This Texas Gulf Coast community is upping its game with a dedicated team to drive more sports business
In the fiercely contested arena of hosting sports events, Texas stands tall. Cities compete to showcase their distinctive facilities, hospitality and a genuine passion for athletics. While major metropolises like Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin have long been the flagbearers, a new gem is steadily carving its niche in the Lone Star State’s sports tourism landscape – Corpus Christi.
Situated on the sun-kissed Texas coastline, this city is assertively stepping up its game, emerging as a contender in the race to become a premier sports destination. Corpus Christi is strategically positioning itself to be not just a tranquil beach retreat but a hub for major sporting events.
For Texas native Joey Jewell, executive director of the newly formed Corpus Christi Sports Commission, this is a homecoming, albeit in a different quadrant of the Lone Star State. The University of Texas and University of Georgia graduate interned at the Harris County Houston Sports Authority before heading west to lead sports sales for Track Town USA, Eugene, Oregon. In the summer of 2022 when Jewell got the call about the new opportunity, he was ready for the challenge.
“I was excited to be coming back home to Texas,” said Jewell. “I came down here and thought the opportunity was through the roof. It’s one of these destinations where you’re like ‘if they build it, people will come.’ I keep getting blown away because so many times people were like, where’s Corpus Christi? And if you’re outside of Texas, you probably haven’t heard about us.”
Jewell spent his first month on the job getting acclimated with the current facility landscape. “I was trying to research everything I could.” Prior to Jewell’s arrival, the bureau engaged Jon Schmieder and the Huddle Up Group to analyze and provide recommendations for future facility development. Armed with the Huddle Up report and a strong background in sports development from his previous stints at two sports commissions and on the front lines of event planning, Jewell and the bureau started putting a plan together.
Building a Team
Having assessed the local sports landscape, the organization set out to build a team to capture more sports business. Texas native Bre Martinez joined the team in September 2022. With a background that includes an internship with Visit Austin and Round Rock CVB, she came back to Texas after doing ticket sales with the Washington Commanders.
“She was looking to come back home and this was a great opportunity for the both of us,” Jewell said. “We’ve got some amazing opportunities that are out for bid right now that we’re really hopeful for – she’s a big reason for a lot of it.”
Emily Rees heads up event services. With a master’s degree from Texas Tech in sports management, she did a lot of events growing up. Rees was inspired after someone from the Dallas Sports Commission spoke to one of her classes and as Jewell explains, “She just started calling every sports commission in the DFW area. She was interviewing with us and I was looking at her resume and started seeing Josh Dill (Frisco CVB) and Matt Wilson from Arlington on there and I was just like ‘how does this woman know all these people?’ She told me that story and I was like ‘oh my gosh, nobody does that anymore.’ She’s been with us since… And she’s already just totally hit the ground running. We’re very lucky with the first two hires that we were able to bring on, really smart individuals who picked up on things pretty quick, which was very important when we were starting this from the ground up.”
Corpus Christi’s Facility Landscape
American Bank Center Arena is the area’s crown jewel. Located just a few hundred yards from the Gulf, the arena is home to the Corpus Christi Ice Rays and Islanders basketball. The arena seats 8,500 for sports events and recently hosted the South Texas Junior Olympic qualifiers for boxing and has been a frequent host of PBR events. The facility is undergoing a series of upgrades to its suites and premium services leading up to its 20th anniversary next year.
The adjacent 138,000-square-foot convention center has flexible event space to accommodate a wide variety of competitions. It hosted the International Table Tennis Federation and USA Table Tennis events this past January. Next door, the Selena Auditorium with seating for 2,500 boasts a massive stage that is ideal for dance competitions. With three separate venues in one campus, this area provides maximum flexibility for all types of indoor events. A host of hotels within a short drive, or a 13 minute walk along Corpus Christi’s bay. “For us right now, this is your championship event, your championship courts,” said Jewell.
Football is huge in Texas and Corpus can accommodate big events at the Cabinus Athletic Complex. Part of Corpus Christi school district, this four-field complex can host soccer or football tournaments on turfed fields with a main stadium. “We’ve pitched USA flag to come out here,” said Jewell. “They would love to do a surf and turf event where they do a Friday on the beach and then a Saturday and Sunday on the fields. And summer is good for this complex because we don’t have the in-season school sports going on.”
“Bill Witt Park is our biggest outdoor facility,” states Jewell. “They have 12 grass soccer fields, a very big footprint. This is one of those facilities that our parks and rec is putting some money towards. They’re building a community pool and we want lights on all the fields as well. Part of their master plan is to put a pump track.” There’s also baseball and softball fields in the back of the complex, and for those that don’t want to do turf fields, the natural grass fields are a benefit.
Facility development includes a new soccer complex and stadium championed by the Corpus Christi FC club, which is the USL2 team. Plans call for a 5,000-seat soccer stadium and six artificial turf rectangles adjacent to it. “We will have six soccer fields next to a stadium that will be available for tournaments when the team and the academy aren’t using them. Flag football will be big, soccer will be big there,” states Jewell.
McGee Beach is well equipped to host both volleyball and beach soccer events. Its downtown location is within walking distance from hotels and restaurants, and the concrete bleachers built into the infrastructure provide an ideal vantage point for spectators. The city will commit $3 million over the next three years to develop infrastructure around the beach including temporary shade covers and lighting, making it a premier location for events up to 5,000 spectators.
On the horizon, the community is eyeing potential development of a baseball and softball complex. Jewell commented, “Right now we’ve got two groups that have some potential to build a tournament facility. If that comes through, that’ll be a massive game changer for us because South Texas baseball is some of the best baseball you’ll get in the country. We’re excited to see where that goes.”
Jewell is optimistic about future facility development. “With no previous sports effort, there’s never been a focus on trying to build or renovate facilities. We’ve got to be that driving force to advocate for facility development and renovation, and we’ve started doing that through a plan over the next two years to get us into position.”
Area Attractions
While facility development is a work in progress, one area that Corpus Christi doesn’t lack is family attractions. The lures are strong for moms and dads to bring the family along including the Texas State Aquarium which opened in 1990 with exhibits representing the area’s main marine ecosystems. A 2017 expansion named the Caribbean Journey doubled the size of the aquarium and provides a home to an exciting collection of sea and land creatures.
Kids will enjoy touring the flight deck, gally and power plant of the venerable USS Lexington, a WWII navy carrier that spent 21 months in Pacific combat. It’s now permanently docked minutes from downtown.
Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History traces the exploration of the Gulf and South Texas through over 500 years of guns, ammunition, minerals and costal creatures in its nearly 100,000 square foot facility along with fascinating science exhibits built for children.
Outdoor water fun can be found at Hurricane Alley Water Park which is adjacent to the museum and the Houston Astros AA Minor League affiliate, Hooks play nearby. Add in the spectacular Gulf Coast beaches and Padre Island National Seashore (both within a short distance from the fields) and there’s no shortage of things to do off the field.
A Bright Future
While competition is fierce for new events, Corpus Christi aims to build the sports commission the right way.
“We’re still building everything,” said Jewell. “We have our council up and just finished our first year with them, so now we’re tweaking a couple things. The main relationships have been identified, and now the next step for us is to build sponsor relationships so that when we have opportunities like the Pan American Cup, we can be competitive. Visit Corpus Christi already has a foundation that supports the tourism industry, but we want to add a piece of that to the sports tourism industry.”
The group is starting to get alignment with the community in ways it has never seen before and with people behind the scenes and those in positions of power to make a difference. The next step is growth and development.
“We’re Texas, one of the top producing sports tourism states in the country, and we’re the most developed destination that’s on the coast. We’ve got a lot to do to catch up to some of our competitors, but we’re on our way. We’re very deliberate in how we go about building our team here at Visit Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Sports Commission. By doing this, we’ve created a culture of enthusiastic team players who feed into each other’s strengths and hold each other accountable to our organization’s values.”
More information about planning a sports tournament in Corpus Christi.
