Visit Fort Worth sees youth sports complex as ticket to boost tourism
With the addition of Dickies Arena, which opened for business on Oct. 26, and will host its first event Friday, Fort Worth is becoming more of a sports destination.
The 14,000-seat, $540 million arena adds to the athletics scene in Fort Worth, along with NCAA gymnastics at the Fort Worth Convention Center, the Cowtown Marathon and the Charles Schwab Challenge at The Colonial, among others.
But one area missing from the mix is youth sports.
Members of Visit Fort Worth gathered Tuesday morning at Pinnacle Bank to discuss their vision of a youth sports complex.
“Something that was really telling to me was with all the sports activity related to tourism that takes place in Fort Worth, only 5% attribute to youth sports,” said Bob Jameson, president and CEO of Visit Fort Worth.
“We spend time on the road going somewhere else to watch our kids play. The market suggested we look at, and has a potential for, a youth sports facility. We’re the 13th largest city in the country and DFW is the fourth-largest economical engine, so how can we only have 5% of our visitor traffic go to youth sports when it could be at least three times that, so there’s an opportunity for us there.”
The team, led by Jason Sands, the director of sports marketing, said it would announce at a later date how it plans to accomplish the goal.
Sands estimated a complex could bring in 100,00 visitors annually and $16 million to Fort Worth.
“We want them to come and get them hooked to Fort Worth, and a youth sports complex is one way to drive them,” Sands said.
Sands pointed out that kids who stay active are less likely to be obese or use drugs, and more likely to get higher test scores, go to college and have higher annual earnings.
He also said Fort Worth has 202,000 youth 5 to 19 and 5% play soccer.
By comparison, Frisco has 49,000 youth 5 to 19 and 15% play soccer.
“Imagine bringing 15% to Fort Worth and having 20,000 more kids involved,” Sands said. “There is an economical impact, but it also has a social impact and it’s very important, and something we need to get done.”
A consultant group studied the city’s facilities, most notably Gateway Park, which has six softball fields, and Rolling Hills Soccer Complex, which has 20 soccer fields, eight of which have lights.
“Rolling Hills has limited concession stands, parking and no permanent bathrooms, and there’s a prison nearby. Gateway Park is not a good driver for us when it comes to visitors and those tournaments,” Sands said. “What can we do to make it better? It’s not our best foot forward. We want to make sure a youth complex is worthy for our city.”
Recommendations included a multi-sport outdoor complex, a 100,000 square-foot indoor complex, a total of 97.9 acres and an estimated economic impact of $16 million by the fifth year.
“Many of us have played sports, or have kids and grandchildren that do, and a lot of people travel to Dallas or Frisco to watch our kids play,” Sands said. “Those are Fort Worth dollars that we want to stay in Fort Worth.”
