As OKC grows, so does the allure of more non-traditional sports

Photo Credit: Matimix

No doubt Oklahoma City has been a leader nationally for attracting some high-profile sporting events to the metro. The NCAA Women’s College World Series and various Big 12 championships certainly come to mind. But the more the city’s population grows – now the 22nd largest city in the U.S. – more attention is being shifted to luring more non-traditional sports to OKC, as well as the tourism dollars that usually come with them.

Adam Wisniewski has been with the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, a division of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, for nearly three months and is already hard at work scouring the country, looking to bring in more tournaments or events to OKC from those non-traditional sports that the average person may not know can be a windfall for a community, especially when kids are involved.

“Youth sports is always going to be a primary focus for us,” Wisniewski said. “Parents will spend money on their kids to play the sports they enjoy, and most are willing to travel with their kids. We saw that during COVID when a lot of sports travel is what kept some these destinations, such as OKC, floating through a pandemic. It’s one of the first things we saw rebound.”

Wisniewski explained that if a youth tournament team has 15 kids on its roster, for example, then there is the potential to have 15 sets of parents traveling to the tournament destination to watch their child play. Potentially traveling with them will be siblings and perhaps other extended family members, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles.

“That means more people spending time in our city, spending money in our restaurants and at our attractions,” said Wisniewski, adding that the CVB is targeting various adult amateur sports to Oklahoma City as well.

With the recent openings of the Oklahoma City Convention Center and other recently completed MAPS projects, such as Scissortail Park and other MAPS projects still in the planning stages, including the coliseum at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds and the multi-purpose stadium, Oklahoma City has a number of venues that will help attract future “fringe” sports to the metro. Futsal is one of those sports.

Created decades ago as a variation of soccer, Futsal (pronounced FOOT-saul) is a five-on-five sport, including goalkeepers, played on an indoor basketball-sized court that is more fast paced than its more renowned and established cousin, but with more emphasis on player development and skill building and more scoring opportunities for participants. An estimated 12 million people in more than 100 countries participate in Futsal, which is officially recognized by the governing bodies of FIFA and UEFA.

Oklahoma City will be hosting the U.S. Youth Soccer’s first-ever Futsal National Championship February 25-27, 2022, at the new convention center where around 13 courts will be laid out in the large exhibit hall to handle the large number of games that will be played throughout the tournament’s duration, Wisniewski said.

Flag football is another non-traditional sport that has gained in popularity across the U.S. among youth and young adults alike. In fact, there have been several youth and adult flag football leagues popping up throughout the Oklahoma City metro in recent years.

“When you have these types of fringe sports, it allows more kids to play – and to play more often – and allows them to better hone their skills. Obviously, you can see the rise in health and safety concerns for certain sports, so when you transition to flag football or futsal, there is no contact,” said Wisniewski, adding touch rugby as another fringe sports kids and young adults can play and still feel safe doing it.

Wisniewski said when it comes to attracting various tournaments and sporting events to Oklahoma City, having facilities like the new convention center and the future multi-purpose stadium is an advantage over other destinations.

“The new convention center opens up possibilities we previously didn’t have. For example, a trend we are keeping our eye on is the martial arts landscape. Maybe now we have the ability to host some of these disciplines such as judo, taekwondo or karate. Those sports have massive national championships on the youth and amateur levels that at times need as much as 200,000 square feet, which we now have." Fencing is another example.

“Fencing might not be on the top of everyone’s mind, but they host some serious events that can really impact our economy. Now, we have the facilities to host them,” Wisniewski said.

The planned multi-purpose stadium as part of MAPS 4, will be another tool in the city’s tool belt to help lure more non-traditional sports and other events to the city. With a price tag of $37 million, the 8,000-seat stadium will not only be able to host a championship game from a major youth or amateur tournament but also other standalone events like rugby or lacrosse.

“We’re still waiting to see exactly what that looks like, but the opportunities are there for things we have never been able to do before,” Wisniewski said.