The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Oct. 28--Whether Cal Ripken brings his $23 million baseball complex to the Grand Strand or not, the project, along with the resurgence of Myrtle Beach plans for a $6 million tournament facility, are signs of renewed interest in the lucrative sports tourism market.
Local tourism promoters have stepped up efforts during the past year to lure sports tournaments and events -- business they say will help keep the beach busy in the off-season.
Representatives of Ripken's company have asked for $2 million to $3 million from the city, state and county governments to pay for roads, water and sewer.
On Tuesday Myrtle Beach City Council approved about $500,000 -- half of what the company requested from the city.
Some council members said they couldn't support more public money going to the Ripken complex.
'This is a private business, and this is for-profit, and I believe this $500,000 we're willing to support is enough,' Councilwoman Susan Grissom Means said.
Representatives of the company haven't said if that sum will break the deal but are considering several other cities that are offering infrastructure packages.
Company principals have to review the city's offer, said Rob Weinhold, general manager of Ripken Baseball's Camps and Clinics Division.
Myrtle Beach joins communities across the country that have gotten more aggressive in the past year aiming to score with sports tourism, said Bill Norman of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management program at Clemson University.
The end of the economic slump combined with high-profile sports success stories have fueled the flurry of interest, he said.
Sports tourism is a ripe market, according to the Travel Industry Association of America. In the past five years, two out of five U.S. adults, about 75.3 million people, attended an organized sports event, competition or tournament as either a spectator or a participant, TIA says.
Local and state tourism leaders want some of that business. Myrtle Beach promoters will spend $30,000 on sports tourism for the first time this budget year. The S.C. Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department has rehired an expert to focus on sports.
'It's back on the radar screen,' Norman said. 'All of a sudden it has come back.' Myrtle Beach's sports efforts fell off a couple of years ago after a failed attempt to bring big-time boxing to the beach.
Cal Ripken has the solid reputation to help lure events, said Tom Regan, chairman of the University of South Carolina's Sports and Entertainment Management Program.
If the center operated efficiently, it could open Myrtle Beach to more sports opportunities than golf, he said.
The 50-acre Ripken complex would add nine fields and 45 jobs when it opens its first phase in 2006. Weinhold said they plan about 25 weeks of youth tournaments and 800 teams in the summer alone.
Later phases include plans for soccer fields that could incorporate famous players.
Myrtle Beach has renewed discussions for a 20- to 30-acre sports development on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base that would add six multipurpose fields. That complex, in some form, has been discussed for at least seven years. Those fields would be used for softball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, rugby and football.
City staff is examining a funding structure for the project that could go before City Council for approval in early 2005, Assistant City Manager John Pedersen said.
The two complexes would serve different markets and complement each other, he said. The city's complex would cater to weekend softball tournaments and adult recreation, whereas the Ripken complex focuses on youth baseball.
Local kids would be able to use the complexes between tournaments -- mostly during the week and also on off-season weekends.
Ripken officials promised City Council on Tuesday that area youth teams would get use of the fields for tournaments in the fall and spring, through an annual agreement that would map out the avail able days.
Promoters say Myrtle Beach has the assets that make it an ideal spot for sports: available hotel rooms, plenty of restaurants and entertainment to keep athletes and spectators busy when not competing.
Jim Owens is tournament director for Baseball at the Beach, a four-year-old tournament that brings high school and college teams to town in February. The group also hosts a 10-day national championship for 13-and-under players in March that bring 1,500 players and their families to town. The theater, golf and shopping keep players' families entertained, Owens said.
'They may play only one game a day, and they don't want to sit around the hotel room. We've got things to do,' he said. 'They want to come because everybody's heard of Myrtle Beach.'
With more destinations competing for sports dollars, Myrtle Beach must play aggressively to score, Norman said.
'Myrtle Beach is not alone in this arena,' he said. 'They have to be right out there marketing it.'
By Dawn Bryant and Emma Ritch
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