#2 Greensboro, N.C.
▶ RÉSUMÉ: College sports, specifically the Atlantic Coast Conference, provided the bread and butter of Greensboro’s sports tourism business for decades, but that’s changing with the ACC headquarters’ move from Greensboro to Charlotte. While college sports are still a big focus for the city’s Greensboro Sports Foundation — 15 ACC conference championships will be held in the city in the next five years — Greensboro’s city council last year stated that making the city the Southeast United States’ capital for youth and amateur sports was a top priority.
Greensboro Sports Foundation President and CEO Richard Beard said USA Swimming rates the Greensboro Aquatic Center as one of the top four pools in the country and the venue hosted USA Swimming’s Toyota U.S. Open in 2021 and 2022. Beard said more than 50 large swim events are held annually at the Aquatic Center; it’s normal for an event to include 1,200 to 1,800 swimmers.
Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center gives the city a flexible and large space that’s hosted all kinds of indoor events, including the 2018 USA Gymnastics Championships. And of course, the Greensboro Coliseum, which has hosted the past 23 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournaments and regularly gets early rounds of the NCAA men’s tournament, remains a key cog, but not just for hoops. The World Ninja League, which stages obstacle course competitions, is returning this summer; its last stop at the Coliseum brought 4,800 participants from 30 states and seven countries. Only 264 of those competitors were from North Carolina.
▶ DEVELOPMENT: Greensboro Coliseum Complex (first opened in 1959 and encompasses eight venues, including the versatile Special Events Center and the $19 million, 13-year-old Greensboro Aquatic Center); First National Bank Stadium; Truist Stadium (N.C. A&T football); and Bryan Park Soccer Complex.
▶ FUNDING FOR THE SPORTS COMMISSION: GSF has a services agreement for event hosting with Greensboro Coliseum and is funded by the Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with other community sources.
▶ STAY AND PLAY: Check out the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in the same building as the former Woolworth’s where the Greensboro Four staged sit-ins that were pivotal in the Civil Rights Movement in 1960.