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Local governments are continuing to invest in sports tourism, and with good reason.
In October, Chesterfield County announced another plan to attract sporting event visitors: a six-field softball complex at Harry G. Daniel Park at Iron Bridge. The hope, according to the county, is “to become the hub for fastpitch softball and youth baseball in the Mid-Atlantic” between the new fields and those at the Bird Athletic Complex. The upgrades to the park’s existing infrastructure are funded by $4.1 million in transient lodging tax revenue and are scheduled to be finished in June 2024.
Investments in sports tourism appear to be paying off, according to a recent report by the Virginia Tourism Corporation that analyzed the impact of tourism in 2022. In Henrico County, visitors spent more than $1.7 billion, the most of any locality in Central Virginia and the fifth highest in the state. Of that amount, the bulk, $753 million, came from transportation, while $167 million came from recreation. Chesterfield, meanwhile, drew $582 million in 2022, $82 million of which came from recreation sources. The report’s data, compiled by Tourism Economics, reflects spending by travelers who stayed overnight in paid accommodations or took trips at least 50 miles from home.
Henrico notes in a statement that it hosted 136 outdoor tournaments in 2022 that generated nearly $65 million in economic activity but estimates that the county missed out on as much as $33 million in annual spending by not having a venue for indoor sports. Its solution to this problem, the Henrico Sports & Events Center, is slated to open next fall. Chesterfield says it hosted 83 events in fiscal year 2023 that produced an estimated $48 million in local economic impact and that $36 million, or 75%, of that figure came from events at River City Sportsplex.
“Our history with River City Sportsplex,” says J.C. Poma, Chesterfield’s executive director of sports, visitation and entertainment, “tells us that every dollar invested in facility enhancements will come back to us many times over by bringing in visitors to stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores.”
