Jacobs Entertainment is proposing a downtown Reno traveling youth sports association and up to 12 new sports fields at its Neon Line District.
A hotel-casino owner and developer behind a planned tourism district in downtown Reno is proposing the creation of several new fields for a traveling youth sports association.
Jacobs Entertainment plans to construct up to 12 sports fields over the next six years for sports such as soccer and lacrosse as part of a new Downtown Reno Amateur Sports Association. The Reno Neon Line District developer will also tie in the traveling youth sports initiative to its J Resort Casino, which owns the land where the proposed fields will be built.
Jacobs Entertainment is set to present its proposal to the Reno City Council on Wednesday, Oct. 22, during its regular meeting. The developer is also seeking an amendment to its conditional use permit to expand its boundary and promote its Glow Plaza event venue.
“We anticipate strong support for youth soccer and youth lacrosse from Reno’s elected officials,” Jeff Jacobs, CEO of Jacobs Entertainment, told the Reno Gazette Journal.
Jacobs Entertainment banking on economic impact of youth sports
The proposed Downtown Reno Amateur Sports Association — which Jacobs Entertainment refers to as DRASA — is described as a traveling youth sports initiative that will work with local and regional youth sports teams to hold events in the downtown core.
Jacobs Entertainment is betting that its investment will pay off given the expected growth and resulting economic impact from sports tourism.
Sports management and consulting firm The Sports Facilities Company pegged youth sports tourism as a $19.4 billion industry. Jacobs Entertainment also pointed to a 2023 study by the Sports Tourism Research Institute that showed travelers to sports events collectively spent nearly $105 billion over a year for things like transportation, lodging and food.
“Youth sports are only growing here in the US,” said Richard Jacobs, J Resort assistant director of sales and special events. “Youth baseball has the most traveling teams, closely followed by soccer.”
Once all 12 fields are developed, Jacobs Entertainment expects 140 to 150 teams taking part every tournament weekend in downtown Reno, generating about $1,000 in spending per family — or $30 million to $35 million per year. It also projects $3 million to $5 million in tax revenue generated annually.
“As the number of fields and visiting teams grows, we anticipate demand for downtown hotel rooms to exceed 1,000 rooms per tournament night,” Jacobs said.
“This will provide opportunities for other downtown hotels to partner with us and help meet the needs of a new segment of Reno visitors.”
First soccer tournament has already been scheduled for 2026
Jacobs Entertainment plans to start by building four fields at a cost of $5 million.
The fields will accommodate different types of play, including seven-on-seven, nine-on-nine and 11-on-11.
So far, the developer has secured land for three of the first four proposed fields. All three fields are also on J Resort land:
- West Second Street south of the J Resort Festival Grounds
- Ralston at West Second Street
- Washington just south of the railroad tracks
“The remaining six to eight fields envisioned will be larger and could collectively cost up to another $25 million,” Richard Jacobs said.
The company did not provide additional details on how it plans to acquire the remaining land required to fully build the project.
Jacobs assured that parking will not be an issue during events, with the initial fields within walking distance to more than 2,000 parking spaces. He added that he was confident that downtown Reno can accommodate 25 to 30 youth sports weekends every year.
Jacobs also did not rule out having members of the community use the fields.
“We are still exploring all options but our goal is to make it feasible for the fields to be available for rent when not in use for tournaments,” Jacobs said.
“Seasons will typically be spring, summer, and fall (and) there may be some practice games in the winter months.”
Partners mentioned for the project include people associated with organizations and groups such as the Reno Apex Club, Great Basin Youth Soccer League, Reno Youth Sports Association and High Sierra Lacrosse.
The first traveling youth soccer weekend at the J Resort is already scheduled for June 5 and 6. More tournaments are expected to be held throughout the year.
“We anticipate up to 25% of participating teams will come from the Reno area,” Jacobs said.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.rgj.com ’
