Round Rock City Council members on Tuesday received an annual report from the city’s Sports Management & Tourism staff outlining recent and planned facility expansions, tournament bookings and visitor spending, and approved a contract to add Amazon’s Just Walkout retail technology to the Sports Center’s new west-side expansion.
The presentation by Chad, a sports management and tourism staff member, said the Sports Center will open an expansion in November, the multipurpose complex (MPC) is scheduled to break ground in November, and the Dell Diamond visitors’ clubhouse opened in April. Chad said the Sports Center had about 3,000 participants this year and the MPC reported about 1,050 participants; the department also recorded a 34% increase in summer camp participation from 2024 to 2025.
The department emphasized tourism’s economic impact. The Dean Runyon figures cited in the presentation showed direct travel spending in Round Rock of about $558,900,000, state and local tax revenue just over $54,000,000 and roughly 5,200 tourism-supported jobs. Chad said those visitor taxes and spending help support infrastructure and keep property taxes lower.
The council also approved a five-year Omnia cooperative purchasing agreement with Amazon.com Services LLC to install Just Walkout technology in the Sports Center’s west-side retail space. The contract includes a one-time hardware/setup fee of $49,387 and a recurring technology/service fee of $2,113.25 per month; the presentation cited a five‑year total of $126,795 for the technology fee. City staff reported first-year sales from an existing Amazon Just Walkout store at the Sports Center of about $324,000 and described the store as roughly a 30% sales increase compared with prior concession operations.
Department staff described a mix of local programming and large tournaments hosted this year, including the National Deaf Basketball Championships, USA Fencing events, collegiate lacrosse nationals, and an MLS Next soccer tournament. Chad said the Sports Center hosted 57 weekend events in the reported period and the MPC hosted 53 weekend events. For fiscal year 2026, staff said 35 tournaments are already contracted at the Sports Center, and 30 of those plan to use the full eight-basketball / 16-volleyball court configuration made possible by the expansion.
Council members praised staff for outreach and operation of the facilities. Council member Montgomery asked whether new tournaments will wait until staff are familiar with the expanded facilities; Chad replied the city has built a buffer period so staff can “get to know the facility” before hosting the largest events.
Staff said the Amazon Just Walkout store requires fewer on-site employees than traditional concessions and operates during practices as well as events, which city staff said helped raise sales while reducing staffing needs.
City officials did not identify any additional regulatory approvals required for the expansions; staff said construction timelines target the Sports Center expansion to open in November and MPC ground breaking in November, with additional bid and construction schedules to follow for the MPC expansion.
The council’s approval of the Amazon contract was made by motion (mover: Council member Ortega; seconder: Mayor Pro Tem Stevens) and carried by recorded vote.
For residents and tournament organizers, staff said more court and field capacity will become available after the scheduled openings, and staff will continue outreach to national tournament directors to attract events.