Delaware
Delaware Tourism Office Announces Latest Round of Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund Awardees – State of Delaware News
DOVER, Del. – Today, the Delaware Tourism Office announced Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund awards to five Delaware sports facilities. Established through the Fiscal Year 2024 Bond and Capital Improvements Act, the fund provides financial support to new or existing sports facilities that hold events throughout the year to attract out-of-state visitors and contribute to the state and local economy.
The Delaware Tourism Office accepted applications for the fund from Aug. 1 through Sept. 13, 2024. The office received 17 applications requesting more than $47 million. Available funds totaled $10 million.
Applications were reviewed by a panel, including the co-chairs of the Joint Capital Improvement Committee, Sen. Jack Walsh and Rep. Debra Heffernan, and representatives of the Delaware Tourism Office, the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau, Kent County Tourism, and Southern Delaware Tourism. The panel met on Oct. 24 to begin reviewing the applications and finalized their funding decisions at a meeting on Dec. 12 in Dover.
“Once again, this was a very competitive application process. The panel worked diligently to consider the merits of each facility that applied,” said Sen. Walsh. “The facilities receiving funding play an integral role in encouraging out-of-state visitation and positively impacting our economy. We will continue to encourage visitation through the fund, ensuring that sporting event operators think of Delaware when looking for states to host their tournaments and other competitions in.”
“The fund supports our facilities, encouraging them to expand and attract top sporting events throughout the year as the sports tourism industry grows in our state,” said Rep. Heffernan. “By providing financial support to these facilities, we can make certain that large sports events will continue to attract visitors who will spend money at local businesses, boost our economy and promote Delaware as an ideal destination.”
The facilities receiving funding through the Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund are:
- Factory Sports ($577,000), to construct two additional basketball courts, two volleyball courts, and six pickleball courts in order to host larger and more frequent tournaments at their facility in Frankford.
- Hudson Fields ($1,123,000), to take initial steps to modernize the facility in Milton by upgrading nine outdoor playing fields, installing two turf soccer fields, and improving seven existing grass fields to tournament standards.
- Bethany Tennis Club ($3,800,000), to build a new structure with multiple interior courts and social gathering spaces to attract year-round events for tennis, pickleball, and padel sports at their Ocean View facility.
- Dover Motor Speedway ($500,000), to implement upgrades to the facility allowing it to continue hosting large-scale events with new paving, elevator upgrades, Infield Media Center refurbishments, and an improved audio system.
- Kirkwood Sports Complex ($4,000,000), to make enhancements to the New Castle facility by upgrading parking infrastructure and expanding parking with 300 additional spots, installing artificial turf on five sports fields, and lighting five turf fields.
On Nov. 15, the Delaware Tourism Office released a sports tourism economic impact study completed by Tourism Economics. The study showed that the sports tourism sector’s direct spending impact in Delaware was $257.9 million in 2023. Those sales supported more than 3,000 part-time and full-time jobs and generated $20.2 million in state and local taxes.
“The recent economic impact study confirmed that sports tourism is a significant economic driver in our state, attracting millions of visitors to Delaware each year and generating millions of dollars in revenue,” said Jessica Welch, director of the Delaware Tourism Office. “We are pleased to be able to support nine different facilities, through the first and second rounds of the capital investment fund, in their expansion efforts and ensure that Delaware offers top-notch sports facilities to event operators and visitors.”
The Delaware Tourism Office, a division of the Delaware Division of Small Business, promotes tourism and economic growth in Delaware. For more information, visit the official Delaware Tourism website at www.visitdelaware.com or call toll-free at 866-284-7483.
###
Media Contact:
Allyson Ennis
Allyson.Ennis@Delaware.gov
Related Topics: Delaware Tourism Office, Sports Tourism, Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund, tourism
Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.
Here you can subscribe to future news updates.
DOVER, Del. – Today, the Delaware Tourism Office announced Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund awards to five Delaware sports facilities. Established through the Fiscal Year 2024 Bond and Capital Improvements Act, the fund provides financial support to new or existing sports facilities that hold events throughout the year to attract out-of-state visitors and contribute to the state and local economy.
The Delaware Tourism Office accepted applications for the fund from Aug. 1 through Sept. 13, 2024. The office received 17 applications requesting more than $47 million. Available funds totaled $10 million.
Applications were reviewed by a panel, including the co-chairs of the Joint Capital Improvement Committee, Sen. Jack Walsh and Rep. Debra Heffernan, and representatives of the Delaware Tourism Office, the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau, Kent County Tourism, and Southern Delaware Tourism. The panel met on Oct. 24 to begin reviewing the applications and finalized their funding decisions at a meeting on Dec. 12 in Dover.
“Once again, this was a very competitive application process. The panel worked diligently to consider the merits of each facility that applied,” said Sen. Walsh. “The facilities receiving funding play an integral role in encouraging out-of-state visitation and positively impacting our economy. We will continue to encourage visitation through the fund, ensuring that sporting event operators think of Delaware when looking for states to host their tournaments and other competitions in.”
“The fund supports our facilities, encouraging them to expand and attract top sporting events throughout the year as the sports tourism industry grows in our state,” said Rep. Heffernan. “By providing financial support to these facilities, we can make certain that large sports events will continue to attract visitors who will spend money at local businesses, boost our economy and promote Delaware as an ideal destination.”
The facilities receiving funding through the Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund are:
- Factory Sports ($577,000), to construct two additional basketball courts, two volleyball courts, and six pickleball courts in order to host larger and more frequent tournaments at their facility in Frankford.
- Hudson Fields ($1,123,000), to take initial steps to modernize the facility in Milton by upgrading nine outdoor playing fields, installing two turf soccer fields, and improving seven existing grass fields to tournament standards.
- Bethany Tennis Club ($3,800,000), to build a new structure with multiple interior courts and social gathering spaces to attract year-round events for tennis, pickleball, and padel sports at their Ocean View facility.
- Dover Motor Speedway ($500,000), to implement upgrades to the facility allowing it to continue hosting large-scale events with new paving, elevator upgrades, Infield Media Center refurbishments, and an improved audio system.
- Kirkwood Sports Complex ($4,000,000), to make enhancements to the New Castle facility by upgrading parking infrastructure and expanding parking with 300 additional spots, installing artificial turf on five sports fields, and lighting five turf fields.
On Nov. 15, the Delaware Tourism Office released a sports tourism economic impact study completed by Tourism Economics. The study showed that the sports tourism sector’s direct spending impact in Delaware was $257.9 million in 2023. Those sales supported more than 3,000 part-time and full-time jobs and generated $20.2 million in state and local taxes.
“The recent economic impact study confirmed that sports tourism is a significant economic driver in our state, attracting millions of visitors to Delaware each year and generating millions of dollars in revenue,” said Jessica Welch, director of the Delaware Tourism Office. “We are pleased to be able to support nine different facilities, through the first and second rounds of the capital investment fund, in their expansion efforts and ensure that Delaware offers top-notch sports facilities to event operators and visitors.”
The Delaware Tourism Office, a division of the Delaware Division of Small Business, promotes tourism and economic growth in Delaware. For more information, visit the official Delaware Tourism website at www.visitdelaware.com or call toll-free at 866-284-7483.
###
Media Contact:
Allyson Ennis
Allyson.Ennis@Delaware.gov
Related Topics: Delaware Tourism Office, Sports Tourism, Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund, tourism
Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.
Here you can subscribe to future news updates.
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Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
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