From cheerleading to roller hockey to trail running and road cycling, Maine has a robust lineup of sporting events on the calendar for 2024, including two national competitions that are coming to Maine for the first time.
The new events attracted by the Maine Sports Commission include the Maximum Cheer and Dance MaXout, a national cheerleading competition to be held in Portland in February, and the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association National Championships, which will be held in April at Auburn’s Norway Savings Arena.
“While we will be new to the state, we already know how fantastic and supportive the people in Maine are,” said Pete Graham, Director of Events for Maximum Cheer, LLC, which will hold its two-day MaXout at Thompson’s Point in Portland on Feb. 24-25, and is expected to bring more than 1200 people including athletes, officials, coaches, and spectators. “We have had the privilege to host many gyms from the area at our other events in the region in the past. But this season we are bringing the event to them.”
In addition, many events are returning to Maine in 2024 after successful debuts in recent years. That includes Gran Fondo Hincapie Bangor (June 22), Ironman 70.3 Maine in Augusta (July 28) and XTERRA Trail Running Championship to Carrabassett Valley (August 31).
“I am excited that we will be returning for year two of the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship,” said Steve Andrus, U.S. tour manager for XTERRA, which debuted at Sugarloaf September 30, 2023, bringing more than 1000 runners and spectators from more than 30 countries to the area. “The recent event’s success was based on a great collaboration between XTERRA, the Maine Sports Commission, Carrabassett Valley, and the Sugarloaf Resort’s amazing team.” The resort’s reputation for hosting prestigious competitions, such as the Enduro World Series and the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships, sets the scene for another memorable XTERRA experience, he added.
Sheila Brennan Nee, strategic director for the Maine Sports Commission, said that Maine’s appeal as a sporting destination is poised to expand, as perennial events like Maine’s High Peaks Paddlefest in Rangeley (June 29), continue to grow in popularity and other organizations like United Soccer League, which plans to bring an expansion team to Portland and begin playing in 2025, validate the strong local market for sports.
“Increasingly more world-class sporting organizers are discovering that Maine is an ideal year-round destination for their marquee competitions,” Brennan Nee said. As an example, she noted that the All American Lighthouse Classic baseball tournament in Old Orchard Beach, which draws more than 3,000 players, spectators, coaches, and others, mostly from out of state, was so successful that in 2023 the event organizers Firecracker Sports added a new tournament, the All American Summer Classic, which was held at Bates College and Central Maine Community College. Firecracker Sports is now considering adding a third event to another region of Maine in 2025.
“We’re so grateful to the Maine communities that have embraced these events, which bring visitors to their restaurants, hotels, and retail stores, some outside of their traditional tourism season, and also bring people to Maine who might not otherwise have visited.”
“Our organization’s promotion of grassroots and other signature events, which attract visitors to host regions, will continue to help elevate Maine’s brand as a four season destination,” Brennan Nee added.
Sporting events have a significant economic impact on the state, not only because the events themselves stoke spending during the event weekend, but also because they expose new athletes and fans to Maine, who may be likely to come back to visit and stay.
Sporting events contributed an estimated $155.6 million to the Maine economy and attracted approximately 253,071 out-of-state visitors in 2019, according to a study conducted by the University of Southern Maine’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER). More than 55% of the people who attended and participated in the events came from out of state.
The full calendar of sports events is available at mainesportscommission.com.
Maine Sports Commission is a nonprofit organization that works to advance, elevate, and promote Maine as a four season sports destination, strengthening the state through sports tourism, encouraging healthy, active lifestyles.
