32 SportsTurf | February 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com
Among baseball enthusiasts it is no secret that Myrtle Beach
is home to The Ripken Experience, a top-notch baseball facil-
ity with numerous synthetic fields. For years The Ripken Ex-
perience has attracted a large number of tourists in the travel
baseball market and the facility continues to expand and im-
prove. Another large scale investment has been undertaken by
the city of Myrtle Beach. In recent years the city has added an
impressive array of both natural and synthetic fields, high-
lighted by the outstanding baseball and multi-use facility at
the Market Common, a high-end shopping and dining venue
development. But perhaps the most aggressive expansion into
GRAND STRAND EXPANDS
SPORTS TOURISM MARKET
Facility & Operations | By Ashley Wilkinson
F
or years vacationers have flocked to the Myr-
tle Beach area for family fun on the beach
and on the golf course. Now, the Grand
Strand has found a new market to attract
visitors: sports tourism. While the Myrtle Beach area
has seen the golf market level off, the sports tourism
market has grown and city managers and business
developers up and down the coast have taken notice.
A marked expansion of athletic complexes along the
60+ miles of the Grand Strand has taken place over
the past several years.
North Myrtle Beach Park and Sport Complex. Photo courtesy of Ashley Wilkinson.
In April 2014, the city of North Myrtle Beach will open a new 162-acre sports field park to attract
an even larger segment of the sports tourism market. The North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex will
include eight regulation size soccer fields that have been constructed for multiple field configurations. Four
softball fields and two baseball fields are included in the site which is all planted in Tifway 419 bermudagrass.
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