Sports tourism continues to grow and be a huge part of the Gate City.The Sports Business Journal ranked Greensboro as number two on a list of its "2024 Best Sports Cities for Attracting and Hosting Events Without a Big Five Team."It's a recognition that puts Greensboro on the map, setting the city up to have even more future success in drawing in sporting events from across the country."Sports-related tourism is the biggest tourism market in our area," said Greensboro Visitors Bureau Sales Director Brian Ambuehl. It's a slam dunk for Greensboro, landing on the Sports Business Journal's list of best sports business cities without a Big Five team."It's a big feather in our cap and something for our resume," said Ambuehl. "As we pursue additional athletic events for the area."The Gate City not only made the list, but took the number two spot."We're excited to get this accolade," said Greensboro Sports Foundation President Richard Beard. "Because there has been a lot of hard work over many, many years to get us here. Our community has invested in great facilities over the years, which allows us to afford to bring in these national events. But, we also do it as a community and we have hundreds of people and volunteers that get involved and help us to be as successful as we are."The rankings focus on U.S. cities demonstrating recent success in attracting and hosting a diverse array of sporting events."On any given year, an annual figure for an economic impact for sports-related tourism is about $250 million," said Ambuehl. "We also average around 400,000 visitors to the area per year for sports-related tourism.""You're talking about thousands and thousands of participants and their families coming in and filling up hotels and restaurants," said Beard. "So every year, it's a huge impact-- and now we get to tell the story throughout the Triad because of this national ranking we have."Things like location, accessibility and the city's facilities really help Greensboro sell to the sports market.Greensboro has no plans of slowing down."We're always selling the area as a sports destination," said Ambuehl. "And this is something that substantiates our claim that we can handle the events and maybe even get our foot in the door for something we otherwise may not have been considered for."Other cities that made the top five list include Fort Worth, Birmingham, Louisville and Palm Beach County.The city of Greensboro has plans moving forward to expand its Spencer Love Tennis Center, make North Carolina A&T track improvements, and install field lights to the Bryan Park Soccer Complex.