MANKATO —
“Oh I don’t know. Maybe 400 or 500 bucks.”
That’s what Ben Volkman estimates he and his two young boys will spend in Mankato during the opening weekend of Minnesota Vikings training camp, which begins in earnest today.
A couple of hundred for a hotel through Sunday, he figured, plus some Vikings memorabilia to remember the trip, an afternoon at River Hills Mall and a few restaurant meals — including Jake’s Stadium Pizza, a family favorite.
“We’ve spent a lot more than that on vacations before,” said Volkman, buttressed by his two be-purpled boys who were angling for player autographs Thursday outside Minnesota State University’s Sears Hall.
“So, it’s pretty reasonable.”
When the Vikings come to town, the spending begins.
Thirty-two cities across the country host training camps for National Football League teams and many of them celebrate a similar theme each summer when camps open: local economic impact.
For larger training camp cities, the impacts are muted. But in smaller markets such as Mankato’s, they are significant indeed.
Anna Thill, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said more than 50,000 spectators visited Mankato last year, generating an estimated $5 million in additional local revenue. She said her goal is help visitors find places to sleep, dine and shop while they enjoy their summer stay in Minnesota’s training camp mecca.
To that end, the CVB is coordinating “Jared’s Journey,” a scavenger-hunt of sorts that will lead participants to a host of Mankato attractions in search of a life-size cutout of Jared Allen, the Vikings’ charismatic all-pro defensive end. Thill said clues and instructions will be available all over town as well as on a smartphone application offered through Google.
“Our hope is to get people out and about and experiencing different parts of the community,” Thill said.
River Falls, Wis., was home to the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp for about two decades — until this summer when the Chiefs relocated to Missouri for preseason camp. (The Vikings’ contract with MSU was extended through 2011 after $400,000 in upgrades were made at Blakeslee Stadium in 2007.)
Rosanne Bump, president of River Falls’ chamber of commerce, said the city held a three-day farm festival this year that attracted about 35,000 visitors to “help ease the pain.”
But, according to figures she shared from a 2005 study, the city will still lose out on more than $1.4 million in local revenue (including $400,000 the Chiefs paid for food and services during that year).
Training camp economics have become so important in Indiana — home to the Indianapolis Colts — that a columnist at the Indianapolis Business Journal called the ongoing pursuit of Colts camp a “civil war” between the cities of Anderson and Terre Haute.
In Renton, Wash., the celebration already has begun for the second year of Seattle Seahawks training camp. With 20,000 visitors expected to attend, the mayor declared today as “Seahawks Spirit Day” and will be flying a specially designed flag above the city hall.
Of course, it all pales in comparison to the economic impacts of hosting a Super Bowl. According to reports after this year’s championship game in February, the Miami area raked in more than $330 million.
“If they ever have a Super Bowl at Blakeslee,” Volkman said, “we’ll be there.”
Local News
With camp open, let the spending begin
- Local News
-
-
Scaffold timber was really from bridge, historical society says
A timber beam held in storage by the Blue Earth County Historical Society is not part of the scaffold used to hang 38 Dakota Indians in 1862, Executive Director Jessica Potter said Friday.
- Mankato squad cars may be replaced with SUVs
-
Sculptors create horse and sleigh from ice for Waseca Sleigh and Cutter Festival
- Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato ranked by U.S. News and World Report
- After posting bond, Amboy man re-arrested
-
Driver injured in nursing home crash
A 30-year-old Mankato man was taken to the hospital after his pickup truck crashed into a South Bend Township nursing home's lobby Thursday night.
-
MURRAY: Over-the-top kid at heart
-
Today's services, Saturday, Feb . 11, 2012
Claeys, Dorothy, services 11 a.m. at Our Lady of the Prairie Catholic Church
in Belle Plaine.
Eastman, Jane, services 10:30 a.m. at Evangelical Free Church in North
Mankato.
Fitterer, Laurel, services 10 a.m. at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in North
Mankato.
Hogan, Judith, services 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church
in Mankato.
Larsen, Evelyn, service 11 a.m. at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Odin.
Monahan, Shirley Ann, services 10 a.m. at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Le
Sueur.
Pirsig, Mildred, services 2 p.m. at Patton Funeral Home in Blue Earth.
Soeffler, Bernice, services 11 a.m. at Peace Lutheran Church in Arlington.
Vee, Ruth, services 11 a.m. at Bricelyn Lutheran Church. -
Tweten advances to group round on 'Idol'
If it weren’t for a tiny glimpse or two on camera Thursday night, and her mom’s confirmation on Facebook, the world wouldn’t have known that North Mankato’s Shelby Tweten advanced on “American Idol” again this week. The West High School student has made it to the most infamous challenge of the season: “group round.”
- Walz happy to see STOCK bill pass the House
- More Local News Headlines
-





