Photo credit: Huntsville Sports Commission

The Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) has released the figures for sports tourism in Huntsville in 2024.

The CVB reports that 68 sporting events held in Huntsville over the past year resulted in a record-breaking $50 million in economic impact.

“We have come a long way over the last few years, and 2024 showed what sports can do in Huntsville,” said Joel Lamp, sports development manager for the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Of the events held, 21 sporting events produced at least $1 million in economic impact each. Those events, alongside over 40 additional sporting events, resulted in an impressive $51,303,193 in economic impact for the city of Huntsville.

The highest producing events were the Conference USA men’s and women’s basketball championships, hosted in Huntsville for the first time, which brought in $3.2 million.

Mark Russell, executive director of the Huntsville Sports Commission, weighed in on the final figures.

“This was an exciting year for sports in Huntsville and the impact it had on the community,” said Russell. “We were fortunate to host a number of memorable events that elevated Huntsville’s profile, while bringing in significant dollars to our hospitality community and [we] look forward to more growth in the coming year.”

Throughout 2024, sports tourism contributed over 76,000 hotel room nights and brought in more than $3.8 million in taxes.

Highlights of Huntsville’s big year for sports tourism include:

Hosting the USA Table Tennis National Championships – the first time a national governing body hosted its national championship in Huntsville. For their efforts in making this event a success, HSC and the CVB were each recognized as Champions of Economic Impact by Sports Destination Management magazine.
Hosting the Conference USA men’s & women’s basketball championships, as well as welcoming Alabama back for the Rocket City Classic with four games televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
Bringing the NJCAA Division II men’s & women’s soccer championships to the Spencer Sports Complex and Joe Davis Stadium, generating more than 2,000 room nights over the course of the week.
Highlighting the continued growth at Ditto Landing with the Major League Fishing Toyota Series Championship.
Running the NCAA Division II Cross Country South Regional for the first time – continuing Huntsville’s streak to four straight years with an NCAA postseason cross country race. A streak that will continue at a minimum through 2027 as Huntsville was selected to host the NCAA Division II regionals in 2026, Division I regionals in 2027, and Division II national championship in 2027.
A record-setting Rocket City Marathon that sold out with 4,000 participants.
Creating the Rocket City Spring Shootout that brought Alabama and Tennessee women’s soccer to town for a spring game.
Hosting the annual meeting of the Association of Chief Executives for Sport, bringing numerous C-suite leaders from across the sports industry to the city.