Terre Haute expecting thousands for baseball tourney
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Officials in Terre Haute are preparing for an influx of visitors this weekend as Indiana State University gets set to host one of 16 NCAA Division I Regional baseball tournaments. The university was tapped to host the event after its baseball team won the Missouri Valley Conference championship last weekend, earning a top seed in the regional tournament.
Our partners at WTWO-TV report hotels in Terre Haute are already booked up for the weekend, and officials estimate a major economic impact for the area.
“We’ve had an incredible spring,” Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director David Patterson told WTWO. “Last year we collected over $2.8 million through the innkeeper’s tax and we’re 30% above that number right now in the first quarter.”
The CVB and the university are splitting the $50,000 fee to host the event, which Patterson said the partners expect to make back easily through visitor spending.
“It’s been a team effort. From the CVB with Dave Patterson, our university partners, our athletic department,” said ISU Athletic Director Sherard Clinkscales. “We’ve all chipped in to make this a special place for the teams to be a part of and a good time for Terre Haute to showcase what we can do.”
The regional tournament will be played at ISU’s Bob Warn Field, and Clinkscales said the university is adding portable bleachers to accommodate the expected increase in visitors. Patterson said the move will bring the total capacity at the ballpark to about 2,100.
The university is also adding more concession stands and parking capacity to support the influx.
Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett said having ISU host the tournament for the first time in its history is a testament to the efforts the city has made to improve tourism over the last few years.
Patterson added the city and county’s tourism industry has grown annually over the last 29 years, except during the pandemic, and he sees no sign of that slowing down.
“And as we add venues and different things that add to our capability, the convention center’s proof of that already,” said Patterson. “The food and beverage tax is going to be four times what it was initially projected. We’re going to have a record year in terms of our collections. So, tourism is alive and well in Terre Haute.”
The double-elimination tournament will begin Thursday with Indiana State, Iowa, North Carolina and Wright State each having practice sessions. The first games will begin on Friday, with the final game taking place on Monday, if necessary. You can view the full schedule of events, courtesy of WTWO, by clicking here.
But Indiana State isn’t the only Hooiser institution participating in the NCAA tournament. Indiana University and Ball State University also qualified for the regional tournament in Lexington, Kentucky.
However, the participating teams will not be staying in hotels in Lexington due to a shortage of rooms. Instead, the teams have agreed to stay in dormitories on the University of Kentucky campus.
“While the locations are residence halls, it was the understanding of the committee that the accommodations are an apartment-style residence facility, which would be exclusively occupied by the competing team with expansive dining options,” the NCAA said in a statement to the Associated Press. “Kentucky also stated to the committee that each building will be staffed 24 hours a day by university personnel to provide any services needed.”
The Lexington Regional Tournament, which also includes Kentucky and West Virginia, will also begin play on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.