Colts training camp's impact on Anderson: Pricey or priceless?

But officials say they are unclear what kind of economic impact the Indianapolis Colts training camp has on the area.

“We unfortunately don’t have a study on the camp,” said Tom Bannon, executive director of the Anderson/Madison County Visitors and Convention Bureau. “I’ve seen some numbers from the city before, but I’m not sure where they came from.”

Since the Colts training camp returned to Anderson in 2010, city officials and business leaders have said the estimated economic impact each year from the event is between $5 million and $6.5 million.

“We can guess, but it is very hard to tell,” said Greg Winkler, director of the Anderson Economic Development Department, when discussing financial gains to the community from the camp. “The way we guesstimate is we look at the food and beverage tax. I recall that we do see a bump there and it far outweighs the resources spent on that camp.”

The food and beverage tax, administered by the Indiana Department of Revenue, is collected by each county from the sale of prepared food or beverages amounting to 1 percent of the sale item. The revenue is then distributed to entities inside the county.

Records from 2010 to 2013 from the Madison County auditor show a 6 percent loss in the food and beverage revenues when compared to the two months before the Colts Camp arrival, the months during the training and in the two months after the event.

Since 2010, the county has collected a total of $1,145,227.99 in food and beverage taxes for the months of September and October. Due to the distributions of funds, the Indiana Department of Revenue said those two months would include revenue accumulated in July and August during the Colts training camp.

Receipts were $1,217,856.43 during the months of July and August in the years from 2010 to 2013.

Comparing the months when the camp is here and when it is not in session, the city brought in $72,628.44 less in food and beverage tax revenue from 2010 to 2013.

The food and beverage tax is not the sole indicator of the camp’s positive impact or its costs to the city. Days of the camp have also been reduced since the Colts returned to Anderson.

Winkler said the city has also paid the NFL more than $559,740 between 2010 and 2014 to provide security at the camp. He said each year the city enters a contract with the NFL and Anderson University with each agreeing to pay a portion of the costs associated with the event.

At least $200,000 of the funds used to pay the NFL was in forgiven loan payments of $50,000 each, by the city, on behalf of Anderson University, Winkler said. The school had borrowed money from the city to pay for expenses related to the camp, he said.

“AU needed to make improvements and they did not have the capital to make those payments,” Winkler said.

While the Colts camp is free for fans, there is a $5 parking fee. Winkler said those fees, in addition to a reduced fee for dorms rented by the NFL for housing during the event, go back to Anderson University.

Chris Williams, director of university communications and community relations development, said parking is managed by the Indianapolis Colts.

“Financial information related to the operation of the training camp is not public information,” Williams said. “As far as the parking information goes, the Colts determine what happens to that revenue because it’s their revenue.”

Winkler said the Colts also do not pay the city any money to hold the camp in Anderson.

The real value for the community from the camp, Winkler said, is not in its economic impact to the area, but that the camp raises awareness of the city on a national level.

“If Anderson gets one daily Colts Camp Report per day on ESPN that’s close to $1M in advertising associated with one of the best teams in the NFL,” Winkler wrote in an email. “What is that worth?”

He also said when the city was unable to afford its annual cleanup campaign in May, the Colts donated the $18,000 needed to have the campaign.

Bannon said an economic impact study on the Colts camp is important, but he is unsure how to collect the information needed for the study.

“That has been the big challenge,” he said. “We are looking at different things and playing around with it, but that is the challenge right now.”

Most visitors to the training camp are within a day’s travel to Anderson so hotel occupancy rates have not been affected, Bannon said. He said that is a good thing, however, because people will realize how close the city is to Indianapolis and other communities.

“The fact that Anderson is on TV every night in a positive way, for three weeks, is priceless,” Bannon said.