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Viewpoint: Change pays off for Columbia

Melinda Waldrop //November 6, 2019//

Viewpoint: Change pays off for Columbia

Melinda Waldrop //November 6, 2019//

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Change, a new study proves, is not just inevitable. It’s lucrative.

A study by University of South Carolina professor Tom Regan found that March’s NCAA regional men’s basketball tournament created an economic impact of $11.3 million in Columbia, drawing 47,977 fans from 33 states to Colonial Life Arena.

Those numbers would have been impossible to achieve just a few short years ago.

Colonial Life Arena played host to an NCAA men's regional March 22-24. A study found the event generated an economic impact of $11.3 million. (Photo/Melinda Waldrop)After attending first-round regional games on March 22, I strolled through the S.C. Statehouse grounds. I paused to look at two flags framed by a cerulean Carolina sky: the red, white and blue of the American flag and the darker blue of the S.C. state flag.

For a long time, a third flag flew atop the Statehouse’s distinctive copper dome. The stars and bars of the Confederate flag sparked debate and division and spawned a 15-year boycott in which the NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports, refused to allow South Carolina to hold predetermined championship events.

The flag came down in 2015, and change followed. In 2017, Greenville hosted a men’s NCAA regional (the one in which South Carolina beat Duke to begin its improbable Final Four run), and the Gamecock women’s team played host to first- and second-round games on its way to a national title. That same year, Columbia was awarded a 2019 regional.

That turn of events appears to have paid off handsomely for the capital city.

The study, which measured direct spending by out-of-town visitors, produced numbers which bested initial estimates predicting 25,000 fans and an economic impact of $9 million. Those numbers also bettered the tournament’s showing in Greenville, which saw a reported $3.6 million impact and more than 14,000 visitors.

But the dollar signs don't quite capture the moment March Madness came to town.

As the city prepared to play host to its first NCAA men’s basketball regional tournament in 49 years, I vacillated about attending. Duke superstar Zion Williamson and the top-seeded Blue Devils, along with seven other teams, would be taking the court in the annual hoops frenzy, but I didn’t know if that had anything to do with me.

As a sportswriter for 20-some years, I’d covered copious amounts of college basketball, including several NCAA tournaments. While I thoroughly enjoyed those experiences, I didn’t initially see the point of taking in another, this time as a fan.

I began to change my mind as I interviewed experts leading up to tipoff and listened to their talk of the national exposure the regional could bring Columbia, a city that has transformed itself in the 24 years since I graduated from college here into a cultural and entertainment destination to rival more ballyhooed hotspots such as Charleston and Greenville.

I began to reconsider as I heard the excitement in my boyfriend’s voice as we considered joining thousands of other looky-loos to watch Williamson practice. (Yes, we were talking ‘bout practice.)

I decided to go when I found reasonably priced tickets on the secondary market and realized there might be something to write about, albeit a bit different than my past reporting.

Walking through the Congaree Vista to Colonial Life Arena on the afternoon of Duke’s public practice session, I saw folks milling about in Virginia shirts and Duke hats. As I neared the arena, a huge banner heralded the arrival of March Madness as fans posed in front of a life-sized bracket.

I expected to feel a little ridiculous watching a basketball team practice, something I’ve done literally hundreds of times in my life. And I did. I also felt myself getting swept up in the hoopla, laughing with the lady behind me losing her mind over the proximity of former Duke star Grant Hill and sharing in my boyfriend’s joyful accomplishment when he, a huge golf fan, snared a picture with announcing idol Jim Nantz (while sporting his Masters hat).

It was not quite a tradition like any other, but as Zion threw down a one-handed dunk after taking off from somewhere near the free-throw line, I, like everyone else, frantically checked to see if my iPhone’s camera had captured the moment.

We attended the afternoon session of March 22’s first round, watching Oklahoma wax the Colonial Life floor (with a Gamecock logo in the corner for national TV audiences to catch regular glimpses of) with Ole Miss in the first game. In the next game, Virginia, also a No. 1 seed, turned back a spirited Gardner-Webb squad to quell thoughts of repeating 2018’s dubious accomplishment, when the Cavaliers became the first top seed to lose to a 16 seed in NCAA tournament history.

This time, the Cavs achieved redemption by winning it all.

“We had Duke and superstar Zion Williamson, and we had the University of Virginia, which was the ultimate national champion,” Bill Ellen, CEO and president of Experience Columbia SC, said during a news conference announcing the economic impact numbers on Wednesday. “Columbia and the region got tremendous exposure – exposure that would be very hard to pay for if we had to fork out those dollars.”

That exposure included the Virginia team doctor whom we met on our walk to the arena making his first visit to Columbia, as well as some Duke fans from Philadelphia whom we led to a local watering hole before tipoff. We counted dozens of colleges with colors we saw represented, from Gonzaga to Florida.

At least one prominent visitor left town sold on Columbia. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski thanked the city in a post-game press conference, saying, “What a beautiful city, everything about it.”

As someone who daily sees the differences two decades have wrought, I must agree with Coach K. And I’m glad I didn’t let past experiences keep me from seeking out new ones.

I’m also grateful to live in a state that chose a similar path. History can, and must, be remembered. It doesn’t have to revered at the expense of new opportunity, be that a basketball game or a business connection made in the stands.

A few years ago, one heard “It’s a great day in South Carolina” a lot around these parts. The weekend of March 22-24 proved those words true, and the potential to make them even more resonant lies ahead.

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