Mar 13, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           

MARCH 2007

CONTACTS:  Nancy Hamilton, Lee Rose, Jessica Grace (239)338-3500

Sports:  Amateur and baseball spring training bring hotel room nights and new visitors to Lee County

LEE COUNTY, FL--What do professional and amateur sports mean to The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel and why is an increased Visit Florida budget important to Lee County?

Visit Florida is the organization that promotes tourism for the state. As Visit Florida seeks to increase public funding for tourism to $59 million during the 2007 Legislative Session, the additional $34.3 million in public funding will enable Visit Florida to enhance its marketing program with strength in television, direct marketing, advertising, public relations, promotions, sales and visitor service activities. Most importantly, Visit Florida will integrate network television advertising into its campaign, which previously has not been possible due to budget limitations.  Depending upon allocation, these additional dollars will provide funding for marketing efforts to promote the area's niche markets during off-season periods.  The funding should allow for new and exciting opportunities for the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau and its tourism industry partners to participate in programs and cooperative advertising on a national level.

Although Florida is the number two destination in the United States, it has lagged behind Hawaii, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia for public funding of tourism marketing. In stark contrast to Florida's stagnant funding of tourism advertising, the California Travel and Tourism Commission was awarded a $75 million increase in public funding over the next two years. Furthermore, Las Vegas spends more than $46 million in advertising domestically with an $8.7 million increase in the past year. 

In sports, the Lee County statistics speak for themselves.  In 2006, amateur sports brought more than 60,000 new visitors to Lee County primarily in slower tourism months, 72,000 hotel room nights and $44 million in economic impact.  Baseball spring training resulted in an economic impact of more than $50 million with 230,000 paying spectators attending the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins games.

Jeff Mielke, executive director of the Lee County Sports Authority would like to see additional funds that would enable Visit Florida to find ways to better partner with the Florida Sports Foundation in attracting large sports events and potential sport business relocations.

Currently, the Lee County Sports Authority attends over a dozen sports-related conferences and conventions over the course of a year.  The organization bids on events, meets with event owners, and networks with current clients.  Out-of-state competition is strong.

According to Mielke, there are more than 350 other sports commissions or destination sports marketing groups in the United States.  The Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham areas of North Carolina have become major competitors in the sports industry.  These communities have invested tens of millions of dollars into amateur sports facilities and as a result, some of the best in the country can be found in these communities.  Arizona has become a major competitor for baseball events.  Not only have they lured several of the area's spring training teams away from Florida, but they also market those facilities to youth baseball organizations as our competitors.  The facilities are more modern, with many more fields within the same complexes.

Colleen Depasquale, general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Myers,

says that sporting events are vital to her property.  She explains that inland properties that do not have the lure of the beach reap the benefits of tournaments.  On a typical tournament weekend, her property could pick up anywhere from $2,500 to $7,000 in revenue depending on how many teams are staying there.  Players come into area, enjoy themselves and will consider returning for a vacation at a later date.

An increase in spending to market sports would mean programs could be put into place that would assure that the current sports business stays in the area and appropriately allocated dollars would go toward increasing market share and funding additional facilities.

To summarize, professional and amateur sporting events have high yields on investments for sales tax and economic impact.  Unfortunately, other states have also figured out the value of this market segment and are competing for the most lucrative events and sports teams.  Having amateur sports tournaments generates thousands of dollars in sales taxes while providing funding for infrastructure that residents may enjoy year-round.

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