GULF SHORES, AL – The good news seems to just keep getting better.

The combined efforts of the city of Gulf Shores, the Hangout and Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism’s Sports Commission certainly wowed ‘em when the inaugural NCAA sand volleyball championship was decided here in May.

“We had nothing but great comments,” Beth Gendler, vice president of sales for the Sports Commission, said. “They were amazed the same empty beach they saw in January could be and was transformed into a collegiate championship venue when they arrived.”

Now the numbers from the weekend are in and they are just as impressive.

The economic impact of the tournament and its 5,915 fans increased a whopping 246 percent over the American Volleyball Coaches Association championship from 2015.

Last year for the AVCA Championship there were 676 room nights and a $346,368 economic impact. In 2016 there were 1,108 room nights with a $1.2 million economic infusion.

“This had a huge impact on our area especially for this time of year following spring break and leading into our busy summer months,” Gendler said.

The star of that show, Gendler said, was the beach itself.

“Again, heard just great comments on the quality of our sand, of course the weather absolutely cooperated and everyone was excited to be here making history,” Gendler said.

That exposure to NCAA officials and economic bump of the event was just part of the success, Gendler said.

“The other big part of this story is the scheduled eight hours of national TV, which went long each day,” she said. “Showing our beautiful beaches to people around the country and making collegiate history was truly immeasurable for our destination.”

Action on May 6 and 7 was broadcast on truTV and the championship finals on May 8 were on TBS.

Gulf Shores is guaranteed to host the event again in 2017 but later this year the NCAA will announce which venue will win the bid beyond next year’s tournament.

Interested venues must submit an intent to bid by the end of June and submit their final bid by the end of August. The NCAA will announce its decision in November.

The next tournament in Gulf Shores will be May 5-7 in 2017.

“We are very pleased and excited about the success of the inaugural NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores,” Kristin Fasbender, associate director of championships and alliance for the NCAA, said. “The experience for our student-athletes and fans was outstanding.

“The partnership that the NCAA has created with the Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Sports Commission, UAB, The Hangout and the city of Gulf Shores made this event shine. We are already looking forward to next year and continuing to build off of this year’s event.”

Georgia State University Coach Beth Van Fleet praised the NCAA for producing a high caliber first-year championship event.

“The NCAA has done an amazing job putting this together,” she said. “I haven’t seen anything better than this except the Olympics. It is so professional and well put together.”

Gendler said the success was due to teamwork of the city, the Hangout and the Sports Commission.

“I think everyone was truly excited about how well the event went, how we were able to adapt and make changes to improve things each day and how we came together immediately following and discussed how to improve for next year,” she said. “It was a wonderful team effort.”