Badger State Games will end after 25 years
Started in 1985 to re-create the Olympic experience for citizen athletes, the Badger State Games has reached its own finish line.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation announced Tuesday it would drop the games it organized for both winter and summer sports.
"It is time to yield to market forces beyond our control and explore new ways to serve the sports marketplace for the benefit of the state of Wisconsin," the WSDC interim president and CEO Dan Doyle said.
Participation in the games has dropped in recent years, revenue also declined and the WSDC has reduced its staff and budget in response to budget issues.
Competition from other races and tournaments - particularly in youth hockey and soccer - have hurt the Badger State Games.
In a telephone conference Tuesday afternoon, Doyle reported that roughly 20,000 people participated in the games annually in the late 1990s. That number dwindled to roughly 5,000 in the 2011 versions of the winter and summer games.
Financially, the corporation that organizes and promotes the games lost nearly $50,000 in the fiscal year ending July 31, 2010, the second year in which expenses exceeded revenues. According to its federal tax filing, the corporation had debts that exceeded its assets by nearly $8,000.
The Madison-based corporation estimated that 350,000 athletes have participated in the games over the 25 years, in everything from curling, archery, Nordic skiing and ski-jumping to tennis and soccer.
(My own in the Badger State Games experiences include a sweltering hot mountain bike race at the Blackhawk Ski Area, and a frosty cross-country ski race in subzero temps at the Nine Mile Recreation area in Wausau. I have the medals as reminders. Please share your memories via email to theld@journalsentinel.com, or in the comments section.)
"We are very proud of our accomplishments over the years," Doyle said. "The games have supported dozens of sports and have fostered an environment in Wisconsin where athletes now have a wealth of opportunities to participate and compete."
Questions about the sustainability of the Badger State Games started several years ago. The Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors Bureau stopped providing roughly $100,000 in support to host the winter games in Wausau.
Contributions from sponsors also dropped off.
According to the announcement, the event hosts in Wausau and the Fox Cities will consider reviving the games in some form.
Doyle said decisions on the future mission of the WSDC would be decided in the next three to six months. One option at the top of the list includes creation of a sports authority to organize major sporting events, including NCAA Div. III championships, he said.
The financial position of the non-profit requires a quick decision.
The WSDC also said it would try to sell or transfer ownership of the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
The physical recognition of sports luminaries is the Walk of Fame, which features plaques of Wisconsin athletes, located along N. 4th St. adjacent to the U.S. Cellular Arena.
Franklyn Gimbel, chair of the Wisconsin Center District, which owns and operates the U.S. Cellular Arena, said the Walk of Fame isn’t going anywhere.
“We think we should have the Hall of Fame,” Gimbel said Tuesday., “We’ve invested $750,000 to create the Walk of Fame. And I hope there would be some method of reviving the whole notion of the Hall of Fame. It has value.”
Gimbel said the district was not looking to spend money on the Walk of Fame and the annual dinner. “We would be looking for some managing group to take it over and run it,” he said.
Thanks to Don Walker for contributing to this story.
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