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Shawnee’s proposed sports park on the Feb. 14 election ballot could boost city revenue by increasing tourism and generating income from the services the park provides, according to proponents of the project.
Proposition No. 1, if approved, would increase Shawnee sales tax by half a cent for 10 years and fund the $19 million regional sports park, along with $2.5 million in improvements to the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center.
A recent study by the Oklahoma State University Extension Office on the possible economic impact of the park on Shawnee estimated it could generate anywhere from $1.8 million to more than $4 million in sporting events annually, and create up to 61 jobs.
The study found the park’s “ability to draw out-of-town visitors into Shawnee represents the true economic impact of the proposed park,” but this could be “the most difficult dimension of the study to estimate given that no data exists for the park itself.”
The study examined other sports complexes in Oklahoma and estimates the park in Shawnee would average 17 baseball tournaments and two soccer tournaments annually. The data for sporting events was limited to baseball and soccer, and did not incorporate potential softball sporting events.
City Manager Brian McDougal feels those numbers are low estimates and believes the park will generate more tournaments because it will be marketed for more than 30 weeks of use a year, and will include softball tournaments.
Russ Oliver, the president of the Shawnee Youth Athletic Association, agrees with McDougal the park could easily generate more tournaments once the different sports, age groups, and leagues are incorporated.
“You could easily do more,” Oliver said. “Some parks start playing in February and they don’t end until November or December.”
David Shideler, OSU Extension economist and author of the survey, said the overall economic impact of softball would possibly be smaller than baseball because, while it may have a larger market, the sport’s audience is more localized.
“So, you’re not going to have people coming and spending the night and eating at restaurants, but they’re going to be coming to play for the day, going home and then coming back the next day,” Shideler said.
This could mean a smaller economic impact. The trade-off could be from the amount of games the softball teams have because they have more seasons during the year than little league baseball, Shideler said.
“Youth baseball is just during the summer, because of the school year,” he said.
Shideler was asked why the study didn’t include any information on the potential impact of the facilities the Citizen Potawatomi Nation has under construction which includes six softball parks. He said he was not made aware of that information until late in the project, and that city officials didn’t indicate the CPN facilities were either complimentary or in competition to the city’s proposed sports park.
Shawnee’s proposed sports park on the Feb. 14 election ballot could boost city revenue by increasing tourism and generating income from the services the park provides, according to proponents of the project.
Proposition No. 1, if approved, would increase Shawnee sales tax by half a cent for 10 years and fund the $19 million regional sports park, along with $2.5 million in improvements to the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center.
A recent study by the Oklahoma State University Extension Office on the possible economic impact of the park on Shawnee estimated it could generate anywhere from $1.8 million to more than $4 million in sporting events annually, and create up to 61 jobs.
The study found the park’s “ability to draw out-of-town visitors into Shawnee represents the true economic impact of the proposed park,” but this could be “the most difficult dimension of the study to estimate given that no data exists for the park itself.”
The study examined other sports complexes in Oklahoma and estimates the park in Shawnee would average 17 baseball tournaments and two soccer tournaments annually. The data for sporting events was limited to baseball and soccer, and did not incorporate potential softball sporting events.
City Manager Brian McDougal feels those numbers are low estimates and believes the park will generate more tournaments because it will be marketed for more than 30 weeks of use a year, and will include softball tournaments.
Russ Oliver, the president of the Shawnee Youth Athletic Association, agrees with McDougal the park could easily generate more tournaments once the different sports, age groups, and leagues are incorporated.
“You could easily do more,” Oliver said. “Some parks start playing in February and they don’t end until November or December.”
David Shideler, OSU Extension economist and author of the survey, said the overall economic impact of softball would possibly be smaller than baseball because, while it may have a larger market, the sport’s audience is more localized.
“So, you’re not going to have people coming and spending the night and eating at restaurants, but they’re going to be coming to play for the day, going home and then coming back the next day,” Shideler said.
This could mean a smaller economic impact. The trade-off could be from the amount of games the softball teams have because they have more seasons during the year than little league baseball, Shideler said.
“Youth baseball is just during the summer, because of the school year,” he said.
Shideler was asked why the study didn’t include any information on the potential impact of the facilities the Citizen Potawatomi Nation has under construction which includes six softball parks. He said he was not made aware of that information until late in the project, and that city officials didn’t indicate the CPN facilities were either complimentary or in competition to the city’s proposed sports park.
The sports park is designed to be unique in its size and scope, with the closest comparison being in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Shideler said.
Although the park’s master plan — completed by the city in February 2011 — states that Shawnee has an “increasing role as a ‘regional’ provider of parks and recreation programs,” and while the park site “possesses a central location in the overall area,” it will still be difficult for the park to generate the same type of revenue as the Dallas park.
“You’ve got millions of people [in Dallas] compared to … less than 50,000 in Shawnee, so you’ve got a resident population that would make use of this facility that’s just completely different. You also have a situation in Dallas where people want to travel to Dallas from outside of the Dallas region. People don’t necessarily want to travel to Shawnee. They might to Oklahoma City,” Shideler said.
Travel logistics also play a role in the park.
“Getting to Dallas is relatively easy from anywhere in the country. Getting to Shawnee is a little more difficult. For those reasons, I don’t think it would be a fair comparison to look at Dallas versus Shawnee,” Shideler said. “But, I could be totally wrong too.”
Citizens for a Responsible Government, a group opposed to the park and the other tax increase measures on the ballot, believe the park is too big and too expensive for the city of Shawnee. They also believe the park would be too costly to maintain.
Yes For Progress, a Shawnee organization that supports the park, claims the maintenance will be the same, regardless of whether the city builds a $16 million park or a $19 million park.
That’s something that Shideler agrees with.
“I think that seems reasonable,” he said. “In terms of workforce and equipment, there wouldn’t be additional purchases necessarily needed to maintain the additional aspects of the park.”
The city of Chickasha, located in Grady County, opened a 95 acre sports complex in 2006. It cost that city $9.6 million, and has 11 soccer/football fields and15 baseball/softball fields.
Chickasha officials expect to have five tournaments this year with 50 to more than 100 teams each, Chickasha City Manager Stewart Fairburn said.
“Tournaments fill up our hotels, and some even have to stay in Norman. Restaurants are full, even when it is our local leagues,” Fairburn said.
The proposed 160-acre park in Shawnee will have 12 ball fields, eight soccer fields, trails, a lake with a fishing pier, a community pavilion, walking trails, and an amphitheater. The park design also includes disc golf, other multi-use fields, as well as a field for people with disabilities.
