According to the Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee will officially be the host of the 2020 Democratic National Convention at the Fiserv Forum July 13-16. Other than parking and hotel rooms being hard to find, what can we expect the impact to be on the city?
According to the Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee could see up to$200 million in economic impact from the DNC.
The last DNC was in Philadelphia in 2016. When it was all said and done, the political "party" brought in $230.9 million to the region, according to the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau.
That's a lot of of money that Milwaukee could potentially see in 2020, though this total was about $120 million short of what the Democratic National Convention Committee initially projected. Some economists say it’s likely an exaggeration of the DNC’s economic benefits.
Still, the DNC brought more than 54,000 visitors to the Philly, including 5,783 convention attendees. The event brought in $132.9 million in direct convention-related spending, $11.1 million in local and state taxes and $95.8 million in labor income, according to the PHLCVB’s annual report.
Also according to them, the city saw 80,400 hotel room nights and 6,600 Airbnb nights booked during the convention.
Philly also received a lot of national media attention. The PHLCVB calculated that Philly received 26.2 million national and international media impressions through the event and brought in 19,250 media members.
Their impact report also spanned the five-county area of Philly, meaning that it impacted more than just the immediate area the convention was in.
This is good news for all of Milwaukee County, but the rest of southeastern Wisconsin too. Even Dane County will likely feel an economic boost. Wisconsin Democrats are saying that the impact of 2020 national convention in Milwaukee will likely extend to Madison.