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Sports Park and Rogue X produced multimillion-dollar economic activity, city parks director says
Summary
Parks Director Rich Rosenthal reported record tournaments and strong revenue at the Sports Park and the Rogue X in 2024, citing nearly $6.7 million estimated economic impact from Rogue X events and wide use and constrained capacity at the Sports Park.
Parks, Recreation and Facilities Director Rich Rosenthal told the council on Feb. 5 that 2024 was a strong year for Medford’s sports and recreation facilities, producing tournament demand, room nights and visitor spending across the city.
Rosenthal reported that Lithium Driveway Fields (the sports park) hosted 44 tournaments and events in 2024 and said the park has attracted more than 3.3 million visitors since opening in February 2008. He said tournament teams were almost evenly split between local and visiting teams and that the park’s build cost was about $32.5 million. “The economic impact is profoundly valuable to the local economy,” Rosenthal said, noting that the facility routinely produces return on that investment.
Rosenthal said 2024 included two developments that boosted off-season hotel occupancy: the Cascade Collegiate Conference soccer tournament (about 600 hotel room nights in early November) and two fast-pitch tournaments moved from Redding to Medford after Redding’s facility difficulties. Rosenthal estimated that the Redding tournaments generated about $600,000 in additional local economic impact.
The sports park faces capacity constraints, Rosenthal said: spring youth baseball registration sold out quickly and the parks department turned teams away; a recent registration of 206 slots sold out in 10 minutes with 74 teams on the wait list. Rosenthal said sport-field maintenance is an ongoing capital priority; Medford has replaced or refurbished multiple turf fields over recent years and has additional field replacements planned in the biennial budget.
On the Rogue X facility, Rosenthal reported about $1.4 million in revenue in year one and about 106,000 aquatic visitors, plus nearly $200,000 from 920 birthday party rentals. He said Rogue X hosted 61 sessions, 43 tournaments, banquets and other events in 2024 that together generated an estimated economic impact of about $6.7 million and that the building is already returning a portion of its construction cost through activity.
Councilors asked about admission prices and equity. Rosenthal said fees are set through the Parks & Recreation Commission and are among the lowest in the state by category; scholarship opportunities and the Parks and Recreation Foundation help reduce barriers for families and children. He also said the department is partnering with charter schools and expects expanded school swim lessons in year two of the program.
Rosenthal credited staff — scheduling, customer service and operations teams — for the facilities’ activity and said the department meets weekly to review lessons learned and adjust schedules and procedures to maximize program capacity.
Ending: Council did not take action; Rosenthal said staff will continue operational improvements and bring capital requests for turf replacements and other needs through the budget process.
