Posted: July 23, 2010

By Danielle Walker

danielle.walker@insidebiz.com

As more than 45,000 players, coaches and spectators prepare to attend the 44th annual Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games, local businesses look forward to the event, which is sure to bring in revenue for the host region. From July 29 through Aug. 7, young athletes will compete in venues throughout Hampton Roads.

One sports market researcher says the region should expect an economic impact of $20 million to $30 million for the event.

"We'll know, probably, in about six weeks," said Patrick Rishe, head of Sports Impacts, a St. Louis, Mo.-based sports market research group.

In the past, he has researched the AAU Junior Olympics' impact, and concluded there tends to be an average of $15 million for most cities that host the event.

"That's largely attributable to the fact that most of these people who go to the events are not from the local area," Rishe said.

The AAU Junior Olympics of children ages 6 to 17 competing in more than 20 sports, was also held in Hampton Roads in 1998, 2001 and 2006. Jack Ankerson, executive director for the Hampton Roads Sports Commission, said a local support group was needed to organize the event. Hence, the start of the commission in 1999.

"Norman, Okla., was supposed to host the 1998 games," Ankerson said. "In 1997, they notified the AAU that they would not be hosting the event the next summer. We put together a local organizing committee and carried the event off successfully."

From there, the Hampton Roads area became a regular venue among other cities that rotate as host for the annual event.

In 2003, the National Senior Games were also held in Hampton Roads, and Ankerson said the event brought in $28 million.

HRSC is weighing the option of having the annual AAU Junior Olympics games here again in 2015.

Ankerson said the event, which will be held at sports venues in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton and Newport News, has helped support regionalism.

"This event is one of the great examples of how regionalism works," Ankerson said. "Our local organizing committee is made of people from each and every one of those five cities."

Unified efforts that promote the local business community include AAU's website, www.aaujrgames.org/, which has information for out-of-towners looking to book hotels and find local attractions and restaurants.

"They are all direct beneficiaries," said Ankerson about how businesses benefit from the event.

Bruce Smith, general manager of the Newport News Marriott in the City Center at Oyster Point, has already booked nearly 100 rooms, totaling 389 nights, for AAU visitors.

"We have not only the athletes staying with us but we have the parents and coaches," Smith said.

The Newport News Marriott opened in 2006, only a few weeks after the AAU Hampton Roads games started that year. Smith said that business at the City Center at Oyster Point, a 52-acre mixed-use development, received extra foot traffic because of the event.

Now that the City Center is more developed, and his hotel is an official resource for AAU tourists, he said the area benefits even more.

"I think it's a boost to the economy," Smith said. "Since that time [2006], City Center has really developed a lot more. We've got more restaurants and shops that are open. I think we have more to offer the individuals who will be staying here."

For more information and a schedule, go to www.hamptonroads sports.org. nib