Key Takeaways
- Kalamazoo broke ground July 31 on a $49 million, 140,000-square-foot indoor youth sports facility funded entirely by a 4% lodging assessment.
- The complex will house eight basketball courts convertible to 16 volleyball or 24 pickleball courts, plus a 200-by-85-foot indoor turf field.
- Discover Kalamazoo projects 36,000 additional hotel room nights annually once the facility opens in fall 2027.
- Kalamazoo County hoteliers approved the funding assessment in 2025 with 82% support, requiring no new resident taxes.
Ground was broken Friday, July 31, 2026, on a $49 million indoor youth sports facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a 140,000-square-foot basketball and volleyball complex targeting a fall 2027 opening. The tournament-ready facility sits on a 20-acre parcel at 1247 Westgate Drive near the Oshtemo Township border and will be operated by The Sports Facilities Companies, per MLive.
Court Flexibility Built for Tournament Revenue
The facility’s design centers on convertibility. Eight full-sized basketball courts can be reconfigured into 16 volleyball courts or 24 pickleball courts, allowing operators to match court inventory to event demand. Plans also include a 200-by-85-foot indoor turf field, flex and team rooms, a lobby, a ticketing area and a cafe, according to MLive.
That configuration follows the standard tournament facility playbook: weekend event revenue from traveling teams, weekday utilization from local camps, leagues and clinics. Eric McCafferty, regional VP of strategic development for The Sports Facilities Companies, said weekend tournaments will bring thousands of families, coaches and players to the region while weekday programming serves local youth development.
How the Hotel Tax Funding Model Works
The project carries no new taxes or fees for residents. Instead, Kalamazoo County hoteliers voted in 2025 to approve a 4% incremental lodging assessment, which passed with 82% support, per MLive. The hotels effectively taxed themselves to fund a facility designed to fill their rooms.
The math behind that vote: Discover Kalamazoo President and CEO Jane Ghosh said the facility is projected to generate an estimated 36,000 additional hotel room nights per year, plus spending at local restaurants and businesses. Site selection reinforced the strategy. The Westgate Drive location, chosen from 30 candidates, sits within a 15-minute drive of 98% of hotel rooms in Kalamazoo County, Ghosh said, with access from both U.S. 131 and I-94.
Local Partners and Community Positioning
Portage-based construction firm AVB is building the facility in partnership with architectural firm Tower Pinkster and civil engineering firm Hurley and Stewart. The site sits in a natural features protection zoning area and will be accessed through a wooded drive, which AVB’s Curt Aardema said will give a “Pure Michigan feel” on entry.
Brian Persky, director of business development with Discover Kalamazoo, framed the groundbreaking as the product of years of coordination. “Projects like this do not happen overnight, and they certainly don’t happen because of one person or one organization,” Persky said at the event.
Corey Person, founder and director of United Persuit AAU Basketball, spoke to the access gap the facility addresses for local athletes, saying kids in the area have lacked the resources to pursue their goals and that the complex will bring thousands of them through its doors weekly.
Hoteliers Voted to Fund It, Now They Wait for the Room Nights
The Kalamazoo project is a clean test case for the self-funded tourism facility model: hoteliers approved their own assessment, the destination marketing organization led site selection around hotel proximity, and a national operator was contracted before ground broke. The 36,000-room-night projection is now the number to watch. Construction runs through 2027, with the facility’s first tournament season expected after the fall 2027 opening.
Source: MLive, Ryan Boldrey, July 31, 2026, https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2026/07/49m-indoor-youth-sports-facility-breaks-ground-in-kalamazoo-with-fall-2027-opening-targeted.html
photos: Discover Kalamazoo
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About Youth Sports Business Report
Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR) is the largest and most trusted media platform covering the business of youth sports worldwide. YSBR delivers youth sports news, market intelligence, and original analysis daily across facilities, sponsorships, private equity, NIL, sports technology, and league operations. With more than 50,000 followers, YSBR is the leading source of youth sports industry news for the investors, owners, operators, and brands shaping the future of youth sports.
How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
Who founded Youth Sports Business Report?
Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
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YSBR delivers original reporting and market intelligence on youth sports facilities, youth sports technology, sponsorship and brand partnerships, private equity and venture capital deals, NIL policy, coaching development, equipment and apparel, tournaments and events, and community sports initiatives. Readers include industry executives, investors, facility owners and operators, league administrators, and youth sports parents.
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Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
