LODI — From wine and vineyards to home runs and touchdowns, the California city of Lodi is looking to become a lucrative sports destination. 

The city’s first step toward becoming a sports utopia is to figure out if their facilities are up to par. A survey paid for by Visit Lodi will look into what stadiums and arenas like Grape Bowl are capable of hosting. 

“We need to make sure we’re diversifying. Wine tourism has obviously been our strength in Lodi,” said Visit Lodi CEO Wes Rhea. 

Rhea said the survey is planned for next month. 

“It’s about exploring and if we should do it, and if we will. It may not be next year, it could be five to 10 years down the road,” he said. 

The focus of the survey is primarily the Grape Bowl football field featuring lights, turf, and stadium seating for 3,500 people. It will also look at nearby Tony Zupo Field for more baseball tournaments and other events that draw crowds. 

“I think it’s great for the community, get some traffic in town,” said Raquel Paler.

Paler’s family owns Angelo’s Mexican Restaurant in the downtown area. 

The inside of the restaurant is line with images of local sports teams thanking Angelo’s for donations. 

“We have sponsored the local parks and recs, the little leagues and little kids, so having more sports come to town will create more activities for the kids,” Paler said. 

On top of helping downtown, Rhea said a big boost could come to Lodi hotels. 

“Bringing visitors in benefits our residents because visitors come in, they spend money at our restaurants and shops and hotels,” he said. 

The city is also doing its own financial analysis of their sports complexes and is also waiting to see what Visit Lodi comes up with.
Then, they’ll determine if fees or ticket prices need to go up.