Leading Score

The ever-expanding arena of youth and collegiate sports is kicking the Tri-State’s economic engine into overdrive.

How much impact do such events have here? Numbers tell the story — in 2023, sports tourism generated more than $19 million for the local economy and resulted in more than 32,000 hotel room nights.

The totals for 2024 are expected to be $26 million and 27,500 room nights. Area officials, including at regional tourism agency Explore Evansville, say Evansville’s participation in the increasingly competitive youth sports market has helped the region find solid footing as national tourism continues recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Travel sports account for approximately two-thirds of Explore Evansville’s annual events portfolio. The size of such events varies, but the largest ones pack a punch. As one example, the 2024 USSSA Great Lakes Nationals for fast-pitch softball drew nearly 6,000 players and supporters to the region and delivered around $2 million, benefiting area hotels, restaurants, and retailers.

Each event’s impact is tracked through pre- and post-event reports, according to Aaron King, assistant director of sports development with Explore Evansville. About 40 percent of event participants in 2023 were visiting Evansville for the first time.

This data-driven approach “informs our investment decisions, helping Explore Evansville strengthen successful events while also filling gaps and expanding into new opportunities that align with community and visitor needs,” King says.

Explore Evansville’s overarching goal in youth and amateur sports “is to position Evansville as the premier destination in the Tri-State area,” King says. The approach is multi-pronged: strengthening successful events, expanding into new sports markets, and driving economic impact through community-centered sports tourism strategies.

“By fostering both local and visitor engagement, we’re building a robust, sustainable framework for sports tourism growth that benefits Evansville long-term,” King says.
It takes state-of-the-art facilities to lure youth sports events in an increasingly competitive environment, and Evansville has them.

Deaconess Sports Park, an eight-field softball and baseball complex at North Green River and Heckel roads, opened in 2015 next to the 10-field Goebel Soccer Complex, which dates to 2004. Both facilities have brought 160,000 hotel room nights and $125 million in economic impact since 2015, the tourism agency says.

King says goals for Deaconess Sports Park, which stays busy for much of the year, include enhancing league play and an expansion — Explore Evansville has acquired nearly 100 acres near the sports facilities.

“By growing league play, we create a stronger local pipeline, encouraging consistent event participation and fostering community interest in youth sports,” he says. “Facility improvements and expansions allow us to cater to underserved sports markets, keeping pace with competition and ultimately drawing larger events to Evansville.”

Deaconess Aquatic Center, adjacent to Garvin Park on Evansville’s North Side, arrived in 2021 and brought the city a quality indoor swimming and diving venue.

“These premier venues allow us to attract large-scale events in swimming, diving, softball, baseball, and soccer, which are our strongest suits due to their established track records and high attendance rates,” King says.

But Explore Evansville is thinking even bigger.

The tourism bureau aims for growth in sports such as basketball and volleyball, as well as emerging activities such as hockey, flag football, cheer/dance, archery, wrestling, volleyball, and lacrosse.

An indoor sports complex planned for the western edge of Warrick County will bring yet another new facility to attract travel sporting events.

Five million dollars in grants from the state’s READI program were awarded in 2022 to support the project. The start of construction is pegged for 2025, with site work starting before the end of this year.

“This facility will open up new avenues, complement existing regional assets and will allow us to host indoor court tournaments for sports like basketball and volleyball,” says Steve Roelle, executive director for Success Warrick County, the county’s economic development department.

“We also have more hotels coming to Warrick County which will up our regional inventory and allow larger events to take place, or help us host multiple events in the market at once,” Roelle adds. TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites operate off Grimm Road near the Vanderburgh-Warrick County line, and the second phase of The Dominion, a $71.5 million mixed-use development in the same area, calls for another hotel.

Another item on Explore Evansville’s sports tourism agenda is a feasibility study to evaluate the potential for a new cross-country course.

Angel Mounds State Historic Site, which has hosted several cross-country events over the years, will no longer be used for that purpose after the NCAA’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Division I cross-country regionals in 2025.

King says the cross-country study “will help us assess opportunities to develop a course that serves both competitive needs and community use enhancing local tourism infrastructure and driving economic growth.”

Altogether, the cross-country initiative and the planned expansions to existing sports parks “is aimed at meeting the growing demand for regional travel events and aligns with the post-COVID trend of shorter, more frequent trips,” King says.

1 of 6

Gaining Notice

The region’s growth in youth sports has not gone unnoticed.

Explore Evansville twice was honored by Sports Destination Management in its 2024 Champions of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Sports Destination Management is regarded as the leading publication serving sports event planners and tournament directors nationwide.

Landing events such as the 2024 Indiana High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Tournament in February helped Evansville win the award. The championship at the Ford Center generated $3.74 million in economic impact, gaining Explore Evansville its first honor among Mid-Market Champions.

The state wrestling tournament moved to Evansville for one year due to a scheduling conflict with the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis. It was the first time the IHSAA hosted a state championship event in the River City.

Sports Destination Management also recognized Evansville for hosting the 2024 US Figure Skating Theatre on Ice National Competition. That event contributed $2.93 million to the local economy.

Together, these two events drew more than 10,000 athletes and spectators who booked nearly 6,000 hotel room nights. They also provided a lifeline when Vanderburgh County hotel occupancy for the year through June 30 stood at 57.1 percent, down 1.7 percent from the same time in 2023, reflecting a national dip.

“None of this would be possible with-out our dedicated local organizing committees, whose passion and hard work form the foundation of these events,” says Alexis Berggren, outgoing president and CEO of Explore Evansville. “From the coordinators to volunteers, each person plays a critical role in ensuring a memorable experience for athletes and fans. We owe our success to their commitment and are grateful to see their efforts celebrated on this stage.”

Berggren served as general manager of Old National Events Plaza for five years before joining Explore Evansville in 2022.

What’s Next?

Many lucrative youth sporting events are on the area’s schedule for 2025 and beyond.

Deaconess Sports Park — along with Newburgh Sports Complex, Newman Park in Henderson, Kentucky, and Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro, Kentucky — will host the 2025 USSSA Great Lakes National softball event in July and the Mizuno Classic for baseball in May, as well as regional soccer tournaments at Goebel Soccer Complex.

Evansville Regional Sports Commission Executive Director Brandon McClish — who doubles as the president of Golfmoor Baseball Association, a West Side youth baseball organization — says the local softball and baseball tournament calendar is loaded.

Select/Travel teams start at the 6U level, McClish says, and “Evansville hosts many of these recreational tournaments at Golfmoor, Newburgh, (Evansville) East, McCutchanville, Mount Vernon, and other surrounding counties.”

Smaller-scale tournaments don’t bring the same impact in things like hotel room nights, but they deliver value in other ways, McClish explains.

“The First Blast Tournament held in June by Golfmoor baseball brings over $20,000 back to the organization for the three-day event,” he says.

Deaconess Aquatic Center, meanwhile, is getting attention from major swimming events. A big one on the way is the Central Zone 14 and Under Swimming Championships July 30-Aug. 2, 2026.

“Indiana Swimming Clubs and communities have set a high standard in hosting the Central Zone Championship events that has become recognized nationwide,” Indiana Swimming Executive Director Tony Young says in a written statement.

“As one of 15 local swimming committees (LSC) in the Central Zone, we are proud to have this meet once again hosted in Indiana,” Young’s statement adds. “We believe that Evansville offers an unmatched combination of event expertise, passion for the sport of swimming and community pride that will result in a memorable athlete, coach, and family experience.”

The economic benefit of that event will be “huge,” says McClish, who also notes the college meets Deaconess Aquatic Center has already hosted and will host.

We’ve proudly hosted college conferences like the GLVC (Great Lakes Valley Conference) and MVC (Missouri Valley Conference), and we welcome the opportunity to bring even more events to our region,” he says. “Unlike basketball championships that narrow down teams quickly, our swimming events attract over 500 competitors who stay with us throughout the week, contributing to local businesses.”

While continuing to strengthen its presence in the youth travel sports market, Evansville also continues to attract those higher-profile collegiate events.

The 2025 NCAA Division II men’s basketball Elite Eight will be held at the Ford Center for the fifth successive season. It then will move, as planned, to Indianapolis in 2026 and then Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2027 and 2028.

The Ohio Valley Conference will host its 2025 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at Ford Center for the sixth consecutive year. The Downtown Evansville arena also will host the 2025 women’s basketball tournament Missouri Valley Conference — of which the University of Evansville is a member — with Explore Evansville officials projecting about $964,000 in economic impact.

Hosted by Kentucky Wesleyan College, the Independence Bank Blue Bridge Battle softball tournament will be held at Deaconess Sports Park for the third of the tournament’s five-year existence. Previously, it had been held at Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro, Kentucky. But tourney officials were lured to Deaconess Sports Park because of its eight fields and amenities.

Twenty-three teams from eight states competed in the 2024 Blue Bridge Battle, considered one of the outstanding NCAA Division II tournaments in the region.

A big 2026 is in store for Deaconess Aquatic Center, with the Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving championships on the way, in addition to the Central Zone 14 & Under Championship.

At all those events, “we look forward to delivering an exceptional experience for student-athletes and fans alike,” McClish told Evansville Business in September.

1 of 2

Thinking Regionally

Explore Evansville works with officials in surrounding communities on certain sporting events, seeking to maximize impact for all.

The whole region will benefit from the indoor sports complex in Warrick County, Roelle says, and a new cross-country course would add to the regional collaboration. A location for a new course hasn’t been established.

“This is an important market for us, and it would be great to have a top notch cross county facility moving forward,” Roelle says.

Larger softball tournaments at Deaconess Sports Park often require additional fields, with parks in Warrick County and in Kentucky communities also used.

Henderson, Kentucky, meanwhile, also is building a new youth sports facility. It’s been a long-standing priority for the city.

“Many years ago, we did a focus group, and there was an overwhelming need expressed for a sports complex for our youth to play,” says Mark Simmons, an assistant city engineer. “We finally said, OK, we need to build this.”

Phase One of the more than $18 million, city-funded project at 5845 Airline Road has four softball/baseball fields, one multi-purpose artificial turf field, and two multi-purpose grass fields. Simmons says the city intends to have those fields ready for action in 2025.

A planned second phase includes additional fields.

Simmons says Henderson will partner with Evansville and Owensboro, on larger tournaments hosted by those cities. However, the new complex is being built primarily for Henderson’s own youth and recreational leagues.

“We’re very excited, and I know all our city officials and people I talk to are excited as well,” Simmons says. “We’re going as fast as we can to get it up and running.”

Owensboro partners with Evansville on some larger softball and baseball tournaments, but Owensboro also is carving out its own identity as a youth sports market. An indoor sports venue in Owensboro’s Downtown is projected to open in 2026.

“We’ve always shined in the baseball/softball space, but we’re seeing huge growth in volleyball and pickleball and archery,” says Dave Kirk, Visit Owensboro destination management director.

Evansville, though, remains the epicenter, as UE women’s basketball coach Robyn Scherr-Wells succinctly stated at the September press conference announcing the women’s tournament in the River City: “This is a sports town.”