Spartan Stadium Series Sprint, Midwest Paintball Championship and other Sports Events Projected to Bring over 20,000 Participants to Southland

Lansing, Ill. – Every year we see more families building vacations around sporting events. Whether it’s a dragon boat festival, an all-star baseball weekend or a cornhole tournament, sports of all types are driving decisions for travel. Sports travel produces over 20 million visitors annually who spend more than $10.47 billion according to National Association of Sports Commissions. The Visit Chicago Southland is continuing to increase the amount of new sports business coming to the region through aggressive sales and marketing campaigns.

The Visit Chicago Southland will host many sporting events throughout the region this upcoming season. The Village of Bridgeview welcomes Spartan Race, Inc. who will be holding their first Chicago area Spartan Stadium Series Sprint at Toyota Park. Scheduled race day is Saturday, October 20, 2018, with two “waves” of activity being one in the morning and one in the afternoon. No matter if you’re an elite athlete looking for explosive competition, or a first-time racer looking to break into the world of Spartan racing, the Spartan Stadium Series is a unique opportunity to run in some of the most iconic sports stadiums in the world. This is Spartan Race’s first time hosting an event in a soccer stadium having previously raced in stadiums like Fenway Park in Boston, Ma; Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI; Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, CA just to name a few. Boasting more than 200 events in over 30 countries this is a major event for the Chicago Southland. Their fueling theme is “run where the pros play,” and their goal is to fill Toyota Park with the estimated-average 8,700 racers.

Spartan’s Stadium Sprints can be best described as a combination of a CrossFit Endurance workout, stair climbing session, and indoor track race. Running is fast and furious, consisting of narrow hallways, sharp turns, and plyometric-oriented obstacles. Spartans compete for a prize pool of over $20,000, including $3,000 to the overall series winner.

In addition to the Spartan Stadium Series Sprint, the Visit Chicago Southland has listed a sampling of sporting events this spring to fall season. Collectively these events will attract over 20,000 participants generating over 2,250 hotel rooms for the Southland region. Participants will not only be staying in our hotels but will also be shopping in the area, eating in nearby restaurants and visiting regional attractions.

• April 19–22  •  United States Hockey League/USHL Phase II Combine
  Arctic Ice Arena, Orland Park
• April 26–29  •  USHL Phase I Combine
  Arctic Ice Arena, Orland Park
• May 10–13  •  USHL Player Evaluation Camp 
  Arctic Ice Arena, Orland Park
• July 24–27  •  USHL Phase III Combine
  Arctic Ice Arena, Orland Park
  ushl.com/combine
  3,300 estimated participants expected

• May 4–5  •  Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, 80^th Avenue Train Station, Tinley Park
  firefighterchallenge.com
  1,000 estimated participants expected

• May 25–26  •  American Cornhole Organization (ACO) Midwest Major,
  Southland Center, Lynwood
  americancornhole.com/aco-in-the-media
  300 estimated participants expected

• June 2  •  3rd Annual Chicago Southland Dragon Boat Festival, MWRD SEPA Station & Waterfall Park along the Cal-Sag, Blue Island
  chicagodragonboats.com/#register
  700 estimated participants expected

• July 14–15  •  39^th Annual World Wiffle Ball Championship, Memorial Park Fields, Midlothian
  worldwiffleball.org/2018news
  500 estimated participants expected

• July 20–22  •  United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Illinois & Wisconsin Baseball All-Star Weekend, Oak Lawn Pavilion & Centennial Park, Oak Lawn
  usssaillinoisbaseball.com
  1,000 estimated participants expected

• July 28–29  •  US Lacrosse Teams Development Program, Gaelic Park, Oak Forest
  teamusa.uslacrosse.org/news/sites-selected-for-us-national-team-player-performance-camps
  500 estimated participants expected

• September 14–16  •  2018 National X-Ball League (NXL) Midwest Paint Ball Championship,
  Gaelic Park, Oak Forest
  nxlpaintball.com
  3,000 estimated participants expected

• October 20  •  Spartan Stadium Series Sprint at Toyota Park, Bridgeview  
  spartan.com/en/race/detail/4093/overview?filter=stadium.
  10,000 estimated participants expected

“Sports planners love the Chicago Southland location due to our variety of sports venues available, reasonable prices, interstate accessibility, proximity to downtown Chicago, exciting extracurricular activities and a wide variety of support services we offer,” stated Joel Koester, Sports Market Manager for the Visit Chicago Southland. “We are excited about the nice variety of sporting events coming to the area.”

The Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official destination management and marketing organization for Chicago’s 60 south and southwest suburbs. The Visit Chicago Southland markets the Chicago Southland region as a destination for leisure, meetings and conventions, group tour and sports events.
For more information, go to VisitChicagoSouthland.com

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Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau

Loren Petrakis-Mueller - Communications Manager

2304 173^rd Street   Lansing, IL 60438

Phone: 708-895-8200 Fax: 708-895-8288 Toll-free: 888-895-8233

[email protected]     VisitChicagoSouthland.com

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