Issue link: http://townofcary.uberflip.com/i/791946
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Maintaining Cary as an Amateur Sports Destination WakeMed soccer park, located in the Eastern Cary Gateway Des na on Center, is one of three major sports venues that a racts na onal sports tournaments and events to Cary. 65 Cary has posi oned itself as one of the premier des na ons for local, regional and na onal sport tournaments and events. Since 2004, the Town has developed three major sports venues, including the Cary Tennis Park, the USA Baseball na onal Training Complex, and the Wake Med Soccer Park. During that me, the Town has hosted over 50 major professional, collegiate and amateur championships. These events have included Atlan c Coast Conference (ACC) tennis, soccer, and cross country championships; Division I, II, and III baseball finals and Division II and III cross country regional tournaments; and the Na onal Collegiate Athle c Associa on (NCAA) Men's and Women's College Cup Championships (soccer). During that me, these events have generated over $90 million in economic impact for the Town of Cary and the Triangle region. The Town was one of the first in the region to capitalize on sports tourism. Sports tourism has gained serious momentum over the past decade and has become an economic s mulus for communi es. A study by Sports Marke ng Surveys USA (SMS) shows that in 2014, there were 34.9 million people who traveled with an overnight stay to par cipate in or watch an amateur sports event, a figure that has remained fairly consistent going back to 2008. While 18 percent of these sports travelers were ages six to 17, about 51 percent were ages 25 to 54, evidence that families are accompanying their young players to events. Future challenges for maintaining Cary as an amateur sports des na on include: • Con nuing investment in all three of Cary's sports venues. With the growing compe on among communi es na onally for sports tourism dollars, every effort needs to be made to make those improvements necessary to keep Cary's sports venues relevant and compe ve against other venues. Considera ons may include suitable capacity to host na onal events, professional level maintenance, professional level ameni es, accessibility, and suitable technological infrastructure. • With the growing number of communi es inves ng in sports venues, con nuing to ac vely market the quality of our venues and our exper se in hos ng na onal events so that Cary can stay compe ve in the growing sports tourism arena.