Coachella, Stagecoach, and BNP Paribas Open brought in more than 20,000 jobs, nearly two billion dollars for the Coachella Valley economy

The Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce invited some of the Valley's largest economic drivers to speak at Wednesday's meeting at the Mission Hills Country Club.

It was part of a four-part Summer Speaker series, highlighting organizations that are making a positive impact. Wednesday's guests included Mark Girton, the VP and GM of Goldenvoice and the Empire Polo Club. According to Girton, his team works year-round to bring in revenue for the valley. His key events of course, the Stagecoach and Coachella Music Festivals.

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"The attendance, traditionally, at Coachella was approximately 125,000 people a day, meaning 750,000 people just in those six days," said Girton. "And then Stagecoach, roughly another 80 to 90,000 people. So we're almost a million people through the property in 9 event days."

This year, the festivals generated more than 10,000 jobs alone, and made more than $600-million for the local economy.

It was also a record year for the BNP Paribas Open. According to Rolf Hoehn, the Director of Business Development and Partnerships for Desert Champions, more than 493,000 people attended this year's tournament. Attendees spent on average around $1,600 per day around the valley.

"This year 94% of those attendees come from more than 100 miles away because we're essentially a destination tournament," said Hoehn. "And that translates into an enormous economic impact through the expenditures of those attendees throughout the valley, in the hotels, in the restaurants, in shopping, retail, etc."

A study released by the tournament Wednesday morning found the BNP generated a whopping $852-million on the Coachella Valley economy, a 51% increase from 2022. Hoehn says he hopes to capitalize on more events at the Tennis Garden this year, including the Easter Bowl as well as additional concerts, graduations and other tournaments.

"It is wonderful just to be part of the community and to be able to contribute in the ways that we do," said Hoehn. "We're part of the community and we're, you know, really excited  that we can have events like this that gives so much back to the community."

Goldenvoice also says they're hoping to do more in the future. Girton says he wants to add new events to next year's calendar, and he also hopes to build and expand on new events like the Coachella Valley Invitational, a pre-season tournament for MLB and NWSL teams, as well as the country's largest Lacrosse Tournament. Girton also wants to build up his charitable events, such as the Holly Jolly Thanksgiving Festival, which gave out meals to more than 200 locals in need.

For more information on the BNP's economic impact click here.

For more on Coachella and Stagecoach's impacts click here.