In May of 2021, the City of Clyde initiated an evaluation of its existing ballfields located at the Clyde Community Park. The assessment indicated that the fields and complex would require significant renovations and upgrades to support youth sports programs. In November of 2021, the City of Clyde retained Kimley-Horn Planning and Design Engineers Consulting to assess the Community Park and develop an Opinion of Probable cost and Design Concept to renovate the existing fields. The estimated construction timeline for the project was 18-24 months. This construction timeline results in losing field use for the Little League and Girls’ Softball teams. In the meeting with the Little League and Softball Boards, this course of action requires the respective leagues to find alternative fields for practice and gameplay. All games would be played in communities outside the City of Clyde, resulting in increased costs to families and the possibility of unavailable fields. In January 2022, the Clyde Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) approached the City of Clyde to discuss the possibility of the City constructing the Sports Complex adjacent to the High School. CISD agreed to a no-cost deed transfer of approximately 28 acres of land. The City Council accepted the CISD offer, and acquisition strategies were formulated to solicit bids from approved vendors on cooperative purchasing boards. In March 2022, the City of Clyde selected Hellas Construction using the 1 G.P.A. National Purchasing Cooperative agreement to comply with all Texas Procurement statutes.
A Multibillion-Dollar Industry
On any given weekend, thousands of young athletes nationwide utilize their talents in baseball, football, soccer, tennis, volleyball, and pickleball, which is booming in popularity. Most of these events occur in complexes developed explicitly for amateur sports. Since the 600-acre National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota, launched in 1990, sports tourism has become integral to local economies. More families are traveling to out-of-town venues nationwide for sports tournaments, races, and events. If you have been in an airport or hotel recently, there is a good chance you witnessed many groups of young athletes with travel gear attending out-of-town sporting events. These revenue-generating events result in families staying in hotels, eating at nearby restaurants, shopping at regional retailers, and visiting local attractions. Families spend $700 to $1,000 monthly on youth sports.
According to the Sports Business Journal, youth and amateur sport-specific venues have spurred more than $9 billion in spending since 2017. Local communities, private developers, visitors and convention bureaus, and club sports teams are developing sporting venues that attract visitors to their communities. These projects generate a boost in the local economy. Enticing sports travelers to year-round multi-sport destinations has become a significant source of community competition. The economic impact of amateur and youth sports tourism is staggering. According to the Sports Events and Tourism Association, $39.7 billion on the direct spending impact of amateur and youth sports tourism in 2021 generated a total economic impact of $91.8 billion, which resulted in the generation of 635,000 jobs and a total tax revenue of $12.9 billion for the local economies. In 2019, 179 million people traveled to out-of-town events. During the first COVID-19 year of 2020, travel decreased by 46 percent, but it quickly rebounded in 2021 by 53 percent to 175 million travelers.
Spending decreased in 2020 as travelers focused more on regional and local events. It rebounded quickly in 2021 but is still slightly below pre-COVID spending. In 2021, sports-related travel accounted for 66.5 million nights families spent in hotels. Travel is essential because hotel tax revenue finances many sporting venues nationwide. Since 2005, the annual growth rate of amateur and youth sports tourism has been 5.9 percent. All these statistics point to accelerated growth within the industry.
The economic impact on local communities can be divided into direct, indirect, and induced. The immediate effect includes local hotels, restaurants, attractions, retailer spending, transportation, and entry fees. Indirect impact is defined as purchasing goods and services and the impact on the supply chain. Induced impact encompasses employee spending directly or indirectly associated with sports tourism. According to the Sports Events and Tourism Association, $39.7 billion on the direct spending impact of amateur and youth sports tourism in 2021 generated a total economic impact of $91.8 billion, which resulted in the generation of 635,000 jobs and a total tax revenue of $12.9 billion for the local economies.
The average family spends around $1,400 yearly on sports activities per child. They’re paying for gear, entry fees, membership dues, personal training, travel, and camps, among other expenses. Many parents recognize that healthy habits start young and that organized sports are a great way to introduce them to an active lifestyle. Spending time together on the baseball or soccer field is a cherished weekend tradition for many families. Tuition is expensive. While only about two percent of young athletes go on to play at the elite college level, many parents foster dreams of their children earning a scholarship. That’s why they enroll their kids in local leagues at young ages and are willing to travel for out-of-state competitions where a scout might spot them.
Youth Sports are a Catalyst
Sports tourism encompasses traveling to a destination specifically for a sports-related activity (e.g., competition, educational program, recreation, adventure, or training) or to visit a sports-related attraction. According to the State of the Industry Report prepared by the Sports Events and Tourism Association, sports tourism in the United States generated over $103 billion in business sales in 2019, representing a five-year annual growth rate of 5.9 percent since 2015. The spending was calculated according to direct expenditures ($45.1B ), indirect expenditures ($25.4 billion), and induced expenditures ($32.8 billion). Direct costs are those connected specifically to operational areas. At the same time, indirect and induced spending comprises all outputs required to support operations (the ripple effect), such as communications, construction, utilities, agriculture, etc. The 2019 report, which excludes spending on professional sports (e.g., N.F.L., MLB, etc.) and regular collegiate season games, calculated that $14.6 billion was accrued in personal and corporate taxes, including $6.8 billion designated for local and state governments.
Executives from convention and visitors’ bureaus, destination marketing organizations, sports commissions, and area chambers of commerce contributed to the 2019 State of the Industry report, noting accommodations represented approximately 20 percent of U.S. sports-related travel spending during the year, with 69 million room nights allocated. Almost 411,000 full-time employment positions resulted from sports tourism events in 2019. In terms of events serving as the primary driver of sports tourism, the most significant benefit for a city is realized through regional-level coordination and cooperation. The best means to leverage the economic impact of a sports tourism event is to create alternative revenue streams derived from ancillary events. Ancillary events around the main event provide additional partner activation and exposure opportunities. Merchandising, parking, concessions, food trucks, and pop-up stores are all ancillary operations with spending implications. Ancillary events may include trade shows, galas, awards ceremonies, educational conferences, instructional clinics, training demonstrations, test events, and staged competitions for specific populations (e.g., youth or those with physical or developmental challenges). These ancillary events are a source for garnering additional income while also serving as a tool to enhance the value of the tourism experience for athletes, spectators, and sponsors. Staging ancillary events before and after the main event can also impact the length of an individual’s travel plans, resulting in increased spending on accommodations and meals in the City of Clyde.
