CEDAR RAPIDS, Mich. – The West Michigan Sports Commission (WMSC) recently returned from the annual Sports ETA Symposium in Portland, Ore., with some new hardware. It took home the title of Sports Commission of the Year for 2023 in the under 500,000 population category as one of only 10 awardees honored among 800 member organizations.
WMSC president Mike Guswiler accepted the award at the annual symposium. This was the commission’s first time receiving this recognition.
“Congratulations to the team at the West Michigan Sports Commission for being named Sports Commission of the Year by Sports ETA,” said John David, president and CEO of Sports ETA. “The award honors sports commissions who are leading our sports events tourism industry in collaborative and creative ways, and the West Michigan Sports Commission embodies this spirit.”
Among the reasons that the judges selected the WMSC for this 2024 award included:
- Exceeding its business goals, it hosted 121 sporting events (up 7.1 percent) and generated nearly $88 million in economic impact.
- Increasing the number of participants at its events by 9 percent over the previous year.
“Last year was one of the best years in our organization’s history for growing our region’s economy through sport, including generating the highest estimated economic impact for the Meijer Sports Complex and Meijer State Games of Michigan,” says Guswiler. “It is an incredible honor to be recognized for that hard work by our national trade association for the sports industry and a testament to the hard work of our team. We thank Sports ETA for bestowing it on the WMSC.”
Of the 10 awardees honored out of 85 submissions, the WMSC was the only sports commission from Michigan to receive an award. The WMSC previously won Event Partnership of the Year (under 500,000) in 2023 for its collaboration with the Greater Lansing Sports Authority and Visit Muskegon in hosting the 2022 Junior Gold Championships at eight bowling centers in Michigan.
Since its inception in 2007, the WMSC has booked 1,216 sporting events and tournaments, attracting more than 2.1 million athletes and visitors and generating more than $649 million in estimated economic impact.
