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Amateur sports activities an economic boost to state, committee hears

Todd Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, provides the House State Government Finance Committee with a commission overview Feb. 1. Photo by Paul Battaglia
Todd Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, provides the House State Government Finance Committee with a commission overview Feb. 1. Photo by Paul Battaglia

A record-setting two-year stretch has left the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission wanting more.

The National Sports Center in Blaine is home to the second-largest international youth soccer tournament in the world, attracting 4.3 million visitors from 20 different countries between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2015. The Schwan’s USA CUP, held at the facility, is a massive economic driver with out-of-state visitors spending an estimated $46.3 million, a $16.1 million uptick from the previously reported $30.2 million in the previous two fiscal years.

Along with the National Sports Center, 5.2 million people attended events at various other commission facilities in the past two years. Overall, out-of-state visitors spent an estimated $76.6 million on amateur sports in Minnesota, Executive Director Todd Johnson told the House State Government Finance Committee Wednesday.

Schwan's USA Cup logo

“We’re hoping to set another record next year,” Johnson said.

The commission costs taxpayers $300,000 annually for its three full-time staffers and some operating expenses.

For the 2018-19 biennium, the commission would like to hire an additional administrative employee at $85,000 annually and extend the James Metzen Mighty Ducks Grant Program past its June 30, 2017, sunset date.

The 2016 Legislature allocated $10 million to the Mighty Ducks program to improve indoor air quality in ice arenas, including aid to phase out R22 refrigerants by 2020 – meeting the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s mandate. Applicants have only spent $2.8 million so far on 31 projects, leaving $7.1 million for future projects.

Gov. Mark Dayton’s budget proposal recommends carrying that money into the upcoming biennium.

Johnson said another goal is opening the 10- and 11-year-old soccer tournament to Cubans, since the federal government in 2015 eased travel restrictions to the country.

But Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein (DFL-New Brighton) asked how Trump Administration policies restricting immigrants from specific countries would affect tournament participation.

“We’re not sure,” Johnson said. “We’re gauging that.”


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