Visit Overland Park Advances Sports Tourism With The Hiring Of Director Of Sports And Hotel Services

OVERLAND PARK, KS – Visit Overland Park (Visit OP) has named Chad McFarland as Director of Sports and Hotel Services. McFarland will serve as the liaison between national sports events rights holders and respective entities in Overland Park including the Convention Center, hotel community, sports facilities and venues. This new role, alongside Vice President of Sports Tourism and Events Eric Olson, will continue to engage Overland Park hotels, sports facilities and venues in an effort to maximize economic impact for the community.

The hiring of McFarland is a step in the advancement of Visit OP’s Sports Tourism Strategy announced last fall – which charged the organization to leverage the community’s impressive array of sports facilities to drive increased overnight visitor spending and economic impact in Overland Park.

“This is a pivotal step for Visit Overland Park and the Overland Park hotel and sports communities, as we now have increased ability to focus on attracting sporting events that align with our goals as a community, and servicing those events to our greatest ability,” said Olson. “In a short amount of time we have made incredible strides in connecting the OP sports and events community and look forward to continued engagement with stakeholders."

McFarland comes to Visit Overland Park as the 2023 Vice President and long-time Board of Directors member at The 3&2 Baseball Club of Johnson County and was recently voted onto the Board of Directors for the Kansas Sports Officials Association. He has an extensive and successful sports officiating career, serving both high school and collegiate sports such as football, baseball and basketball.

“Overland Park as a visitor destination has much to offer, especially with its extensive spread of sports facilities,” said McFarland. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of a team whose work will improve OP’s economic impact through sports and the visitor experience.”

Advancing sports tourism for the city of Overland Park is one of several strategies the Visit OP organization is currently supporting.

“Visit Overland Park continues to gain traction in our sports tourism strategy,” said Warren Wilkinson, President of Visit OP. “This is just the first of many strategies we are deploying to advance our efforts in elevating Overland Park as an exceptional place to visit, live and work.”

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About Visit Overland Park:

Visit Overland Park serves as the official marketing organization for the city of Overland Park, Kansas. The organization is responsible for promoting the city as an attractive travel destination and enhancing its public image as a dynamic place to visit, live and work. By doing so, Visit Overland Park strengthens the economic position of the city through tourism promotion.  For more information, experience VisitOP.com.