2022 Annual Report

Game Day All Star Tournament at the Meijer Sports Complex

friends of the West Michigan Sports Commission,

Thank you for supporting us this past year as we have built back our youth and amateur sports tourism calendar in our first full year of “business as usual” since the pandemic began. More importantly, thank you for being with us through our first 15 years as a nonprofit impacting our local economy through sports.

When we opened our doors in 2007, with the help of our partners Experience Grand Rapids (EXGR) and Kent County, we never could have imagined all that we would experience as a nonprofit charged with growing our visitor economy as a premier destination for youth and amateur sport tournaments. We created a signature event in the State Games of Michigan program, built and manage a championship-caliber baseball/softball complex (renaming it the Meijer Sports Complex last year), moved into a dedicated office space to build our brand identity - yet still maintain our important relationship with EXGR and our many stakeholders. We also hosted prestigious national events like the Transplant Games and State Games of America, and weathered the largest global pandemic in history – coming back stronger than ever.

Through the years, our organization and sports tourism industry have prevailed. In the last few years alone, we saw the power and impact of youth and amateur sports even when tourism almost came to a standstill, shining brightly as the first part of the industry to recover. We have not only recovered from the pandemic and resulting economic recession, but we’re back in a growth mode.

All of this would not be possible without the support of our staff, board and advisory council, volunteers, and the West Michigan community. We appreciate the dedication you have shown our nonprofit over these past 15 years, and we look forward to seeing what the next 15 have in store!

Guswiler Jim Horman President, West Michigan Sports Commission Board Chair, West Michigan Sports Commission Principal, Progressive AE

Dear

Mike

AboutThe West Michigan Sports Commission (WMSC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was established in 2007 to secure and host youth and amateur sporting events to positively impact the economy and quality of life of the region. The WMSC has two additional operating branches that contribute to our mission: the Meijer Sports Complex and the Michigan Sports Alliance – a nonprofit that operates our signature event the Meijer State Games of Michigan.

Grand Rapids Cup

Mission

We foster economic development by attracting sporting events which improve our citizens’ quality of life and elevates the brand of Grand Rapids

Vision

Storm Classic

Enhancing greater Grand Rapids through sports.

Financials

The following reflects revenue and expenses of the West Michigan Sports Commission (WMSC) across the organization’s three operating branches: the WMSC, Meijer Sports Complex and Meijer State Games of Michigan (Michigan Sports Alliance).

20%

6%

2% 1% Professional Fees Office Lease & Equipment 7%

Meijer State Games of Michigan (registration, sponsors) 41% 30%

EXGR

Meijer

IBC Junior Gold Champioship

Photo courtesy of International Bowling Congress

West Michigan Sports Commission

The 15th year of the WMSC was one of its strongest years yet, with all-time highs in annual events, athletes, spectators, and hotel room nights, resulting in the highest economic impact. The results demonstrate that youth and amateur sporting events have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and beyond.

After hosting the 2022 IBC Youth Junior Gold Championship, the event and WMSC were recognized as a 2022 Champion of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism by Sports Destination Management, bringing in an estimated total economic impact of $7 million. The event, held over 13 days in three Michigan cities (Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Muskegon), brought 3,277 athletes and 9,000 spectators from 50 states, two U.S. territories, and Costa Rica that booked 10,000 hotel room nights at more than 30 hotel properties.

Significant Events

Among the WMSC’s 113 events, the following are noteworthy for size, prestige, national caliber and/or impact:

• USA Rhythmic Gymnastics 2022 Elite Qualifier (May 20-22)

• NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championship (May 26-29)

• MJVBA AAU Volleyball Tournament (June 3-5)

• Meijer LPGA Classic (June 16-19)

• IBC Junior Gold Championships (July 11-23)

• USA-Canada Senior Border Battle (Aug. 5-7)

•

•

• 2024 USBC Women’s State Tournament

•

Annual Luncheon - $45,000 raised

Annual Golf

Presented by:

2022 Meijer State Games of Michigan

Meijer State Games of Michigan

The Meijer State Games of Michigan continues to host more events and expand its capacity after pandemic-related restrictions limited the past two years. The Winter and Summer Games saw athletes from ages 6 to 83 years old compete with 77 Michigan counties represented.

Winter Games

8,500 sporting events participants

60

The Meijer State Games of Michigan added a second Winter Games hub in Marquette to hold more snow-dependent sports. The move paid off, with the team seeing record snowfall while in Marquette and strengthening their reach to the entire state.

Gold Sponsors: UPHP Health, Northern Michigan University, Travel Marquette and Eagle Mine.

Silver Sponsor: Peninsula Fiber Network

Summer Games

Medalists at this year’s Summer Games were the first to take home the newest medal design for the Meijer State Games of Michigan - the fourth design in its 13year history.

Opening Ceremony was held for the first time in two years, bringing athletes from all sports together to kick off the Games. Olympian Dave DeGraaf took the torch from 2021 Athlete of the Year Ella Spooner to light the cauldron.

Hockey continues to be the cornerstone of the Summer Games, with over 700 athletes trying out to form eight regional teams in four divisions.

Gold Sponsors: Lake Michigan Credit Union and NovaCare Rehabilitation

Silver Sponsors: Blue Cross Blue Shield, Fox Motors and Catchmark Technologies

Bronze Sponsors: Lacks Enterprises and Peppinos

Meijer Sports Complex

5,524 hotel room nights

The Meijer Sports Complex had another successful season in 2022, with sold-out weekends from May to July. National tournament operators kept the Meijer Sports Complex busy on the weekends, with Game Day USA hosting ten tournaments and USSA hosting five tournaments. Game Day USA hosted one of its National Championship tournaments and an All-Star Tournament at the Meijer Sports Complex. New in 2022, was hosting the Michigan Little League Junior Baseball State Tournament.

Three major softball tournaments took place at the complex with the ISSA USA-Canada Senior Border Battle, the USA Softball of Michigan State Championship Men’s Class E, and Blue Chip Softball’s Fall Classic I Tournament (girls fastpitch).

21 tournaments 24,765 spectators

$8,066,671 direct visitor spending 762 teams 9,906 athletes

These tournaments helped the Meijer Sports Complex see an 11% increase in teams, athletes, and spectators from 2021. Despite a decrease in hotel room nights, the increase in teams, athletes, and spectators, along with higher hotel rates, resulted in the Meijer Sports Complex seeing a 44% increase in direct visitor spending from 2021.

Local teams and organizations keep the complex busy during the week. Most notably, Aquinas University and Forest Hills Eastern High School baseball teams use the Meijer Sports Complex as their home field.

Pictured (clockwise from top-right): Blue Chip Softball Fall Classic, Game Day USA All-Star, USA Softball of Michigan Men’s Class E and Game Day USA All-Star

A Winning Streak for West Michigan

The sustained annual increase in teams, spectators and related economic impact has spurred the West Michigan Sports Commission to initiate an $11 million complex expansion through a capital campaign. Fundraising is expected to occur throughout most of 2023, with construction anticipated to begin in 2024.

“The Meijer Sports Complex continues to have a strong rebound from the pandemic since youth/amateur sports was the first sector of the tourism industry to recover –but 2022 economic figures blew both 2021 and 2019 out of the water,” said Mike Guswiler, president of the West Michigan Sports Commission. “We had another blockbuster summer that further justifies expanding our baseball/softball complex to meet the needs of this ever-growing segment of the tourism industry.”

For information on the expansion visit westmisports.com/winningstreak

Board of Directors

Jim Horman, Progressive AE - Board Chair

Tim Gortsema, Grand Rapids Griffins - Vice-Chair

Deb Kay - Immediate Past Chair

Bob Partridge -Treasurer

Emily Brieve, Kent County Commissioner - Secretary

Brenda Borkowski, Steelcase

Diane Jones, Kent County Commissioner

Dave Hoogendoorn, Ernst & Young

Ed Wilson, Country Inn & Suites

Doug Small, Experience Grand Rapids

Tom McCall, Meijer

Chad LeRoux, AHC Hospitality

Nick Davidson, Aquinas College

Jim Jarecki, West Michigan Whitecaps

K V Lacks, Lacks Enterprises

Peter Secchia (In Memory)

Advisory Council

Partner Level

Harold Burrell, Jr.

Andrew DeVries

Steve Doorn

Karl Droppers

Christopher Duba

Jim Heglund

Twayne Howard

Ed Kornoelje

Jim Scales

Leanne Schaeffer Shain Showers

Aaron Steele

West MI Fencing Academy

John Whitten

Lance Zoerhof

Supporter Level

Dawn Baker

Corey Balkon

Randy Cleves

Dave Feenstra

Nate Golomb

Scott Huckaby

James Kuklewski

Steve Prawdzik

Matt Wikander

Brian Zdanowski

Griff’s Sled Hockey Classic

MJVBA Volleyball

Staff

Mike Guswiler, President

Natalie Rose, Administrative Manager

Katy Tigchelaar, Director of Marketing & Events

Melissa Brink, Marketing Manager

Conner Hicks, National Sales Manager

Alyssa Bey, Event Coordinator

Interns

Michigan Sports Alliance Staff

Eric Engelbarts, Executive Director

Julie Shields, Event Coordinator

Interns

Meijer Sports Complex Staff

Bryan Baar, Complex Manager

Jill Kuzma, Concessions Manager

Austen Reichhart, Grounds Supervisor

40+ temporary / seasonal staff

Sports Tourism Impact (2007-2022)

Since forming in 2007, the West Michigan Sports Commission has seen an increase in the number of events hosted, hotel room nights booked, and the economic impact on the community. COVID-19 limited the impact we were able to have in 2020, but we’ve since seen our numbers rebound quickly to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2022, we hit major milestones when we surpassed 1,000 hosted events and over $500 million in direct visitor spending. While we’ll continue to see the effects of the pandemic in the upcoming years, we look forward to continuing to grow in 2023.

Events Hosted

Big Bear Moon Dance Tournament