The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relays 2014 was a success. Thousands of Bahamians went to the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium last year for the inaugural event on the IAAF calendar.
Yesterday it was announced that more than 1,000 athletes from over 53 countries will be in The Bahamas on May 2 and 3 for the next world relays.
"Last year we really did very well. Our economic impact from this event was more than twice what we put into it. This year we're expecting to be better than we did last year. We think we're going to fill more seats in the stadium, we think we're going to have more people purchasing tickets earlier and ticket prices are also going to be slightly up this year," said Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture Dr. Daniel Johnson.
Johnson said a recent study conducted by a Canadian sports organization revealed that the 2014 relays generated an economic impact of $23 million.
The event will bring together many of the world's top sprinters and middle distance runners to compete in the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and the distance medley relay that replaces the 4x1,500m relay.
"The people of Nassau and the entire Bahamas are looking forward to welcoming athletes, officials, media and spectators from around the world for the second consecutive year," said Mike Sands, Local Organizing Committee (LOC) chief executive officer and vice chairman.
Johnson said the results of the impact study had given the government the confidence to negotiate another two-year agreement with the IAAF in Monaco, with the opportunity to bid for an even longer 10-year hosting contract once the current agreement expires.
The Bahamas has an opportunity with the event to place itself on the global track and field circuit. The stadium was a gift from the Chinese and thus far there have been mixed results with events hosted at it. Last year the American college football games were a flop in terms of attendance. Track and field, though, was a success.
"We want to be very sure that these large scale events that we're doing get the desired result," Johnson said.
"Part of it is promotion for tourism and bringing Bahamians together, but we also have to be responsible in our spending to make sure that it pays for itself while ensuring that the impact is widespread and significant enough for us to then lock ourselves into doing this on a long-term basis."
The event brings people from all around the world to The Bahamas. It helps fill hotel rooms. Johnson and his team should work to ensure that there is an annual global track meet here. They should also seek to find a better marketing scheme to ensure the other non-track events are better attended than what we have seen thus far.
The stadium is an important part of our tourism product. A successful schedule of international events there year-round may do more to boost stop over arrivals than many think.

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