Sports has an economic impact of hundreds of millions of dollars in Washtenaw County and not just University of Michigan athletics. The Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Regional Chamber Commerce held a meeting Wednesday morning to talk about some other sporting events in the area.
USRowing’s Rowfest was held in July at the Eastern Michigan University Rowing Course on Ford Lake. It created an economic impact of $7.2 million. The event returns in 2026.
Eastern Michigan University Athletic Director Scott Wetherbee says it’s becoming an important event.
“Rowfest is a ten-day event and 6,000 people come out and that’s filling up a lot of hotel rooms and being out in our community. So, that’s huge when you think about the taxes and the ramifications of that.”
It was also announced that EMU will host the inaugural Mid-American Conference team rowing championship. This is the first year the MAC has included women’s rowing as part of its athletics programs.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
