Scoring With Tourism

Along with spring breakers funneling down I-75 and flowing through Southwest Florida International Airport this spring are hundreds of amateur softball and baseball players, heading to Fort Myers for the annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. But while the spring breakers veer westward to island and beach resorts, college players arriving for the four-week tournament will pull into inland hotels along U.S. 41 and at interstate exits.

They won’t spend their days basking on the beaches, but working up a sweat at the Terry Park, Lee County, Cape Coral and other sports complexes, and they’ll spend their money at restaurants and stores near the sports venues and their hotels. A few might even stay a couple of extra days in town to go to the beach—all the while spending money at Southwest Florida businesses.

The Collegiate Classic, which draws hundreds of NCAA and NAIA softball and baseball teams from around the country, is among dozens of amateur sports events that tourism officials have lured to fuel the local economy.

"For tourism, this is fat bucks," says John Steinweg, sales director of Cape Coral’s Screenprint Plus, which makes caps, shirts and banners for the event. "They bring in a lot of dollars to the area. They use a lot of [hotel] rooms. They spend a lot of money in restaurants."

One event alone can generate $4,000 to $40,000 in orders at Screenprint Plus. Steinweg estimates that sports tourism represents about 10 percent of the company’s annual business.

Collegiate sports events are just the beginning. Throughout the year, the area’s facilities and amenities draw adult and children’s teams and leagues in sports that range from football and soccer to open-water swimming, BMX off-road bicycle racing and roller hockey championships. They produce millions of dollars, and an economic boon for Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties.