PEORIA MAGAZINE June 2022

Inside the dome, there’s also a full-service restaurant – the Suite Fire Bar & Grille – in addition to the Slugger Café and a merchandise store where, among other things, you can purchase a Louisville Slugger bat with personalized engraving done on site. Three outdoor-field pods are equipped with their own merchandise shops, concession stands, outdoor kitchens and grilling stations. Each field is artificial turf and includes protected bullpens, dedicated warmup areas, LED scoreboards and shaded bleacher areas. Cameras on each field livestream the action to family and friends at home. “Plus,” Bolen said, “we have the cleanest restrooms in town. We want to keep mom happy. If mom isn’t happy, nobody’s happy.” Every day, local athletes and teams use the facilities, sometimes topping 5,000 people in a given week. Bradley University softball plays its home games there. BU soccer, baseball, cross country and track use the dome for workouts during inclement weather. High schools, club teams and organizations such as the Peoria Christian Center are regulars. The complex also offers its facilities for rent to non-sports events. The Tailgate N’ Tallboys music festival in June 2021 drew some 10,000 spectators. Gaa doesn’t rule out future music

festivals but emphasized the Tallboys event filled a hole in the schedule created by the COVID-19 cancellation of the IHSA state softball tournament. Besides, the bread

“priceless,” Bolen said. But he also credits nearby hotels, restaurants, shopping and the I-474/Route 6 interchange with U.S. 150 less than a mile away.

and butter of the Louisv i l le Slugger complex is spor ts tour ism. Gaa said the complex doesn’t track total visits, but

“WE EVEN HAD A YOUTH BASEBALL GROUP FROM SWEDEN” ... THE LOUISVILLE SLUGGER BRAND IS “PRICELESS”

based on industry averages, upwards of 500,000 people visit the facility annually. The complex is booked 45 weekends in a normal year. During summer months, some “weekend event s” – espec i a l l y nat iona l tournaments – are more likely to last five or six days. Those are particularly lucrative. The Great Lakes Nationals softball tournament last July directly infused more than $1.2 million into the local economy, according to the Convention & Visitors Bureau. Most teams come from surrounding states, but Gaa and Bolen said it is increasingly common to get teams from outside the Midwest, sometimes from as far away as the three coasts. “We even had a youth baseball group fromSweden,” Gaa said. “They found us on the internet because of the Louisville Slugger name. They flew to Chicago, drove down here and spent four days just to practice and schedule a few practice games.” That Louisville Slugger brand is

“Many of our competitors in other markets are in the middle of nowhere,” Bolen said. Gaa declined to discuss plans for expansion. But he acknowledges that remaining viable requires staying ahead of the pack in terms of amenities. The Louisville Slugger ballfields are sized to accommodate all levels of softball but are too small for baseball by teenagers and older. The market for older age categories is ripe. The complex has land on which to expand. And if 500,000 people a year are visiting the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria now…well, don’t think the idea of a million someday hasn’t been considered.

Kirk Wessler is a former newspaper sports editor and regular contributor to Peoria Magazine

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