Seattle Center conducting economic impact study

This morning, some Seattle Storm season ticket holders received the following email in their inbox;

Dear Storm Fan,

Seattle Center is conducting an economic impact study this year and we want to be sure and include information about Seattle Storm guests. Please take this online survey which gathers information on your recent Seattle Storm experience at KeyArena which will assist in the study.

Your Participation not only will help Seattle Center but also KeyArena in demonstrating the economic value of this major event center which draws visitors from near and far.

Thank you for your help aand for making Storm games at the Key a huge success.

Go Storm!

It’s not uncommon for sports teams to send out these kinds of “tell us about your experience” emails at the end of a season. What’s curious about this one, however, is the following phrase:

Seattle Center is conducting an economic impact study

In fact, the subject line of the email is “Seattle Center Economic Impact Study.”

For those unaware, an Economic Impact Study (not to be confused with an Environmental Impact Study, with which we are all too aware), “examines the effect of an event on the economy in a specified area, ranging from a single neighborhood to the entire globe. It usually measures changes in business revenue, business profits, personal wages, and/or jobs.”

So the question, then, is why is Seattle Center doing this study? Are they finally, actually looking at the viability of KeyArena as the city’s only long-term major sports and music venue? Hopefully the answer to that is yes, and hopefully they discover what the rest of us already know; that KeyArena is old, out of date, worn out, uncomfortable, and simply not up to the standards of today’s consumer. Newer venues in Kent and Everett have many more events than Seattle, and the best way to get them back is with a new, state-of-the-art arena.

The survey is for anyone who visited Seattle Center in 2016. If this applies to you, you can take the survey here.