Game days, races, big name concerts suggest 2025’s record tourism impact will be topped
Seven home UK football games at 61,000-seat Kroger Field this fall, including Alabama, LSU and Louisville, will bring millions of dollars of spending to local businesses. Photo furnished
There’s lots to love about fall in Kentucky — the fiery orange, red and yellow foliage, fresh-picked apples and corn mazes are signals it’s time also for concerts, festivals, horse races, football games and more — and 2026 is looking like a beauty. The economic outlook is the rosiest ever.
In Lexington and elsewhere, these events combined produce a significant economic impact, both directly — money spent at events, traveling, shopping or in restaurants during a person’s visit for example — and indirectly, such as when an attraction buys brochures from a local print shop or a bustling hotel outsources laundry service to another business.
Visitors spending money for shopping, restaurants, gas stations, entertainment destinations and hotels also generate tax revenue boosts — additional government funding for basic operations and to maintain and improve roads and other infrastructure, costs otherwise borne by full-time residents in the form of higher income and property taxes.
In 2025, Fayette County had a record-breaking $1.71 billion in economic impact from travel and tourism, generating $133.7 million in state and local tax revenue and creating 11,813 local jobs.
What does that mean for local residents? $526 in annual tax savings for every household, VisitLEX data shows.
An estimated 3.6 million visitors came to the Lexington area in 2025, with an average party size of 2.7 people who arrive with things to do and money to spend — $197 per person on the average overnight trip expenditure, VisitLEX President Mary Quinn Ramer said.
“That’s a multiplier effect if you’ve got a party of three or a party of four,” she said, adding that fall events and activities build upon that positive economic data.
Ramer believes this fall is poised to be bigger than fall 2025 for tourist activity, given an assist by a Sturgill Simpson Rupp Arena concert falling the same late October weekend as the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland.
Upcoming concerts at Central Bank Center/Rupp Arena are music to tourism officials’ ears, including Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds, Jonas Brothers and Lil Wayne. CBC is also welcoming the Kentucky Reptile Expo, Lexington Comic & Toy Convention, Lexington Home Show and Scarefest Weekend. Classic rocker Three Dog Night and soft jazzer Kenny G are among recent performers at the Lexington Opera House, with comics Leslie Jones and Patton Oswalt set to appear in September.
Breeders Cup championship visitors in late October can also see a Sturgill Simpson show at Rupp Arena that weekend. Other major concert draws Jonas Brothers and Lil Wayne are slated to perform this year in Rupp, which can accommodate more than 15,000 for shows. Photo by Stephanie Bork at CBC for VisitLex
Several larger fall conventions are taking place here, too, including a Kentucky Engineering Center conference and Kids Are Worth It! Conference, both in September at Central Bank Center.
The Kentucky Travel Industry Association conference and Kentucky Association of Counties both visit in November. Sporting events include the Kentucky Higsh School Athletic Association State Cross Country Championships in late October at the Kentucky Horse Park and a Universal Dance Association cheer and dance teams competition at Central Bank Center in November that’s expected to draw about 12,000 participants. And, of course, University of Kentucky home football games bring big time SEC football, an industry unto itself that fills stadiums, including 61,000-seat Kroger Field. Tailgaters’ tent frames began sprouting in early August to stake out space in surrounding blocks.
“Everything that’s on the books is pointing toward an outstanding fall I think, with Breeders’ Cup obviously being the capstone of all that,” Ramer said.
A 2022 analysis taking into account direct and indirect economic impact of that year’s Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland — including the buildout of temporary structures — was estimated at $81 million, she said.
“In talking with Breeders’ Cup and Keeneland (officials) recently, they think it will surpass that for this year,” Ramer said, noting $100 million in new Keeneland expansion and renovations will further elevate the tracks’ admired guest experience during Breeders’ Cup and other fall meet races.
On the heels (or hooves) of a United States Eventing Association American Eventing Championships in late August with hundreds of equestrians competing from across the U.S., Kentucky Horse Park is hosting the 38th Annual Rocky Mountain Horse Association International Grand Championships in early September, followed by events like the National Mounted Police Colloquium and Kentucky Hunter Jumper Association Fall Show.
The Kentucky Horse Park is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and welcomes 1 million guests annually to its estimated 200 annual events, according to its website.
Data supplied to VisitLEX shows hotel occupancy rates January to December 2025 at 61% for 9,200 hotel rooms on a day-in, day-out basis. The average room rate in that period was $125.
When there are big UK football home games or large conferences or events in town, room rate averages might jump to a peak rate of $180 or $185 to accommodate demand, Ramer said.
Last October 17-18, when Keeneland races fell during the long-awaited UK vs. Texas football game, countywide hotel stats told the tale, she said. Weekend occupancy hit 96%, coupled with a weekend average daily rate of $268.77, which further boosted tax revenue.
“We see several weekends in the fall where we have that kind of demand. And Breeders’ Cup rates will well surpass a (typical) strong fall weekend, making all data point to another outstanding fall in the Bluegrass,” Ramer said. “When you add strong convention groups in with those peak leisure weekends, that’s a winning fall for tourism in Lexington and the region!”