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Grizzly Athletics Support Nearly 1,400 Jobs In Missoula, Report Says

Griz football game at the University of Montana
flickr user MuddyRavine (CC-BY-NC-ND-2)
Griz football game at the University of Montana

A new report by University of Montana economists examines the impact of Grizzly athletics on Missoula’s economy. The study by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research says that between 2013 and 2015, UM athletics brought nearly $23 million a year into the university.

Bureau Senior Economist Kyle Morrill.

“We get about almost 1,400 jobs here in the local economy because of athletics, about $121 million of gross sales by Missoula businesses, attributable to athletics.”

The Bureau says 170,000 people attended Griz football games last year, with over half of them coming from outside Missoula County.

Those visiting groups' average spending was a little over $200 a day, totaling about $2.5 million every football game.

They averaged 2.7 people per group, and each stayed nearly two nights.

With those attending Lady Griz and Griz basketball taken into account, they found total nonresident spending to be $30.7 million, which includes airfare expenditures.

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