Executive Summary

KeyArena had 1.1 million visitors in the year 2005. These people spent $118 million in relation to their visits to KeyArena. KeyArena is also home to a number of businesses and is used by many touring groups. These businesses had revenue from their business activity of $121 million in the year 2005. Almost $50 million of this revenue came from tickets and admissions to events or performances that took place at KeyArena.

The spending of KeyArena visitors and businesses created $350 million in business activity, 3,252 jobs, and $102 million in labor income in King County in the year 2005. In addition, state and local governments received $13.3 million in tax revenues as a result of this business activity at KeyArena. An estimated 591 people are directly employed by businesses at KeyArena. Most of these are part-time or seasonal / temporary employees, but 35% (206) have full-time employment.

KeyArena is an important tourist destination, with about 43% of its visitors coming from outside King County. Most of these people make their trips primarily to go to sporting events or concerts at KeyArena. Their spending, plus the income that businesses at KeyArena receive from sources other than visitors from outside King County, results in economic impacts that would not occur if KeyArena were not located here or if businesses located at KeyArena were not in King County. These economic impacts are referred to as “new money” impacts. New money impacts at KeyArena yielded $165 million in business activity, 1,572 jobs, $47 million in labor income, and $6.5 million in tax revenues in the year 2005. The table below summarizes the total economic impacts and total “new money” impacts of the KeyArena.

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

A typical group of visitors to KeyArena was composed of two or three people. Over 98% made their visit to Seattle primarily to visit KeyArena. They are roughly evenly split between men and women, and encompass all age categories. They are primarily working full-time or are self-employed, but include retired people, those not working, students, and other classes of people. They tend to be middle-income people, with household income between $60,000 and $75,000, and come from households with an average of 2.8 persons. Local visitors to KeyArena typically come to a variety of events at Seattle Center each year, while non-local visitors have a much more targeted visitation pattern. Typical visitors stay either for 2-3 hours, or for 4-8 hours. 81% of KeyArena visitors are Caucasian, with 19% persons of color, which is in line with the racial makeup of western Washington. Crowds at sporting events are more diverse than at concerts, with 23% persons of color.

Businesses at KeyArena spend most of their revenues on labor (62%), with 26% of their revenues spent on services, 1% on utilities and telephones, 4% on taxes, and 7% on other goods and services. About 10% of employees are administrative or clerical, 13% are artistic / professional / technical, 17% are in sales occupations, 10% are employed as contract workers, and 50% have other occupational status. Contract workers are primarily professional basketball players.

It is very clear from the data presented in this report that KeyArena is not only a vibrant location for sports and artistic activities in the City of Seattle, but it is also an important contributor to the economic base of the regional economy. It generates jobs and income for thousands of people locally, and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year from outside the local economy.

This report is primarily based on two surveys. A survey of 601 groups of patrons was conducted at KeyArena from April 2005 through December 2005. A survey of businesses at KeyArena was completed in this same time period.

Executive Summary i

Table of Contents iii

Acknowledgements iii

I. Introduction 1

II. KeyArena Visitor Survey 2

Characteristics of KeyArena Visitors 3

KeyArena Visitor Activities 9

Visitor Spending 13

III. KeyArena Business Survey 19

Revenue of KeyArena Businesses 19

Employment 20

Expenses 21

IV. Economic Impact Analysis 26

Overall Economic Impacts 26

New Money Impacts 31

V. Concluding Comments 33

Appendix I Patron Questionnaire 34

Appendix II KeyArena Business Questionnaire 38

Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the help of hundreds of patrons visiting KeyArena. It would also not have been possible without the help of all of the businesses and resident organizations located at or using KeyArena. While these three groups contributed the data that made this study possible, the real foundation for making sure that this study happened was the staff of Seattle Center and the Seattle Center Foundation. In this regard, we must thank Orit Sarfaty (Seattle Center Foundation Staff) and David Heurtel (Seattle Center Staff) for their unending efforts to get the data we needed to complete this project. We also wish to acknowledge the strong and longstanding support of Tracy Robinson, Executive Director of Seattle Center Foundation, and Virginia Anderson, Director of Seattle Center, for this research project. Linnea Johnson, a Seattle Center Foundation intern during the summer of 2005, provided valuable assistance in the conduct of this study. Shelly Yapp and Ned Dunn on Seattle Center staff also provided excellent comments on drafts of this report.

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