LAKEWOOD RANCH -- The Premier Sports Campus has already attracted 12 major sports events in 2012, and the men’s and women’s U.S. Olympic soccer teams will train at the campus this winter.
Each major event next year is forecast to have 175 teams, with the overwhelming majority coming from other states and other countries. Each of those teams will have 18 players who will bring along an average of three family members apiece.
The total annual economic impact on the Manatee-Sarasota community is already estimated at $62 million, says Tim Mulqueen, director of sports at Lakewood Ranch.
“We have the potential to grow this into a bigger monster than it already is,” Mulqueen said.
Mulqueen and Rex Jensen, president and CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, briefed members of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance on Wednesday about the 7-month-old campus -- the biggest change at the Ranch in the past year.
Premier Sports Campus, the 75-acre facility located near the northeast corner of State Road 70 and Lorraine Road, can host football, soccer, rugby, Ultimate, lacrosse and cross country.
While the campus is at Lakewood Ranch, hotels, shops and restaurants all the way to Anna Maria Island will benefit from the economic stimulus, Mulqueen said.
In fact, officials at Premier Sports Campus want to make sure players visit the Anna Maria beaches, knowing that will enhance their experience and make them want to return.
SMR spent $1.1 million on field lighting to allow games to be played into the night. Those lights are set to be turned on for the first time Monday.
The fields have been “laser-leveled” and have underground irrigation, which removes the need for sprinkler heads -- a potential cause of player injuries.
The U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team is expected to train at the campus in December. The U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team is expected to train there in January.
Thousands of young players and their families have visited Premier Sports Campus since it opened in April.
Having the best American players train at Lakewood Ranch is validation that those facilities are among the best in the country, Mulqueen said.
The campus will get international exposure with Nike International Friendlies’ youth soccer matches from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4. Non-conference play featuring the U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team, Brazil, France and Turkey is planned.
The Fox Soccer Channel will telecast some of the games.
Jensen said planning for Premier Sports Campus was an evolutionary process over about three years.
Planning began during the worst of the national economic downturn, part of the process of applying a “long-term progressive vision” for the community, he said.
Now Lakewood Ranch, a 50-square-mile community and working ranch, has begun to turn the corner, Jensen said.
This year, there have been 261 resales of homes and 301 new homes have been sold.
Other highlights have been the success of Pat Neal’s Central Park community, the launch of a dental college at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Taylor Morrison’s Esplanade community on 207 acres north of State Road 70. And Lost Creek Resort Apartments near Lakewood Ranch High School is expected to open in early 2012.
James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee editor, can be contacted at 941-745-7021.
