This study investigated the influence of marketing strategies on sports tourism attraction among residents in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria, focusing on event-driven promotional strategies, general marketing activities, and digital marketing tactics. A cross-sectional survey design was employed, with a sample of 200 respondents drawn from staff of the Kwara State Sports Commission, regular recreational users of Kwara Stadium, and sports goods business owners using multistage and stratified random sampling. Data were collected through a structured four-point Likert-scale questionnaire validated by three experts, yielding a Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.78, and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression at a 0.05 significance level. Results showed high mean scores for all marketing variables (event-driven promotion = 3.68, marketing activities = 3.54, digital marketing tactics = 3.72) and sports tourism attraction (3.63), indicating strong resident interest. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships among all variables, with digital marketing tactics showing the strongest correlation (r = 0.67). The regression model demonstrated that the three marketing  strategies jointly explained 46% of the variance in sports tourism attraction (R = 0.68, R² = 0.46, F = 54.32, p < 0.001), and each predictor had a significant positive effect, with event-driven promotion (β = 0.41) emerging as the strongest. The study concludes that there are significant relationships, joint influence, and combined influence of event-driven promotional strategies, marketing activities, and digital marketing tactics on sports tourism attraction among residents in Ilorin Metropolis, and recommends that stakeholders in the city integrate and strengthen these marketing strategies to enhance participation, destination branding, and the socio-economic benefits of sports tourism.