Tim Morgan played football in high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, until a a series of knee injuries kept him off the playing field.
But the 42-year-old has stayed in the world of sports, working to help recruit players, parents and fans to events in nearly all sports over the past two decades in both his native Charlotte for nine years and in his adopted hometown of Chattanooga for the past decade.
As the chief sports officer initially for the Greater Chattanooga Sports and Events Committee and later for the Chattanooga Tourism Company, Morgan helps attract to Chattanooga sporting events of all types and demographics, from Little League and Dizzy Dean baseball tournaments to TSSAA state football championships and national rowing and Ironman contests. Morgan is even helping organize a pitch for Chattanooga to host the final Olympic competition for the U.S. marathon team next year ahead of the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Morgan says he not necessarily a passionate fan of all sports, but he knows the value of finding sports enthusiasts on a variety of courses, courts and playing fields.
"If you find the passion, you will find the following that will travel to compete; and there will be a regional, national or even world championship that you can go after and bring in and the people will follow," Morgan says.
After graduating from the University of Alabama, Morgan worked for the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, but he soon recognized the value of broadening his sports attention to work with other teams and organizations in dozens of different sports and leagues. While many athletic contests don't get broad media coverage, they do have many participants, followers and family members who travel and spend billions of dollars collectively nationwide.
Although Chattanooga is a smaller market than Charlotte, Morgan saw the potential for attracting more sporting events to the Scenic City when he was approached a decade ago to work for the Greater Chattanooga Sports and Events Committee. Morgan and his three associates, who work to recruit and assist sporting events in Chattanooga, target and offer incentives where needed to events that offer a payoff for the local community in increased visitor spending.
In the second half of 2022, 44 state, regional and national competitions are planned in Chattanooga in at least 16 different sports that collectively are projected to involve 75,947 participants and fans booking nearly 45,000 hotel rooms. The Chattanooga Tourism Company estimates that will generate more than $52 million in direct and indirect benefits for Hamilton County.
"Hopefully, we help the event organizers and supporters do well and have a good time; and not only will the events return to us, but many of the participants may decide to come to Chattanooga on their own," Morgan says.
The biggest events planned for the rest of 2022 include the Choo Choo Blast in baseball and the Chattanooga Challenge in Lacrosse in July, the Little Debbie Ironman in September, the AVP Grass Nationals in volleyball in October, the Scenic City Fall Showcase in softball in November and the Choo Choo Bowl and TSSAA High School Football championship in December.
"We had a slowdown like everybody else during the Covid pandemic, but we're excited to be back and looking for even more events and attendees in the future, " he says.