Sports Corp. Aims to Grow Sports Tourism with Team Indiana
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe president of the Indiana Sports Corp. says the formation of Team Indiana is an opportunity for the state to become even more aggressive in attracting sports tourism. The organization last week announced it has assumed the leadership of the nonprofit sports tourism association Sports Indiana and rebranded it to Team Indiana.
Ryan Vaughn says Sports Indiana was formed in 2008 as an independent organization designed to elevate the nature of sports tourism.
“But as time has evolved and that industry has changed and grown, the needs are changing and growing,” said Vaughn. “So for Indiana Sports Corp., it’s a great opportunity to take our expertise, take our relationships, take our infrastructure and really help the entire state by leading this new effort.”
The 22 member destinations that now make up Team Indiana range from Fort Wayne to Evansville. Last year, under the Sports Indiana name, the members contributed nearly $20 million to the Hoosier economy.
“I think now that we’re aligning with ISC in a much different way, it gives us the means and the opportunity to kind of really reset the organization and launch forward as we look at the future,” said William Knox, director of Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield. “ISC is one of the first sports commissions in the country; that brings a lot of credibility that we can now leverage and take throughout the state.”
Through the new partnership, Team Indiana is hoping to give even more communities an opportunity to tap into a billion-dollar industry.
“We’re looking at doing a lot of NCAA championships, ASA softball events, but they are all tourism drivers for the state; so they all bring people into the state. They stay overnight. They go and eat in our hotels. They buy gas and all those different things so they’re economic generators just like the Super Bowls and the Final Fours, just at a different scale.”
Indianapolis alone will generate upwards of $350 million in 2021 and through Team Indiana, ISC hopes to build awareness of the economic impact sports tourism has and the potential to build on that moving forward.
“By launching Team Indiana and having the national presence led by Indiana Sports Corp., we can hopefully attract more events to come. We can represent more communities when we’re at these conferences and when we’re dealing with some of the relationships we have across the country with the Olympic organizations or the NCAA.”
Vaughn says the partnership will help take ISC’s impact to the next level.