Charleston Sees $8.6 Million Economic Impact from The Basketball Tournament

Last week, the City of Charleston saw a $8.6 million economic impact from The Basketball Tournament (TBT). Charleston served as one of the four regional sites for TBT, a 64-team, $1 million winner-take-all televised event. Best Virginia, the West Virginia alumni team, and Herd That, the Marshall alumni team, served as the featured teams in the 16-team West Virginia Regional that took place at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, July 17-21. 

“The Basketball Tournament brought renewed excitement and vitality to the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, and the City of Charleston as a whole,” said Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin. “The return on investment for this event was monumental, and we would be happy to invite The Basketball Tournament back to Charleston for future years.”

“To see this tournament take place in Charleston in 2021 was an absolute thrill. Charleston was slated to host a regional in 2020 which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this year’s tournament was the result of a lot of hard work and a commitment from the City of Charleston, the Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau and TBT to make it happen,” said Tim Brady, President & CEO of the Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We are thrilled with the number of people that traveled to Charleston to take part in the tournament and we cannot put a price tag on the amount of positive coverage that the City received across the ESPN family of networks.”

In addition to garnering millions in local economic impact, TBT supported 1,888 jobs during their time in Charleston and generated over $127,000 in local taxes.