Winnecke: Downtown Hotels Fuel Sports Tourism Growth

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Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke says millions of dollars in new projects, including the expanding Stone Family Center for Health Sciences, have spurred the opening of 60 new businesses – restaurants, bars and shops – in and around downtown Evansville. He also says two downtown hotels, a Doubletree by Hilton and an $18 million Hyatt Place expected to open in April, are boosting an emerging industry for the region: sports tourism. 

“We’ve been able to do what Indianapolis has done, on a smaller scale, and we’ve carved out a really good area for ourselves,” said Winnecke.  “The additional hotel capacity has really helped us expand our sports tourism and that is a big driver why we’re successful.”

Winnecke discussed economic development momentum in Evansville and southwest Indiana on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.

Winnecke believes the expanded hotel offering and an increasingly vibrant downtown will help the city attract more and larger sporting events.  Evansville is currently in the second year of a four-year deal with the NCAA to host the Division II Elite Eight basketball tournament and is also home to the Ohio Valley men’s and women’s basketball tournament, which had previously been in Nashville for more than two decades.

Evansville began to get serious about sports tourism as an economic development strategy in 2010, with the formation of the nonprofit Evansville Sports Corp. The following year, the Ford Center, an 11,000 seat indoor arena opened downtown and is the home of University of Evansville basketball and the Evansville Thunderbolts minor league hockey team.

Since 2010, Evansville sports officials estimate a $30 million economic impact from sports events hosted in the region, including the following:   

• The GLVC Men’s Baseball Conference Championship: 2012
• The GLVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Conference Championship: 2013, 2014, 2017
• The PGA Web.com Tour United Leasing & Finance Championship: 2012-2016
• The NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight & National Championship: 2014, 2015, 2019
• The Big 10 Men’s Golf Championship: 2015, 2016
• The Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Midwest Regional: 2014, 2016
• The Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Championship: 2017
• The Riverside Relay Marathon: 2015, 2016, 2017
• The United Fidelity Bank River City Basketball Showcase: 2018
• The Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament: 2018, 2019