Fla. Cities Trying to Capitalize on Sports Tourism

Local businessman Richard Stottler Jr. bought the Cocoa Expo Sports Center from the city of Cocoa in 1984 and turned it into a center for amateur sports. The complex includes the original 5,000-seat Cocoa Stadium, as well as seven other baseball fields, a 20,000-sq.-ft. arena, four multipurpose athletic fields and a 100-room dorm for athletes. Open year-round, the center operates one of the nation's largest college and high school spring training programs for baseball, softball and lacrosse. The facility also attracts volleyball, basketball, field hockey, football, soccer and rugby.

Disney's 220-acre Wide World of Sports Complex can accommodate more than 50 sports - from aerobics to wrestling - and includes a tennis complex with 10 clay courts, a track-and-field complex and multiple outdoor fields for football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball and softball. The Atlanta Braves play spring training games at the complex. Last year, Disney opened the 70,000-sq.-ft. Jostens Center field house, which can be configured for 12 volleyball courts, six basketball courts or two inline skating hockey rinks. This month, Disney Sports will inaugurate a new event: The ESPN RISE Sports Festival, July 18-25, will involve more than 2,000 young athletes, many of whom are among the most heavily recruited in the nation, competing in six sports - softball, baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse and track and field.

Pasco County
Niche: Youth sports

Little Everglades Ranch, a 2,000-acre ranch in Dade City that since 2005 has become a popular cross country venue, has hosted the state finals for high school cross country for the past four years. Other big grabs include Score at the Shore, a 250-team youth soccer tournament that draws teenage players from all over the U.S., and the Dick's Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions, the boys high school club lacrosse national championship.

Pasco spokesman Eric Keaton says the county is pursuing plans to build a multipurpose sports complex that would be oriented toward softball and baseball but also include an indoor arena for soccer and lacrosse.

Indian River County
Niche: Minor league baseball

Minor League Baseball signed a five-year contract to lease Dodgertown - the sprawling 65-acre complex in Vero Beach where the Brooklyn (later, Los Angeles) Dodgers once did their spring training - to host an array of year-round events. Potential activities will include umpire and groundskeeper camps; youth, high school and college tournaments; fantasy camps; and other programs.

Polk County
Niche: Youth soccer and college baseball

The Florida Youth Soccer Association will move its headquarters to Lake Myrtle in 2010, bringing with it more than 20 events and an estimated $35 million every year. To facilitate the move, the county agreed to build a field soccer complex that would add eight more fields and a 3,500-seat soccer stadium to three existing fields at Lake Myrtle Park. When the Cleveland Indians announced they were moving their spring training from Winter Haven to Arizona, Polk County's tourism and sports marketing office recruited RussMatt Baseball, a collegiate spring training organizer, to use its facilities for a five-week-long tournament. As part of the deal, Polk County in partnership with the city of Auburndale agreed to add five baseball fields and a 2,000-seat collegiate baseball stadium. More than 200 college teams playing over five weeks generated about $20 million in spending this spring at the RussMatt Baseball Central Florida Invitational, says Mark Jackson, director of Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing. Jackson says officials are working with USA Water Ski to host events.