The state has certified 10 regional sports authority districts that’ll each get $50,000 to promote non-professional sports in their area. Nancy Landess of the Iowa Tourism Office says the districts named this year are: Ames, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Dubuque, Ft. Dodge, Mason City, Sioux City, Quad Cities and Waterloo/Cedar Falls.
Landess says there are a number of facilities for sports events in the state, and this will help them bring events to Iowa and promote the state to the visitors. Landess says convention and visitor bureaus in the cities had to submit a bid for the certification. She says bureaus could partner with each other to make a bid, and some did that, in an effort to win the promotional dollars.
Landess says the cities will host a variety of sports events in the next year. Landess says some of the events will come to mind quickly, and include basketball or NCAA Track and Field events and Des Moines will work with the Junior Olympics. She says there’s also some unique events, such as horseshoe pitching in Cedar Rapids, and there’s badmitton and other events.
Landess says the money spent on the sports events will generate many more dollars for the communities. Landess doesn’t know the exact amount, but says it will be millions of dollars as the athletes and fans come in for multiple nights, and those athletes and fans do other things while they are here. For more information visit the Iowa tourism website , or call 1-800-345-IOWA.