The economic benefits of sports tourism were at the center of an Orange County Chamber of Commerce member event at a 12th Rock Sports facility in Middletown on May 9.
Event moderator Amanda Dana said that in 2018, the year after she became county tourism director, she launched a study into the economic impact of the New York State Public School Association Championship games at a Middletown School District facility.
That championship in 2019 attracted 1,400 athletes, plus coaches, family members, and spectators from all over the state, who spent a total of $1.6 million on lodging, food, and entertainment.
“That’s a $1.6-million-dollar direct spending in Orange County for one event,” Ms. Dana told the audience. “Sports tourism is a huge economic driver for Orange County.”
“County Executive [Steve Neuhaus] said, ‘Amanda, we need to focus on this, and this is what we need to be doing,‘ and I said, ‘You are right.’”
Orange County finance relies heavily on sales taxes generated from consumer spending, with clothing stores, gas stations, and restaurants constantly among the top generators, according to data published by the New York Department of Taxation and Finance.
Last year, the Orange County tourism department tracked consumer spending brought on by three large sports events and mapped them out with the help of a third-party software company.
For a September tournament at the Warwick-based Hudson Sports Complex, 2,700 people either participated in or watched the games, half of them stayed in the local area afterward, and 300 or so stopped by Bellvale Farms Creamery for ice cream.
Another cross-country championship at a 12th Rock Sports facility attracted 2,400 people in October 2023, and hundreds of them dined at Flaming Grill & Buffet in Newburgh and Franco’s Pizzeria in Walden.
In June 2023, when a soccer tournament was held at Blue Sky Sports in Middletown, nearly one-third of the visitors drove up through Goshen and left their money behind at local businesses.
Ms. Dana said that sports facilities and local businesses could work more closely together to benefit each other, such as by offering discount programs tailored to game attendees.
Greg Jaloszynski, owner of Rock Sports, said at the event that the lack of hotel rooms remains one of his business’s largest challenges.
Raluca Fuchs, owner of Hudson Sports Complex, echoed Mr. Jaloszynski’s point, adding that she hopes for better cooperation with local hotels on group rates and more transportation options for youth athletes or urban dwellers who don’t drive.
“Uber, it doesn’t exist [here], but everyone that comes, especially from the city, they want to use Uber,” Ms. Fuchs said at the event. “There is no taxi; that is a big challenge.”
Eric Weinstein, a co-founder of Blue Sky Sports Complex in Middletown, said at the event that he also hopes for a more centralized collaboration between sports facilities and local hotels.
