BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Birmingham is making a bid to play host to the 2021 World Games, an 11-day event with more than 100 countries participating and an expected economic impact of $256.5 million.

Birmingham is the only U.S. city authorized to make a bid for the 2021 games and organizers are hopeful the Magic City will be the first U.S. city to play host to the games since Santa Clara, Calif., hosted the inaugural games in 1981.

Officials said no new venues have to be built and the Birmingham region has what it takes to hold a successful World Games – a multi-disciplinary sport event consisting of non-Olympic sports. The games are held every four years and are organized by the International World Games Association under the guidance of the International Olympic Committee.

"It's something we certainly can do in Birmingham," Scott Myers, executive director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, said in an interview. "It's a dream, but it's not a pipedream. It's attainable."

Myers is among the organizers who have been meeting with city and corporate leaders behind the scenes to win their support. Organizers project a $75 million budget will be needed to host the games. The majority will come from corporate support with the city and state also contributing to the effort. Ticket sales and television revenues are other sources of money organizers anticipate.

The payoff? The Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates the 2021 World Games would most likely have a $256.5 million economic impact just in out-of-town dollars. Its more conservative estimate is a $224.4 million economic impact and its most optimistic is a $288.6 million economic impact.

Beyond the direct economic benefits, the image enhancement for the city on the world stage is also an attraction for organizers. As many as 4,000 athletes from more than 100 countries are expected to compete.

Birmingham Mayor William Bell said Birmingham has had great success hosting singular sporting events and its reputation and image would get a huge bump from hosting the World Games.

"We are grateful that our city has grown into a sports and entertainment destination for world-class events," Bell said. "We have worked hard to be in position to compete and our public-private partnerships are generating short and long-term results. The opportunity to host athletes and sports enthusiasts from around the globe is an honor."

The City of Birmingham is working with a local organizing committee formed to make a bid on the games. Bids are due by the end of July. Birmingham is going up against other cities around the world who have expressed an interest in competing for the games. They are Barcelona, Spain; Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Ufa, Russia; and an unnamed city in the Middle East.

Edgar Weldon, chairman of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and longtime community leader, is serving on the local organizing committee.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to present our city and our state to a worldwide audience in an exciting fashion," Welden said in a statement. "With over 100 countries and as many as 4,000 athletes participating, it is sure to be an exciting time for our community as well."

The World Games take place over 11 days at various venues during the summer months. There are 36 International Sport Federations represented in the World Games including such sports as softball, lacrosse, field archery, gymnastics, racquetball, karate, sumo, canoeing, bowling, powerlifting and more. Many are sports trying to become Olympic events and some were previously Olympic events.

Each host city gets to add up to five invitational sports that, while not part of the World Games, could help spur interest and attendance in the other events.

Tourism officials are paying the $125,000 application fee. Bidding cities get portions of the application fee refunded as they are eliminated at various stages of the process.

"We hope they keep every dime of what we send," Myers said. "That would mean we've won the games."

The bid package itself is comprehensive, wanting evidence that a potential host city has venues, infrastructure, volunteers, budget, transportation and other elements needed to host the World Games.

"We're going to present a very strong, well put-together bid package," Myers said. "We feel like we are the city to beat."

The World Games selection committee is expected to cull the applicants down to two or three finalists in the August to September time frame. The committee will then make site visits to the finalist cities and the winning city will be announced in January 2015, giving the host city more than six years to prepare.

Birmingham would likely host the games July 15-25, but Myers said those dates can be adjusted if necessary.

Since those first World Games were held in Santa Clara in 1981, they have been held in London, England (1985); Karlsruhe, Germany (1989); The Hague, Netherlands (1993); Lahti, Finland (1997); Akita, Japan (2001); Duisburg, Germany (2005); Kaohsiung, Taipei, Taiwan (2009); Cali, Colombia (2013); and the 2017 World Games will be in Wroclaw, Poland.

The first World Games had 18 events. Last year's games in Cali had 38.

Myers visited last year's World Games in Cali along with David Benck, corporate counsel at Hibbett Sporting Goods Inc. They left believing Birmingham is more than capable of playing host to the games.

As they discussed it with officials, the prospect of making a bid gained momentum and organizers started gathering the data and reaching out to key participants to make sure Birmingham could pull it off.

Among the first things that had to be identified were the venues for the various events and housing for the athletes.

Myers said deals are in place to work with UAB, Samford University, Birmingham-Southern College and other entities to house the athletes.

"The venues are in place today to hold a first-class, top-level event," Myers said.

Myers said the Birmingham region has the 70,000 hotel rooms needed for the estimated out-of-town visitors who would stay there. Housing the athletes in the student housing of the universities keeps those rooms free for visitors, he said.

The state, county and local governments will assist in security, emergency and traffic support. Gov. Robert Bentley and the Alabama Department of Commerce support the plan as does Birmingham and Jefferson County officials, Myers said.

Public transportation is the only potential issue, but Myers said a plan will be in place to deal with moving people between many of the venues.

He said it is often through hosting major events like this that needed improvements to public systems are identified and improved.

"Public transportation could be a legacy item that is addressed as part of our preparation for the World Games," Myers said.

But even more lasting could be Birmingham's global image if it is able to host a successful 2021 World Games, he said.

"We want this to be a great time for Birmingham to shine on an international stage," Myers said.

Brian Hilson, chief executive of the Birmingham Business Alliance, said the direct economic impact of the World Games would be substantial, but the lasting effect could be immeasurable.

"In economic development, image is extremely important," Hilson said. "Reading about Birmingham and hearing about Birmingham are great, but when you have the potential to attract 100,000 visitors from every part of the world to spend time in Birmingham, that's even better."

Hilson pointed to the other cities that have hosted the World Games and those that have hosted the Olympic Games and the lasting notoriety they have.

"Birmingham will have the world stage both during the events and in the time leading up to the events," he said. "The residual impact on our image could continue for many years after."