About the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission

The Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC) was created in 1987 by the Minnesota State Legislature to promote the economic and social benefits of sports. Since then, the MASC has made enormous strides in accomplishing its goals. Minnesota has become a role model state for its proactive methods of creating benefits from amateur sports. The MASC has been at the forefront of this effort.

The MASC is best known for three things

1. Its governance of the National Sports Center (NSC) in Blaine, the largest amateur sports campus in the world, and the flagship facility in the MASC’s stable of amateur sports venues. The NSC is the most-visited sports facility in Minnesota, with four million visitors per year. It generates nearly $40 million of out-of-state economic impact annually.

 

2. Creating amateur sports events which attract out-of-state attendance, generating economic impact for the state. Many of these events are held at the NSC, including Schwan’s USA CUP, which attracts nearly 1,000 teams every July.

 

3. Fostering public/private and state/local partnerships. Many MASC programs have utilized this model, including sports facility construction and the Mighty Ducks and Mighty Kids grant programs.

MASC Goals

Create economic impact development through amateur sport

• »  By developing annual sport events, camps and programs.
• »  By attracting major sport events to Minnesota.
• »  By assisting Minnesota communities in developing local sports tourism.

Create the maximum opportunity for sport participation for all Minnesotans

• »  By sponsoring the Star of the North Games, an annual Olympic-style multi-sport event.
• »  By targeting special programs to increase opportunity for women, seniors, and disadvantaged.
• »  By assisting local communities in the creation of annual events and local sports commissions.
• »  By supporting Minnesota’s amateur sport associations and organizations.

Establish Minnesota as a national model for the Olympic and amateur sport movement

• »  By developing sport event and training facilities for many winter and summer sports.
• »  By establishing relationships with the National Governing Bodies and other sports organizations.