SoccerPlex in Germantown Scoring Big Bucks for Economy
The Maryland SoccerPlex is scoring more than just goals- it’s scoring big money for the local economy.
According to a release from the Soccerplex, a new economic impact study by the Conference and Visitors’ Bureau of Montgomery County shows the complex brought in more than $30 million to the local economy in 2014.
The spike in revenue is juggled on the backs of the return of the professional women’s soccer franchise to the stadium here in 2013 and the 2014 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship held at the venue this summer. Those events generated an estimated additional $5.2 million to the SoccerPlex’s economic impact in Montgomery County in 2014, according to the news release.
In July 2014, the SoccerPlex hosted the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, a six-day event widely regarded as the pinnacle of American travel soccer featuring 96 of the top teams from around the country. The CVB and the SoccerPlex partnered on an economic study of the event, which concluded $4-5 million in value. This included 8,000 hotel room nights and almost a week’s worth of living and transportation expenses for the participants.
On top of the multi-million dollar impact, the SoccerPlex and in turn Montgomery County expect the successful U.S. Youth Nationals showing to lead to more high-profile hosting opportunities.
“The college coaches and tournament directors who attended Nationals will start considering the SoccerPlex for their events, which will bring even more economic development to Montgomery County,” said SoccerPlex Executive Director Trish Heffelfinger.
The SoccerPlex’s championship stadium, recently named Maureen Hendricks Field, became the permanent home of the Washington Spirit, a National Women’s Soccer League franchise, when the upstart league began play in the spring of 2013.
Washington recently completed its second year in the NWSL, and has drawn an average of 3,800 fans through 23 regular season home matches since moving into the SoccerPlex, according to the release. In total, the Washington Spirit provide an estimated $700,000 in annual economic impact, which includes: team expenses and game day operations, concessions, merchandise sales, travel and lodging expenses for visiting teams and out-of-town guests, and local spending by fans, teams and staff, outside vendors, media and others, according to the release.
The Soccerplex also hosts 12 top youth tournaments annually which account for $25 million in revenue, according to the release.
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