BIG REWARDS
Every year on the first Sunday in February, there is a great tradition in our country. Yes, the Super Bowl is played on that day, but there is also a little golf tournament in Arizona, the Phoenix Open.
The “People’s Major,” as it is dubbed, is the largest golf tournament on earth. This year over 600,000 people attended the tournament, with 201,000 of those on the grounds for round three alone. To put that in perspective, for the U.S. Open Golf Championship the USGA typically issues 120,000 tickets for the entire tournament.
The Phoenix Open and the Super Bowl are great for sports and for their respective communities in which they take place, but it took a big vision along with a good amount of luck to become what they are today. The golf tournament is run by a group of area volunteers, the Thunderbirds. These community leaders spend hours every week throughout the year working on the upcoming tournament: selling sponsorships, creating hospitality, selling tickets, recruiting the top players to compete and also managing their community partnerships. The event has generated over $100,000,000 for local charities.
How did the Phoenix Open, which is actually played in Scottsdale, become what it is today?
There are dozens of reasons, but the big idea is as our community looks to build new events, maintain or renovate our venues and grow sports tourism in Shreveport-Bossier City, we likely don’t know where our plans can lead, but we must have a big vision. Some of our best ideas and leads for events we bring to the area come from locals who are traveling and competing in events and recognize an event we could host.
We recently created a Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission Community Advisory Committee, and we will have our inaugural meeting in early March. This group will be a very diverse group of business leaders and sports enthusiasts that will act as a “brain trust” for the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission by identifying larger sporting events we can bring to our area.
So as we begin looking at larger, future events, it is exciting to see what will evolve over the next year. We currently have some incredible events that started as a big dream like the River Cities Triathlon, which has been taking place annually for almost 40 years; the Battle on the Border High School Football Showcase; Fit For Life weekend; Thunder Road Raceway Park, which had over 70,000 through its gates in Gilliam in 2015, and so many other events that take place throughout the year.
What is next for Shreveport-Bossier City? How about a Shreveport-Bossier City Marathon through downtown and along the riverfront on both sides of the river? How about high-speed power boat racing on the Red River in the downtown area? It’s a big vision, but with our area of the state being coined “Sportsman’s Paradise,” why can’t we do that sporting event you are thinking about right now? With that said, I welcome you to email me if this article has generated an idea for a sporting event you would like to see come to Shreveport-Bossier City (kwells@sbsports.org).
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• March 5-6, 12-13, 18-20 – Southern Bowling Congress at Holiday Lanes and All-Star Lanes • March 11-15 – Regions Archery Competition at Cypress Lake • March 19 – Louisiana High School All-Star Boys and Girls Basketball games at Bossier Parish Community College Gymnasium
Kelly Wells is the vice president of sports and tourism for the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. The Shreveport- Bossier Sports Commission is a division of the Shreveport- Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau in partnership with the city of Shreveport, Caddo Parish Commission, Bossier Parish Police Jury and the city of Bossier. Visit our website: www. shreveportbossiersports.com or email Kelly Wells at kwells@ sbctb.org.
