Here is the play at hand. In 2019, $45 billion was spent on travel to amateur + collegiate sporting events, according to a study performed by the Sports Events and Tourism Association. This is an increase of approx. 5% from the previous year, and while everyone experienced setbacks in 2020, the tourism and travel industries are about to hit a home run.
Not wanting to sit on the bench, Richland County is considering a plan to build a sporting complex that could potentially be home to 8-12 fields + indoor and outdoor facilities to help bring more sporting events to the Midlands.
Earlier this year, the Kelly Mill Sports Complex hosted 90+ youth baseball teams in April for a travel tournament that was affiliated with the Atlanta Braves. It is estimated that the visiting teams + families spent ~$275,000. This tournament had to take place at multiple locations to accommodate all the games in the tournament timeline.
Additionally, a 60-team travel basketball tournament visited the Midlands in March, which brought in approx. $400,000 + was coordinated at 5 Richland County Recreation Commission gyms.
Richland County officials see a need to build a larger complex to continue to bring the teams + talent to the Midlands with larger tournaments. The play under review remains how to pay for a state-of-the-art complex of this level.
Currently, 2 recreational projects have been proposed to the county — a request to serve up $4 million in public funding for a volleyball complex + $9.5 million to build a sports complex in Irmo from the SC Kings Foundation.
This new, larger complex could come with a price tag of $25-30 million. According to an article from The Post and Courier, a Charlotte-based advisor has confirmed that the new addition would be successful.
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