Oregon Soccer Club generates more than $1.5 million in annual spending within the local Oregon economy, according to a report by the Fiscal and Economic Research Center (FERC) at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The economic impact study estimates that the club's Oregon Soccer Fall Fury tournament and its weekends of regular league play throughout the fall and spring result in $971,342 in direct spending at hotels, convenience stores, restaurants and elsewhere.

That total rises to $1,598,332 when factoring in indirect and induced spending by the businesses and employees impacted by the direct spending.

"These numbers demonstrate that the Oregon Soccer Club and their associated soccer weekends have a substantial economic effect on the local community," the report states. "Considering the consistent nature of the weekend games, this means that the Oregon Soccer Club is bringing a steady stream of economic activity into the Oregon community as well as extreme upticks in moments of punctuated activity (e.g., Fall Fury)."

The study was done by FERC members at soccer fields in the Oregon area in Fall 2021: Oct. 2-3 during the Oregon Soccer Fall Fury tournament and Oct. 9-10 during a regular weekend of Madison Area Youth Soccer Association and Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association league games and in-house matches.

Among the findings:

• 81 percent of respondents were not from the Village of Oregon
• 45 percent of respondents listed Oregon as their favorite venue for a soccer tournament
• The Oregon Soccer Fall Fury weekend alone generated nearly $250,000 in direct spending in the local economy

This year's Oregon Soccer Fall Fury, which will be the club's 32nd tournament since 1990 (the tournament was not held in 2020 due to COVID-19 policies), is scheduled for Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, 2022. The location is still to be determined - a construction project at Jaycee Park is expected to begin this year and will necessitate a new base for the annual event, which featured 124 teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois last fall.