12 major sports events in Shanghai last year trigger consumption worth over 400 million USD

SHANGHAI - Twelve major sports events held in Shanghai last year led to direct consumption worth over 400 million US dollars, said a report released by the Shanghai Administration of Sports and the Shanghai University of Sport.

In the report released on Monday, the two institutions evaluated the 163 domestic and international sports events held in Shanghai in 2019.

According to the report, 87 international events accounted for 53.4 percent of the 163 events. At the same time, 38.9 percent of the events attracted the top 50 players in the world, 53.5 percent of the events were judged by international referees, and 26.8 percent of the opening and closing ceremonies were attended by officials of international sports organizations.

Statistics show that 12 major sports events held in Shanghai last year led to 3.09 billion yuan (about 434 million US dollars) of direct consumption and 10.2 billion yuan (1.43 billion US dollars) of income in related industries.

Among the 12 events, the Rolex Shanghai Masters, Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix and Shanghai International Marathon contributed over 70 percent of the direct economic benefits, according to Huang Haiyan, a professor at the Shanghai University of Sport.

Major sports events also attract foreign and domestic visitors. In 2019, the 163 sports events attracted 170,000 participants and 1.92 million viewers.