Chicago is ready to embrace this week’s Ryder Cup golf showdown between the United States and Europe at the Medinah Country Club in the city’s suburbs.
Ryder Cup Hq at Medinah
The estimated economic impact of around USD130 million puts it on par with the promised benefit from last May’s NATO summit in Chicago.
"The difference is that massive outlays for security won’t be needed for the Ryder Cup visitors," says the Chicago Sun Times.
The newspaper adds, "Hosting a Ryder is a rare event, like Halley’s Comet, unlikely to happen more than once in a Chicagoan’s life."
Downtown Chicago is getting in on the activity, with nearly all its 35,000 rooms booked during Ryder Cup weekend, said Warren Wilkinson, chief marketing officer at the city’s tourism agency, Choose Chicago.
"In Europe, this is probably the second biggest sporting event after soccer’s World Cup," said Michael Belot, director of the event for the PGA.
"There’s a lot of emotion that comes into play," he said. "For these top golfers, it’s the one time they get to be on a team."
Sky News and the BBC will provide saturation coverage. In the United States, ESPN and NBC split the duties. The PGA estimates the worldwide audience at 438 million.
The biennial Ryder Cup alternates between U.S. and European venues and it has a reputation for bringing out the best in the golfers – and the worst in normally conservative spectators, who enjoy the fierce partisanship of the tournament.
Ryder Cup 2014 will be held in Gleneagles, Scotland.
