Town in the middle of nowhere builds a 2.5 mln USD hockey arena. Their economy begins to boom

The town of Luleå in northern Sweden now has 2 NHL players from the same team born in the same year, and both draft in the same round of the draft. <br><br>Mathias Norlinder and Simon Edvinsson.<br><br>Simon Edvinnsson is a 6’4 defencemen drafted 6 overall in 2021, he’s one of the best defensive prospects in hockey outside the NHL, and one of the best overall prospects in hockey <br><br>Mathias Norlinder is 6 feet tall, and was drafted 64 overall in 2019. He spent a year in the NHL playing half the games for the Montreal Canadiens, and is now back in Sweden playing for Luleå <br><br>The reason that the town of Luleå, which is located in the middle of nowhere in Sweden with a population of 77,000 people and surrounded by wilderness, is consistently producing NHL calibre hockey players is because of a hockey arena they built for 2.5 million USD <br><br>North of the city centre is Coop Norrbotten Arena, which is a 6,300 seat hockey arena built for 35 million SEK in the early 2000’s. It replaced an old rink that was smaller. In the years since, the city has pumped money into the arena, upgrading locker rooms, gyms, adding extra training facilities, and adding 2 practice rinks<br><br>The arena has excellent conditions for junior hockey players, with modern locker rooms for junior teams, and excellent conditions for training<br><br>This arena has allowed for the local hockey team to go from the Swedish third tier and financial ruin to the Swedish top tier, making the playoffs and inspiring a whole generation of kids to play hockey<br><br>The team now has a huge youth following, being the only sports team in the area, and are producing NHL players.<br><br>The town also hosted several world championships for junior hockey, which has promoted tourism in the area<br><br>The arena has been instrumental in developing this infrequently visited area of Sweden, drawing tourism and people to the area<br><br>Quite frankly, if you want to develop your area and draw in tourism, having a professional sports team is a great way to do that, especially sports like hockey that produce enormous legacies in the towns that the team play in.<br><br>EDIT: I’m not saying that this is sufficient to independently cause an economic boom in the area, but it absolutely can be an integral part of an economic policy plan for the area