Sports tourism is alive, well, and growing in West Michigan, where the West Michigan Sports Commission is leading fundraising to expand the Meijer Sports Complex, several major upcoming events have been announced, and a recent conference saw attendance from leaders of non-profit sports governing bodies around the United States.
Built and owned by the West Michigan Sports Commission, the Meijer Sports Complex opened in 2014 with eight baseball and softball fields, a championship baseball field, and the Nate Hurwitz Miracle League Field. The original $7.5 million cost was funded through private donations. The complex has since attracted at least 148 travel events, 7,500 teams, and 243,750 visitors, generating $52 million in direct visitor spending in the Grand Rapids region, according to data provided by the commission.
“It was built with sports tourism in mind, so we really try and work to attract a lot of those travel teams in baseball and softball,” says West Michigan Sports Commission President Mike Guswiler. “It really spurred different sports opportunities.”
Now a campaign is more than halfway to its goal of raising $11 million—including a $1 million commitment from Meijer—to expand into additional acreage that would accommodate 200 more teams annually and generate $1 million-plus in additional annual visitor spending. Included in the plans are a new championship softball field for youth, three flexible-use diamond fields, 20 pickleball courts, canopies over bleacher seating, a new concession building and restrooms, more parking, and other improvements.
The facility currently offers creative options for business and corporate gatherings, Guswiler says, “especially if it’s an outdoor type of thing—outdoor expos.” The expansion is also going to include a lounge area with capacity for up to 50 people. “It has a small kitchen area and can offer something for small corporate gatherings in a very unique location with maybe some field day opportunities. It’s not your typical meeting and event space, but one of the first events we had when we opened was a wedding.”
The new spaces could yield other group gathering opportunities, he notes. “We do have a signature championship baseball [field] that has 1,000 covered seats and a covered canopy,” Guswiler says. “There is an opportunity in having something there and putting seats out in the field should that be a direction a company would want to go.”
The West Michigan Sports Commission also recently announced it had won bids to host several events including the Spartan Race, Oct. 21-22, at Millennium Park. About 5,000 participants filling 1,500 hotel room nights are expected to compete in a series of obstacle races, generating $1.5 million-plus in estimated economic impact. The Professional Disc Golf Association has also chosen Grand Rapids for its 2024 Amateur World Championships, Aug. 6-10, 2024. Some 430 competitors will participate in events at parks across the area, generating about $850,000 in local revenue and utilizing 600 hotel room nights, the commission reports.
The West Michigan Sports Commission has hosted the USA Table Tennis U.S. Open three times and was bidding on multiple future events including those by USRowing, which has held its Masters National Championships twice in Grand Rapids, and Move United, an affiliate of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
The West Michigan Sports Commission was also successful in attracting the Association of Chief Executives for Sport (ACES) 2023 Conference, which was held in late August at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids—a first in west Michigan and the group’s second time in Michigan. More than 110 attendees, many from U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee sport governing bodies, spent three days collaborating and meeting with destinations and corporate sponsors. It gave the West Michigan Sports Commission the opportunity to meet with U.S. organizing bodies who are already familiar with the region from hosting previous national events there while making new connections with such groups as USA Judo, USA Fencing, USA Pickleball, USA Team Handball, and U.S. Figure Skating. And having those representatives in Grand Rapids, in person, could make all the difference going forward, Guswiler says, noting in a press release, “It enhances our chances to win future bids if they can see what we offer.”
