Rita McClenny, president and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation, told the Economic Development and Natural Resources Subcommittee of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on 2025-10-12 that Senate Bill 927 would create a $5,000,000 Virginia Sports Tourism Incentive Grant Fund to help the Commonwealth compete to attract multi-day sports events.

McClenny said the bill “establishes the Virginia sports tourism incentive grant fund to enhance Virginia’s competitiveness in attracting premier sports tourism activities across the Commonwealth.” She told the panel the fund would build on a $1,000,000 ARPA pilot and is projected to generate about $184,000,000 to $180,000,000 in visitor spending and roughly $3,300,000 in net state tax revenue, depending on event mix and award sizes.

The bill would make destination marketing organizations, sports venues, sports commissions and similar entities eligible to apply; awards would be competitively bid and targeted at multi-day events with a majority of athletes or participants coming from out of state, McClenny said. The VTC plans to verify direct impacts using its standard modeling, including attendee counts and room nights.

Why it matters: McClenny framed the fund as a tool to help localities and private venue investors win events that otherwise would go to competing states. She said sports tourism accounts for about 8% of all visitor spending in Virginia, and that the state ranks in the top 10 nationally for sports-related tourism despite lacking a professional franchise.

Committee members pressed for safeguards and clarity. A senator who identified himself as Senator Searle asked how the program would ensure grants produce incremental new events rather than subsidizing tournaments that already would have occurred in Virginia; McClenny replied the awards would be competitively bid and require a demonstration that the event holder was considering moving the event out of state as part of a competitive bid.

Members also discussed specific events and recent VTC activity. McClenny reviewed the September 2024 Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, saying the tournament drew visitors from all 50 states and 15 countries, produced 20.4 to $21.1 million in visitor spending in Virginia, and increased overnight stays by roughly 30–50% in impacted localities. She said tournament operations spent about $4.5 million with Virginia vendors and that 73% of attendees were from out of state.

McClenny credited digital marketing work for driving a 160% growth in online ticket sales for the 50th anniversary programming at the Carter Family Fold, which VTC supported with an $800,000 partnership and targeted advertising to nearby markets. She also described a proposed Major League Baseball “Speedway Classic” exhibition game tied to Bristol Motor Speedway that VTC expects will generate sizeable hotel demand in Virginia despite the speedway itself sitting on the Tennessee side of the state line; VTC is budgeting $500,000 for that initiative and projects the spending will more than offset the grant.

The presentation made clear VTC intends the sports tourism fund to be awarded over multiple years and dispersed to a range of event sizes; McClenny said the agency would not spend the entire $5 million in a single year and expects a two-year disbursement pattern. No formal vote or committee action on SB 927 occurred during the briefing.

McClenny concluded by outlining VTC marketing and partnership programs — including co-op advertising, international partnerships and tourism improvement districts — and said the agency will continue to share data with local partners to track performance.

No formal committee motion or vote took place on SB 927 during the session; members asked follow-up questions and the hearing moved on to other agenda items.