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As January 2025 is in full swing, LakePoint Sports—the premier travel and youth sports destination in the country—is set for a transformative year, building on the momentum, investment, and new initiatives of 2024, while the booming $39 billion travel and youth sports industry continues its unrelenting growth.
In 2024, the LakePoint Sports campus welcomed over 2.5 million guests from all 50 states and across the globe. Nationally ranked athletes and teams competed, champions were crowned in multiple sports, and exciting developments took shape across the five premium venues on LakePoint’s 1300+ acre campus. Highlights included the construction of the new Element Hotel, capital upgrades across venues, and groundbreaking partnerships—such as naming rights agreements, a first-of-its-kind tech collaboration, and a national media brand partnership. Over 60 broadcasts aired, a summer campaign with a national brand launched on campus, and guest experience reached new heights!
In this Champions Insider, check-out the incredible progress LakePoint made in ‘24 and what’s on the horizon in 2025!
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Take an exclusive look inside The Element Hotel by Westin, a highly anticipated addition to LakePoint’s campus now accepting reservations for 2025! Operated by Horizon Hospitality, this landmark project will offer modern, upscale accommodations designed to enhance the experience for athletes, families, and visitors. Guests will be captivated by incredible views of the Baseball Village from the Skyline Bistro Rooftop Bar and restaurant–offering a birds-eye view of the action with luxe amenities like plush outdoor furniture and fire tables that add an extra layer of sophistication the boutique hotel’s ambiance. Incredible multi-room suites equipped with thoughtfully designed amenities will be available for teams and families who want to unwind in a cozy atmosphere with the convenience of being a mere steps from the action. With state-of-the-art accommodations and thoughtful design, The Element Hotel is poised to become a centerpiece of the LakePoint Sports campus, bringing even more convenience and comfort to the City of Emerson and Bartow County.
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2025 is off to a fast start at LakePoint Sports based on a number of innovative and impactful initiatives that garnered national media attention in 2024 and over 100 million impressions. LakePoint continues to be at the forefront of the travel and youth sports industry through its continued commitment to excellence inside and outside the outlines for athletes, coaches, scouts, families, and community, further solidifying its reputation as the premier travel and youth sports destination in the country.
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2024 was an incredible year of growth and collaboration at LakePoint, marked by impactful partnerships that elevated LakePoint’s mission and delivered significant value to the millions of guests visiting the LakePoint campus. The sold-out marketplace kiosks at the Baseball Village underscored the growing demand for partner visibility on campus. Perhaps the most notable announcement of the year came from Publix, which deepened its partnership by naming LakePoint’s soccer and lacrosse venue ‘Publix Fields,’ complete with a highly anticipated large outdoor pavilion. In addition to Publix’s contribution, infrastructure growth continued with Curve Test Center, which introduced its large “bubble structure” as the first of its kind “body, ball, and brain” testing system for all travel baseball players to secure their personalized “Curve Score” vs. their travel baseball peers.
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Sold-Out Champions Weekends stood out as another major highlight in ‘24, with a waitlist to compete at the events and for sponsors who wanted to engage the tens of thousands of guests on campus during each of the signature weekends. As six of the largest and most elaborate weekends on campus, Champions Weekends offered partners exceptional opportunities to connect with audiences through activation spaces, a daytime DJ, 680 The Fan Live Radio Remote, and enhanced promotional exposure and activities. Among the most exciting additions was the inaugural Grill-Off Challenge presented by Publix, while Johnsonville Sausage launched their “Keep It Juicy” national campaign at LakePoint.
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GeoSurfaces, in just 38-days, installed new turf on all eight full-size major league fields at the Baseball Village in early ‘24. The freshly turfed fields served as the foundation as a new line up of top travel baseball talent descended on the LakePoint Campus. The likes of Ethan Holliday — the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft — showed up and showed out at Prep Baseball’s National Program Invitational and Future Games, where over 450 college coaches were on hand to scout the nation’s top uncommitted players.
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Ethan Holliday shows out as Scorpions open NPI with win
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At the Champions Center, with a freshly refurbished 120,000 square foot of competitive space, guests took in the country’s top-ranked hoops player, AJ Dybantsa (BYU), as well as Duke-bound Cameron and Cayden Boozer during Nike EYBL play; men’s and women’s college coaches packed out the spacious venue during the college recruiting “live period.” RYZE Hoops continued to solidify itself as the premier source for prep and grassroots hoops in the Southeast. Meanwhile, Rally Volleyball’s tentpole events brought thousands of volleyball players and tens of thousands of guests as well as college coaches to the LakePoint Sports courts, and Georgia High School Association (GHSA) crowned the Georgia state champions across two days of intense on-court competitive action.
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Publix Fields was abuzz with an action-packed 12-month line-up that featured some of the best travel soccer, lacrosse, and 7v7 players, teams, and events in the country. A few of the highest profile events included, NFL Flag Football, NASA Top Hat National Club and Team soccer events, Elite Clubs National League soccer, High Flying Championship 7v7 football events and massive lacrosse tournaments, highlighted by the end of season lacrosse Gobble Gobble Games, with 95 teams and more than 7,000 visitors from across the Southeast.
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LakePoint Sports elevated its mission of supporting athletes to new heights in 2024, shining a greater spotlight on the elite talent competing on campus and expanding access to its premier venues through LakePoint Live and a new partnership announced with NBC SportsNEXT featuring SportsEngine Play.
The LakePoint Sports content team broadcasted over 60 baseball games in 2024, delivering more than 150 hours of airtime. This included over 50 hours during the four-day Future Games, featuring guests such as ESPN/SEC Network analyst Chris Burke, former MLB player Brandon Guyer, and Prep Baseball scouts, alongside host Cory McCartney.
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Nearly 200,000 social media followers were given unprecedented access to the action, with live talkbacks featuring top players during gameplay and the introduction of Umpire Cam, offering a new perspective on the game.
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“Pregame for me is just like … don’t amp yourself up. I tend to have an energy drink, maybe a few.” 🤣 Canes Midwest’s Liam Delp (Mooresville) goes live in-game with Cory McCartney in this extended cut.
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📹𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 #PBFG24 Prep Baseball Indiana 🆚 Prep Baseball Michigan
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These advancements are just the beginning. At the Champions Center, SportsEngine has become the exclusive streaming provider for LakePoint Sports events. New AI-powered cameras now deliver year-round live and on-demand streaming access to families and fans nationwide, enhancing LakePoint’s best-in-class technology portfolio.
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Star-Studded Visits Across LakePoint’s Campus in 2024
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LakePoint Sports proudly hosted the tip-off game of the 2025 Harlem Globetrotters World Tour, continuing a longstanding tradition as the home of the Globetrotters’ training camp and world tour launch since 2016*. The 2024 event was nothing short of historic, with a record-breaking sold-out crowd filling the stands to witness the electrifying start of the Globetrotters’ tour. The energy, excitement, and unparalleled entertainment set the tone for another unforgettable season of Globetrotters basketball, and reaffirming LakePoint Sports as a premier destination for world-class events.
*Excluding 2020*
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Globetrotters’ ‘Wham’ Middleton on always being ‘on’ for fans, and the influence of Allen Iverson
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The LakePoint Sports Team gathered at the end of ’24 to celebrate the holiday season and reflect on a year driven by its unwavering commitment to Delivering Excellence in the Guest Experience. Rooted in LakePoint’s Mission, Vision, Purpose, and CHAMPIONS Values, the LakePoint Team lives a “One Team. One Goal.” approach. Each Team Member commitment to LakePoint’s MVPV serves as the catalyst for a culture of continued growth and momentum in 2025!
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The LakePoint Sports line-up of NEW initiatives is off to a fast start with opening of the NEW Element Hotel with more news on the horizon, including NEW innovative partnerships, NEW technology initiatives, a NEW college and University platform, tasty NEW food and beverage offerings, the best in National travel sports competition, national championships, and NEW cutting-edge media initiatives, NEW news with the National Youth Sports Summit and So Much MORE! From game-changing experiences to enhanced guest amenities, LakePoint Sports is focused on delivering excellence in the guest experience as the premier travel and youth sports destination in the country! Stay connected to all the NEW LakePoint Sports initiatives and announcements throughout 2025. GAME ON!
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