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A local economic group confirmed this week what a lot of local business owners already knew: The Manning Passing Academy is great for the economy of the Houma-Thibodaux area.
The South Louisiana Economic Council (SLEC) published a press release this week detailing the results of an economic study into the impacts the four-day camp has on local businesses.
The data concluded the camp generated more than $4.4 million in tourism, entertainment and field maintenance spending for the area – a number that SLEC CEO Vic LaFont said shows the power the event has within our area.
“It’s seldom recognized, but the sports industry is a huge economic booster to many communities across the country,” LaFont said. “For the Bayou Region, it goes well beyond our local sports venues, because we’ve had the advantage of hosting the Manning Passing Academy in our own backyard for the past 12 years.”
For the area, the economic impacts of the camp are all-encompassing, impacting literally every segment of the economy, according to LaFont.
The camp has 1,000-plus students each year – a number that continues to grow seemingly every year.
The campers stay on Nicholls State University’s campus, but for many families, having a student enrolled at the camp means it’s time for a one-week vacation to Louisiana.
As parents head to the area to watch their children perform, it fills hotels, which generates business.
As hotels fill, the restaurants which surround them also fill, which also generates business.
The study said $2.6 million of the $4.4 million the camp generated was a result of tourism activities, from which eating out and enjoying all which Louisiana has to offer are included.
Archie Manning, the former New Orleans Saints quarterback, who puts on the camp each year with his NFL star sons Peyton and Eli, said giving back to the area is one of the most gratifying things about the week.
He said the people of the Bayou Region deserve the boost the camp brings.
“The people are so very hospitable to us,” Archie Manning said. “They accommodate us and do whatever they can to make sure that we have the comforts of home while we’re here. This is a great place, and it’s good for us to know that we’re helping the people here in the process.”
Nicholls benefits, too – both in revenues and also name recognition.
Lawmakers around the area, led by State Senator Norby Chabert, have worked diligently in recent years to secure funding which has allowed Nicholls to boost its drainage, which gives the school more grasslands to host the event.
Those upgrades were partly why the Mannings re-upped their contract with Nicholls, inking a multi-year deal in 2015 to keep the event in Thibodaux until 2021 – a decision that was applauded by local lawmakers and business leaders.
But the event also gives Nicholls publicity and press. During the four days of the camp, herds of sports media ascend to Thibodaux, often centering their coverage around the events taking place.
“Nicholls greatly values its ongoing partnership with the Manning Passing Academy, which has led to facility improvements, national publicity and exciting opportunities for our campus,” Murphy said. “Beyond benefits to the university, the camp brings a significant boost to our local and regional economies.”
This year’s camp begins June 23 and will run through June 26. •
