In the past few years the region has been through the wringer with floods, bushfires and COVID-19 to name a few of the challenges.
Lismore City Council’s Manager of Economic Development Tina Irish estimates that the game bought in almost $350,000 into our local economy.
The council said tickets to the game sold out on Friday night with a reduced capacity of 4800 due to COVID-19.
After the game, which saw the Titans and Warriors draw 12-all, spectators poured into the city looking for food and drink.
Ms Irish said this comes on top of last month’s relocation of the Sydney Blue Sox home series to Lismore, which generated a further $138,000.
“This is great news for our motels, hotels, restaurants, cafes and retail stores,” Ms Irish said.
“Not only does it support the bottom line of our local businesses, it also supports the local people they employ.
“This is why investing to upgrade our sporting facilities, like Oakes Oval and Albert Park, is so crucial to generate economic growth and support local businesses.
“It is much more than building great local sporting facilities, it’s about supporting our businesses, creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”
Lismore’s The Gateway Motel manager, Ashlee Rodgers, said the event was “definitely good for business”.
“We were busier than most weekends,” she said.
“Even on the Friday night we had the team that played the pre-game stay here from the Central Coast Rosters.
“We find you don’t normally get as many leisure guests to Lismore compared to what you get on the coast, but last weekend certainly brought them in.”
Felicity Hyde, who owns Scoops and Candy in Keen St and also had a busy day, agrees.
“A lot of our customers on Saturday were people who came from the Gold Coast and all over, and where staying at motels in Lismore,” she said
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