Revving Florida’s Sports Engine

When over 2,000 athletes gathered in Pasco County last December for the Florida Senior Games, a 10-day, Olympics-style event involving everything from pickleball and horseshoes to basketball and powerlifting, Angela Suggs was approached by an 85-year-old woman.

Suggs had just finished watching the woman deadlift 100 pounds.

“I am alive right now because I spent all year training for this,” the senior athlete said. 

As president and CEO of the Florida Sports Foundation (FSF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation responsible for the marketing and development of professional, amateur and leisure sporting opportunities within the state, Suggs was heartened.

“Super Bowls are great,” she said. “World Cups are fantastic. But witnessing thousands of people flood in from across the country to participate in and support events like these is what makes it for me.”

Suggs, a Tallahassee native, clearly has her head in the game. She is a “Florida A&M Rattler, through and through.” For almost 10 years, she served as a marketer and associate athletic director at the school, which won softball, tennis, baseball, cross country, and track and field championships during her tenure.  

Visit Panama City Beach director of sports tourism Chris O’Brien, second from left, met with
Florida Sports Foundation team members, from left, LaToya Smithwick, Angela Suggs, Jon Brown and Letitia Brown. All are dedicated to using sports to grow visitor numbers and the state’s economy. Photo by Mike Fender

She started her career in the sports industry at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium), where she engaged in club-level sales for the Florida Marlins, Miami Dolphins and the venue’s various entertainment offerings. But it’s with FSF that Suggs has found her stride. 

“When I joined the foundation in 2017, we were talking about Florida’s $57.4 billion yearly economic impact through sports,” Suggs said. “Today, our most recent study shows over a $70 billion annual impact. It’s really an exciting time.”

That study, conducted by Tourism Economics for fiscal years 2019–20 and 2020–21, revealed that the Florida sports economy produced a $145.6 billion impact in total sales. Over 978,200 jobs relating to sports were created, and sports tourism attracted over 28.1 million nonresident visitors to the Sunshine State, representing 14% of annual visitation.

 While it is home to 10 professional sports franchises and countless college athletics programs, it is Florida’s amateur and recreational sports activities, including golf, fishing and wildlife viewing, that account for an estimated $113.6 billion of the industry’s total economic impact.  

Amateur sports are a major component of FSF’s mission to create a thriving sports and sports tourism industry. That sector includes the Florida Senior Games and the Sunshine State Games, another Olympics-type competition for athletes of all ages that has hosted over 200,000 contestants since its inception in 1980. 

FSF also serves as the promotional arm for the 15 Major League Baseball teams that make up the Florida Spring Training Grapefruit League, which attracted more than 1.4 million spectators in 2023. 

NEVER TOO OLD Participants in the Florida Senior Games compete in events including bicycling, weightlifting and the javelin throw. While the Florida Sports Foundation helps attract major professional events such as the Super Bowl to the state, it is equally attuned to amateur athletics. Photos Courtesy of Florida Sports Foundation

In addition to promoting spring training events and games, Suggs said FSF is responsible for kicking off springtime baseball with the Governor’s Dinner, a tradition dating back to the 1940s. It entails numerous sponsorship opportunities and gives fans a chance to mingle with team executives and marquee players.

Suggs said she’s proud of FSF’s role in providing grants funded by the sale of specialty license plates to local communities working to attract new sporting events and tournaments to Florida. 

“If you’ve seen vehicles with professional sports plates — the Dolphins, Jaguars, Rays or the Bucs — they make up the millions of dollars we pour back into the community for grants,” Suggs said. “These grants aid in attracting events from amateur softball tournaments all the way up to Super Bowls and All-Star Games.” 

Suggs noted that Florida has hosted more Super Bowls than any other state in the country. Recently, it was announced that Miami will host the 2026 World Cup and that the College Football Playoff National Championship game will be returning to Florida for a third time.

That success stems from more than gorgeous weather and beaches. 

A figure skater impresses judges at the 2023 Sunshine State Games. Photo Courtesy of Florida Sports Foundation

“It is our amazing partners throughout the state,” Suggs said. “We have 36 sports commissions throughout Florida, who are the boots on the ground in our communities, and not just our metro areas. People know what we have going on in greater Orlando and Miami, but do they know that, in St. Lucie County, we’re bringing in world baseball competitions that help people qualify for the Olympics? That the World Cross Country Championship is coming right here to Tallahassee?” 

Those successes, Suggs said, result from the efforts made by the commissions and sports tourism industry executives to build key relationships.

“I think of Ray Palmer over in Pensacola, who has been the face of sports in that community for close to 35 years,” Suggs said. “In Pensacola, they have hosted the SEC’s women’s soccer championships for the past 10 years. That means their connections are huge. And, it says something about the relationship we have with the NFL for them to choose Florida more than any other state for Super Bowls. It’s a testament to those relationships, as well as the experiences being created because we know the experience will have a huge impact on whether you want to come back.”

Suggs said it is her goal to grow the FSF by attracting more international events to Florida. She plans to engage the leaders of emerging sports such as Teqball, Slamball and E-sports. 

“We own the responsibility to produce and promote opportunities for our residents and visitors to play in Florida,” Suggs said. “It’s our mission, and it’s what we do every day. 

“For us, sports are purple. They unite red and blue and transcend all political lines and religious doctrines. Nothing else can bring us together like sports do.”