Youth Sports Are Becoming Real Estate’s New Placemaking Engine

Youth sports used to mean a couple of fields at the edge of town and a full Waffle House on tournament weekends. Now, in markets across the country, kids’ tournaments are acting more like mini Super Bowls, pulling in hotel flags, restaurants, apartments, and even corporate campuses. For developers, youth sports are no longer just a programming line item. They are becoming the anchor for full-scale placemaking.

The money behind that shift is real. The U.S. sports facilities market is valued at about $36 billion today and is forecast to reach more than $260 billion by 2034, implying annual growth north of 20 percent. On the travel side, spectator sports tourism alone generated $47.1 billion in direct spending in 2024 and a total economic impact of $114.4 billion, with more than 109 million non-local attendees traveling at least 50 miles to attend events.That does not even count the youth and amateur side of the industry, which earlier work from Sports ETA pegged at more than $50 billion in direct spending.

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RSK: No doubt this is a draw. Wisconsin Dells has several of these attractions. However, in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, indoor facilities reign supreme.