Byline: Al Greenwood
Sep. 26--While other cities earned millions hosting sports events, Fayetteville watched on from the sidelines.
In the next six months, Fayetteville plans to play catch-up.
Fayetteville is the largest city in North Carolina without a sports commission. Such groups market a city's playing fields to attract sports tournaments.
But Fayetteville's convention and visitors bureau will receive $130,000 extra annually for the next five years to develop a sports tourism program.
Fayetteville is not entering an empty playing field. Moore County has had an active program for three years, and is studying whether it should expand the program.
Sports tourism could bring more lodgers to Cumberland County, something needed by its hotel industry.
The average occupancy rates among hotels in Cumberland County was 61.1 percent in July, the worst performance for that month in five years, according to Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, Tenn. Occupancy percentage rates this year ranged from the upper 50s to the lower 60s.
Meanwhile, developers plan to open at least two hotels in Cumberland County.
Sports tourism could help fill the new rooms.
When Fayetteville's sports program is established, it will tap into a growing market.
The National Association of Sports Commissions, a trade group that represents sports planners, has grown from 14 members in 1992 to 430 today, said Don Schumacher, the association's executive director.
The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, actually caused sports tourism to increase, Schumacher said. Parents want to spend more time with their children, and many are doing so through sports.
For at least three years, the bureau has planned to create a sports commission in Fayetteville.
Those earlier plans were delayed by efforts to promote cultural tourism, said John Meroski, president and chief executive officer of the Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Last year, Cumberland County started its own effort to market sports. It paid $90,000 to J.D. Daniel, a consultant who studied ways to boost sports tourism. Daniel proposed upgrading and expanding the Jordan Soccer Complex. The owner of the complex at the time, the Fayetteville Soccer Association, turned down the proposal. The association was concerned that courting outside out-of-town teams would leave little time for local teams to use the fields.
Sports tourism received another chance boost in August, when the Tourism Development Authority agreed to add $130,000 to the annual budget of the convention and visitors bureau.
With the extra money, the bureau will expand its sports marketing program, Meroski said, creating . The bureau will create a sports commission that will help organize and manage the tournaments.
The bureau also plans to join the National Association of Sports Commissions.
Joining the national association will give Fayetteville's program credibility, Meroski said.
While the bureau sets up its sports commission, its sales staff will continue selling Cumberland County's sports facilities to planners, Meroski said. This fall, the representatives of the bureau will attend two sports trade shows.
The visitors bureau is also trying to position Fayetteville to become the host city for a series of wrestling tournaments, scheduled for the next five years, Meroski said. Each event will could attract from 500 to 1,500 people. The tournaments and could add $1.5 million to the local economy each year, he said.
The tournaments aren't restricted to traditional sports.
In July, the Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Association held an amateur competition, the eS Game of Skate. The event attracted 72 skaters from the Southeast, said Terry Grimble, the association's president. In May, the Mid-Atlantic Skateboard Association held its first pro tournament at Crown Coliseum. The contest attracted 3,000 spectators and nearly 100 skaters from around the world.
One of those skaters was Rod James, a pro from San Marcos, Calif. James said he typically competes in eight out-of-town tournaments a year.
Hotels, planes and meals can cost from $500 to $1,000 for each trip. James didn't spend that much in Fayetteville -- he spent the night at the homes of family and friends, he said. But he still dined in Fayetteville.
Lots of competition When Fayetteville's sports program kicks off, it will enter a crowded field. The competition for events has become more competitive among cities, said Caleb Miles, president of The Convention and Visitors Bureau -- Village of Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen Area.
Miles has experienced that competition firsthand as a vice president of the N.C. Youth Soccer Association. Cities hosting soccer tournaments regularly include maps and coupons in their packages, he said.
At the same time, Miles also has experienced the challenges of starting a sports tourism program.
The tournaments cannot conflict with local use of the facilities, he said. When Moore County's tourism season picks up in the spring and fall, it sometimes lacks the hotel rooms to lodge the athletes. It has turned down some events.
The tournament organizers also need help from the bureau, Miles said. Organizers use the copy machines and borrow the cell phones.
Tournaments also strain logistics, he said. Buses take the participants from the hotels to the sports centers. Police direct traffic.
Still, the sports program has helped Moore County fill hotel rooms during its off season, Miles said.
Moore County's golf courses and equestrian fields are of such quality, it they can compete for national events, he said. Last summer, Moore County hosted the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship. The event attracted nearly 4,000 children and their parents.
The county could even expand its sports venues.
A firm is studying the feasibility of an amateur sports complex that could have up to 18 fields, Miles said. The fields could bring more tournaments to Moore County.
They could also help Cumberland County, Miles said.
Some cities and counties are combining their fields to compete for large tournaments, he said. Raleigh and Wilson successfully bid for a soccer tournament. Cumberland and Moore County could do the same, Miles said.
Such teamwork could give both counties an advantage in winning bids for sports events.
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