Phil Castle, The Business Times

There’s more than fun to games. Jennifer Stoll makes it her business to quantify just how much more.

Stoll believes it’s important to recognize the role of sports in generating billions of dollars in direct and indirect spending, building tax bases and contributing to economic development. That’s not to mention less tangible, but no less meaningful, benefits. “This is such a part of the fabric of our community.” 

The first executive director of the Greater Grand Junction Sports Commission, Stoll subsequently launched Stoll Strategies. In three years, she’s provided a range of research and consulting services to clients across the United States and around the world.

She plans to share more of her expertise at an event in Spain. She’s scheduled to join in a keynote panel presentation on Nov. 25 at the World Tourism Organization World Sports Tourism Congress.
An agency of the United Nations, the World Tourism Organization promotes tourism as a contributor to economic development.

Sports and sports-related tourism is part of that, Stoll says. She’ll report on trends in sports and physical activities from professional to amateur to recreational levels.

Stoll says she was honored to be invited to speak at the two-day conference in Lloret del Mar, a city on the Mediterranean Sea about 50 miles northeast of Barcelona. She expects the event to attract participants from around the world.

While she’s spoken at other conferences and events, the World Sports Tourism Congress constitutes one of the most significant, Stoll says. 

Moreover, she says she’s excited to achieve one of her goals for the year in becoming involved in something international. “I think this is something international.” 

Stoll brings to her endeavors a combination of experience, education and passion for sports and sports management. 

She played softball at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction while earning a bachelor’s degree in  sports management. She went on to earn a master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

She landed her first job out of graduate school with the PGA of America. She was involved in Ryder Cup matches in Kentucky in 2008 and Senior PGA Championship events in 2009 and 2010.

Stoll returned to Grand Junction to help launch the Greater Grand Junction Sports Commission, a collaborative effort of CMU, Mesa County, the cities of Fruita and Grand Junction and town of Palisade.

The commission has been involved in bringing a variety of events to Grand Junction, including softball tournaments and collegiate cycling competitions. The commission also has been involved with the Special Olympics state summer games and Rim Rock Run.

Even as she was working with the commission, Stoll continued working on her education. She received a doctoral degree in sports management from Troy University.

While working with the Greater Grand Junction Sports Commission, Stoll says she soon discovered there was no manual or training guide for someone in her position. Moreover, she starting fielding calls for assistance from others. “I knew when I started digging, there was a shortage of information out there.”

That inspired her to start thinking about launching a research and consulting firm to help others and meet needs. “This could be an opportunity to change the landscape of this industry.”

Stoll launched Stoll Strategies in 2018. Her first client was the Sports Events and Tourism Association, an industry group for which she once served as a member of the board. In talking with the president and chief executive office of the association, Stoll realized she could accomplish more as a consultant.

She now oversees research and education for the Sports ETA and helped revamp the association’s education and certification programs.

Stoll and her firm subsequently have worked on a variety of sports events and tourism projects. She’s leading efforts to assess the efforts of  Play Tennessee Sports, a non-profit corporation promoting sports tourism in that state. She also helped develop a sports tourism strategy for Puerto Rico in the aftermath of damage by Hurricane Maria.

Stoll works with Blake Price in Texas, whom she says she met through the doctoral program at Troy University. She says she also relies on what she dubs a “bullpen” of academics with whom she contracts to help with research and analysis.

Business has grown, Stoll says. “It’s kind of this fun, growth mode.”

The work is important, she says, because of the equally important contributions of sports events and sports tourism.

Sports ETA estimated in a 2019 industry report that travel to amateur and collegiate sports events in 2019 resulted in $45.1 billion in spending in the United States. 

Moreover, the sports tourism industry accounted for nearly 740,000 jobs and $14.6 billion in tax revenues.

Stoll says sports events and sports tourism also result in less tangible benefits, including coverage in traditional and social media and building a community brand.

Sports also helps to promote community pride, she says, citing the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series in Grand Junction as a prime example.

There’s more than fun to games, Stoll says. But there’s also more to the analysis than spending, jobs and tax revenues. The intangibles count, too, in determining how much more. 

“It just tells more of a complete story about the role this plays.”

For more information about Stoll Strategies, send an email to Jennifer@StollStrategies.com or visit www.StollStrategies.com.