some of the sports participation in the Seattle Center report from people originating in other Seattle Center venues. Figures in this report are slightly higher for sports ($69.17 million), versus $65.86 million in the Seattle Center report.

Table 19. Total KeyArena Visitor Expenditures ($ millions)

	Sports	Concerts	Total
Tickets/Admissions	$32.58M	$17.31M	$49.90M
Souvenirs and gifts	5.60	6.77	12.37
Parking fees	2.80	1.12	3.92
Bus/ferry/taxi	0.61	0.46	1.08
Auto travel	3.83	1.92	5.75
Food / beverages before or after event	8.51	5.59	14.09
Food / beverages at the event	6.50	2.29	8.79
Entertainment	1.66	1.09	2.75
Lodging / Accommodations	1.66	3.86	5.52
Air travel	2.36	6.80	9.17
Child care	0.45	0.19	0.64
Other	2.61	1.73	4.34
Total	$69.17M	$49.13M	$118.30M

III. KeyArena Business Survey

A survey was undertaken of KeyArena sports businesses, and of Seattle Center operations that support events at KeyArena. A copy of this survey is found in Appendix II. Data on KeyArena Concerts and other events was provided to the authors by Seattle Center. This data included summaries of settlement sheets with KeyArena concert presenters and promoters, as well as data gathered by Seattle Center in relation to these concerts and other events. Due to confidentiality promises to businesses participating in this study, we are not providing detailed tables by type of business activity in this section of this report.

Revenue of KeyArena Businesses

It is estimated that total revenue associated with sports, concerts and other activities at KeyArena, and the support services provided by Seattle Center, was $121.82 million in the year 2005. It is estimated that $48.26 million of this was “new money,” that is revenue that came to these businesses from sources located outside King County. This includes the estimated value of ticket purchases made by people from outside King County, plus other revenue of these businesses. The estimated new money was 39.6% of total revenues. Figure 5 indicates the percentage of new money by type of business activity at KeyArena.

Figure 5. KeyArena New Money Percentages

Employment

Businesses using and servicing KeyArena provide employment for nearly 600 people, as reported in Table 20 and Figure 6. Administrative and clerical employees account for 10% of this total, while artistic/professional/technical employees account for 13%, and sales employees 17% of total employment. Most employment is in the category “other personnel”, and these are largely part-time or seasonal/temporary workers, as reported below. Contract employees account for 10% of total employment. It should be noted that these figures exclude people employed by promoters and presenters to help set up, stage, and take down KeyArena concerts and other non-sports events. Expenditures for the work that these people undertake are included in the economic impact analysis, and indirectly their employment level is estimated in the economic impact analysis.

Table 20. Employment Composition of KeyArena Activities

Administrative / Clerical	58
Artistic / Professional / Technical	75
Sales	100
Other Personnel	299
Contract Employees	59
Total	591

Figure 6. Composition of Employment by Occupation

The distribution of KeyArena employment by work tenure is reported in Table 21 and Figure 7. Full-time employment is provided for over one-third of KeyArena employees, while almost two-thirds of these people work seasonally or as temporary employees. Just 1% of KeyArena employees are part-time.

Table 21. Full Time, Part Time, and Seasonal/Temporary Employment

Full Time	206
Part Time	7
Seasonal/Temporary	378
Total	591

Figure 7. Composition of Employment by Work Tenure

Expenses

The expenditures of KeyArena businesses are reported in Table 22 and Figure 8. Contract employees (mostly but not all are professional sports contract employees) are the largest share of expenses (52%), followed by services (26%). Wage and salary payments represent 10% of expenses, while other goods and services account for 7%, taxes for 4%, and utilities and telephone for 1% of expenses.

Table 22. Major Expense Categories ($ millions)

Wages & Salaries	$13.00M
Contract Employees	64.70
Services	32.54
Utilities & Telephone	1.16
Other Goods & Services	8.67
Taxes	4.77
Total Expenses	$124.83M

Figure 8. Composition of Expenses

The largest share of expenses of KeyArena businesses are for labor, as reported in Table 22 and Figure 8. Table 23 reports the composition of earnings for employees and contract personnel. Employee costs are relatively evenly divided between administrative/clerical, artistic/professional/technical, sales, and other employees. Contract personnel earnings are dominated by payments to artistic / professional / technical personnel.

Table 23. Earnings by Occupation ($ Millions)

Employees:
Administrative / Clerical	$3.66
Artistic / Professional / Technical	3.30
Sales	3.68
Other Personnel	2.36

Contract Personnel:
Administrative / Clerical	0.00
Artistic / Professional / Technical	64.25
Sales	0.00
Other Personnel	0.44

Total	$77.69

The non-employee expenses categories reported in Table 22 and Figure 8 are reported in more detail in Tables 24 through 27. Table 24 presents detailed information on service expenditures. In addition to reporting the dollar amount of spending for these services, this table reports the share of total services outlays by expenditure category, and the share of the spending that accrues to King County businesses. The largest expenditure categories are for marketing, transportation, and for “other” services. The “other services” category includes payments made to promoters and performing groups at KeyArena; these payments were about $10 million and predominantly non-local. Most of the service purchases reported in Table 24 were made locally, while several categories associated with travel by KeyArena businesses had lower local spending (transportation, lodging, purchased food & beverage services).

Table 24. Service Expenditures ($ millions)

		% of Services	% in King County
Marketing	$7.43	22.8%	89.9%
Press & public relations	0.69	2.1%	100.0%
Photographic/art services	0.04	0.1%	52.9%
Banking	0.46	1.4%	100.0%
Insurance	0.72	2.2%	100.0%
Professional services	1.85	5.7%	95.2%
Janitorial/protective	0.07	0.2%	100.0%
Transportation	3.18	9.8%	51.7%
Lodging	0.44	1.3%	52.5%
Purchased food/beverage services	0.84	2.6%	77.7%
Set/costume/exhibit rental	0.26	0.8%	100.0%
Equipment rental	0.34	1.0%	100.0%
Hall Rental (Incl. payments to Seattle Center)	3.13	9.6%	100.0%
Seattle Center Event Services	1.63	5.0%	100.0%
Seattle Center Labor Reimbursement	0.10	0.3%	100.0%
Office and work space rental	0.94	2.9%	100.0%
Royalties	0.00	0.0%
Other Services	10.43	32.0%	2.7%
Total	$32.54	100.0%	60.2%

Table 25 reports spending for telephone and utilities. This table reports that about half of these outlays were for utilities, while the balance was split between postage and telephone & cable services. Most of these outlays were also made in King County.

Table 25. Telephone and Utility Expenditures ($ millions)

		% of Total	% in King County
Telephone & cable services	$0.44M	37.5%	98.3%
Postage	0.17	15.0%	100.0%
Other Utilities	0.55	47.5%	100.0%
Total	$1.16M	100.0%	99.4%

KeyArena businesses incurred about 7% of their total costs on other goods and services, whose composition is reported in Table 26. This table indicates a somewhat higher level of purchase outside the local area than for other expenditure categories, largely in relation to the “other goods and services” category. This category includes merchandise being sold by KeyArena businesses, or specialized services that did not fit other categories in the questionnaire.

Table 26. Other Goods and Service Expenditures ($ millions)

		% of Total	% in King County
Printing	$0.83M	9.6%	85.7%
Exhibit/set materials	0.00	0.0%	0.0%
Production Materials	1.46	16.8%	50.4%
Supplies	0.40	4.6%	83.3%
Maintenance	0.50	5.8%	82.9%
Other	5.48	63.3%	51.2%
Total	$8.67M	100.0%	57.6%

KeyArena businesses reported payments of about $4.8 million in taxes, as reported in Table 27. The largest of these reported taxes was City of Seattle admissions tax, followed by the business and occupation tax, and then sales taxes.

Table 27. Tax Payments ($ millions)

		% of Total	% in King County
Sales Tax	$0.22M	4.6%	77.0%
B&O Tax	2.16	45.2%	85.4%
Property Tax	0.15	3.1%	100.0%
City Admissions Tax	2.24	46.9%	100.0%
Other Taxes	0.01	0.2%	100.0%
	$4.77M	100.0%	92.4%

IV. Economic Impact Analysis

The results of the surveys of KeyArena visitors and KeyArena businesses were brought together to calculate economic impacts through use of an Input/Output model. The model used in this analysis is a model of the King County economy, and it is driven by two sets of data. First, the direct values of sales, employment, labor income, and other value added for KeyArena businesses as described in Section III of this report were entered as final demands. The direct purchases in the regional economy constitute the second set of data entering this model, and these data are included in Table 28.

Two estimates of economic impact are presented in this section of the report. The first is an overall estimate of economic impacts, based on the gross spending of KeyArena visitors and businesses. The second estimate is referred to as a “new money” estimate, and it is based on the dollars spent by visitors coming from outside King County, and on the revenue generated by KeyArena businesses from income sources located outside King County. The gross impact estimate documents the current overall economic impact of KeyArena, but it includes discretionary spending by local residents that could be shifted to other activities. While if such a shift were to occur, it is likely that the economic impacts of a different spending pattern by local residents would be different than current impacts, it is also likely that the total economic impacts would not be markedly different. The second estimate (“new money”) provides an estimate of the contribution of KeyArena to the economic base of King County. This estimate can be interpreted as the magnitude of the loss to the King County economy if business activity now taking place at KeyArena were not located here.

Overall Economic Impacts

The data in Table 28 represent conversion of the consumer expenditure categories used in the KeyArena visitor survey into Input/Output model sectors, with appropriate adjustments for non-King County production being eliminated from these purchase estimates. The data in Table 28 also contains estimates of purchases by Input/Output sector of KeyArena businesses, as reported in Tables 22, 24, 25, and 26. The sum of these purchases is less than the sum of purchases reported for KeyArena businesses and KeyArena visitors because in many cases purchases were made of goods or services not produced in King County. The questionnaire included in Appendix II asked respondents to indicate the share of their expenditures made in King County. Thus, Table 28 represents net estimates of direct purchases made in King County, plus purchases of labor that are included elsewhere in the Input/Output model. It should be noted that these estimates have been made to avoid “double counting” of expenditures. For example, ticket / admissions paid to KeyArena businesses are excluded from the economic impact estimates, while the expenditures that the organizations included in the study made as a result of visits by KeyArena patrons are included. Payments to Seattle Center for services rendered by various KeyArena presenters have been excluded as purchases, while the expenditures of Seattle Center in relation to these services are included in this analysis.

Table 28. King County First-Round Purchases ($ millions)

	Visitors	Businesses	Total
1 Crop production			0
2 Animal production			0
3 Forestry and fishing			0
4 Logging			0
5 Mining			0
6 Electric utilities		$0.342M	$0.342M
7 Gas utilities		0.146	0.146
8 Other utilities		0.065	0.065
9 Construction		0.414	0.414
10 Food manufacturing			0
11 Textiles and apparel			0
12 Wood product manufacturing			0
13 Paper manufacturing			0
14 Printing		0.713	0.713
15 Petroleum and products			0
16 Chemical manufacturing			0
17 Nonmetallic mineral products mfg.
18 Primary metals			0
19 Fabricated metals			0
20 Machinery manufacturing			0
21 Computer and electronic product			0
22 Electrical equipment			0
23 Aircraft and parts			0
24 Ship and boat building			0
25 Other transportation equipment			0
26 Furniture			0
27 Other manufacturing			0
28 Wholesale trade			0
29 Retail trade	7.463	1.161	8.624
30 Transportation and warehousing	6.145	1.817	7.961
31 Information

Total Economic Impacts
Total Economic Output ($millions)	$ 353.3
Employment – No. of Jobs	3,252
Labor Income ($millions)	$102.1

Tax Impacts ($ millions)
State	$7.9
Local	$5.5
Total ($millions)	$ 13.3
New Money Economic Impacts
Total Economic Output ($millions)	$ 164.6
Employment – No. of Jobs	1,572
Labor Income ($millions)	$47.3

Tax Impacts ($ millions)
State	$3.7
Local	$2.7
Total ($millions)	$ 6.5

Executive Summary

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

I. Introduction

II. KeyArena Visitor Survey

Figure 1. Percentage Share of Valid Visitor Surveys by Type of Event

Figure 2. Composition of Attendance at KeyArena 2005

Characteristics of KeyArena Visitors

Table 2. Number of People in Party

Concerts

Out of State

Businesses