Sports Lead Way Back to Recovery
Meijer President & CEO Rick Keyes speaks at sports complex naming event.
We have an adage in our business – sports tourism is recession-proof. However, we learned last year that sports tourism is not pandemic-proof. Even with every precaution we could implement, nothing could prepare us for the sweeping shutdown of sporting events across America last year – from the Olympic Games to Little League games in our backyards.
All that being said, I have reason for hope when it comes to sports tourism. We’re already seeing a rebound in sports tourism indicating that sports are coming back. In fact, sports tourism seems to be the first sector of the tourism industry to bounce back, providing West Michigan some much needed business for our hotels and restaurants as we await the return of other tourism sectors like business and convention group travel. This isn’t to say that we haven’t experienced a great loss and that we still need to catch up – it takes time to refill the pipeline of events, and we’re still rescheduling cancelled tournaments from 2020 while also bidding on new events.
I’ve seen enough positive indicators in the past six months that give me hope that sports continue to be an integral part of our daily lives, and the business of sports is slowly but surely returning. Consider the following:
Meijer Sports Complex naming – One of our highlights of 2021 was the announcement of Meijer as the new naming rights partner of our flagship baseball/softball complex in Rockford – now the Meijer Sports Complex. Meijer has been a loyal partner of the WMSC for more than a decade in promoting youth and amateur sports through the Meijer State Games of Michigan and other WMSC initiatives. This new, 10-year partnership not only demonstrates this Midwest retailer’s commitment to youth and amateur sports in our region, it also helps ensure the future of the sports complex and expand upon the successful work we started with additional uses of the remaining acreage.
Pickleball team winners at 2020 USA Masters Games
Hosting the USA Masters Games – In June, we hosted the rescheduled 2020 USA Masters Games, postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic. This multisport, Olympic-style event for athletes 21 and older drew athletes from 35 states competing in 24 events in 20 sports at venues across West Michigan. Only the third edition of the USA Masters Games since it started in 2016, the event built on our strong track record of hosting multi-sport games events – from our annual Meijer State Games over the past decade to the 2017 State Games of America. Equally important, it symbolized that large-scale sporting events are returning to West Michigan.
Sold-out summer at Meijer Sports Complex – One bright spot in 2020 was that because baseball/ softball events are socially distant in nature, we were still able to host 15 tournaments last summer at the Meijer Sports Complex. Granted, we saw a drastic reduction in travel teams due to pandemic-related travel restrictions (and related drops in spectators and overnight stays). But it was good to hear the crack of the bat throughout the summer. This year, we’re back to capacity with a full season of weekend tournaments, with 20-plus tournaments from April through September, including 14 by Game Day USA alone. National tourneys include the USA Softball Men's Open East Fast Pitch National Championship Aug. 27-29 and the USA Softball Men's Slow Pitch Class D National Championship Sept. 3-5.
National bid wins – Our business development team is firing on all cylinders to pitch Grand Rapids as a sports destination to national rights holders and tournament directors, recently landing three coveted national bowling tournaments for 2022 – the Junior Gold Championships (July 11-23), USA Bowling National Championships (July 13-15) and Bowling.com Youth Open Championships (July 13-15, 22-24 and 30-31). While the Junior Gold Championships was in Detroit in 2008, 2013 and 2019, this is the first time the event comes to West Michigan. The WMSC is pursuing other national bids with national governing bodies like USA Gymnastics, USA Triathlon, USA Weightlifting, USA BMX and USA Artistic Swimming, to name a few.
Other national events in 2021 – We hosted other regional and national events this year that gave West Michigan an economic shot in the arm – USA Gymnastics Rhythmic 2021 Gymnastics Level 9 Classic and USA Hockey Youth Tier II 16U Nationals in April, and the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships in May. We also look forward to working with the Midwest United Cup boys and girls soccer tournament Aug. 20-22 as they bring hundreds of teams to town, along with the previously-mentioned baseball/softball tournaments.
Carts ready for first WMSC Golf Outing
Reimagined fundraisers – While we cancelled our popular annual fundraiser luncheon in 2020, we instead hosted our first-ever WMSC Golf Outing in 2020. With 27 foursomes, it was such a success that we’re bringing it back Oct. 11, 2021 at Thousand Oaks Golf Club. Register your foursome now, or sign up to be a sponsor. And we look forward to bringing back our popular annual luncheon in 2022 – stay tuned for the date and our keynote speaker announcement soon.
Despite challenging setbacks due to the pandemic that affected every industry and household, I have every reason for hope in the months and years ahead that sports tourism is returning to West Michigan, and it will only get better.
Sincerely,
Mike
