by Jim Freer

South Florida Business Journal - June 9, 2006

The NBA Finals and surrounding hoopla could generate about $15 million in economic activity and more than $60 million in free national and international publicity for South Florida.

Those estimates are from sports marketing consultants who expect Miami and Miami Beach to receive Shaq-size shares of those dollars.

Already, broadcasts of the three rounds of Miami Heat playoffs have been interspersed with panoramas of the Miami skyline, pictures of Art Deco hotels along Ocean Drive in South Beach and shots of yachts cruising Biscayne Bay near AmericanAirlines Arena .

Because many Americans and non-Americans regard all of South Florida as "Miami," telecasts and stories on the finals also could lure additional tourists to Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Executives of corporations that are NBA sponsors and partners will attend games with some of their top clients, notes Michael McCullough, the Heat's executive VP and chief marketing officer. "Many of them will learn more about how Miami is an attractive place to do business."

The arena in downtown Miami will be the site for the third and fourth games - and, if necessary, the fifth - of the best-of-seven series between the Heat and Dallas Mavericks. Both teams are making their first appearance in the NBA Finals.

Telecasts and broadcasts of games in the United States and other countries, other TV and radio reports and newspaper articles could generate coverage that otherwise would cost $60 million to $100 million for South Florida tourism bureaus, economic development agencies and businesses, according to an estimate by Weston-based Sports Management Research Institute, which studied similar multi-day sports events in South Florida.

According to A.C. Nielsen, last year's seven-game finals between the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs drew 88 million total U.S. viewers.

The NBA does not prepare estimates for the direct economic impact of its championship series on a host metropolitan area.

According to the San Antonio Business Journal, in 2003, economic leaders in San Antonio and several sports consultants estimated that impact usually is about $10 million, based on spending by visitors at hotels, restaurants and other facilities and sales of team-related merchandise. That year, the Spurs and New Jersey Nets met in the NBA Finals.

Direct impact of $15 million

Given rising costs over three years and Miami's attraction to celebrities and other tourists, the economic impact could be about $15 million, said Adam Zimmerman, senior VP at Atlanta-based Career Sports & Entertainment, whose clients include BellSouth and Cingular.

A $15 million figure might be realistic for Miami because, more than most NBA cities, it is a lure for visitors who might come even without tickets to games, said Kathleen Davis, president and CEO of the Sports Management Research Institute.

Davis and her staff have done studies for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) on the impact of media coverage of Super Bowls, the NASDAQ-100 tennis tournament, races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and other sporting events.

The NBA Finals likely will be similar to tennis and auto racing in attracting corporate sponsors, their clients and other fans to South Florida for several days, Davis said.

Her firm's studies for those events have indicated media coverage that would have cost between $60 and $100 million in advertisements.

"We already are seeing that buzz in coverage in The New York Times and all over the world, where they know the NBA and they know Miami," said Bill Talbert, the CVB's president and CEO.

Talbert, his staff and officers are preparing for Super Bowl XLI, set for Feb. 4 at Dolphin Stadium.

"That is an 18-month build-up for a 10-day event," Talbert said. "[The NBA Finals] does not have the advance build-up. Still, the media coverage will be powerful, and we are getting calls from people who want to include information on South Beach, downtown and the water."

The Heat's marketing staff spent the week of June 5 talking with advertisers about increasing their spots on scoreboards and elsewhere in the arena, and on its radio broadcasts for the finals.

The staff also is negotiating deals for the 2006-2007 regular season, McCullough said.

The Heat anticipates that some companies whose executives attend games as part of their NBA sponsorships might be candidates for future Heat sponsorships, he said.

McCullough also expects a continued increase in the playoff season's heavy sales of Heat T-shirts and other memorabilia.

Earlier in the season, the NBA said Dwyane Wade's jersey was the top seller at NBA.com and the NBA store. Shaquille O'Neal was also in the top 10, as was the Heat overall.

The Heat obtains revenue from all sales at the arena, on its Web sites and its stores in Dolphin Mall, Aventura Mall and Sawgrass Mills.

Proceeds from the sale of Heat and other NBA team items through NBA sites, and at department stores and sporting goods stores are divided among the 30 NBA teams.

E-mail staff writer Jim Freer at jfreer@bizjournals.com.

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