A national honor for the Quad Cities - in sports. Thanks to the success in recent years of the Quad Cities River Bandits and the Quad City Mallards, Sports Business Journal says this is now the number one minor league sports market in the country.
That's according to the industry publication's latest biennial ranking of more than 200 communities across the country with nearly 400 teams.
Joe Taylor is president and ceo of the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, and chairman of the Quad Cities Sports Commission. He says the two teams scored well in every facet of the Sports Business Journal study.
Taylor calls the Sports Business Journal the "gold standard" for reporting and credibility in the business of sports.
Dave Heller is the owner of the River Bandits.
Since he took over the minor league baseball team in 2008, attendance has jumped nearly 75 per cent.
The convention and visitors bureau says more than half of all hotel room nights in the Quad Cities can be attributed to these two teams, and other local sports events.
