Alliant Energy Center Caps Successful Year with the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games
August 01, 2017
Stephanie Miller 608-267-8823
County Executive
AEC Hosted Many New National Events Bringing in Over $12 Million to Dane County
This week Dane County’s Alliant Energy Center Campus will be hosting the 2017 Reebok CrossFit games set to be one of the biggest events the campus has hosted in its history. Within the last 12 months, the collaboration between the Alliant Energy Center (AEC), the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) and the Madison Area Sports Commission (MASC), has yielded exceptional business. The majority of the events that have taken place over the last year are first-time events for Dane County, including the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games which will debut in Madison on August 3rd.
“We are very proud of the work we have done to make the AEC campus successful,” said Dane County Executive Parisi. “The Alliant Energy Center brings in millions of dollars of economic impact into Dane County every year. We are proud to be hosting some of the nation’s best shows.”
The CrossFit Games will be televised nationwide on CBS Sports and CBS Network and is expected to draw over 60,000 spectators. The preparation for the Games by the Alliant Energy Center, the GMCVB and MASC and CrossFit is unprecedented, including an amazing, temporary transformation of the AEC campus. The transformation of the campus has been possible by the investment of CrossFit and its sponsors and utilizing a team of people from across Dane County departments including Administration, Public Works, Lakes and Water Resources. Being able to tap into the resources such as personnel, equipment, and labor, the County has been key to being able to host CrossFit and other successful national shows.
In 2013, Dane County, the Alliant Energy Center and the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) collaborated to establish a closer sales relationship by establishing a permanent position on the GMCVB staff to assist and generate sales for Alliant Energy Center. The new sales collaboration worked well and when the announcement of the new pavilions was made, sales prospects and results grew overnight. With the additional muscle of the Madison Area Sports Commission (MASC), launched by the GMCVB in 2010, the AEC, GMCVB and MASC teams began to create more and bigger opportunities for high-return-on-investment business for the AEC campus. The results have been outstanding.
New national shows in 2017 include: International Women’s Flat Track Derby Association Playoffs, Wisconsin State Compulsory Gymnastics Championship Meet, Trampoline and Tumbling Association National Championships, All-American Junior Sheep Show, American Dairy Goat National Show, U.S. Baton Twirling Championships, and the Reebok CrossFit Games.
In addition to the annual business the AEC hosts, the new business that has been staged on the campus includes business which will bring over $12 million in economic impact to Dane County.
In 2016 the 169- acre county owned AEC campus hosted over 400 events, welcomed over 800,000 attendees, generated 177,000 room nights, spurred $76 million in spending.
Since taking office, Dane County Executive Parisi has invested in improving the AEC Campus and has built the award winning New Holland Pavilions– 290,000 square feet of state-of-the-art multi-use space, made many improvements to the coliseum and campus as a whole. Just in the last year the county has invested over $2 million into updates and improvements to the Coliseum.