BPG Sports officially unveiled Sprinturf Performance Park on Thursday, Oct. 29, the new name for the former Kirkwood Sports Complex at 1220 River Road.

Newly renamed Sprinturf Performance Park combines state investment and BPG Sports management as Delaware looks to attract more regional and national tournaments

NEW CASTLE, Del. — For generations of Delaware soccer players and families, it has simply been Kirkwood.

Now, a $10 million investment is transforming the longtime youth sports complex south of New Castle into a centerpiece of Delaware’s growing effort to attract tournaments, athletes and sports-tourism dollars from across the region.

BPG Sports officially unveiled Sprinturf Performance Park on Thursday, Oct. 29, the new name for the former Kirkwood Sports Complex at 1220 River Road.

The 65-acre, county-owned complex has undergone significant improvements, including the conversion of four natural-grass fields to synthetic turf and the addition of lighting. The broader capital program also includes renovations to the facility’s indoor turf arena.

The complex now advertises five lighted synthetic-turf fields and seven natural-grass fields, providing space for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and other sports.

But the changes represent more than a facelift for a 34-year-old soccer complex.

They are also part of a larger effort by Delaware and private sports operators to turn the state’s athletic facilities into economic-development engines capable of bringing thousands of traveling athletes and their families to Delaware.

$4 million in state funding

Of the approximately $10 million investment at the Kirkwood property, $4 million came from Delaware’s Sports Tourism Investment Fund, according to reporting surrounding Thursday’s unveiling.

The fund was established to support capital projects that can attract sporting events and visitors to Delaware. State budgets have allocated $10 million annually to the Sports Tourism Capital Investment Fund in recent years.

Gov. Matt Meyer used Thursday’s event to argue that developing facilities on this scale requires cooperation between government and private operators.

“The reality is, with public funding alone, there’s no way we can do things like this across our county,” Meyer said at the event, according to WDEL. “It takes a strong, private partner.”

The state’s rationale is economic development.

Delaware tourism officials estimate that out-of-state visitors attending sporting events generated $231.4 million in spending at venues, hotels, restaurants and entertainment businesses, according to information presented at the unveiling.

The idea is straightforward: A weekend soccer, baseball or lacrosse tournament can bring hundreds or thousands of families into Delaware, many of whom need hotel rooms, meals, gasoline and entertainment during their stay.

BPG building a statewide sports network

The Kirkwood project also highlights the increasingly large role of Wilmington-based BPG Sports in Delaware’s youth and amateur sports business.

BPG Sports, an affiliate of the Buccini/Pollin Group, manages or operates a growing portfolio of sports facilities that includes Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, DE Turf in Frederica, Sprinturf Performance Park, WSFS Bank Sportsplex, Sports at the Beach near Georgetown and the planned Delaware Indoor Track facility.

That makes the Kirkwood investment part of a broader statewide network rather than a standalone project.

BPG describes itself as a full-service sports management company involved in athletic facilities, clubs and sporting events. Its facilities stretch from New Castle County through Sussex County.

The Sprinturf agreement adds another component.

Sprinturf entered into a multiyear agreement with BPG Sports to become the naming-rights partner for the New Castle complex and the official turf partner across BPG Sports’ portfolio.

Stephen Cavalier, senior vice president and general manager of BPG Sports, said the company had previously used Sprinturf products and viewed the broader partnership as a way to maintain consistent standards across its facilities.

Kirkwood soccer remains

For families who have spent years playing recreational soccer at Kirkwood, perhaps the most important part of the announcement is what is not changing.

The Kirkwood recreational soccer program is expected to remain at the complex.

Cavalier said during the unveiling that the existing Kirkwood Soccer Complex recreational league will continue to have a home at the facility.

Cavalier also has personal ties to Kirkwood, having played youth soccer at the complex himself.

But youth sports have changed significantly since Kirkwood opened more than three decades ago.

Travel sports, rankings and increasingly large regional tournaments have created greater demand for facilities that can host multiple games regardless of weather and continue competition into the evening.

“It has moved into a more competitive format,” Cavalier said during Thursday’s event. “These large-scale events are really what drive tournaments, and rankings, and things like that. Having facilities like this, we can host them.”

Sprinturf says the New Castle facility attracts more than 1.5 million visitors annually and hosts 15 large-scale tournaments each year, in addition to recreational programs, travel clubs, adult leagues and school teams. Those attendance figures come from the company and have not been independently verified.

A new experience for families

Families returning to the complex will notice more than artificial turf.

Two former fields were removed to make room for expanded parking as the facility prepares for larger events.

Tournament parking also represents a change for users. BPG Sports has introduced paid parking through ParkMobile, with parking enforcement at the site during applicable events.

Those changes illustrate the balancing act facing the revamped facility: maintaining Kirkwood’s traditional role as a community sports complex while developing the infrastructure needed to compete for larger tournaments.

More sports-tourism investment coming

The strategy is unlikely to end at Kirkwood.

Delaware Tourism Director Jessica Welch said during Thursday’s event that officials are particularly interested in indoor sports facilities that can attract visitors during months when outdoor tournaments are less practical.

“We want people to come here in January, February, and March, in those off-season, shoulder-season months,” Welch said. “So the indoor facilities are the ones that we are looking at.”

That could make the Kirkwood transformation an early chapter in a much larger Delaware sports-tourism buildout.

For local soccer families, however, the change is more immediate.

The Kirkwood name may no longer be on the entrance, but soccer will continue to be played on River Road — now on a complex designed to bring considerably more of the sports world to Delaware.

To Go Box

• What: Sprinturf Performance Park at Kirkwood
• Where: 1220 River Road, New Castle, DE 19720
• Facility: 65-acre multisport complex with 12 outdoor fields and an indoor turf arena
• Sports: Soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and other field sports
• Formerly known as: Kirkwood Sports Complex
• More information: SprinturfPerformancePark.com

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