Sports continues to be

big business in the Tri-Cities.

Visit Tri-Cities, the Tri-City area’s visitors and convention bureau, reports that last year there were 212 sports, convention and group activities that attracted 127,931 visitors who spent $38,157,557.

The same report

estimates that in 2019 and beyond there will be 227 sports, convention and

group activities that will attract 143,929 people who will spend $48,895,758,

or 28 percent more in spending.

“Sports tourism

provides significant economic impact for our community,” said Michael

Novakovich, president and chief executive officer of Visit Tri-Cities. “Last

year, sports and conventions sales generated over $38 million in visitor

spending. More than 42 percent of this economic impact is attributable to

overnight visitation of athletes and their families attending and participating

in sporting events.”

The benefit to the

community is multifaceted, Novakovich said.

“When athletes and

their families visit the Tri-Cities for sporting events, they spend a

considerable amount of money as they stay in our hotels, eat in our

restaurants, take in our attractions, buy from our retail, pump gas and

purchase groceries,” he said. “These are imported dollars — dollars that didn’t

exist in our community until these visitors arrived.”

Novakovich added that

visitor spending in the region supports more than 6,300 jobs.

Twenty-five years ago,

the numbers were nowhere near what they are now.

But something happened

back then to help: a community-led sports council was created.

Starting a sports council

Even back in the 1990s,

community leaders knew sports was big business.

So Don Hart and a group of like-minded citizens created the Tri-Cities Sports Council in 1996.

“In 1996, the

Tri-Cities was going through some harrowing economic times because the DOE had

cut a number of key programs in the area over the previous years …,” Hart said.

“There were a number of task forces underway to look at possibilities and new

ideas.”

Hart, who was chairman

of USA Swimming National Officials at that time, picked up ideas that included creating

a council to fuel economic development through sports.

Besides Hart, that

first group included Russ Burtner, Randy Dolven, Stan Johnson, Grant Linnen, CJ

Mitchell, Paul Whitemarsh, Randy Willis, Kris Watkins and Tana Bader Inglima.

“We

defined our objectives: Closely define our target markets – this became refined

over the areas of youth sports, adult sports, support to the minor league type

professional teams in the area,” Hart said. “Encourage and develop the number

of sporting events in the Tri-Cities; provide input to the city governments on

facility needs and encourage sharing of resources; develop a positive

relationship with the WIAA and local college entities; build participation of

all of the school districts on the council; support bringing new sports

activities to the Tri-Cities; create an area sports hall of fame; and build a

positive, healthy image of the Tri-Cities for visitors to come back to.”

The council was one of

the first in the nation.

“It was a very new

concept at the time,” said Hector Cruz, vice president of Visit Tri-Cities. “It

was great leadership in the community truly thinking outside the box. It took a

while to get everybody to realize what we were doing. But our council founders

had a lot of great contacts.”

About 15 years ago,

the Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention Bureau, which became Visit Tri-Cities,

added staff to help support the sports council.

Today, Cruz and Dan

Mulhausen, sports development manager, work with the council and find ways to

bring in more sports business.

They attend four

national trade shows a year, where they meet one-on-one with promoters.

“Our city partners

(the recreation department managers) go with us, and we have a booth,” Cruz

said. “They are actually the experts. It’s easy to manage. It’s very successful

because we’re able to build through relationships, whether it’s new events, or

building those relationships with our current partners.”

The conventions are

successful, Mulhausen said.

“It

gets us in front of a lot of different groups,” he said. “There are a lot of

groups always there that are not on top of everyone’s radar.”

He mentions pickleball

and lacrosse — the fast-growing sports in the Tri-Cities — as examples.

“We’re not going to

say no to business,” Mulhausen said. “Our strengths are baseball, softball and

soccer. At the same time, what’s new? Where do we have people involved and

motivated?”

Cruz and Mulhausen

also seek to bring in events during what they call “shoulder season,” the

non-peak hotel season in the Tri-Cities.

That’s usually August,

and the winter months of November, December and January.

“And we’re always

keeping an eye on what’s happening around the region,” Mulhausen said.

The current council

The council numbers

between 40 and 50 members and normally meets once a month.

“The council is

invaluable. Just the whole group,” Cruz said. “It has high school and college

athletic directors, club sports directors, professional sports team people,

people running facilities.”

Another component is

hotels. Two representatives from local hotels serve on the council for a year.

“We want to make sure

we have the rooms (for events),” said Cruz, who says there has been a 24

percent growth in Tri-City area hotel rooms since 2014, with new hotels opening

soon, such as Courtyard at Marriott at the airport and Comfort Suites at

Southridge.

During the monthly

council meetings, Cruz and Mulhausen report on new sports-related business,

their latest visit to a convention to drum up more business, and what’s coming

up.

Then everyone takes a

turn updating the group about what’s going on in their part of the sports

world. It’s called the roundtable.

“The roundtable is the

best part,” Cruz said.

It allows everyone on

the council to be on the same page of what’s happening in the community, and

provides the chance for cooperation.

For example, the

council worked together with the Tri-City Dust Devils to host the WIAA state

baseball championships at Gesa Stadium in May. Or it might reveal that the

upcoming See 3 Slam 3-on-3 basketball tournament might need help with

volunteers, and other organizations will step up.

“Other cities don’t

have that kind of cooperation,” Mulhausen said. “We don’t take it for granted.

… Everybody here is rolling in the same direction. Everyone wants to see the

Tri-Cities be better. Even when new people come in they see the collaboration

process. People have a passion for sports and giving back. It’s unique when

you’re able to do both, and you find opportunities to improve your community.”

Cruz agreed: “In the

sports market in the Tri-Cities, people are awesome. Everyone is willing to

help and support you.”

A need for facilities

There’s already demand

for more Tri-City athletic facilities.

“We’re finding that

there is a growing need now (for more facilities),” Cruz said. “Groups and

clubs need more space for practice time.”

“You’d be hard pressed

to find a group that doesn’t need more space,” Mulhausen said. “But we’ve got

to make sure we have the space to sell the destination, and the promoters see

the potential to grow.”

Novakovich

said the sports facilities question is being addressed through a market

analysis and feasibility study.

“The study is being

done through a partnership between Visit Tri-Cities and the cities of

Kennewick, Pasco and Richland,” he said. “Goals include: Determining the need

for multi-use sports facilities within each city that will meet demands of the

community and generate increased visitor spending. The intent is to expand

capacity for sports programming for residents and generate community economic

impact and facilities level revenues from regional, national and international

sports events that draw visitors from 50 miles away or more.”

The study is expected

to be complete by August.

 “I believe our dependence

on sports tourism will continue to grow,” Novakovich said. “It aids in the

diversification of our economy, which is a great benefit as we consider the

progress being made on the Hanford site and the retirement of associated

activities.”