The 15th year of Medford’s 15-field sports park marked significant milestones — including crossing the 3-million mark for visitors last year and surpassing $160 million in revenue it is believed to have pumped into the local economy since 2008.

Lithia & Driveway Fields brought in roughly $11.7 million in spending to the Rogue Valley through its 41 baseball, softball and soccer tournaments last year, according to the 2023 economic impact analysis for the sports park, which Medford Parks, Recreation and Facilities Director Rich Rosenthal was scheduled to present to city councilors Thursday evening.

The 2023 number brings the tally for the park — which originally opened May 7, 2008, as U.S. Cellular Community Park — to $160,253,908 in economic activity, according to the report.

In an interview, Rosenthal said the $160 million economic activity number indicates that the sports park’s price tag of $32.5 million was money well spent. He remembers how, in the late 2000s, deciding to build the country’s largest municipal installation of FieldTurf — about 1.5 million square feet — was “a stretch” and a controversial decision.

“What a great deal that was,” Rosenthal said. “That means that the ROI (return on investment) has been returned five times based on the construction costs.” 

In 2023, those 41 tournaments accommodated 1,716 teams, including 775 teams visiting from outside the greater Rogue Valley.

Each out-of-area team brings thousands of dollars to the Rogue Valley in lodging, meals and other costs, according to Rosenthal and the report. Rosenthal said that, based on survey data, each youth baseball team spends about $7,000, each youth softball team spends about $10,000, and each youth soccer team can bring in about $10,000 over the course of a weekend.

The number of teams is the most the sports park has had since 2019, but it only ranks fifth in the record books. The high-water mark was 2016 with 1,837 teams.

“There’s some softness in the senior softball market,” Rosenthal said. “The market has not fully come back since the pandemic.”

In terms of revenue, 2023’s $11.7 million is fourth-highest. The record was set in 2021 at just over $13 million, trailed by 2019 at $12.25 million and 2022 at $12.19 million. 

Among the growth areas, according to Rosenthal, is a partnership with Northern California-based Legacy Sports Fastpitch over the past two years to coordinate youth girls tournaments in Medford.

“Legacy has a very large clientele all over Northern California into the Bay Area,” Rosenthal said.

In addition to the revenue that 142 teams brought to the area in four tournaments last year, Rosenthal said local softball players benefitted from the partnership.

“They’re getting excellent competition … and our teams don’t have to drive anywhere to get great teams,” he said.

Rosenthal said the fields’ popularity is easy to explain.

“It’s no coincidence because it’s the best facility,” he  said. “It’s a nice and fun place to play.”

To keep the fields in shape, Medford Parks is replacing turf and resurfacing fields 1 through 5 as part of an ongoing maintenance project.

“Each field is about $400,000,” Rosenthal said. 

Crews remove old turf, fix a soft subsurface similar to one beneath carpet, install a new crumb rubber and sand mixture before installing the new turf layer. The resurfacing takes about two and a half weeks.

“It’s the crumb rubber that gives those fields the softness,” Rosenthal said.