The value of the Ryder Cup to the Irish economy is likely to be only one-third of the amount trumpeted by Fáilte Ireland, according to a firm of US consultants.
Anderson Economic Group (AEG), working with Dublin-based Amárach Consulting, estimates the Ryder Cup will bring €43 million into the Irish economy, while Fáilte Ireland has said it will bring €130 million.
The US consulting group has conducted economic impact reports on sports events previously in the US and wanted to see if its methodology would work in a non-US context, according to Gerard O'Neill, chief executive of Amárach.
"Many economic impact reports follow neither a consistent methodology nor a conservative approach, and are done largely for public relations purposes," the consultants state in their report.
"As a result the reports mislead the public and investors as to the true economic impact of an event.
"Measuring the economic benefit of the Ryder Cup and other major sporting events can be problematic, and frequently projections are made without careful thought."
In 2004, AEG prepared an economic impact report prior to the hosting of the Ryder Cup in Detroit. It also did a similar study on Super Bowl XL.
In its short paper the group compares Fáilte Ireland's €130 million estimate for the Ryder Cup to the €142.5 million estimate the same body put on the contribution made to the Irish economy in 2004 by 138,000 visiting golfers.
"It seems unreasonable to believe that an event spanning less than one week can generate an economic impact amounting to more than 90 per cent of the impact from a full year's worth of golfers visiting Ireland."
The group assessment only includes impacts directly associated with hosting the Ryder Cup.
"We do not include potential benefits from investments in promoting Ireland as a destination for golfing or other recreation. In our view, these investments could have been made regardless of Ireland's hosting the Ryder Cup.
"We feel the related benefits are better considered economic impacts from tourism promotion, not from the Ryder Cup."
The consultants estimate the event will generate 137,700 new visitor days for Ireland, spending an average of €220 per day.
They also assume that for each euro spent, an additional 60 cent of economic activity will arise indirectly.
