There are plans to open a sports tournament facility at Starkville Cornerstone Park next year. During a visit on The Gallo Show this morning, Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill told SuperTalk Mississippi she thinks it will create a synergy with athletics at Mississippi State University, home of the 2021 National Championship baseball team.
“”My vision is that it builds those baby Bulldogs. You bring your child in to play baseball or softball and they develop that connection with the University and they want to become Bulldogs. When the time comes, they want to go to the Carnegie Hall of baseball.”
She went on to say that the impact that athletics have in the community cannot be underestimated. “We are one of the only cities in Mississippi that are actually increasing in population. We had a boom in construction; people wanting second homes, alumni coming back to ball games and athletic events, an increase in the student population out at the university.”
And she expects the economic impact to last. “The only other thing that I can compare it to was the Dak effect when we were on Sports Illustrated nationally for two weeks running. We had that number one position and it boomed for us. We probably enjoyed the results of that for two to three years.”
