Ripken Baseball, the leader in youth sports events, announced it has been named 2022 Champions of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism by Sports Destination Management. The Ripken Experience Aberdeen and the Ripken Select Tournament at Publix Sports Park in Panama City Beach, Fla., received the honor from the leading publication in sports tourism.
The Ripken Experience® Aberdeen is where it all started for Ripken Baseball nearly 20 years ago. Following the addition of two new state-of-the-art MLB replica fields in April, the 2022 baseball season in Aberdeen was the biggest in the complex’s history. Ripken Baseball brought over $47 million in economic impact to Maryland’s Harford County during their 2022 season. In partnership with Visit Harford, The Ripken Experience® Aberdeen provided a Big-League experience for over 20,000 participants and welcomed more than 90,000 visitors through 38 tournaments.
As part of its continuous growth in youth sports, Ripken Baseball took its Ripken Select Tournaments to Panama City Beach, Fla., from June 5-10, 2022. In partnership with Visit Panama City Beach, Ripken Baseball provided a Big-League experience at the Publix Sports Park for 50 teams and more than 700 participants. The one-week economic impact totaled over $2.7 million. Based on the popularity of the first-time event, the tournament will return to Panama City Beach in June 2023.
“This recognition is a credit to our incredible staff and local partners in Aberdeen and Panama City Beach,” said Mike Kenney, Executive Vice President of Ripken Baseball. “From our Ripken Select Tournaments to our Ripken Experiences nationwide, the 2022 season was record-breaking across all our properties. We are looking forward to building on this success in 2023.”
Sports Destination Management recognized award winners in a special feature published in the November/December 2022 issue. The entire article with full details on the winners can be found HERE.
About Ripken Baseball
Ripken Baseball brings teammates, coaches, and families together through its Big-League Experiences, while teaching the values of the game, and how to play it the right way – the Ripken Way. Recently expanding the best experience in youth sports to satellite locations through Ripken Select Tournaments, Ripken Baseball continues to innovate the game through tournaments, camps, clinics, and spring training at their state-of-the-art baseball and softball facilities – The Ripken Experience® Aberdeen (Maryland), The Ripken Experience® Myrtle Beach (South Carolina), The Ripken Experience® Pigeon Forge (Tennessee), and The Ripken Experience® Elizabethtown (Kentucky).
About Sports Destination Management
Sports Destination Management is written for the largest audience of sports event managers and tournament directors in the sports tourism market and maintains a focus on the important issues surrounding event location decisions and event management. With content from experts and thought leaders, SDM provides in-depth coverage of sports event planning and execution through incisive and relevant articles as well as insightful, real-world case studies showcasing best practices and successful event production. In addition to the publication, SDM offers extensive digital resources through www.sportsdestinations.com and the e-newsletter SDM Blitz, both providing decision support tools for organizers to ensure successful events at all levels of play.
About Due North Media
A market leader for more than two decades, Due North Media, a division of Due North Consulting, Inc., is a niche business-to-business publisher providing media services to executives within specialized vertical markets impacting economic development including corporate site selection, business development, market-to-market events and sports tourism via publications, digital media, qualified list marketing and custom publishing. Founded in 2001, Due North Consulting, Inc. has helped niche marketers obtain their goals for a decade and a half. The principals of the company have over 40 years of business-to-business advertising and marketing experience. It has been their mission to serve readers, clients and employees with integrity, humility and a continuing quest for the achievement of excellence.
