Exceeding expectations: Hoover Met Complex has $49M economic impact on Birmingham-Hoover region

The Hoover Metropolitan Complex exceeded original expectations for its second full year of operations and had a $49 million economic impact on the Birmingham-Hoover region, facility managers said.

The original expectation when the complex was being built was that it would lose $600,000 in its operating budget for its second full year.

Instead, the sports and event complex lost only $114,000 in fiscal 2019, General Manager John Sparks said.

However, those numbers do not take into account about $3.2 million the city puts out each year to help pay for operations and $2.8 million in annual debt payments, said Melinda Lopez, the city’s chief financial and information officer.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said while the Hoover Met Complex does cost the city almost $6 million a year, “we’re getting $6 million worth of usage” out of it.

A report from Sports Facilities Management, which manages the complex for the city, indicates that more than 135,000 people from local sports groups used the complex in fiscal 2019. That includes 75,364 people from local sports groups using the indoor Finley Center, 42,984 local people using the multi-purpose sports fields and 18,576 local people using the baseball/softball complex, the report says.

Also, more than 90,000 people used the splash pad and playground between the time it opened in May and the end of September, when the splash pad closed and the fiscal year ended, according to SFM.

Meanwhile, 8,342 people were documented as using the walking track at the Finley Center, 5,187 people took advantage of “open gym” time, more than 4,500 people used the climbing and adventure center, 1,698 local people used the 16 tennis courts and 695 children took part in summer camps, the report says.

“What excites me about it is the fact that we are getting so much usage out of it by our residents,” Brocato said. “We’ve chosen to spend a lot of money to improve the quality of life for our citizens.”

In addition to local users, the Hoover Met Complex officially drew 162,699 people to the 2019 SEC Baseball Tournament in May and more than 182,000 people to other events in fiscal 2019, records show.

That includes 44,013 to baseball and softball tournaments, 32,865 to the SEC Fan Fest at the Finley Center, 28,718 to trade shows, 23,261 to basketball tournaments, 11,958 to volleyball tournaments, 7,675 to mat sports, 7,458 to soccer tournaments, 6,225 to special events, 5,840 to meetings and parties, 4,015 to school and other athletic functions, 3,200 to lacrosse tournaments, 970 to tennis events, 3,582 to other outdoor sports, 1,738 to other indoor sports, 2,112 to stadium events and 1,515 to events in the parking lot.

Jason Clement, the co-founder and CEO of SFM, said he is excited about the accomplishments at the Hoover complex. He has had a part in opening about 100 sports and event complexes across the country and said he’s not aware of another one that has achieved this level of performance two years into operation.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The estimated economic impact of the complex is more than double what was originally projected, Clement said.

SFM originally had predicted an economic impact of $14 million in the Hoover Met Complex’s first year, $24.4 million in the second year, $27.7 million the third year, $31.8 million the third year and $33.4 million the fifth year.

The first year’s estimated economic impact — for fiscal 2018 — was slightly above projections at $14.86 million. The second year, that rose to $49 million, including $40.8 million in direct spending in hotels and $8.2 million in indirect spending for food, gas and incidentals, according to calculations by the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The complex generated 62,195 hotel room night stays in the Birmingham-Hoover region, according to the bureau.

The bureau estimated 25 percent of those hotel stays were in the city limits of Hoover, generating $61,365 in additional tax revenue for the city. Indirect spending in the city limits of Hoover was estimated to generate $114,449 in additional tax revenue, and the complex itself pays $50,280 in local taxes, for a total of $226,094 in additional tax revenue to the city.

Councilman John Greene said it’s important for people to realize the $49 million in estimated economic impact is not revenue that comes to the city for the City Council to spend.

People were wondering why the city had to raise the sales tax by a half percentage point and add a $2-per-night hotel room fee, Greene said. “The word was out that we just had money to burn, and that [complex] really did not make that much of an impact on our coffers.”

Council President Gene Smith said that’s true, but the complex has done a lot to impact spending in businesses in Hoover and throughout the region and keep businesses afloat.

Councilman John Lyda agreed and said those businesses employ people. “It’s a trickle-down effect,” Lyda said. The tourism bureau’s method is the gold standard for calculating economic impact, he said. “That’s the way we measure success.”

LOCAL USAGE

Clement said SFM wants to continue to partner with the city to meet income expectations, while at the same time balancing the need for revenue with the need to provide space for local groups to use the sports facilities.

In fiscal 2019, 66 percent of the activity on the multi-sports fields (football, soccer, lacrosse, etc.) was for local groups and did not generate revenue, Sparks said. The same was true for 60 percent of the activities at the Finley Center and 28 percent of the activities at the baseball complex, he said.

Records show there were 158 indoor events at the complex in fiscal 2019 and 88 outdoor events.

Sparks said complex managers feel good about the future. They’ve been able to book some large events with contracts for three to five years, including nine Perfect Game baseball championship events that are expected to have a $13.5 million economic impact in 2020.

Perfect Game considers the Hoover Metropolitan Complex to be one of its two main Southeastern hubs.

Other events scheduled for 2020 include the HoopSeen Bama Jam basketball tournament, Adidas Gauntlet Summer Championships (basketball) for girls and boys, Competitive Youth Basketball League National Championship, East Coast Pro Showcase (baseball), Southeast Sectionals Ultimate Disc tournament, four U.S. Tennis Association junior tournaments, Hoover Soccer Club Hoover Havoc tournament, Birmingham United Soccer Association Red Diamond Classic, Alabama Shootout lacrosse tournament, Birmingham AAU Super Regionals volleyball tournament, three Worldwide Spirit Association cheer and dance competitions, a USA Volleyball tournament, Bolt Softball Showcase and Alabama Gridiron Classic youth football tournament.

Non-sports events scheduled include the Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders Home Builders Showcase, three Piggly Wiggly food shows, seven gun shows, two Vintage Market Days and Kulture City Gala.