WARREN COUNTY, Ohio ─ Warren County Sports, a division of the Warren County Convention & Visitors Bureau (WCCVB), has been named the Sports Tourism Organization of the Year by the Sports Events & Tourism Association (Sports ETA).
The award was presented on May 10 during SportsETA’s annual symposium in Kansas City, Mo.
Sports ETA, an industry group consisting of more than 600 member organizations and 2,400 sporting event professionals, recognized the WCCVB in its “population under 500,000” category.
The association praised Warren County–a community of 240,000 people–for “hosting events in 14 different sports in 2022, driving more than $88 million in economic impact for its local community, and generating more than 100,000 nights at local hotels.” Among the more than 90 total events hosted by the WCCVB last year were the World Ultimate Club Championships–an international ultimate frisbee tournament that brought 128 teams from 31 different countries to the region in July.
“The mission of the WCCVB has always been to drive economic development through tourism, and sports tourism is an absolutely integral part of that mission,” says Phillip S. Smith, president & CEO of the WCCVB. “The work our sports team does brings hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world to Warren County each year, and those people spend millions at our local attractions, restaurants, shops, and hotels. Our sports team truly does an amazing job, and we couldn’t be happier to see the team honored by Sports ETA.”
Ben Huffman, director of sports enterprises for the WCCVB, received the award on behalf of the team. He attributes a large part of his organization’s success to the support it receives from its local community.
“We are blessed to have a sports tourism community in Warren County that supports what we do and helps us succeed in driving impact through sports,” says Huffman. “Last year was an amazing year for sports tourism in Warren County and we look forward to building on that success in the year ahead.”
The organization plans to host more than 100 events in 2023, including high-profile events such as the USA Ultimate College National Championships and the Big East Baseball Championships.
More than half (48) of the events hosted in 2022 were held at the Warren County Sports Park (WCSP), a 128-acre sports facility owned and operated by the WCCVB. Events at the WCSP brought an estimated 962,000 people to Warren County, accounted for 67,400 hotel room nights, and generated an estimated economic impact of $67.1 million.
Currently, the WCSP is undergoing an expansion project which will allow the WCCVB to host even more events going forward. The county welcomed a record 13.1 million visitors in 2022, accounting for more than $1.45 billion in annual economic impact.
