Ryder Cup Could Bring Millions to DuPage County: Officials

Submitted by Choose DuPage

DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin estimates that DuPage County could receive more than $80 million in economic benefit from hosting the Ryder Cup later this month at Medinah Country Club. Choose DuPage, the county’s public/private economic development partnership, will be marketing the county as an ideal place to relocate a business to the estimated more than 100,000 visitors to the biennial golf tournament.

“The Ryder Cup is a rare opportunity to present DuPage County to the world and encourage employers to consider our area as a potential site to start or relocate a business,” said Chairman Cronin.  “As the home of Fortune 100 corporations and thousands of mid-size and small businesses, in addition to an educated workforce and access to a first-rate transportation system, DuPage County is one of the best counties in the nation in which to invest.

“I appreciate the work of Choose DuPage and local business leaders who have collaborated in this outreach effort over the last several months and are prepared to showcase the unique qualities of DuPage County to the world next week.”

The 39^th Ryder Cup golf tournament features the top professional players from the United States and Europe every two years with the competition alternating locations between the European continent and the U.S.  A worldwide television audience will view each day of the tournament.

“The Ryder Cup puts DuPage County on the world stage and we are looking forward to our visitors and the giant television audience seeing the tremendous quality of life DuPage has to offer,” says Greg Bedalov, Choose DuPage president and CEO. “From hosting a major event like the Ryder Cup at the legendary Medinah Country Club to the tremendous hotels and restaurants, DuPage County is a great destination for businesses to hold a global meeting or, better yet, to relocate a world headquarters.”

Forty thousand spectators will attend the tournament each day.  At the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales, market research showed more than half of daily spectators were new visitors and 1 in 10 visited from overseas.