2024 RNC in Milwaukee: Economic impact of $321 million

MILWAUKEE - Was the RNC a bust or boom for Wisconsin's economy? Ten months later, we finally have an answer. The MKE 2024 Host Committee released on Tuesday, May 20 the final economic impact report for the 2024 Republican National Convention, which took place July 15-18, 2024.

Economic impact

What we know:

The RNC did better than expected. That's according to international firm Tourism Economics. The Milwaukee 2024 Host Committee commissioned the study.

It finds the RNC's economic impact was $321 million. Before the convention, organizers estimated it'd be $200 million. 

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The Milwaukee 2024 Host Committee says it plans to donate to the Community Millions of Leftover Dollars. 

Chicago also used Tourism Economics for the 2024 Democratic National Convention. The Chicago report was done in October and found an economic impact of $374 million.

What they're saying:

"Milwaukee embraced the convention with open arms. Tens of thousands of Republican delegates and members of the media who traveled here from around the country were raving about our city after July’s convention," said Reince Priebus, Chairman of the MKE 2024 Host Committee. "We’re hopeful that putting Wisconsin on a major international stage will lead to more opportunities for the city in the future."

"I have never seen this type of interest in our city in my history of living here, which is my entire life," WIlliams-Smith said. "You know, I hear more things about Milwaukee when I'm on a trade show floor or when I'm visiting other cities than I ever have."

Report highlights

• The report finds that the total economic impact from the 2024 Republican National Convention was $321.5 million.
• Operational spending related to the convention was $162.2 million, while off-site visitor spending was $54.1 million, totaling $216.3 million in direct spending
• The report calculated that the operational spending and off-site spending by the convention supported 3,441 part-time and full-time jobs locally.
• Tourism Economics calculated that the convention generated $16.8 million in state and local taxes.

"The Wisconsin Center district, the Baird Center, the Miller High Life theater, and the UWM Panther Arena are owned and operated locally, here in this state, there is a lot of money that went to them as well," said Peggy Williams-Smith with Visit Milwaukee. "Our hotels, which are a lot locally owned and operated, made a lot of money as well."

Why the wait?

Dig deeper:

The report was released 10 months after the convention.

"We got our last bill a couple weeks ago. We wanted to be able to reflect all of the pieces," said Alison Prange, with the MKE 2024 Host Committee. "[...] It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver."

Empty bars and restaurants during the RNC week led some to wonder if it would turn out to be a bust.

Both visited Milwaukee and the host committee wondered if things would have been different if there wasn't an assassination attempt against President Donald Trump days before the RNC.

"There was an assassination attempt two days before the one day before the convention started to arrive. I know that that caused feelings of uncertainty for a lot of people who were going to come down and work," Williams-Smith said. "They didn't know what to expect. Security increased."

"Unfortunately, we’ll never know how that impacted it," Prange said. "But I do think that who knows how that impacted people wanting to come downtown, so there are those things that you just couldn’t predict."

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