Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford wants to bring open-wheel racing to Barber Motorsports Park in 2010 for an event that is projected to have a
$20 million economic impact on the region. Langford hopes to expand Birmingham’s annual sports and tourism calendar by bringing another international event to the Magic City. Langford said he wants to leverage the city’s recent successes hosting major golf and tennis events to lure more visitors to Birmingham. “You’ve got to take the shot, the successes we’re building on make us serious players,” Langford said. “No city can sustain itself without bringing in tourism dollars.” Langford isn’t stopping with single sport events. He and Bruno Event Team CEO Gene Hallman have had preliminary discussions about bidding for the 2015 Pan American Games. The site of the 2015 games, featuring athletes representing 42 countries spanning North and South America, is scheduled to be announced in November. Hallman helped launch the Region’s Charity Classic golf tournament, recruit the March IRL testing session and brought international tennis competition Davis Cup matches to Birmingham in March. He said Barber is working with the city and state to land an IRL race he hopes will highlight the region’s yearly sports calendar. “Annual events are beneficial because they produce tourism dollars and provide an image boost to the city and state,” Hallman said.
The visitors bureau projects visitor spending would top $9.5 million. The event would generate nearly $2.2 million in state and local taxes, according to the study.