Sports tourism, driven by mammoth indoor and outdoor complexes that host youth tournaments, is already big business. Will it be a high-scoring anchor for retail development? Price Brothers, the developers of the $750 million Bluhawk mixed-use community in Overland Park, Kansas, is banking on it.

Some 20 years after purchasing 277 acres at the intersection of U.S. 69 and 159th Street, the southernmost reaches of the Kansas City metro back then, the company will open the 260,000-square-foot first phase of its $125 million AdventHealth Sports Park on Saturday. The facility is expected to draw 3.8 million people a year and includes a professional-size hockey rink; basketball, volleyball and pickleball courts; a turf field; and a training center.

This sports complex, though, also features a glitzy entertainment package to keep adults and kids happy between games: A high-end bar, restaurants, workspace, laser tag, bowling, arcade games, sports simulators and a roller coaster zip line. A second phase will expand the complex to 420,000 square feet.

And a short walk across the street will be The Boundary, a $75 million, 180,000-square-foot project that will include restaurants, shops, entertainment, lodging and green space. It’s expected to begin opening in spring 2026.

Patrick O’Brien — vice president of venue management for The Sports Facilities Cos., a 20-year-old firm that manages AdventHealth Sports Park, said Bluhawk represents a major shift in sports-oriented development, as weekend tournament travelers will be able to park at a nearby hotel and won’t need to get back into the car until it’s time to go home. “Bluhawk is a trailblazer,” said O’Brien, whose firm operates more than 60 sports complexes across the country. “We don’t manage another asset that has the same scale of retail or proximity to it. I think this is going to spark a lot of interest from other developers.”

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To be sure, a population boom and attractive demographics in southern Overland Park also made the project possible. “There are nothing but families out here,” Price Brothers principal Kent Price quipped during a media preview of the sports park. In recent years, naming rights partner AdventHealth has built a 193,000-square-foot medical campus in Bluhawk and builders have added 180 single-family homes. Price Brothers also has developed 200 apartments, as well as The Marketplace at Bluhawk, a nearly built out 250,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored center fronting 159th Street that includes T.J.Maxx, Sierra, Panera and other restaurants, services and shops.

Price Brothers at one point contemplated creating a smaller sports complex in conjunction with a satellite location of Hutchinson, Kansas’ Cosmosphere space museum. But sports ultimately had more appeal, said Price Brothers vice president of development Bart Lowen. “Quite simply, when we compared the traffic generation for those uses, it was a no-brainer,” he said. “We decided to lead with the sports complex and develop retail around it.”

The developer has been approved to receive as much as $70.6 million in Kansas Sales Tax and Revenue bonds. Kansas municipalities can issue such bonds to finance major commercial, entertainment and tourism projects that increase regional and national visits to the state. Sales tax revenue generated at the developments then pay off the bonds. So far, the sports park has received $40 million in STAR bonds.

Sports-Fueled Growth

In 2023, sports tourism generated $52.2 billion in direct spending through tournament operations and visitor-related expenditures, according to the Sports Events & Tourism Association. That was a roughly 16% increase over sports tourism revenue in 2019 before cities and states shut down gatherings during the pandemic, said the trade association, which tracks adult and youth amateur events, as well as collegiate tournaments and championships. It also estimated that the industry had a total economic impact of $128 billion in 2023 as 204.9 million people traveled to events.

In the panhandle of Texas, the city of Borger is working with Atlanta-based 8:28 Sports Ventures to capture some of that economic activity. On Tuesday, the Borger city council approved funding for pre-construction work for BoomTown MultiDome Sports Complex, a proposed project catering to 17 sports that is expected to attract upward of 1.2 million people a year.

The BoomTown vision includes 350,000 to 400,000 square feet in three domes — one for indoor playing surfaces, an “aqua dome” with a water park and competitive swimming facility, and a third dome housing a sports research and science center — said 8:28 Sports Ventures chief investment officer Larry Fortune. The company was founded by partners with backgrounds in professional and youth sports and is working on a handful of similar projects, including one in Gluckstadt, Mississippi. “Borger’s location in the Texas panhandle gives us access to roughly 41 million people within a drive-time radius of five or six hours,” Fortune said. “That’s an incredible reach.”

The plan, while still being formulated, is to build on 100 acres owned by economic development corporation Borger Inc., said Amy Fesser, executive director of the agency. At Tuesday’s meeting, it was revealed that the first of five phases could cost $100 million and that the project would incorporate a grocery store, apartments, condos and other commercial development, according to KFDA NewsChannel 10 in Amarillo.

And on the south end of Springfield, Illinois, a public-private partnership spearheaded by local developer Legacy Pointe Development last year broke ground on Scheels Sports Park at Legacy Pointe. The $67 million multisport complex will feature eight outdoor fields and a 190,000-square-foot dome on 70 acres. A Scheels store, a few restaurants and a hotel are nearby. Legacy Pointe Development also hopes to develop 100 acres adjacent to the project with more commercial uses, said partner Dirk McCormick.

Springfield officials and business leaders for some years have discussed a sports complex, McCormick said, and he and partner Steve Luker began pursuing the opportunity before the pandemic. Originally, the area was considered a prime site for lifestyle and outlet centers. “We’ve always looked at Legacy Pointe as a place where people from outside of Springfield will come to eat, shop, play and stay,” McCormick explained. “The focus has shifted over time to a little bit more play than shop, so you’ll probably see more entertainment options than what was envisioned 10 or so years ago.”

Sports tourism also has captured the attention of Seregh, a real estate development group recently launched by executives across the investment, sports, entertainment and real estate fields. While the company aims to execute billion-dollar placemaking projects adjacent to large stadium and arena developments and renovations, it sees value in the millions of people that youth and amateur multisport complexes attract, said founder Jonathan Fascitelli. “A lot of capital right now is flowing to data centers and logistics to support the stay-at-home strategy,” he said, “but we’re bringing together sports and real estate titans to capitalize on the get-out-of-the-home strategy. People still want to get out and see live entertainment and watch their kids play sports.”

Because they lack available land, many existing multisport complexes may not provide development opportunities beyond a nearby hotel and a few restaurants, O’Brien said. For new projects, though, Bluhawk’s sports complex and retail center have become a prototype. Indeed, The Sports Facilities Cos. reports that about 60% of the developments with which it is involved now include mixed-use components.

“We are a case study in [requests for proposals] coming from cities right now for this merging of sports and retail,” declared Lowen. “People want it, communities get it and retailers are starting to understand it.”

Final Pieces

The Marketplace at Bluhawk is about 98% occupied, Lowen added, and Barnes & Noble has committed to 15,000 of that project’s last 20,000 square feet, which soon will be under construction. The Boundary, which will sit between The Marketplace and the sports park, has attracted letters of intent covering about half of the space, said JLL executive vice president Holly Rome. She and Lowen expect to announce lease signings in the coming days.

“We want to merchandise The Boundary to serve the local shopper, but we also have a much more regional and potentially national draw with the sports park,” she remarked.

The AdventHealth Sports Park is projected to host 90 events in 2025, about 70 of which are under contract or being negotiated, Lowen said. The University of Kansas men’s hockey club in Lawrence, 40 miles west, will use the ice for home games and practices, and TPH Academy, which helps U.S. and Canadian students study and train in multiple locations, is operating there.

“We can’t be any more ready for Bluhawk’s next level. Entitlements are behind us. The financing is in place. The infrastructure is ready. We have a major destination opening. You name it, it’s done,” Lowen said. “Now it’s time for The Boundary tenants. There’s nothing in the way.”