Larry Lucchino, one of the owners of the Boston Red Sox, is coming to the University of Southern Maine in Portland on Thursday, April 16, to keynote the Business of Sports Symposium, an effort to better promote the role sports can play in growing Maine’s economy.

The presence of Lucchino, who has helped bring three World Series trophies to Red Sox Nation and who is especially interested in promoting the Red Sox’ Double A affiliate Portland Sea Dogs, could be the catalyst to propel our region into the national psyche as a destination for major sporting events. He sees the team as a potential pillar on which the state can build and expand its sports-related economy. Other symposium speakers will present their thoughts on promotion, as well, ranging from officials with the internationally known TD Beach to Beacon road race in Cape Elizabeth and rising Maine Red Claws basketball team, to organizers of the wild and crazy Tough Mudder endurance event in Westbrook and the BikeMaine cycling tour, which is gaining in popularity and notoriety after only two editions.

While many look to manufacturing, high-tech, fisheries and the medical field as places to improve Maine’s economy, the symposium is rightly pointing out that professional teams and other sporting events play a role – and a big one – in powering the local economy.

Maine has much to tout when it comes to pro teams. It’s the home of the Red Claws, Portland Pirates hockey team and Sea Dogs. Sure, Portland is known for its cultural, dining and entertainment offerings, and these attributes surely help the local economy. One look at all the new hotels on the peninsula shows how people are flocking to the city. But the city and Greater Portland should really build off the buzz this symposium will generate to burnish its reputation as a destination for sports enthusiasts.

Beyond the three professional teams – which alone would make similarly sized cities around America envious – Greater Portland is home to many excellent tournaments, races and events, and they’re only growing in stature and attendance:

• Last year’s Tough Mudder drew more than 10,000 people to Westbrook.

• The annual TD Beach to Beacon road race, directed by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson of Freeport, is a wildly popular event that draws top runners from around the world to an oceanside course that ends at one of the world’s most scenic lighthouses. And online registration fills up in a matter of minutes.

• The growing sport of triathlon is also adding to the sporting mix in Greater Portland. The Tri for a Cure women’s triathlon has become a big-time draw for South Portland. And in Old Orchard Beach, the REV 3 triathlon grows in popularity and prestige each year.

• Two weekends ago, the Professional Bowlers Association was in Portland for a tournament, the first time the PBA has come to Maine. The two-day affair, broadcast by ESPN, was considered a raging success with bowlers saying it was one of the best on the PBA circuit.

• Professional fishermen, and their sleek low-profile boats, come to Point Sebago Resort in Casco for the Sebago Lake Bass Open to compete for $25,000 in prize money.

• While there are no professional cycling races, Maine is becoming known for its recreational multi-day tours. The Trek Across Maine is a 180-mile, three-day endurance event from Bethel to Belfast to benefit the American Lung Association. The Dempsey Challenge raises money for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing in Lewiston. And, of course, the 350-mile, seven-day BikeMaine event is becoming an epic ride that showcases the state’s back roads. 2014’s event, which started and ended in Westbrook, brought in an estimated $395,000 in direct economic impact to the region.

• In the winter, the state is more than blessed with snow and ice-related events. We have the big three ski resorts – Sunday River in Bethel, Saddleback in Rangeley and Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, the largest ski resort in the eastern United States. Sugarloaf hosted the U.S. Alpine Championships a few weeks ago. We also have major ice-fishing tournaments and an extensive snowmobile trail system.

• And we have excellent cross-country skiing facilities at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester and the Maine Winter Sports Center in Caribou, which has hosted Nordic World Cup races.

While the goal of the symposium is to attract even more visitors to come to these events and venues, the other motive is trying to get people to understand the economic ripple effect. Many of these events and teams are relatively new, and their massive popularity shows there is clearly a huge appetite among residents.

We look forward to hearing what Lucchino and the others have to say and how local officials can better publicize their events, but, more importantly, we hope his visit and the symposium in general casts a national spotlight on Maine, and on Greater Portland in particular, as a place that oozes with sports-related potential.

–John Balentine, managing editor