On this week's program, host Phil Tower welcomes Mike Guswiler, President, The West Michigan Sports Commission.
Mike spoke with us about the powerful impact that sports tourism has nationally and here in West Michigan. Here in the U.S., the sports tourism sector generates over $52 billion in direct spending annually (up 31.5% from $39.7 billion in total direct spending in 2021) and a total economic impact of $128 billion. That’s a massive impact!Mike reminded us that the West Michigan Sports Commission was founded in 2007 as an economic generator to harness some of that $52.2 billion national youth and amateur sports industry for West Michigan.
One of the WMSC's top priorities is generating overnight stays from sporting events, which drives spending in area hotels, restaurants, and other businesses.
Since its beginning, the WMSC has booked 1,216 sporting events and tournaments, attracted more than 2 million athletes and visitors, and generated over $649 million in estimated economic impact.
Currently, the WMSC is identifying statewide, regional, and national sports finals and championships with MHSAA, NAIA, MIAA, GLIAC, and USOPC in various sports.
In other sports to resin and local sports news, Mike discussed the $12M expansion at the Meijer Sports Complex in Rockford and the exciting news that Grand Rapids will host the 2025 Move United Games. Move United is the largest organization promoting and hosting community adaptive sports.
Online: West Michigan Sports Commission
Mike spoke with us about the powerful impact that sports tourism has nationally and here in West Michigan. Here in the U.S., the sports tourism sector generates over $52 billion in direct spending annually (up 31.5% from $39.7 billion in total direct spending in 2021) and a total economic impact of $128 billion. That’s a massive impact!Mike reminded us that the West Michigan Sports Commission was founded in 2007 as an economic generator to harness some of that $52.2 billion national youth and amateur sports industry for West Michigan.
One of the WMSC's top priorities is generating overnight stays from sporting events, which drives spending in area hotels, restaurants, and other businesses.
Since its beginning, the WMSC has booked 1,216 sporting events and tournaments, attracted more than 2 million athletes and visitors, and generated over $649 million in estimated economic impact.
Currently, the WMSC is identifying statewide, regional, and national sports finals and championships with MHSAA, NAIA, MIAA, GLIAC, and USOPC in various sports.
In other sports to resin and local sports news, Mike discussed the $12M expansion at the Meijer Sports Complex in Rockford and the exciting news that Grand Rapids will host the 2025 Move United Games. Move United is the largest organization promoting and hosting community adaptive sports.
Online: West Michigan Sports Commission
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend, a publicaffairs program. Hi, and welcome in.
It's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio.I am so glad you've tuned in.
This is Phil Tower, your hostfor this program every Sunday, and
we want to remind you we're alsoa podcast as well. As soon as
you hear us on the radio,you can check Woodradio dot com for a
(00:25):
podcast version of this conversation. We'replaying COVID catchup this summer on West Michigan
Weekend. It's kind of a fungame where we circle back with guests who
haven't been on the program, haven'tbeen in our studio for four or five
years, and time flies, especiallyduring a COVID time warp. And it's
(00:46):
a real honor and a pleasure towelcome back to our iHeartRadio studios and microphone.
Mike Guswaller, Mike gus Weiler,President of the West Michigan Sports Commission.
You can learn more online at Westmisportsdot com. And here we are
finally long overdue. It's good tosee you, Phil. I haven't aged
in four years. Mike gus Sweiler. Well, I appreciate that, and
(01:08):
I got that face for radio.We've all heard that do but you know,
thanks for having me back on.And I thought we weren't saying the
sea word anymore. No, Iknow, but good to be here.
And we've been busy over these pastfour years, and I loved to update
yeah, and all that we gotgoing on. Man, a lot has
happened. And I mentioned before weturn on the microphones, I wanted to
(01:29):
have you give our listeners hearing youand me have this conversation on the radio
and overview of the West Michigan SportsCommission. You've been around since two thousand
and seven, hard to believe,and if you my friends in the radio
listening audience have not realized how muchGrand Rapids has changed in seventeen years.
You guys are coming of age,if you will, and you've been,
(01:51):
you know, growing annually, butnow more than ever. How fortunate we
are to have the West Michigan SportsCommission here and reminder of listeners why the
Sports Commission was founded, why itwas developed, and what you guys do
if you would place. Yeah,we're very fortunate to be part of the
sports landscape for now seventeen years andwe're founded to be an economic generator through
(02:14):
sports tourism that means bringing people inaround youth and adult amateur sports. They're
staying in our hotels, eating inour restaurants. So Peter Sakkia, we
all know the name and the thingsthat he did in this community. Loved
sports, love this community, andcombined the two to create the West Michigan
Sports Commission along with Experience Grind Rapidsour tourism and partners in bringing all these
(02:38):
good things into our community, butalso with Kent County because we have an
impact on the lodging tax by peoplestaying in the hotel. So, you
know, fast forward seventeen years,it's amazing what we've been able to accomplish.
We've lost some great people in thecommunity that truly were champions of our
(02:59):
destinations, certainly among them Peter Sekia. But you know, so glad that
we have grown the way we haveand we've got incredible staff members doing the
good work that we're doing across multipleoperations that we certainly can touch on each
one, but it's moved the needleannually. Now we're hitting over one hundred
different events on our event calendar,and they're not all events that we're producing.
(03:23):
It's really attracting those here and someof them are repeat events. And
again it's just all about bringing newdollars through these visitors into our community.
And annually, I would say theeconomic impact averages eighty ninety million dollars.
And you know, the national numberis staggering. US sports tourism sector fifty
(03:46):
two point two billion dollars in directspending annually, up thirty one percent from
thirty nine billion just a couple ofyears ago. Total economic impact of one
hundred and twenty eight billion. That'saccording to the State of the Industry report
for Sports Tourism. And let's stopfor a moment, Mike and recognize Peter
(04:08):
seki as wisdom, his crystal ballwisdom, if you will, to understand
how critical a role sports tourism wouldpay play in this rapidly growing, great
dynamic community we live in. Yeah, I think it really that the trigger
was back when we actually had theGrand Rapids Press and you know, people
(04:28):
will actually read a paper newspaper.What a concept. And Bob Becker,
you know, it was, youknow, just terrific sports writer back then.
And Peter was bringing in and workingwith a local committee to bring Big
Ten Women's Basketball Championship into Vanandel Arena, fairly new arena, and you know,
(04:48):
we were getting it, and theSports Commission didn't exist at the time,
but we're getting it because they neededto relocate from Indy while the facility
they were playing in was under constructionor had some renovations going on, so
they needed a location. We steppedup, Peter and the community stepped up
(05:10):
to say, hey, we'll hostit. And Delaney, who was the
Big Ten commissioner at the time,said okay, in fact, if you
do a good enough job, we'llgive it to you that second year.
But Nancy Doba, Big Ten,all these organizations really are about the bottom
line, just the way that theyoperate. So it really had to do
with butts and seats. And Itell you, the committee that worked on
(05:32):
it here locally did a terrific job. It sold out Big Ten Women's Basketball
in two thousand and one, andI think that was kind of the launching
pad to say, hey, weneed more of this. You know,
I credit Bob Becker saying we needan organizations it's going to bring more of
this kind of stuff into our community. And so the idea was born but
it wasn't until two thousand and sixthat the county, along with Peter being
(05:58):
kind of the private sector, andthe Commission Visitors Bureau, got together and
created the Sports Commission. You know, it's interesting and I know you're aware
of this. If you look backat two thousand and seven, social media
wasn't a thing. I don't thinksports Mike had the prominence, the pre
eminence, the top of mind awareness, the excitement that it has today.
(06:20):
Families are embracing competition and competitive sportsmore and yeah, there's always that concern
about you know, head injuries andthings like that, but schools and athletic
departments and the Michigan High School AthleticAssociation are all focused on this and really
celebrating the importance, the value,the life lessons in competitive sports. Again,
(06:45):
talk about that perfect timing. It'simportant we recognize over your life span.
At the West Michigan Sports Commission,seventeen years, twelve hundred sporting events
booked into West Michigan in this greaterWest Michigan areas attracted more than two million
athletes, generating over six hundred andforty nine million dollars in estimated economic impact,
(07:10):
a huge impact for the Kent Countyarea and even beyond. I mean,
you know, one thing we don'ttalk about sports tourism is families will
bring athletes in, or the friendswill bring athletes in. Athletes will come
in maybe family or friends and familystay afterward after the event is over and
spend even more dollars here. Idon't know if you've ever been able to
(07:32):
measure that economic impact of the afterglowof having a big sport event here.
Now we know that there's an impactof people extending their stay but also coming
back to a region that they trulyenjoyed if they visited through sports. So,
you know, in our first yearin two thousand and seven, we
had a smaller budget than we havenow. You know, we've grown as
(07:54):
an organization both staff wise but alsowith our budget. But we're a five
oh one C three nonprofit board governedand we got going. I hired an
admin assistant, I hired an eventmanager, and I went out and did
the sales and we brought things inand you know, it started to grow
from there. You know, theimpact and the support we received locally both
you know, people that served asvolunteers, corporate partners, that came out
(08:18):
as sponsors, but then just thegiving community. So very fortunate to see
sustained growth. Quite honestly, Phil, if you remember back two thousand and
seven, two thousand and eight,we fell into recession, and I think
talking about the power of sports andat the level that we're talking about that
parents want their kids involved in sports. There's community vibrancy that happens and quality
(08:41):
life that sports started to get thismoniker of being recession proof. And we
saw that. You know, intwo thousand and eight, two thousand and
nine, ten eleven, we weregrowing and we're on an uphill trend of
more events, more people coming intoour community. And that's when we started
to look at, Okay, whatelse can we do to move that needle,
(09:03):
And it comes down to infrastructure.You have to have the right infrastructure.
We have great partners in our highschools and our area colleges and universities,
but they're only available as they're availableand not being programmed by themselves.
So our group, our board anda subcommittee of our board said hey,
you know, we need to buildsomething, and so it was in twenty
(09:26):
ten that we started that campaign,and you know, we're successful through twenty
twelve to you know, putting ashovel on the ground and then opening in
twenty fourteen. What was the artBanned Sports Complex, so now the Myersports
Complex. But that was the kindof foresight and forward thinking board work that
(09:48):
we had to say, let's keepthis thing going. I know there's a
lot of important stuff we need tocover in our remaining time together. We're
speaking with Mike Gusweiler, and Mikeis the president of the West Michigan Sports
Commission. Online at Westmisports dot com, westmisports dot com. We're going to
(10:09):
talk about the importance of the upcomingballot question to increase the hotel motel tax,
which has a very positive impact fora lot of things you're involved with.
We'll talk about that, but Idid want to mention since you mentioned
the Meyer Sports Complex, you arein the middle of an expansion campaign.
We got some exciting, late breakingnews in late June that the State of
(10:33):
Michigan has dedicated some dollars to helpwith this. Talk about why. And
first of all, this is aspecial complex. If you've never been there,
it's on ten Mile Road in Rockford. I have a niece, my
sister has adopted a couple of specialneeds children through the year. And my
niece Angie, she's played on thatfield, which is an amazing field,
(10:56):
and it is those are events thatshe looks forward to. My sister tells
me how much she loves it.But the Meyer Sports Complex is really just
this quiet gem that's on ten MileRoad. But you need to expand.
It's ten years old and you've gotsome visions to expand. Can you talk
briefly about that, Mike, Yeah, Phil, thanks for mentioning that special
field, the Nate Herwitz Miracle Field. It's you know, it makes us
(11:20):
an inclusive sports park and we're soexcited. Tony Commden from Zealand, you
know, really is one that createdthat or identified that it was out there
and brought it to us. Butour board again, you know, Ford
thinking we're looking at what else canwe do to move the needle around sports
tourism and and we said, let'sbuild this, and you know, we
(11:43):
found some land. We looked allaround the county, found some you know
in the area that you identified nearRockford off a ten mile and close to
an important artery US one thirty one, so easy to get to. Really
all around the area. But youknow, started that campaign built essentially nine
(12:05):
fields for diamond sports, but oneof those fields being that Miracle field for
kids and adults now with disabilities thatcan participate. And again it speaks of
the power of sport. You knowthat that if you can get these kids
they're in their wheelchairs or walkers orwhatever it might be, crutches onto a
field that where there won't be thoseencumbrances, that that they can enjoy it.
(12:28):
There's so many great stories that havecome from that from families that are
so appreciative and and you know,on the weekends that we hold those events
in the spring, in the summeror in the fall, the first and
third base lines are just lined withfamilies watching and it's it's a buddy system,
so a lot of volunteers, youknow, and groups throughout the community
(12:52):
that come out and participate and youknow, I don't know who is more
rewarded, the players or the familiesor the volunteers that it's wonderful. And
then rounding out the rest of thecomplex, it is about diamond sports,
so both baseball and softball, andit was built so that we could have
that impact of bringing these families inand they're coming in from all across the
(13:15):
Midwest region predominantly so from Ohio,Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, and
Pennsylvania times and of course from thenorth from Ontario, our northern neighbors.
And they're staying in our hotels ineating arrocence. That's why it was built.
And so every dollar that we makeout there, whether it's field rental
or concessions, goes right back intokeeping up this complex as a premier complex.
(13:41):
And the good news is we're gettingterrific testimonials from patrons that come out.
So we see an opportunity and westarted another campaign called the Winning Street
Campaign to build on that. Andwe saw an opportunity coming out of COVID.
We talk about COVID it again.Sports tourism was the leading agit Tourism
(14:03):
put people back into our hotels andour restaurants, and so we saw the
arp of dollars that were out there. Hey, let's make good use of
those and let's go after them,and let's expand on what we're doing and
celebrate the what sport is doing toput vibrancy and health back in our communities
post COVID and So it's been twoyears that we've been fundraising in this winning
(14:26):
street campaign to expand the complex andyou mentioned, you know, we're so
glad, and I have to thankSenator Mark Heisinge. We're up in his
district. He went to bat forus to use the pun intendedly. It
took a couple of years, acouple of budgets, but finally we're able
to get in this one and wecouldn't be happier. And that three million
(14:46):
dollars a big help. But you'reyou still have a public campaign going on,
right, we do a winning streakfor West Michigan campaign for the Meer
Sports Complex. Yeah, construction pricessurprisingly didn't get any cheaper come out of
COVID rising. I'm not surprised.So yeah, the number unfortunately keeps growing.
But again we've got a given community. So we have both public dollars
(15:11):
partnered with private dollars. It's abouta fourteen million dollar campaign now to get
everything done that we want to getdone. But it's going to bring in
additional sports. You know, wecan't talk sports without talking pickleball, and
we can talk a little bit moreabout what pickleball has done both in this
community and nationwide. But we're workingwith Rockford Pickaball to add a competitive location
(15:37):
for more tournaments and a home forRockford Pickaball, but add parity and equity
to the complex. We want toput in a championship softball field, and
that's some other flexible use fields.And it partners with what we did with
Plainfield Township and Premier Park and otherlocal partners in sports clubs and organizations with
West Michigan Archery Center, rock CityBMX, May trails for hiking and mountain
(16:02):
biking. So it's really a multisports complex. Yeah, it's really.
I don't think people realize how importantit is that it's there, because I
learned this. I have a nephewas kidd in high school playing on Forest
Hills East baseball team. They justhad a big tournament there recently at the
Meyer Sports Complex, and you don'tthink about that, but yeah, that's
(16:22):
great place to host a baseball tournament. Absolutely, we're so glad to have
those high school teams up there.And then we also partnered a few years
ago with Aquinas College, so we'vegot college ball up there. That's their
home fields. Our championship signature baseballfield. As part of this improvement and
expansion, we put synthetic turf onthe baseball field so that we could extend
(16:45):
the season. College ball starts inFebruary. We don't have them out there
in February, but we could nowif we can move the snow, if
there is snow, you know,who knows? Yeah so, but at
least March April May when they're playing, they're going to be playing on a
consistent quality field that we know theweather won't have an impact on. You're
absolutely right. Baseball is certainly ayear long sport. Mike gus Wiler's with
(17:10):
US President West Michigan Sports Commission aswe talk about the impact of sports and
sports tourism here in West Michigan.Real quickly, if people want to support
the expansion campaign for this wonderful Myersportscomplex, there's maybe somebody who says,
hey, I want to write acheck to support what you were doing here,
understanding the value of this, Howcan they best get in touch with
(17:30):
you and support the campaign? Mike, You know, go into Westmisports dot
com, wesmisports dot com. Allof the information. They're both contact information
for myself our team, But youcan get to the Winning Street campaign from
that web page and learn more aboutit. But it certainly is impactful both
(17:51):
for the purpose of why we exist, which is being an economic generator through
sports tourism, but also it's acommunity asset. You know. You mentioned
Forrest Hill's and I mentioned a Quinness, and there's other locals that get to
play there and enjoy what this spaceoffers. So we're so happy with what
we've got up there. We're excitedwith what the campaign will improve on but
(18:14):
also expand on. So yeah,I'd love people to get interested, get
involved in. Yeah, you mentionedwriting a check, absolutely will accept it
well. And if you have aspecial heart for disabled athletes. The Miracle
League field I had. You mentionedTony Comden local attorney. I had the
opportunity and interview my friend Dan Hurwitz. I've known Dan a long time through
(18:37):
Wood Radio and iHeart and Dan andTONI were in the studio. It was
right after his son Nate had passedaway. Nate, if you didn't know
it was the inspiration, you mightrefer to him, Nate Hurwitz and the
field which is named after him.He passed away. He had do Shane
Muscular District Free passed away. Ithink it was twelve years ago. He
was sixteen years at the time.It wasn't expect did, but it was
(19:00):
in a very emotional conversation and trulya lot of heart, a lot of
sweat equity. A lot of dollarswere raised for the Miracle Field that were
really a lot of parents and peoplewho had children with special needs in their
family understood this was such a specialplace. But it's beyond that. It's
(19:22):
the competitive sports. It's bringing intournaments, professional level softball. I'm so
glad we had a chance to talkabout that. And again, as Mike
said, you want to learn howyou can support that Meyersports complex expansion campaign,
go to Westmisports dot com. Okay, we can't let you go,
and we still have several minutes left. We've got time to talk about this
very important boat decision. This ballotquestion from the folks at Destination Kent.
(19:48):
The tourism tax, which there's goingto be a question about raising that to
increase the hotel motel tax, whichis primarily, as I understand it,
out of town visitors. It makessense to bring additional dollars for economic development
and West Michigan Sports Commission is supportingthe destination campaign. There is going to
(20:10):
be a ballot question on August sixwhich is just around the corner, that's
Tuesday, August sixth. Why isthis important for the West Michigan Sports Commission.
Well, you know, we talka lot about infrastructure and the importance
of infrastructure is driving our economy butattracting people into our community. You only
need to look as far as whatVan Andel Arena did when that was built,
(20:32):
I think back in nineteen ninety threeit started. And the infrastructure around
there, the restaurants around there,and the vibrancy that it brings when there's
activities going on at Vandal Arena iswhat we're talking about with both the Amphitheater
but also the soccer stadium. Andfrom the perspective of the West Michigan Sports
Commission, we've got great relationships withour minor league teams, the Griffins,
(20:53):
the white Caps, the gold theRise now and any time that we can
piggy back off of what they dofor our destination and showing that hey,
we are a sports minded destination.We've got these great teams. You know,
would have liked to have seen theGriffins make it a little bit further
into the playoffs and the rise madelto the championship game, which was,
(21:15):
you know, just incredible to witnessin their first season. But it means
so much to how we are perceivedas a destination, both sports minded,
but also you know, just asa destination as a whole. And when
you're marketing a destination, you loveto see those things. So bringing a
professional soccer team into the community willonly enhance that and then getting back again
(21:36):
to infrastructure a place for them toplay. You know, my hope is
that we see both a men's anda women's team, but each let's say,
would be seventeen home games. Itleaves a lot of dates to fill
and that's where we've been pulled intothe campaign and the project to say,
hey, what else could we putin that that soccer stadium. And we've
been approached actually by different organizations thathave fired and want to participate in utilizing
(22:03):
that facility for some of these differentimportant sports events. But we've identified working
with ASM global team that likely wouldmanage it like they do the other CAAA
assets, the Convention Center and theAndelo Arena. You know, it's identifying
probably two dozen different events that wefeel that we could fill other non soccer
(22:26):
dates with. So that's the piecethat we're playing. But you know,
anytime that you're building something of thatmagnitude, you have to have a funding
mechanism. And the lodging tax makessense because we're looking at attracting visitors to
come into our community through these assets. And as it's coined, it's the
(22:48):
tax that you don't pay, meaningthe residents that vote on this won't be
the ones that are carrying the burden. And it's you know, really looking
to our visitors who are coming inaround these events and these utilizing these facilities
to help us with that. Ithink it's important and I want to go
back to the soccer stadium plan fordowntown Uh. It's important that people think
(23:11):
beyond just soccer because, as yousaid, a lot of interest in using
that. But if you could talka little bit more about that in terms
of, you know, it's somethingwe don't have and I think, frankly,
Mike, a lot of our olderlisteners may not understand how huge soccer
has gotten here in North America,so certainly in the United States and even
(23:34):
here in Michigan and West Michigan.Can you speak to that real quickly.
It's still the largest participatory sport inthe world. Yeah, and you know
when we talk the world and againglobally, you know, we've shrunk as
a world, you know, inour global economy and we're all interconnected,
but growing, you know, youthsoccer and development of soccer into you know,
(23:59):
our high school and a collegiate sportinto the pro level. You know
that it's a feeder system that onlyenhances when you bring in that top level
that we could bring into our community. But yeah, soccer continues to be
a very lucrative sport both in youknow, when I say that it's it's
kids and access to it being ableto play. You know, it's a
(24:22):
uniform or a kit as they callit, and a ball, you know,
and so access to it is relativelygood. We've got a lot of
great local community soccer organizations score PassMidwest United Revolution who all do a great
job both in promoting the sport,putting together solid clinics and coaching staff,
(24:45):
but then also having the ability tooffer scholarships for families that perhaps don't have
the dollars that it takes to putkids into those sports, So you know,
it's working together like that to ensurethat sport fit all and that there's
access for all. So I thinkthat, you know, when you bring
it to that then major level,you're kind of rounding it out. And
(25:11):
it is a pay it forward typeof situation too, that these pro teams
immerse themselves in our community and theystart to give back in our community.
So I think it had become afull circle thing. And as you touched
on, I mean, soccer isjust continuing to grow, It's not going
anywhere, and the participation, theaccess for it is you know across the
(25:33):
board, girls and boys and youknow, all ethnic groups, and we
want to continue that great and excitingpotential with that soccer stadium. I've got
about a minute left, so ifyou can give us the very condensed version
of something you're excited about for nextsummer, Midwest United, let us in
on your excitement for that, Mikego Sweiler. Yeah, So Move United
(25:57):
is actually, you know, oneof the largest organizations that promote adaptive sports,
and you know, we're so fortunateto have Mary freebad wheelchair and adaptive
sports here in our community and theMary FREEBD facility. You know, working
with them to grow the opportunity aroundadaptive sports and being inclusive. We're excited
(26:17):
about. But this is the largestnational sporting event where adult and youth participants
will come into our community in Julyof twenty twenty five and twenty six,
and we're working with community partners,we can use volunteers and people to get
engaged and helping us to put thaton. But we're so excited to be
working with Mary FREEBD Adaptive and WheelchairSports and bringing that event to our community.
(26:41):
Move United, you to move united? Okay, great and right here
in West Michigan. How exciting isthat? Very excited? Is there anything
you're not dreaming about? I justI love it? And we're going to
close on that note. I can'tthank you enough for your leadership, the
excitement that sports tourism, just theripple impact all across the board. We
(27:04):
are so fortunate here in West Michigan. And again, congratulations on seventeen great
years. Who knows what this placewill look like Mike gus Weiler in twenty
forty one, another seventeen years fromnow, and let's not wait four years
until you come back again. Allright, Let's do this in another six
months. I know your annual luncheoncomes up what January. So annual luncheon
(27:29):
is something that we continue to workon and look at. We try to
put everything into the Detroit Lions bagand get one of the speakers from the
Detroit Lions organization. So we're stillworking on the annual luncheon. All right,
We'll keep you posted. We'll keepyou posted on that. Mike gus
Weiler, President, West Michigan SportsCommission, war at westmisports dot com.
(27:51):
Mike, thanks so much for beinghere. Thanksville. He's been our guests
on this segment of West Michigan Weekend, and that, my friends, is
our program. Always appreciate you listening. We'll catch you again next week right
here on this iHeartRadio station iHeartMedia.West Michigan Weekend a public affairs program
iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend, a publicaffairs program. Hi, and welcome in.
It's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio.I am so glad you've tuned in.
This is Phil Tower, your hostfor this program every Sunday, and
we want to remind you we're alsoa podcast as well. As soon as
you hear us on the radio,you can check Woodradio dot com for a
(00:25):
podcast version of this conversation. We'replaying COVID catchup this summer on West Michigan
Weekend. It's kind of a fungame where we circle back with guests who
haven't been on the program, haven'tbeen in our studio for four or five
years, and time flies, especiallyduring a COVID time warp. And it's
(00:46):
a real honor and a pleasure towelcome back to our iHeartRadio studios and microphone.
Mike Guswaller, Mike gus Weiler,President of the West Michigan Sports Commission.
You can learn more online at Westmisportsdot com. And here we are
finally long overdue. It's good tosee you, Phil. I haven't aged
in four years. Mike gus Sweiler. Well, I appreciate that, and
(01:08):
I got that face for radio.We've all heard that do but you know,
thanks for having me back on.And I thought we weren't saying the
sea word anymore. No, Iknow, but good to be here.
And we've been busy over these pastfour years, and I loved to update
yeah, and all that we gotgoing on. Man, a lot has
happened. And I mentioned before weturn on the microphones, I wanted to
(01:29):
have you give our listeners hearing youand me have this conversation on the radio
and overview of the West Michigan SportsCommission. You've been around since two thousand
and seven, hard to believe,and if you my friends in the radio
listening audience have not realized how muchGrand Rapids has changed in seventeen years.
You guys are coming of age,if you will, and you've been,
(01:51):
you know, growing annually, butnow more than ever. How fortunate we
are to have the West Michigan SportsCommission here and reminder of listeners why the
Sports Commission was founded, why itwas developed, and what you guys do
if you would place. Yeah,we're very fortunate to be part of the
sports landscape for now seventeen years andwe're founded to be an economic generator through
(02:14):
sports tourism that means bringing people inaround youth and adult amateur sports. They're
staying in our hotels, eating inour restaurants. So Peter Sakkia, we
all know the name and the thingsthat he did in this community. Loved
sports, love this community, andcombined the two to create the West Michigan
Sports Commission along with Experience Grind Rapidsour tourism and partners in bringing all these
(02:38):
good things into our community, butalso with Kent County because we have an
impact on the lodging tax by peoplestaying in the hotel. So, you
know, fast forward seventeen years,it's amazing what we've been able to accomplish.
We've lost some great people in thecommunity that truly were champions of our
(02:59):
destinations, certainly among them Peter Sekia. But you know, so glad that
we have grown the way we haveand we've got incredible staff members doing the
good work that we're doing across multipleoperations that we certainly can touch on each
one, but it's moved the needleannually. Now we're hitting over one hundred
different events on our event calendar,and they're not all events that we're producing.
(03:23):
It's really attracting those here and someof them are repeat events. And
again it's just all about bringing newdollars through these visitors into our community.
And annually, I would say theeconomic impact averages eighty ninety million dollars.
And you know, the national numberis staggering. US sports tourism sector fifty
(03:46):
two point two billion dollars in directspending annually, up thirty one percent from
thirty nine billion just a couple ofyears ago. Total economic impact of one
hundred and twenty eight billion. That'saccording to the State of the Industry report
for Sports Tourism. And let's stopfor a moment, Mike and recognize Peter
(04:08):
seki as wisdom, his crystal ballwisdom, if you will, to understand
how critical a role sports tourism wouldpay play in this rapidly growing, great
dynamic community we live in. Yeah, I think it really that the trigger
was back when we actually had theGrand Rapids Press and you know, people
(04:28):
will actually read a paper newspaper.What a concept. And Bob Becker,
you know, it was, youknow, just terrific sports writer back then.
And Peter was bringing in and workingwith a local committee to bring Big
Ten Women's Basketball Championship into Vanandel Arena, fairly new arena, and you know,
(04:48):
we were getting it, and theSports Commission didn't exist at the time,
but we're getting it because they neededto relocate from Indy while the facility
they were playing in was under constructionor had some renovations going on, so
they needed a location. We steppedup, Peter and the community stepped up
(05:10):
to say, hey, we'll hostit. And Delaney, who was the
Big Ten commissioner at the time,said okay, in fact, if you
do a good enough job, we'llgive it to you that second year.
But Nancy Doba, Big Ten,all these organizations really are about the bottom
line, just the way that theyoperate. So it really had to do
with butts and seats. And Itell you, the committee that worked on
(05:32):
it here locally did a terrific job. It sold out Big Ten Women's Basketball
in two thousand and one, andI think that was kind of the launching
pad to say, hey, weneed more of this. You know,
I credit Bob Becker saying we needan organizations it's going to bring more of
this kind of stuff into our community. And so the idea was born but
it wasn't until two thousand and sixthat the county, along with Peter being
(05:58):
kind of the private sector, andthe Commission Visitors Bureau, got together and
created the Sports Commission. You know, it's interesting and I know you're aware
of this. If you look backat two thousand and seven, social media
wasn't a thing. I don't thinksports Mike had the prominence, the pre
eminence, the top of mind awareness, the excitement that it has today.
(06:20):
Families are embracing competition and competitive sportsmore and yeah, there's always that concern
about you know, head injuries andthings like that, but schools and athletic
departments and the Michigan High School AthleticAssociation are all focused on this and really
celebrating the importance, the value,the life lessons in competitive sports. Again,
(06:45):
talk about that perfect timing. It'simportant we recognize over your life span.
At the West Michigan Sports Commission,seventeen years, twelve hundred sporting events
booked into West Michigan in this greaterWest Michigan areas attracted more than two million
athletes, generating over six hundred andforty nine million dollars in estimated economic impact,
(07:10):
a huge impact for the Kent Countyarea and even beyond. I mean,
you know, one thing we don'ttalk about sports tourism is families will
bring athletes in, or the friendswill bring athletes in. Athletes will come
in maybe family or friends and familystay afterward after the event is over and
spend even more dollars here. Idon't know if you've ever been able to
(07:32):
measure that economic impact of the afterglowof having a big sport event here.
Now we know that there's an impactof people extending their stay but also coming
back to a region that they trulyenjoyed if they visited through sports. So,
you know, in our first yearin two thousand and seven, we
had a smaller budget than we havenow. You know, we've grown as
(07:54):
an organization both staff wise but alsowith our budget. But we're a five
oh one C three nonprofit board governedand we got going. I hired an
admin assistant, I hired an eventmanager, and I went out and did
the sales and we brought things inand you know, it started to grow
from there. You know, theimpact and the support we received locally both
you know, people that served asvolunteers, corporate partners, that came out
(08:18):
as sponsors, but then just thegiving community. So very fortunate to see
sustained growth. Quite honestly, Phil, if you remember back two thousand and
seven, two thousand and eight,we fell into recession, and I think
talking about the power of sports andat the level that we're talking about that
parents want their kids involved in sports. There's community vibrancy that happens and quality
(08:41):
life that sports started to get thismoniker of being recession proof. And we
saw that. You know, intwo thousand and eight, two thousand and
nine, ten eleven, we weregrowing and we're on an uphill trend of
more events, more people coming intoour community. And that's when we started
to look at, Okay, whatelse can we do to move that needle,
(09:03):
And it comes down to infrastructure.You have to have the right infrastructure.
We have great partners in our highschools and our area colleges and universities,
but they're only available as they're availableand not being programmed by themselves.
So our group, our board anda subcommittee of our board said hey,
you know, we need to buildsomething, and so it was in twenty
(09:26):
ten that we started that campaign,and you know, we're successful through twenty
twelve to you know, putting ashovel on the ground and then opening in
twenty fourteen. What was the artBanned Sports Complex, so now the Myersports
Complex. But that was the kindof foresight and forward thinking board work that
(09:48):
we had to say, let's keepthis thing going. I know there's a
lot of important stuff we need tocover in our remaining time together. We're
speaking with Mike Gusweiler, and Mikeis the president of the West Michigan Sports
Commission. Online at Westmisports dot com, westmisports dot com. We're going to
(10:09):
talk about the importance of the upcomingballot question to increase the hotel motel tax,
which has a very positive impact fora lot of things you're involved with.
We'll talk about that, but Idid want to mention since you mentioned
the Meyer Sports Complex, you arein the middle of an expansion campaign.
We got some exciting, late breakingnews in late June that the State of
(10:33):
Michigan has dedicated some dollars to helpwith this. Talk about why. And
first of all, this is aspecial complex. If you've never been there,
it's on ten Mile Road in Rockford. I have a niece, my
sister has adopted a couple of specialneeds children through the year. And my
niece Angie, she's played on thatfield, which is an amazing field,
(10:56):
and it is those are events thatshe looks forward to. My sister tells
me how much she loves it.But the Meyer Sports Complex is really just
this quiet gem that's on ten MileRoad. But you need to expand.
It's ten years old and you've gotsome visions to expand. Can you talk
briefly about that, Mike, Yeah, Phil, thanks for mentioning that special
field, the Nate Herwitz Miracle Field. It's you know, it makes us
(11:20):
an inclusive sports park and we're soexcited. Tony Commden from Zealand, you
know, really is one that createdthat or identified that it was out there
and brought it to us. Butour board again, you know, Ford
thinking we're looking at what else canwe do to move the needle around sports
tourism and and we said, let'sbuild this, and you know, we
(11:43):
found some land. We looked allaround the county, found some you know
in the area that you identified nearRockford off a ten mile and close to
an important artery US one thirty one, so easy to get to. Really
all around the area. But youknow, started that campaign built essentially nine
(12:05):
fields for diamond sports, but oneof those fields being that Miracle field for
kids and adults now with disabilities thatcan participate. And again it speaks of
the power of sport. You knowthat that if you can get these kids
they're in their wheelchairs or walkers orwhatever it might be, crutches onto a
field that where there won't be thoseencumbrances, that that they can enjoy it.
(12:28):
There's so many great stories that havecome from that from families that are
so appreciative and and you know,on the weekends that we hold those events
in the spring, in the summeror in the fall, the first and
third base lines are just lined withfamilies watching and it's it's a buddy system,
so a lot of volunteers, youknow, and groups throughout the community
(12:52):
that come out and participate and youknow, I don't know who is more
rewarded, the players or the familiesor the volunteers that it's wonderful. And
then rounding out the rest of thecomplex, it is about diamond sports,
so both baseball and softball, andit was built so that we could have
that impact of bringing these families inand they're coming in from all across the
(13:15):
Midwest region predominantly so from Ohio,Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, and
Pennsylvania times and of course from thenorth from Ontario, our northern neighbors.
And they're staying in our hotels ineating arrocence. That's why it was built.
And so every dollar that we makeout there, whether it's field rental
or concessions, goes right back intokeeping up this complex as a premier complex.
(13:41):
And the good news is we're gettingterrific testimonials from patrons that come out.
So we see an opportunity and westarted another campaign called the Winning Street
Campaign to build on that. Andwe saw an opportunity coming out of COVID.
We talk about COVID it again.Sports tourism was the leading agit Tourism
(14:03):
put people back into our hotels andour restaurants, and so we saw the
arp of dollars that were out there. Hey, let's make good use of
those and let's go after them,and let's expand on what we're doing and
celebrate the what sport is doing toput vibrancy and health back in our communities
post COVID and So it's been twoyears that we've been fundraising in this winning
(14:26):
street campaign to expand the complex andyou mentioned, you know, we're so
glad, and I have to thankSenator Mark Heisinge. We're up in his
district. He went to bat forus to use the pun intendedly. It
took a couple of years, acouple of budgets, but finally we're able
to get in this one and wecouldn't be happier. And that three million
(14:46):
dollars a big help. But you'reyou still have a public campaign going on,
right, we do a winning streakfor West Michigan campaign for the Meer
Sports Complex. Yeah, construction pricessurprisingly didn't get any cheaper come out of
COVID rising. I'm not surprised.So yeah, the number unfortunately keeps growing.
But again we've got a given community. So we have both public dollars
(15:11):
partnered with private dollars. It's abouta fourteen million dollar campaign now to get
everything done that we want to getdone. But it's going to bring in
additional sports. You know, wecan't talk sports without talking pickleball, and
we can talk a little bit moreabout what pickleball has done both in this
community and nationwide. But we're workingwith Rockford Pickaball to add a competitive location
(15:37):
for more tournaments and a home forRockford Pickaball, but add parity and equity
to the complex. We want toput in a championship softball field, and
that's some other flexible use fields.And it partners with what we did with
Plainfield Township and Premier Park and otherlocal partners in sports clubs and organizations with
West Michigan Archery Center, rock CityBMX, May trails for hiking and mountain
(16:02):
biking. So it's really a multisports complex. Yeah, it's really.
I don't think people realize how importantit is that it's there, because I
learned this. I have a nephewas kidd in high school playing on Forest
Hills East baseball team. They justhad a big tournament there recently at the
Meyer Sports Complex, and you don'tthink about that, but yeah, that's
(16:22):
great place to host a baseball tournament. Absolutely, we're so glad to have
those high school teams up there.And then we also partnered a few years
ago with Aquinas College, so we'vegot college ball up there. That's their
home fields. Our championship signature baseballfield. As part of this improvement and
expansion, we put synthetic turf onthe baseball field so that we could extend
(16:45):
the season. College ball starts inFebruary. We don't have them out there
in February, but we could nowif we can move the snow, if
there is snow, you know,who knows? Yeah so, but at
least March April May when they're playing, they're going to be playing on a
consistent quality field that we know theweather won't have an impact on. You're
absolutely right. Baseball is certainly ayear long sport. Mike gus Wiler's with
(17:10):
US President West Michigan Sports Commission aswe talk about the impact of sports and
sports tourism here in West Michigan.Real quickly, if people want to support
the expansion campaign for this wonderful Myersportscomplex, there's maybe somebody who says,
hey, I want to write acheck to support what you were doing here,
understanding the value of this, Howcan they best get in touch with
(17:30):
you and support the campaign? Mike, You know, go into Westmisports dot
com, wesmisports dot com. Allof the information. They're both contact information
for myself our team, But youcan get to the Winning Street campaign from
that web page and learn more aboutit. But it certainly is impactful both
(17:51):
for the purpose of why we exist, which is being an economic generator through
sports tourism, but also it's acommunity asset. You know. You mentioned
Forrest Hill's and I mentioned a Quinness, and there's other locals that get to
play there and enjoy what this spaceoffers. So we're so happy with what
we've got up there. We're excitedwith what the campaign will improve on but
(18:14):
also expand on. So yeah,I'd love people to get interested, get
involved in. Yeah, you mentionedwriting a check, absolutely will accept it
well. And if you have aspecial heart for disabled athletes. The Miracle
League field I had. You mentionedTony Comden local attorney. I had the
opportunity and interview my friend Dan Hurwitz. I've known Dan a long time through
(18:37):
Wood Radio and iHeart and Dan andTONI were in the studio. It was
right after his son Nate had passedaway. Nate, if you didn't know
it was the inspiration, you mightrefer to him, Nate Hurwitz and the
field which is named after him.He passed away. He had do Shane
Muscular District Free passed away. Ithink it was twelve years ago. He
was sixteen years at the time.It wasn't expect did, but it was
(19:00):
in a very emotional conversation and trulya lot of heart, a lot of
sweat equity. A lot of dollarswere raised for the Miracle Field that were
really a lot of parents and peoplewho had children with special needs in their
family understood this was such a specialplace. But it's beyond that. It's
(19:22):
the competitive sports. It's bringing intournaments, professional level softball. I'm so
glad we had a chance to talkabout that. And again, as Mike
said, you want to learn howyou can support that Meyersports complex expansion campaign,
go to Westmisports dot com. Okay, we can't let you go,
and we still have several minutes left. We've got time to talk about this
very important boat decision. This ballotquestion from the folks at Destination Kent.
(19:48):
The tourism tax, which there's goingto be a question about raising that to
increase the hotel motel tax, whichis primarily, as I understand it,
out of town visitors. It makessense to bring additional dollars for economic development
and West Michigan Sports Commission is supportingthe destination campaign. There is going to
(20:10):
be a ballot question on August sixwhich is just around the corner, that's
Tuesday, August sixth. Why isthis important for the West Michigan Sports Commission.
Well, you know, we talka lot about infrastructure and the importance
of infrastructure is driving our economy butattracting people into our community. You only
need to look as far as whatVan Andel Arena did when that was built,
(20:32):
I think back in nineteen ninety threeit started. And the infrastructure around
there, the restaurants around there,and the vibrancy that it brings when there's
activities going on at Vandal Arena iswhat we're talking about with both the Amphitheater
but also the soccer stadium. Andfrom the perspective of the West Michigan Sports
Commission, we've got great relationships withour minor league teams, the Griffins,
(20:53):
the white Caps, the gold theRise now and any time that we can
piggy back off of what they dofor our destination and showing that hey,
we are a sports minded destination.We've got these great teams. You know,
would have liked to have seen theGriffins make it a little bit further
into the playoffs and the rise madelto the championship game, which was,
(21:15):
you know, just incredible to witnessin their first season. But it means
so much to how we are perceivedas a destination, both sports minded,
but also you know, just asa destination as a whole. And when
you're marketing a destination, you loveto see those things. So bringing a
professional soccer team into the community willonly enhance that and then getting back again
(21:36):
to infrastructure a place for them toplay. You know, my hope is
that we see both a men's anda women's team, but each let's say,
would be seventeen home games. Itleaves a lot of dates to fill
and that's where we've been pulled intothe campaign and the project to say,
hey, what else could we putin that that soccer stadium. And we've
been approached actually by different organizations thathave fired and want to participate in utilizing
(22:03):
that facility for some of these differentimportant sports events. But we've identified working
with ASM global team that likely wouldmanage it like they do the other CAAA
assets, the Convention Center and theAndelo Arena. You know, it's identifying
probably two dozen different events that wefeel that we could fill other non soccer
(22:26):
dates with. So that's the piecethat we're playing. But you know,
anytime that you're building something of thatmagnitude, you have to have a funding
mechanism. And the lodging tax makessense because we're looking at attracting visitors to
come into our community through these assets. And as it's coined, it's the
(22:48):
tax that you don't pay, meaningthe residents that vote on this won't be
the ones that are carrying the burden. And it's you know, really looking
to our visitors who are coming inaround these events and these utilizing these facilities
to help us with that. Ithink it's important and I want to go
back to the soccer stadium plan fordowntown Uh. It's important that people think
(23:11):
beyond just soccer because, as yousaid, a lot of interest in using
that. But if you could talka little bit more about that in terms
of, you know, it's somethingwe don't have and I think, frankly,
Mike, a lot of our olderlisteners may not understand how huge soccer
has gotten here in North America,so certainly in the United States and even
(23:34):
here in Michigan and West Michigan.Can you speak to that real quickly.
It's still the largest participatory sport inthe world. Yeah, and you know
when we talk the world and againglobally, you know, we've shrunk as
a world, you know, inour global economy and we're all interconnected,
but growing, you know, youthsoccer and development of soccer into you know,
(23:59):
our high school and a collegiate sportinto the pro level. You know
that it's a feeder system that onlyenhances when you bring in that top level
that we could bring into our community. But yeah, soccer continues to be
a very lucrative sport both in youknow, when I say that it's it's
kids and access to it being ableto play. You know, it's a
(24:22):
uniform or a kit as they callit, and a ball, you know,
and so access to it is relativelygood. We've got a lot of
great local community soccer organizations score PassMidwest United Revolution who all do a great
job both in promoting the sport,putting together solid clinics and coaching staff,
(24:45):
but then also having the ability tooffer scholarships for families that perhaps don't have
the dollars that it takes to putkids into those sports, So you know,
it's working together like that to ensurethat sport fit all and that there's
access for all. So I thinkthat, you know, when you bring
it to that then major level,you're kind of rounding it out. And
(25:11):
it is a pay it forward typeof situation too, that these pro teams
immerse themselves in our community and theystart to give back in our community.
So I think it had become afull circle thing. And as you touched
on, I mean, soccer isjust continuing to grow, It's not going
anywhere, and the participation, theaccess for it is you know across the
(25:33):
board, girls and boys and youknow, all ethnic groups, and we
want to continue that great and excitingpotential with that soccer stadium. I've got
about a minute left, so ifyou can give us the very condensed version
of something you're excited about for nextsummer, Midwest United, let us in
on your excitement for that, Mikego Sweiler. Yeah, So Move United
(25:57):
is actually, you know, oneof the largest organizations that promote adaptive sports,
and you know, we're so fortunateto have Mary freebad wheelchair and adaptive
sports here in our community and theMary FREEBD facility. You know, working
with them to grow the opportunity aroundadaptive sports and being inclusive. We're excited
(26:17):
about. But this is the largestnational sporting event where adult and youth participants
will come into our community in Julyof twenty twenty five and twenty six,
and we're working with community partners,we can use volunteers and people to get
engaged and helping us to put thaton. But we're so excited to be
working with Mary FREEBD Adaptive and WheelchairSports and bringing that event to our community.
(26:41):
Move United, you to move united? Okay, great and right here
in West Michigan. How exciting isthat? Very excited? Is there anything
you're not dreaming about? I justI love it? And we're going to
close on that note. I can'tthank you enough for your leadership, the
excitement that sports tourism, just theripple impact all across the board. We
(27:04):
are so fortunate here in West Michigan. And again, congratulations on seventeen great
years. Who knows what this placewill look like Mike gus Weiler in twenty
forty one, another seventeen years fromnow, and let's not wait four years
until you come back again. Allright, Let's do this in another six
months. I know your annual luncheoncomes up what January. So annual luncheon
(27:29):
is something that we continue to workon and look at. We try to
put everything into the Detroit Lions bagand get one of the speakers from the
Detroit Lions organization. So we're stillworking on the annual luncheon. All right,
We'll keep you posted. We'll keepyou posted on that. Mike gus
Weiler, President, West Michigan SportsCommission, war at westmisports dot com.
(27:51):
Mike, thanks so much for beinghere. Thanksville. He's been our guests
on this segment of West Michigan Weekend, and that, my friends, is
our program. Always appreciate you listening. We'll catch you again next week right
here on this iHeartRadio station iHeartMedia.West Michigan Weekend a public affairs program
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