Press Release - Muskegon Lumberjacks

June 24, 2010
www.muskegonlumberjacks.com
Press Release

When the Muskegon Lumberjacks announced the move to the United States Hockey League in February, owner Josh Mervis talked about the economic impact the new league would have on Muskegon. It did not take long for the Lakeshore to begin to experience the change.

The Lumberjacks hosted two tryout camps June 14-20 at the LC Walker Arena. The first camp, June 14-16, was the Open Camp. It was open to anyone to tryout that wanted their shot at making the team. One hundred players from Muskegon to Russia travelled to the LC Walker Arena. The second camp, June 17-20, was the Invite Camp. This camp was for players that had been drafted by the Lumberjacks in May or others who were scouted and asked to tryout. There were also 34 players invited to stay from the Open Camp. A total of 105 players from around the world were at the Invite Camp.

Overall, the camp used about 500 hotel rooms during the week. Players and their families alone used over 400 rooms. Plus there were dozens of college scouts, league officials, and more staying at the local hotels. At an average of $79 a night, $39,500 was spent just on hotel rooms.

Of course everyone also needed to eat. Many took advantage of experiencing the Taste of Muskegon on Saturday and Sunday. Based on a survey of the players, the players and their families ate over 3,600 meals at Muskegon restaurants. Players and their families also checked out the local attractions and shopping while they were in town. All together, this brought an additional $48,125 to Muskegon.

In one week, the Lumberjacks brought $87,625 to the Muskegon economy. More is yet to come as teams, parents, recruits, and scouts travel to Muskegon during the season. Eventually the Lumberjacks will also host Showcase Tournaments for teams looking to get their players scouted to play junior and college level hockey.

A great plus for Muskegon was the impact the city made on these visitors. Comments were often heard about how much people enjoyed the area and that they wanted to come back on vacation.