Go for the money

guest commentary by Ed Devero and Travis Stephens of the Greater Fort Smith Sports Council
 
The Greater Fort Smith Sports Council (GFSSC) is pleased with the progress shown by the Fort Smith City Board of Directors at Tuesday night’s (Oct. 27) special meeting and we are pleased they have included some community sports initiatives. 

We would like to encourage the city board to envision what sports tourism could do for this region as we have merely just scratched the surface of reaping the potential benefits the amateur sports tourism industry has to offer.

Once a year the Fort Smith Juniors Volleyball club tournament brings in an estimated $725,000 in tourism dollars over the course of a single weekend. That translates into approximately $70,000 in tax revenue. That is roughly the equivalent of paying for two additional police officers’ salaries. Think about that — $70,000 in tax revenue brought in over one weekend from one single tournament.

We are asking the board, and the public as well, to envision the potential implications if Fort Smith can host additional sports competitions throughout the year. Tennis, soccer, softball, baseball, cheer, dance, swimming, fishing and gymnastics; the list of sports is endless. In some of these sports we are seeing tournament-style competitions currently being held in Fort Smith, but they are small in scale with regard to bringing in teams from a regional or national scope.



The GFSSC is hoping to see at least five softball fields planned for Ben Geren to replace the five fields that the community lost with the demolition of the Andrews fields. While two definitely helps the overcrowding issue for our young female athletes, we are still short from where we were two years ago, and by just adding two it still limits the city’s potential to host large regional-size tournaments that can fill hotel rooms and restaurants. While two additional softball fields are helpful, we are asking the directors to go further with their vision and planning.



It is the feeling of the GFSSC that the purpose of the city annexing Ben Geren Park is so the city could help the park reach its potential as a true regional sports tourism destination. Annexing the park so that two softball fields can be built really does nothing to help the region from an economic or local sports recreational standpoint. Two fields are a step in the right direction, but if the city wants to see a substantial return on their investment it needs to be four or five.

They also need to include a plan to expand the current facilities for soccer and tennis. Currently there are 6 tennis courts and increasing that number to 12 would open the door to host a wide variety of revenue-producing tournaments. Increasing the number of soccer fields would do the same.



With its geographic location and being less than five hours from so many population centers, Fort Smith has the potential to have its hotel rooms filled 25 to 30 weekends a year. It is our hope city and county leaders will consider the potential social and economic impacts additional youth sports venues would have on our community and adjust their priority list moving forward.
 
There has been a lot of talk about all of the other projects being "Quality of Place" issues and we share in that sentiment. But we want the people of Fort Smith to understand that while all of the projects that were discussed will make for a better Fort Smith, the core message that we need to remember is the economic impact that will be created by bringing in tourist.

The beauty of improving existing facilities and building new ones is that we all get to enjoy and use them and at the same time bring in millions of outside dollars to inject in our economy that otherwise would not be coming. That’s new money that can then be used to fund additional projects. What we’re asking for is that the city put the projects that will bring in revenue at the top of the list.

The mission of the Greater Fort Smith Sports Council is to create awareness, promote and grow amateur athletics and activities in the Greater Fort Smith Region by linking together the resources and goals of independent sports clubs and organizations with government entities to build a collectively stronger, unified voice.