Amateur Sports Have Local Economic Impact

It's not just the professional sports teams that bring dollars into town, said Meredith Scerba, vice president of events management for the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

Speaking to the Mayfield Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday at the , Scerba said the commission has presented more than 100 events in the past 11 years that brought $300 million of economic impact to the area.

"Our job out there every day is getting out there and promoting our city," she said. "Our mission is to bring economic impact to the city of Cleveland through amateur athletic events."

That includes bidding to host events, as well as creating their own, such as the Continental Cup, an international youth soccer tournament and sports festival that brings in 4,000 athletes ages 10 to 19 from 22 countries.

Scerba said she's often asked why Cleveland, which held the NCAA Women's Final Four in 2007, doesn't host the Men's Final Four or the Super Bowl.

"We don't have the venue," she said. "Until they close over Cleveland Browns Stadium, we're not going to be going after the Mens' Final Four."

However, Cleveland has held the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and she's working on a big event for 2013 – the Summer National Senior Games, which will have athletes ages 50 and older competing in 19 sports.

"We're going to have 14,000 athletes here for 16 days," she said. Scerba said $4.8 million needs to be raised for the event, scheduled for July 21 to Aug. 5, 2013.

The nonprofit commission is funded by sponsorships and grants and is recognized as one of the top sports commissions in the nation, Scerba said.

"There is a National Association of Sports Commissions and we've been honored three times as Sports Commission of the Year," she said. "We're considered to be in the top three in the country. We're pretty proud of that status."