Skating by the numbers
For numbers fans and accountants everywhere here are some figures to help put the 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships into perspective:
7 hours time it took to paint advertisers logos on the ice at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
15 skaters will leave Spokane having successfully made the US team for Winter Olympics
100 ice refinishes
4 fireworks shows
670 credentialed volunteers
12 former U.S. Olympic figure skating gold medalists scheduled to attend the final performance of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships
10 hours of live national coverage on NBC-TV
25 youngsters from three local figure skating clubs will serve as "sweepers"
1,500 plus visitors expected to attend the event
13 the number of Winter Olympic figure skating gold medals won by the United States
45,000 estimated STA rides provided during the 2007 event
8 additional paratransit vans STA being added for the 2010 event
154,893 seats sold in Spokane in 2007
140,558 seats were sold as of January 12, 2010 (the second-highest total for U.S. Figure Skating)
125,000 seats, the next highest attendance at a figure skating championship in Los Angeles in 2002
$710,000 cost of the Arena's new sound system
$25.7 million projected economic benefit for Spokane
$1.3 million projected local and state tax collections
$12 the cost of an STA event bus pass