JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city on Wednesday announced the creation of the Jacksonville Sports Foundation with the goal of reinforcing the area’s commitment to boost sports tourism and bolster the appeal of the region.
The new foundation will work to attract sporting events of all types and sizes to Jacksonville, including collegiate athletic tournaments, surfing competitions, outdoor endurance races and large-scale international games.
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The foundation also aims to increase sports-related efforts in Jacksonville, like the headquarters of one of the fastest growing conferences in college athletics, the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) moving to Jacksonville from Atlanta.
Previous efforts to bring in big-time sporting events have been made, but the Jacksonville Sports Foundation will be focused on consistently working together as a community to bring events to Jacksonville year-round. The foundation will work to bring everything from archery to Zumba to Jacksonville, working in partnership with Visit Jacksonville and entities across the city. So far this year, bids have been made to host the AAU Track & Field Primary Nationals & Club Championships, 14 NCAA Division I and Division II tournaments, USA Gymnastics competitions and various collegiate conference championships.
“The vision for the Jacksonville Sports Foundation is to not only leverage sports tourism to enhance the economic prosperity of Jacksonville, but to expand the appeal of the area,” said Michael Corrigan, President and CEO of Visit Jacksonville. “By doing that we not only attract competitive sports events, but also sports-related entities like the Atlantic Sun Conference, to further the $178 million estimated economic impact that sports had in Jacksonville in 2023 alone.”