Myrtle Beach could invest millions into sports center expansion

A 21-acre parcel across from Broadway at the Beach could advance Myrtle Beach’s 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’s 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’s sports facilities could be a natural fit.

“We are at capacity at the current sports center, and we’re also utilizing the convention center at times for things like cheer and dance, and sports tourism is big for us,” said mayor Brenda Bethune.

Sports tourism is indeed big for Myrtle Beach, which has made large investments into its sports facilities that include the Colonel Thomas “Buddy” 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’s room for more.

“Outside of the PGA events and the new things that have been brought in here, we’re plateauing a bit as a community because of inventory,” said Jason Clement, CEO of Sports Facilities Management. “So that’s a segue to what the team has asked us to present here, and that’s the 21 acres where we have the opportunity to invest, reinvest and expand on this investment into sports tourism.”

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.

“They come at a pretty hefty price tag, just so everyone’s aware. They also require a significant financial subsidy,” Clement said. “One of the things that we say is that if you’re utilizing water, either moving or frozen, you’re going to pay for it.”

Other uses like outdoor multi-purpose fields would be less expensive to build and maintain but wouldn’t expand sports offerings in the city. Those multi-purpose fields could expand the city’s ability to host more or larger baseball and softball tournaments, though. That’s already the city’s bread and butter. According to a budget retreat presentation, baseball brought in $51 million in direct spending in 2024.

“Myrtle Beach is a baseball, fastpitch, diamond sports mecca,” 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’t mean the use for the property is decided.

“We’re not saying anything yet,” Bethune said. “We just got the report today. This is the first time council has seen this report, so I’m sure we’ll have workshops about it where we discuss this further.”