The Henrico County Board of Supervisors and key marketing and sports officials are traveling Friday to Rocky Mount, a small, North Carolina town experiencing a comeback as the result of a new arena designed to attract sports tourism.
Henrico and Sports Tourism have been a winning combination for years.
“Yes, in 2018 our economic impact was 53.4 million.”
Jason Schilling, Henrico’s Sports Tourism Coordinator says that’s from 170 tournaments, including baseball, softball, fishing, volleyball, soccer and even Quidditch, held mostly outside. But now, they want to build an arena for everything else.
“We are actually going to Rocky Mount to look at a comparable facility and its operations.”
A potential land deal with Richmond Raceway has fallen through, but county officials are exploring other options and will be asking developers for new proposals.
County officials estimate a new arena could generate 17 million a year in annual visitors spending.