By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph looks to turn sporting events into a tourist attraction for the city.
But, not just any sporting event.
The city has targeted specific, niche events that might be overlooked in larger cities.
Christian Mengel with the St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau points to hosting the NCAA Division-2 women’s Elite Eight basketball tournament as well as this week’s NCAA Division-2 Women’s Basketball Central Regional Crossover as examples.
“Not everybody in Dallas thinks, oh, I’m going to go to this at this arena,” Mengel says. “But, for a community this size, everybody does. Everybody knows about it. The downtown shops know about it, because they’re like, man, why are we getting so many people coming in our door downtown? And they’ve started to pay attention to things like that, too. They’re like, oh, we’ve got this tournament coming, there’s going to be people in my door.”
The key, according to officials with the Convention Bureau, is to find the just right event; one that can be done right and one that fits with St. Joseph’s growing reputation as a city that turns out for good basketball. Mengel points to the upcoming Bill Snyder Women’s Basketball Classic featuring Kansas State against Missouri as an example, saying it is more than just a basketball game at the Civic Arena, something downtown St. Joseph businesses understand.
“And they know, there’s going to be Mizzou fans and K-State fans downtown and the shops, they’ve already got decoration ideas, how to draw those fans to the shops,” according to Mengel. “They’re already thinking. And so, when you really look back and think, what does this do for the local economy? They’re not just here and going home. But they’re coming here for an overall experience and that’s something that they don’t just get anywhere.”
Missouri plays Kansas State December 9th in a homecoming for K-State head coach Jeff Mittie, who once coach the Missouri Western State University women’s team.
St. Joseph Sports Commission Director Brett Esely says the city is working to get just the right fit of sporting events that it can handle professionally and that will attract tourists to the city. Esely says the St. Joseph pitch to sporting events looking for a home needs to be different than other cities.
“A Panama City, Florida that is a vacation destination and a sports tourism destination; I think we all understand the similarities and the differences there,” Esely says. “But, the one thing that we always need to leverage here is that location. You can get here. It is easier to get here.”
Esely says the city works to provide a quality experience for sporting events. He says St. Joseph provides just the right atmosphere and support for such events as the NCAA Division-2 Women’s Basketball Central Regional Crossover as well the NCAA Division-2 women’s Elite Eight basketball tournament.