While the attendance for the game at Tim Hortons Field was 28,808 people, the study says that the total reported attendance for the entire event, which included a six-day festival, was 223,216. Photo Credit: Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
A new study by Sport Tourism Canada (STC), commissioned by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Canadian Football League (CFL), found that the 2023 Grey Cup game and festival generated over $73.5 million in total economic activity in Canada.
Taking into account expenditures, the combination of events reportedly generated a net economic impact (GDP) of $41.9 million, including $35.4 million for the province of Ontario and $29.2 million for the City of Hamilton alone.
The 2023 Grey Cup Festival was famously planned as one of the most extravagant in history, with 42 events in the City of Hamilton and the surrounding region, including the CFL Awards in Niagara Falls.
Matt Afinec, President and Chief Operating Officer of Business Operations at Hamilton Sports Group said in a press release: “The 2023 Grey Cup Festival was a first-of-its-kind regional event that also integrated some of Hamilton’s favourite annual traditions into the six days, including the Santa Claus Parade, Around the Bay Road Race and Supercrawl.”
Neil Lumsden, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport and Member of Provincial Parliament for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek went so far as to say that the 110th Grey Cup and 2023 Grey Cup Festival in Hamilton “set a new standard of excellence for how Canada’s biggest football game should be delivered.”
“These numbers show that regionalizing the festivities not only supported local economies in both Hamilton and the Niagara region, but they also offered a better experience for fans who travelled from all across Canada,” added Lumsden.
While the attendance for the game at Tim Hortons Field was 28,808 people, the study says that the total reported attendance for the entire event, which included a six-day festival, was 223,216.
A good number of those were “out-of-town guests” who reportedly visited the region for an average of 3.4 days which generated about $20.8 million in visitor spending.
Of those surveyed, 36.8 per cent of attendees were from Hamilton, 10.5 per cent were from Toronto or another part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), 10.2 per cent from another part of Southern Ontario, and 8.5 per cent were from another part of Ontario.
There was also a considerable percentage, 42 per cent of attendees, from outside Ontario, including 10.5 per cent from Manitoba, 9.1 per cent from Alberta, 4.3 per cent from Quebec, 2.8 per cent from British Columbia, and even 2.5 per cent from the United States.
A total of 310 local jobs were supported by the event, with $18.4 million in wages and salaries.
There were also 800 volunteers who supported the delivery of Grey Cup events.
Television statistics for the 2023 Grey Cup were also reported, with 8.9 million Canadians watching the game.
That number represents a nine per cent increase from the 2022 Grey Cup and placing it as one of the biggest television events in Canada in 2023.
The STC’s economic impact team conducted surveying and data collection for the study.
The team communicates that they used the STEAMPRO economic impact assessment model to produce the report.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
