Visiting sports fans support their teams and the town

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Several sporting events across the city brought people and money to Jonesboro.

On Saturday Feb. 18, four different Arkansas State University teams were in action.

The women’s bowling team participated in the Mid-Winter Invitational, men and women’s basketball teams were in action and the baseball team played its second game of the season.

Each event brought many visitors to each game.

The Mid-Winter Invitational had several teams from out of state, and many parents came to support their girls.

Hijinx hosted the invitational and general manager Kelly Steven said it’s not just good for their business.

“The city of Jonesboro gets to benefit from tax dollars coming in from hotel reservations,” he said.

Steven said all those teams also bring business to restaurants.

“These ladies got to go eat after every competition,” he said.

Ray Sanes’ daughter plays for Arkansas State, but he doesn’t live in Jonesboro. He said he travels to all her competitions from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and he knows that parents like him are good for a city’s economy.

“It’s so important for the economy, it helps wherever we go,” said Sanes. “Because we travel around the nation supporting our team and it’s just good for the team morally but also financially to the city as well.”

After coming to Jonesboro at least once a year for the last four years, Sanes has gotten familiar with Jonesboro, and noticed how much more the city has grown.

“Driving around today, I saw things that it’s growing Arkansas State, Jonesboro has a lot of things that are going up, new hotels so actually, it is growing as a city,” he said.

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