No. 5: Developers investing millions in sports complexes for public, private ROI

In a short span, Springfield had two multimillion-dollar youth sports complexes in the works across town from one another.

The first to break ground was SGF Sports LLC’s Betty & Bobby Allison Sports Town in April, on over 100 acres adjacent to Deer Lake Golf Course owned by Tulsa, Oklahoma, developer Rob Phillips. The development group is investing an estimated $22 million to create a dozen soccer fields, a 90,000-square-foot indoor courts complex and seating for 1,500 spectators. For its part, the city is reimbursing the developer some $2 million in infrastructure costs and another $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds have been requested.

In the city’s northeast, Lake Country Soccer Inc. is planning a $10 million upgrade to add eight turf fields, enhance its 10 grass fields and build locker rooms, restrooms and meeting areas. Public funding also is on the table for a requested half of the expected development cost.

Another multimillion-dollar move was in the city’s purchase of the privately developed Fieldhouse Sportscenter. For more than $7 million, the roughly 46,000-square-foot indoor basketball and volleyball facility is now part of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.

The civic interest is in a sports tourism draw. According to the Springfield Sports Commission, each visitor for a sporting event spends $125-$150 per day in town. Additionally, a 2019 analysis of the Springfield market by Huddle Up Group Inc. found the addition of an anchor sports tournament facility, such as the ones in the works, could draw in $16 million in visitor spending, nearly 21,000 hotel room nights and over $160,000 in sales tax collections each year.

The global sports-tourism market is projected to easily top $1 trillion this decade, according to Sports Tourism Media.