GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The offices of the West Michigan Sports Commission look as they should. SportsCenter playing on the television. A custom shuffleboard near the entrance. Employees in Adidas and Nike.

“We’re selling fun. We’re selling sport,” said president Mike Guswiler. “We’re working in the world of sport and that’s what we wanted to recreate in this space.

In 2024, the commission posted a record year in terms of economic impact, bringing $90.8m to West Michigan through 112 sporting events that attracted an estimated 282,170 athletes and visitors to the area.

“We are a sports city,” Guswiler said.

Founded in 2007, the West Michigan Sports Commission (WMSC) recruits amateur and youth sports events to the region, including the Meijer State Games and Beer City Open. It also runs the Meijer Sports Complex, which weekly hosts tournaments at its fields and courts.

“Sports tourism is recession-proof,” Guswiler said, speaking to the nonprofit’s perseverance through economic downturn. “I think it speaks to human nature and what sport really contributes to [families].”

The proof is in the statistics. In 2019, months before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sporting events across the state, the WMSC’s work brought an estimated $54.9m and 230,382 athletes and visitors to West Michigan. Both of these metrics were improved upon in 2024 (65% and 22% increases, respectively). Notably, hotel bookings and events, while improving, are still below their pre-pandemic marks.

“A lot of what we do flies under the radar,” Guswiler said. “You see these kids in their uniforms in hotel lobbies or in Starbucks. You don’t know that we’re attached to it.”

A pair of brothers with black belts in karate, Isaac and James Wagenmaker are connected to the commission through the Meijer State Games. They’ve competed (and medaled) in its karate championships the past two years. They’ll participate in them again this Saturday.

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“I don’t do a lot of competing, but I always come back for the Meijer State Games,” Isaac said. “Just because of the people there, and I enjoy it so much.”

“I just love what the Meijer State Games are doing,” James said, speaking to the event’s structure and location in nearby Rockford.

On Monday, the two attended their twice weekly karate class at Standale Karate, held in the basement of Standale Baptist Church.

“Since we started at the same time, we got every single one of our belts at the same time,” James said. “It’s the best.”

For more on the West Michigan Sports Commission, read its annual report.

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