Myrtle Beach sports tourism generates more than $174 million in direct spending
Did you know that sports tourism in the City of Myrtle Beach produced $174.2 million in direct spending during the 2023 calendar year? That’s up from $154.7 million for 2022. Of the 2023 total, $16 million was returned to local governments (city, county and state) in taxes and fees, with Myrtle Beach receiving $4.2 million. Sporting events included the traditional activities, along with dance, fencing, cornhole, weight-lifting, pickleball, wrestling and kickball. Baseball again was the biggest economic contributor at $53 million, followed by dance at $37.6 million and fast-pitch softball at $21.4 million. Other top revenue-generating sports for the city included basketball ($13.1 million), volleyball ($8.5 million) slow-pitch softball ($7 million), soccer ($4.8 million), cheerleading ($4 million), archery ($3.8 million), gymnastics ($3.7 million), World’s Strongest Man ($3.6 million) and football ($3.3 million). July was the busiest month, with $42.5 million, followed by March ($33.8 million), June ($24.2 million) and August ($20.7 million) and. September – the back-to-school month for many – had the least activity, with just $3.7 million. “Direct spending” means one dollar is spent one time in the local economy; it does not include any economic multipliers.