The figure marks a 51% increase over the last economic impact study conducted following the 2022 event, which reported a total of $565 million entering the local economy during the event.
Palm Springs Desert Sun
The BNP Paribas Open’s impact to the Coachella Valley economy was more than $400 million prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to one report. This year, that number more than doubled.
The annual tennis tournament, held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in March, generated an estimated total gross economic impact of more than $852 million on the Coachella Valley regional economy, according to a study released Wednesday. That figure represents a 51% increase over the last economic impact study conducted following the 2022 event, which reported $565 million entered the local economy during the two-week tournament.
The economic studies, commissioned by the tournament and conducted by George Washington University, uses estimates for direct and indirect impact that are based on industry standard methodology, visitor survey results and the data provided by the organizers and sponsors.
The Greater Palm Springs Tourism Foundation has previously conducted similar studies regarding the tournament and its influence on the valley's economy.
Tournament attendance took a small hit in 2021 and 2022, with state and federal health mandates in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. All attendees were required to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Crowds were larger in 2023, and increased again in 2024.
"I think people are just happy post-pandemic, and they saw what they missed," said Philippe Dore, the chief marketing officer of the BNP Paribas Open. "They're happy to be out and about, going to a concert and obviously a sporting event. The health restrictions being lowered helped."
Total gross economic impact is derived by calculating the direct ($568,988,608) and indirect and induced ($247,822,499) economic impacts and then adding them together to show the incremental spending above and beyond what would have been expected had the BNP Paribas Open not been held in the area.
Direct spending includes money spent by out-of-town visitors, vendors, sponsors and the tournament organization to a business in the region. Indirect and induced impact is the re-spending of this money by the regional businesses in the regional economy.
The BNP Paribas Open also studied the impact that the tournament had on regional employment, and based on total direct economic impact, the full-time equivalents of those employed by the event is estimated at 12,149.
A total of 493,440 fans attended the tournament over the two-week period earlier this year — an event record. On average each person attended the tournament 3.18 days. According to the tournament, 94% of all unique spectators traveled from outside the region, equating to 145,860 out-of-town visitors from which the economic impact is calculated.
According to where tickets were purchased, visitors came from as far as Hawaii, Alaska and beyond, as well as nearly every state in between.
Fans came out to see the return of Novak Djokovic, who had not played at the event since 2019, the return of Naomi Osaka for the first time since she became a mom, and to see Venus Williams, Andy Murray and perhaps even Rafael Nadal for what could be the last time at Indian Wells.
The record-setting attendance in 2024 resulted in an increase of nearly 44,000 out-of-town visitors compared to the results of the 2022 study. In addition, the unique tournament experience encourages repeat visitors, and the extensive media coverage exposes hundreds of millions more to the area, Dore said.
"We were very surprised and happy," Dore added. "A 50%-plus increase was not what we expected, but we were very, very, very happy with the results. It's just, the event keeps growing, we get more people, the competition is great. It's good for hard-core fans, casual fans, families, older and younger."
The total fiscal impact of the BNP Paribas Open on the Coachella Valley was estimated at nearly $50 million, generated through tax revenues for city and county governments in the form of sales tax, TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax) or bed tax, and property tax.
Ten years ago, a similar study reported that the BNP Paribas Open represented a $373.9 million boost to the local economy, which was significant at the time as it represented a 29% increase from 2011.
When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 tennis tournament, it hit local businesses hard, and the hope a year later was that the return of the event would be a boon to the valley economy.
With this latest report, it’s evident that it’s been just that.
The goal now, Dore said, is to increase annual attendance to a half-million spectators, and the tournament expects to do that in 2025.
"The competition is great," Dore said, "and venue, the stage, that we've set up is perfect. So, it's a really, really nice combination."
Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
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