Dew Tour brings Utah revenue, recognition

Utah enthusiastically welcomed the AST Dew Tour back to Salt Lake City last month, netting millions of dollars in economic impact and many hours of national and international television exposure for Utah, according to data compiled by the Utah Sports Commission and the AST Dew Tour.

The 2008 Toyota Challenge, held Sept. 11-14, was the largest televised multisport and multivenue event since the 2002 Olympics and was also the highest-attended event in the history of the Dew Tour.

"We could not have been more pleased with the success of the Toyota Challenge and the way our citizens came out to support the event, which

provided tremendous economic impact to our great state," said Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

According to Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission, "The growth and success of this year's event is another example that Utah continues to be a prominent location that is well-positioned to host major action and adventure sports events."

Highlights from this year's event include:

• Approximately $13 million in economic impact to the state of Utah.

• Approximately $6 million in TV media/broadcast and related image-building exposure to Utah.

• The largest crowd to ever attend the four-day event in Dew Tour history — almost 64,000.

• Largest crowd in the world to ever attend a skateboard park event (Ryan Sheckler's event) — approximately 14,000.

• Highest single-day attendance in Dew Tour history — approximately 26,000 (Sept. 13).

• Largest Dew Tour crowd to attend an FMX event — approximately 26,000 (Sept. 13).

• 350 of the top action sports athletes in the world participated in the four-day event, which also included the Free Flow action sports competition.

• First BMX Supercross competition held since the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

• Cable channel Mun2 (Moon-Dos), part of the NBC Universal-owned Telemundo Network, program "Mun2 on the Road," which travels the country and highlights America's greatest cities, came to Salt Lake City and produced a special episode on Utah and the event. Mun2 is available in 11 million homes across United States.

• 6 1/2 hours of national programming of the Toyota Challenge from Salt Lake City on NBC and USA Network.