As Terry likes to remind us, sports generates $182 billion per year nationally, with 27 percent of that coming from travel and contributing to 47 million hotel room nights annually.
Leading the parade, and beating the drums for sports tourism as a major revenue producer, is Prince George's County. In fact, Matt Neitzey, executive director of Prince George's CVB, was quick to comment on the impact sports travel has on their ascent to the throne.
"People are really starting to recognize the county's stature as a sporting venue in the state," he commented in Maryland Gazette.
Matt went on to elaborate on the facilities and activities that draw visitors to the county for extended stays. The versitile Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro stages numerous equestrian events, but also recently hosted the Women's Atlantic 10 Conference basketball championships. That series attracted 9,000 spectators but also represented accommodations for the teams and their families and friends. In the next two years, Showplace is slated to host the Women's Colonial Athletic Association hoops tourney.
As Terry says, you've got to love those youth and collegiate meets because they travel so well. When a youngster attends a regional tournament or competition, that frequently turns into a family vacation or weekend road trip. So the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex near FedEx Field is a top producer with all the track tournaments, invitational swim meets and gymnastics competitions it hosts year round. The complex is large enough to stage multiple events at the same time.
Of course, PG (I'm from there, so I can use the familiar term) is home of the University of Maryland so it benefits not only from the major intercollegiate competitions at Byrd Stadium and Comcast Arena, but also the many other varsity and club competitions that bring traveling teams and their supporters.
(As noted previously, the amount of time I spend in downtown Annapolis has given me tremendous appreciation for the number of family members who travel to see their little darlings compete at Academy facilities. I can only imagine the throngs that flock to College Park.)
The other notable factor that promotes the Prince to King is that they've realized the value of the Office of Sports Marketing in helping them identify these lucrative events and package the bids to woo them. Terry turned them on to the FIFA World Cup opportunity, and FedEx (along with M&T Bank Stadium) is among the 18 venues included in the US bid. FedEx will also reap huge dividends with the 2011 Army-Navy game and Maryland-Notre Dame game. Both of these represent sellout, weekend long festivities.
Terry had some noteworthy comments in the Gazette article, which I'll repeat here.
"Prince George's is one of the main anchor principles when it comes to the Maryland [sporting] marketplace Prince George's can position itself as a stand-alone entity, with a complete package of hotel and retail venues," he said.
I hope that over the next year, all Maryland counties will take a long look at their sports and recreation facilities (you can start by referencing our directory of venues) and calculating just how many events and activities take place there over the course of the year. Not just big ticket events that generate admission taxes, but group activities, field and stream charters, and youth tournaments that represent weekend -- and longer -- travel.
You see these figures presented randomly -- such as the number of visitors now using the Allegheny Highlands trail, or the economic impact of the Annapolis Boat Shows. But there doesn't seem to be a measurement of sports-related travel and spending by individual jurisdiction. I think it would be a real eye-opener. Particularly in places like Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties.
But since sports continues to contribute royally to Prince George's, they will probably reign as sovereign in the realm of Maryland tourism for a long time to come.
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