Fifteen years of College Sailing brought estimated $6.4 million to Southeastern host communities

SAISA study finds $6.4M in local spending from college sailing © SAISA

College sailing events hosted across the Southeast over the past 15 years have created an estimated $6.40 million in direct spending by visiting teams in the communities that hosted them, according to research released today by the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association Conference.

The study covers 449 events hosted in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee across fifteen years. It draws on 21,808 sailor participations recorded in TechScore, the results platform used throughout intercollegiate sailing nationally. Of those, 18,715 belong to visiting teams and are counted in the estimate. Participations by host schools competing at their own regattas are excluded, since a program does not generate visitor spending at its own event.

South Carolina generated the largest state total, $2.92 million from 138 events, driven by the length and scale of Charleston's championship hosting rather than by event count. Florida hosted the most events, 207, generating $2.52 million across host communities on both coasts. North Carolina generated more than $650,000 from 69 events. Georgia and Tennessee, hosting 22 and 13 events, generated $194,469 and $99,462.

The $6.40 million represents direct host-market spending including lodging, meals, incidentals and local transportation by visiting teams, stated in constant 2026 dollars. No economic multiplier is applied at any point, and the figure excludes airfare, intercity transportation, spectators, host-school operations, event payroll, capital spending, and indirect or induced effects. Sensitivity scenarios bound the estimate between $2.44 million and $10.16 million.

"Those of us involved in college sailing see teams traveling across the region every weekend, but we have never had a clear picture of what all of that activity means," said Dana Magliola, SAISA Conference Commissioner. "This study gives our programs real information they can use when talking about the value of college sailing, both on campus and in the communities where we compete."

The research is intended for host schools describing their regattas to administrators and donors, for tourism offices placing sailing within a broader visitor-economy portfolio, and for conference leaders weighing where hosting concentrates. Roughly 94 percent of the participation record is observed rather than estimated. The full report, including state-by-state findings, is available from SAISA at bit.ly/SAISAeconreport2026.