BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A busy weekend in Birmingham is ahead, with sold out concerts and sporting events across the city.
Birmingham is booming with events this weekend, like the USFL game at Legion Field and the sold-out Garth Brooks concert at Protective Stadium, which can hold more than 40,000 people.
While those events will bring in big tourist bucks, city leaders said Birmingham is already having an economic boost because of these types of events.
Just this past weekend, the city hosted the SWAC Baseball Tournament and HBCU Springcoming. Director for Office of Innovation and Economic Opportunity Cornell Wesley said they project those events brought in around four million dollars alone.
Wesley said so far, the USFL is also bringing the city big bucks, with viewership at more than one million, they think the end of the season will total more than 50 million dollars in revenue.
Wesley said they are also gearing for even more money maker events this summer.
“We have the jazz fest upcoming,” Wesley said. “Everyone knows about The World Games. It will be a huge economic anchor and has the potential to be what the Olympics were in Atlanta in ‘96, but for Birmingham. Birmingham has the infrastructure, has the talent, has the means, and has the intentionality to be a sports town and entertainment capitol.”
Birmingham hotel bookings are already up 10 percent this summer compared to last.
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