STATE COLLEGE — During the annual State of Tourism Breakfast, hosted by the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance, on Tuesday, July 9, Eric Engelbarts, HVSEA executive director, announced Happy Valley will host the 2026 State Games of America.
The 2026 State Games of America, an Olympic-style sports festival for medal winners of National Congress of State Games-member events, will take place from July 28, 2026, through Aug. 2, 2026.
Competitors will participate in more than 30 sports, and more than 8,000 athletes and supporters are expected to participate in the event.
“(U.S.) sports related travel in 2023 was a staggering $52 billion in direct spending, resulting in over $128 billion in economic impact, leading to the creation of over 750,000 jobs across the country,” Engelbarts said when sharing about the impact sports has on Happy Valley. “The number of sports drivers shows a 7% increase to almost 205 million people, and 63% of the markets reporting (reported that) sports were the leading generator of room nights in their destination. So, sports does equal business.”
Engelbarts noted that Pennsylvania is in the top four for sports tourism impact in the United States behind Florida, Texas and California.
“We’re excited to be coming to State College in Happy Valley for the State Games of America 2026. The National Congress of State Games was created in 1986 to serve as the official association of state games organizations around the country. The state games movement began with the Empire State Games in New York in 1978 and has grown to include more than 30 states, 275,000 participants, 30,000 volunteers and thousands of spectators annually,” shared Chip Hofler, vice president of the National Congress.
“The mission of the National Congress of State Games is to support state games’ member organizations and the promotion of health, fitness and character building through multi-sport competitions and competitions and physical activity. The NCSG is a member of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Affiliate Organizations Council and has received the USOPC rings of gold in the International Olympic Committee’s sport for all.”
Hofler noted that the first State Games of America was held in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1999 and has been held every other year since.
“It is an Olympic style event featuring competition between state games and medal winners from across the nation,” he said.
Hofler noted that the most recent games, held in Des Moines in 2022, had over 8,000 athletes and an economic impact of more than $7 million to the host community.
The announcement by HVSEA was one of many projects that will be used as a tourism development tool over the coming years in Centre County.
