Carson's Abby Pradere leads Centennial's Alexis Gourrier in the 4A girls 800-meter run Saturday at the NIAA State Track and Field Championships at Carson High.
With about 1,000 teenage athletes in town for State Track and Field Championships, Carson City businesses were enjoying a strong weekend.
Carson City Visitors Bureau officials said pretty much every hotel and motel room in the Capital was booked for at least Friday and Saturday.
Mayor Bob Crowell said overall, sports tourism generates upward of $16 million a year in economic impact in the capital and the championships are not only good for the money but for the community.
“That’s a big deal,” he said. “It puts us on the map that we’re a great community to come and visit.”
Visitors Bureau Events Manager James Salanoa said they ordered 1,200 bibs for the student athletes to wear during competition at the championship events.
He said the impact isn’t just hotel/motel rooms, that restaurants in town were also doing a booming business.
Salanoa said if upward of 1,000 students are competing, there are probably about 3,000 visitors in town for the competition when parents and siblings are counted.
“They’re here for two days. They also eat lunch, dinner and breakfast,” he said.
He said between the Track and Field championships at Carson High and other state tournaments in Reno this weekend, he expects a solid economic boost when all the bed nights are tallied and sales tax numbers for the month are finally reported out in July or August.
