We’ve talked a lot about how you can use the facilities you have for the best events you can attract. And yes, we’ve seen a facilities “arms race” blossom, as cities look to expand their sports venues to bring in even bigger and, they hope, better events.
The “Gold Standard,” if you will, of sports facilities just may be in Blaine, Minnesota, where the National Sports Center is located. Billing itself as the World’s Largest Amateur Sports and Meeting Facility, the National Sports Center (NSC) boasts 50+ athletic fields, a golf course, an indoor FieldTurf field, velodrome, stadium, rinks and its own residence hall. It brings in more than 100 unique programs and events that will draw more than 4 million visitors each year.
In fact, the facility has welcomed over 50 million visitors since its opening in 1990, when it was built by the state of Minnesota as part of a statewide building program to improve its amateur sports facilities. The NSC generates over $47 million in annual economic impact, and out of state visitors alone, according to the facility’s website, generate $2.3 million in taxes to the state and $800,000 in local taxes each year.
For example: the 32nd Schwan’s USA CUP soccer tournament going on now at NSC, is bringing in 1,178 teams representing 19 countries and 19 states. It’s the largest soccer tournament in the Western Hemisphere and is held on the 54 playing fields at the facility. And here’s perhaps the most important and impressive number: With an out-of-state economic impact of over $32 million, Schwan’s USA CUP is Minnesota’s largest annual out-of-state tourism event.
Todd Johnson, who took over as the executive director of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission about a year and a half ago, said this in an interview right after he was hired: “I don’t believe in resting on our accomplishments,” he said. “I like to think I’m a little bit of an athlete myself and I realize that atrophy is the enemy of your structure. You have to figure out a way to take care of it and that’s what we’ll be doing.”