New Coachella Valley arena promising big economic impact

A new report is putting some staggering figures on the expected economic impact of the new Coachella Valley arena. The groundbreaking date isn’t even set yet but as News Channel 3’s  Dani Romero explains the arena is anticipated to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the Coachella Valley. 

The empty lot will soon become an 11,000 seat arena. The project is now promising a big economic impact.

“1600 jobs, 140 million for the local economy," said Scott White, CEO of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau. "I think it's also gonna elevate our brand and also create an awareness.” 

In a study, the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, found the arena will increase visitor spending, business sales, job opportunities, state and local tax revenues. 

White said it’s a boost our valley is desperate to have post pandemic.

“Anytime you have an additional attraction such as this, that people are going to be hungry for, it's going to help again, drive awareness of the destination, drive demand for the destination, create jobs," said White.

As the only indoor sports venue of its kind in the Coachella Valley, its expecting  to have about 159 events per year that would mean at least two per week with an average attendance of 6,000 people and nearly half of them from out of town. 

White explained our location is an advantage. 

“We're going to have a unique situation here, even more so than other arenas of our same size that you see around the country that don't have that proximity to Los Angeles," said White. [This] is going to enable us as residents to have access to acts that we've never had before.”

This means visitors won’t only be spending money at the arena but also on  lodging, food, retail and recreation. 

“The family may come in to do Disney on Ice, those types of events," said White. "Then we'll also have people that will drive in, especially for concerts are going to end late at night. They're not going to want to drive back to Orange County, L.A. whatever it may be to make a weekend out of it.” 

Developers plan to officially break ground soon, but are awaiting final approval from the Board of Supervisors that’s expected next week.