Paddlesport Festival on the Oklahoma River. That event brought international acclaim to the city. Oklahoma City also hosted for the first time ever the USA Gymnastics Development Program National Championships. Approximately 1,800 athletes from across the U.S. participated in that event, held at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. Those athletes also brought along their families, which meant total attendance was well over 20,000. The youth and amateur market is a lot stronger than people may realize, Wisniewski said. “Our job is to utilize sports to create an economic impact and tourism” - Adam Wisniewski “When you host a tournament, for example, that brings in say 100 to 200 teams, and let’s say each team has 15 to 20 kids on it, that means there could be more people attending that particular tournament than there would be if you filled a small stadium,” he said, which includes a number of family members who also come to those events in support of the athletes. Wisniewski said parents are willing to spend money when it comes to their kids. That’s why when he and his Visit OKC team attempt to sell Oklahoma City to parents, they try to convince them the trip could be turned into a mini-vacation. “We can tell them, ‘If you stay one more day and you get to do these attractions, you go and see these museums and do these other things, the kids won’t be any wiser. You kind of knocked out two goals with one trip,’” Wisniewski said. In addition to having many top-notch, quality attractions and restaurants as a way to attract sports events to Oklahoma City, he pointed to OKC’s other
strengths, including its centralized location and lower travel costs. “If we can make the argument that coming [to Oklahoma City] is a lot friendlier to your wallet than other bigger cities, like say a Dallas, then that is going to be very, very beneficial for us.”
Oklahoma City’s RIVERSPORT Rapids hosts various festivals and racing events throughout the year, including the 2022 World Paddlesport Festival. That event brought international acclaim to the city.
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