Columbus on track to host USA Softball again — this time on way to Tokyo Olympics
The complete financial numbers aren’t available yet, but it’s already clear Columbus impressed the right people as host of last month’s USA Softball International Cup. As a result, the city is on track to have the women’s national team return here next year on the way to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Columbus, where Olympic softball debuted in 1996, also has a good chance to continue being the site for other elite-level tournaments that combine to bring millions of dollars into the west Georgia and east Alabama region, according to local and USA Softball officials.
Finalizing agreement
Merri Sherman, executive director of the Columbus Sports Council, told the L-E in an email, “We are finalizing an agreement with USA Softball to be a stop on the Road to Tokyo Tour for the Olympic team in the Spring of 2020. We are excited for the opportunity to welcome back the red, the white and the blue, Team USA. We also look forward to future opportunities to host (other) USA Softball events in Columbus.”
The tour’s format isn’t set, Sherman said, “but it will most likely be exhibition with the possibility of a youth event that weekend.”
The sports council is a nonprofit organization that recruits and conducts sporting events with the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department to boost quality of life and economic development in the city.
Codi Warren, USA Softball’s managing director of communications, told the L-E in an email Wednesday, “Tour stops have not been finalized and won’t be announced until a later date. At this time, we are not in a position to provide any additional details.”
In a previous email, however, Warren gushed about Columbus as a host.
“The Columbus Sports Council and Columbus Parks and Recreation did a fantastic job as hosts for the USA Softball International Cup,” she said. “From the renovated facilities to the support staff and volunteers, their hospitality and dedication to making the USA Softball International Cup a success was second to none. If USA Softball were to look at alternate locations for this event in the future, Columbus would be in consideration.”
By “alternate locations” Warren means that the USA Softball International Cup usually is played in Oklahoma City, where the organization is headquartered. The only other city to host this tournament, which was called the World Cup of Softball from 2005 to 2017, has been Irvine, California.
Prestigious and precious
The International Olympic Committee voted three years ago to return softball, along with baseball, to the Olympic program in 2020 for the Summer Games in Tokyo.
It was a reversal of the vote 14 years ago, when the IOC dropped softball and baseball. So softball has been in the Olympics during only four of the 28 Summer Games: 1996 in Columbus; 2000 in Sydney, Australia; 2004 in Athens, Greece; and 2008 in Beijing, China.
All of which makes the USA Softball International Cup more prestigious and precious, because there’s no guarantee softball will remain in the Olympic program.
No decision has been made about whether to conduct the USA Softball International Cup in 2020, due to preparations for the Olympics, Warren said, and the dates and site for the 2021 event haven’t been announced.
The $4.8 million renovation of the South Commons Softball Complex “created a nice aesthetic while also providing ample work space and hospitality needs for our teams, staff and guests,” Warren said. “The fans who attended the event created a great atmosphere for all teams.”
The 10-team USA Softball International Cup comprised 50 games at the eight-field complex July 1-7. Per game attendance figures aren’t available because admission was for each day. The complex’s stadium, with a capacity for around 2,500 fans, averaged 1,086 in daily attendance, Sherman said. The total attendance for the week at South Commons was 11,443, including credentialed staff, she said.
Last month, Columbus also hosted USA Softball girls national championships in several age brackets.
More than attendance
Asked how much attendance factors into where USA Softball decides to conduct its tournaments, Warren said, “For national championships, it’s all about the relationships between the host city and our local associations. Columbus fans were fantastic — great crowds who provided a positive and exciting atmosphere for our athletes and participating countries.”
Warren also praised the “phenomenal” field crew and said the staff and volunteers were “extremely helpful and professional.”
Along with the USA Softball International Cup, the complex also hosted during that week the four-team Futures Cup for youth players. Combined, those tournaments brought an estimated $1.1 million to the local economy, VisitColumbusGA president and CEO Peter Bowden told the L-E Thursday.
“This is a great impact,” he said.
Columbus also received invaluable media exposure, including telecasts on ESPN and ESPN2.
Sherman said she doesn’t know yet how last month’s tournaments did financially in terms of revenue and expenses because she still is waiting on “a few invoices and a few receivables,” but softball events have generated more than $147 million for the Columbus area since 1995, when the complex was built, according to the sports council.
She recalled Team USA coach Ken Eriksen describing South Commons as “a cathedral for softball.” And the kudos about Columbus extended beyond the tournament.
“We heard nothing but positive comments from the teams, USA Softball staff, ESPN and visitors about the hospitality they received from our community,” Sherman said. “From their hotel stays, to the restaurants they visited, to the grocery stores they went to, everyone was complimentary of how they were treated in Columbus.”
Asked what Columbus could have done better as the host, Warren didn’t mention anything. Sherman noted the staff and volunteers performed under a tight schedule with the renovations at the softball complex. The certificate of occupancy was granted only one day before practices started.
The L-E didn’t reach city manager Isaiah Hugley or parks and rec director Holli Browder for comment before this story’s deadline.
