“We formed as a sports commission to be an economic generator through sports tourism in 2007.”
West Michigan Sports Commission President Mike Guswiler served as Executive Director back then.
“Over eight years now it’s proved to be very successful in what we hoped it would. You know, it’s not a money producer for us, it’s a sustainable operation that brings visitors into our community.
The main attractions are its championship quality baseball and softball diamonds with grandstands. In 2012, after raising $7.5 million the nonprofit began construction of what is now the Meijer Sports Complex located in Plainfield Township near the City of Rockford.
In 2022, it hosted 113 sports events including 21 travel tournaments. That’s 762 teams consisting of roughly 10,000 athletes. And they are accompanied by family traveling into the region.
“Nearly 25,000 spectators. So, together it produced over 5,000 hotel room nights and an estimated $8 million dollars. We use an industry calculator that looks at what people spend in a hotel. What they eat in a restaurant and spend in ancillary spending, and it adds up.”
A record $90.5 million which was a 63-percent increase over 2021.
