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A 21-acre parcel across from Broadway at the Beach could advance Myrtle Beach鈥檚 sports tourism ambitions.

After Surfworks announced it would be moving its planned facility to Broadway at the Beach, the future is in question of the 21-acre, city-owned lot where the project was initially set to be built.

At the city鈥檚 annual budget retreat in Pinopolis this month, city council and staff heard sports-tourism possibilities for the property.

Sports Facilities Management, which was tasked by city leaders to determine what would be most beneficial to the city at that location, presented six top options: a tennis/pickleball facility, an ice rink, an indoor track, an indoor event facility, an aquatic center or outdoor, multipurpose fields.

Bordering the John T. Rhodes Myrtle Beach Sports Center, using the lot to expand the city鈥檚 sports facilities could be a natural fit.

鈥淲e are at capacity at the current sports center, and we鈥檙e also utilizing the convention center at times for things like cheer and dance, and sports tourism is big for us,鈥� said mayor Brenda Bethune.

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鈥楲ike a vacation鈥�: How Myrtle Beach area cities are investing in sports tourism to boost economy

• By S.T. Cardinal and Joe Wedra info@myhorrynews.com

Sports tourism is indeed big for Myrtle Beach, which has made large investments into its sports facilities that include the Colonel Thomas 鈥淏uddy鈥� Styers Athletic Complex in The Market Common, the John T Rhodes Sports Center, the Rivers Lynch Tennis Center and Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.

City leaders say the investment in facilities is paying off. Myrtle Beach sports tourism resulted in $185.2 million in direct spending and $17 million in governmental tax revenues in 2024, city records show.

But there鈥檚 room for more.

鈥淥utside of the PGA events and the new things that have been brought in here, we鈥檙e plateauing a bit as a community because of inventory,鈥� said Jason Clement, CEO of Sports Facilities Management. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 a segue to what the team has asked us to present here, and that鈥檚 the 21 acres where we have the opportunity to invest, reinvest and expand on this investment into sports tourism.鈥�

Clement explained to the group of city leaders the positives and negatives of each use. Some, like an aquatic center, would create new opportunities in the region but would require significant subsidies to be financially viable.

鈥淭hey come at a pretty hefty price tag, just so everyone鈥檚 aware. They also require a significant financial subsidy,鈥� Clement said. 鈥淥ne of the things that we say is that if you鈥檙e utilizing water, either moving or frozen, you鈥檙e going to pay for it.鈥�

Other uses like outdoor multi-purpose fields would be less expensive to build and maintain but wouldn鈥檛 expand sports offerings in the city. Those multi-purpose fields could expand the city鈥檚 ability to host more or larger baseball and softball tournaments, though. That鈥檚 already the city鈥檚 bread and butter. According to a budget retreat presentation, baseball brought in $51 million in direct spending in 2024.

鈥淢yrtle Beach is a baseball, fastpitch, diamond sports mecca,鈥� Clement said.

Clement said an indoor event facility was the top ranked possibility out of the six options. It could host sports like basketball and dance competitions, and could include meeting space.

The second ranked option was outdoor fields, then pickleball and tennis in third. Indoor aquatics, indoor ice and indoor track were the three lowest ranked uses, respectively. The estimated cost for the facilities ranged from $18-23 million for outdoor fields to $38-47 million for an indoor aquatics center.

Though a sports-related use was highly discussed for the property, Bethune said that doesn鈥檛 mean the use for the property is decided.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying anything yet,鈥� Bethune said. 鈥淲e just got the report today. This is the first time council has seen this report, so I鈥檓 sure we鈥檒l have workshops about it where we discuss this further.鈥�