FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORT MYERS,
Fla. (April 11, 2002) – It sounds almost like alphabet soup when it
comes to baseball and softball for this summer’s line up of incoming events:
AAU, ASA, ISA, PAL, UPIBL, all means substantial economic impact to Lee County
during its value season.
In the summer of 2002, the Lee County Visitor and
Convention Bureau (VCB), the county’s lead agency for sport event procurement,
will see the reward for years of positioning itself as a premiere sports
destination. Along with local
industry partners, both public and private, Lee County will host a myriad of
tournaments.
Collectively, these sporting events will bring more than
250 teams and an estimated $2.9 million in economic impact to the local
community (Figures are based on per person expenditures assuming all players are
from out of town and travel with at least one other person). They include:
§
In May, the county will host the inaugural Roy
Hobbs Memorial Day Baseball Tournament, which will attract an estimated
12 teams to Lee County. This event
is a result of the success of the annual Roy Hobbs World’s Series that has
been held each November in Lee County since 1992.
§
May 17-19 will bring the Independent Softball Association
(ISA) Half Century Men’s 50 + Softball Tournament to Lee County.
This established event is expected to attract an estimated 60 teams.
§
June will bring three substantial events to the area.
Ø The first will be the “Perfect Game,” an event managed in a showcase format where the nation’s best baseball players are invited to test their skills. Nearly 300 of the nation’s top baseball prospects are scheduled to attend. The VCB is working with this organization to add four additional events to the annual calendar to augment two existing events that have been established in Lee County for the past three years. Perfect Game is the No. 1 scout-reporting agency for baseball in the United States. This event will take place June 8-9.
Ø
The ISA
Easton National Invitational Tournament will return to Lee County, June
7-9, for the second year. This
event will attract an estimated 40 teams.
Ø
The
Amateur Softball Association (ASA) will roll into town the weekend of
June 28-30 for a National Qualifier.
§
The
Amateur Athletic Union’s (AAU) 18-year-old and under National Baseball
Championships will be guests of Lee County July 13-19.
Through the efforts of the VCB, this event has been awarded to Lee County
through 2003.
§
Union
Printers International Baseball League (UPIBL)
will visit Lee County for the seventh straight year. This event will bring seven
teams to Lee County. This event has
been played since 1908, except for the six years during World War I and II and
is comprised of the nation’s largest typographical printers unions who come
together to play.
§
The
National Police Athletic League (PAL) will roll into Lee County for its
National Baseball World Series. An estimated 20-30 teams will participate in
this event July 27-Aug. 3.
§
August will bring another ASA Coed State National
Championship, which will bring an estimated 30 teams to Lee County, Aug.
9-11.
§
And lastly, the AAU will have its annual Gulf
Coast Invitational, which will bring Florida’s baseball elite to Lee
County for an estimated 60-to-80-team tournament, Aug. 30 -Sept. 2.
The mission of the Visitor and Convention Bureau is to
increase tourism in the off season (Post Easter to February 1) and to increase
awareness about Lee County as a vacation destination. The VCB is funded through a 3 percent bed tax on room nights
less than six months in length. Nearly
1.9 million tourists visit Lee County each year.
The VCB is advised by the nine-member Tourist Development Council, which
is appointed by the Board of County Commissioners and oversees the entire
tourism and development fund, provides direction on programs and budget, and
reviews quarterly VCB expenditures.
Over the last four years, the TDC and the county’s Sports
Marketing Program has funneled more than $500,000 to local organizations and
venues to promote and market sporting events.