By Rob Houston
Director, Visit Enid
Back in 2018, I traveled to Foley, Alabama to tour their new sports complex. This was part of an initiative by the Enid First team to explore communities with successful programs that Enid wanted to emulate.
Foley, population 17,000, sits just 10 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico and is a hearty recipient of all of those beach tourism dollars rolling in. The BP Oil Spill in 2010 brought beach tourism to a crashing halt. Foley city leaders along with cities up and down the coast wondered how they would replace all that lost tourism revenue. But youth sports tournaments kept going, and the City of Foley stepped up and made the decision and the investment to make their city a sports tourism destination. In 2014, the City of Foley announced a project to build an events center and sports complex, with its sole purpose to be used as a revenue generator for the city by hosting tournaments and events bringing outside money into the community. The first soccer tournament at its 16-field complex was in May, 2016 and the 90,000 square-foot events center opened in September 2017.
Foley found its solution to the oil spill, so when the global pandemic hit in 2020, Foley already had their sports facilities in place. I looked on the Foley Sports Tourism website this week and found the City of Foley has collected over $2 million in lodging tax revenue in the three years after COVID-19. In 2023, Foley reported 80 events which brought almost 260,000 people to their community, generating $32.7 million in business sales, $7.6 million in food and beverage spending, and $4.7 million in lodging sales.
I know Enid is not Foley – location, location, location. However, as Mayor David Mason said during the Mayor and Board of Commissioners Regular Study Session on July 2. “I think sports tourism is the way forward for us. We are geographically located to take advantage of this. There are great opportunities for Enid out there to have those sales tax dollars coming into our community.”
Some sales tax dollars are already coming in thanks to David Allen Memorial Ballpark, Stride Bank Center and the new Advance Soccer Complex. The NJCAA Division II World Series – a staple in Enid since 2009 with a contract to host through at least 2028 – brought in just over $950,000 in direct sales and almost $1.4 million in economic impact this past May, both records for the Enid event. Combine that with eight other youth or collegiate events at the three local facilities since mid-December and Enid saw a direct spending impact of over $3.6 million and a total economic impact of nearly $5.3 million. Local tax revenue for those nine events totaled $233,608. That’s $233,608 in outside tax dollars coming into our city due to nine youth and college sports tourism. Tax dollars our citizens save. Sports tourism brings in visitors to help the city pay for services our residents expect, like police, fire, water, sewer, and yes, fixing city streets.
The City of Enid has put out an RFP for concepts for a new youth sports complex, mainly, but not limited to, baseball and softball. Where the complex will be located and its number of fields are still to be determined. At some point in the future, the City will put a bond issue to a vote of its citizens to help pay for the complex.
With the 2023 Sports ETA State of the Industry Report showing a record 209.2 million people spent $52.2 billion putting on and traveling to youth and college sporting events in the United States, creating a total economic impact of $128 billion, it’s no wonder Enid wants to get in the game.
I hope Enid residents see increased sports tourism as a golden opportunity to bring more dollars to our city.
Rob Houston is Director of Visit Enid and has been with the organization since its inception in 2010.
