Municipality of Chatham-Kent Finance, Budget and Information Technology Services Information Report To: Mayor and Members of Council From: Mike Turner – Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer Date: December 17, 2018 Subject: Final Report for the 2018 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, Princess Auto Elite 10 Event ______________________________________________________________________ This report is for the information of Council. Background In July 2017, representatives from the Chatham Granite Curling Club approached administration with a proposal to bring the Princess Auto Elite 10 - Grand Slam of Curling event, (the event), to the Thames Campus Arena. This international event brings together the 10 top-ranked female and male curling teams in the world. On August 11, 2017, representatives from Sportsnet, reviewed, and approved Thames Campus Arena as an acceptable venue for the event. In September of 2017, Council approved guaranteeing the hosting fee of $160,000, payable from the net proceeds of the event to Rogers Media Inc. This guarantee only comes into play after the net proceeds of the event are confirmed and if they are not sufficient to provide the hosting fee payment. Council also supported that $10,000 be provided to the Curling Committee to market and promote the event within the host community. Council also approved an additional $40,000 be provided toward supporting the event. These funds were directed towards producing a successful international event, with Chatham-Kent benefiting from the national and local marketing campaign that includes commercial spots, in-ice logos, and rink board advertising, all broadcast in over 20 hours of international television coverage on Rogers Sportsnet. Sportsnet’s promotion of the Municipality for the months prior to and during the event was invaluable. A thirty second promotional video highlighting all of Chatham-Kent ran throughout the event. This international exposure provided an incredible opportunity to “put Chatham-Kent on the map” and expanded recent efforts to revitalize our tourism offerings as recommended in the Tourism Development Management Plan that was approved by Council in 2015. The promotion of the Chatham-Kent name, images of our municipality, and the word of mouth shared by visitors attending the Elite 10 event was beyond monetary value. Final Report for the 2018 Princess Auto Elite 10 - Grand Slam of Curling Event 2 The Event The event was close to maximum capacity throughout the event. The entire weekend draws were sold out. The crowd’s enthusiasm was fantastic and the curling was exceptional. Anna Hasselborg from Sweden won the Women’s title and Brad Gushue of Canada won the men’s title. Sportsnet sent along the following comments “On behalf of the players, the Sportsnet crew and our event group, we would like to thank you both as well as the exceptional group of volunteers you had supporting this event. From anyone we talked to, it was the best start of a season ever. The crowds were energetic and it resonated from draw to draw. It looked fantastic on broadcast and all sponsors were very happy to be part of the event.” Sportsnet also mentioned that they will definitely be looking at a future event for Chatham- Kent in either the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 season. Municipal Contributions The Municipality has worked closely with the Chatham Granite Club’s Princess Auto Elite 10 Committee. Chaired by Fred Rose, the Committee had over 100 volunteers who helped during the event. The Municipality also had approximately 25 volunteers for the event, who assisted with the parking, box office duties and a great job was done by the municipal staff working at the facility. Expenses Municipal staff contributed approximately 300 volunteer staff hours during the event, none of which was additional expenses beyond regular staff wages. Final Report for the 2018 Princess Auto Elite 10 - Grand Slam of Curling Event 3 Per Council approval, $10,000 was contributed to the Princess Auto Elite 10 Committee for local marketing and promotions initiatives. These funds were spent on radio and paper advertisements and lottery/liquor license fees all to promote the event. Of the Council approved $40,000 for event support, all the funds listed below were spent. As noted, some of these funds were toward arena enhancements required for the event. These items will be legacy improvements at the facility. The Municipality spent slightly less than the Council approved expenses committed towards the event. Revenues Revenues raised from the tickets, sponsorship and events revenues. August 29, Revenues 2018 139,730 Ticket Sales (net of bank charges) Sponsorships 69,000 Facility Rental 25,000 Alcohol Sales (net of costs) 18,000 50/50 draws and program sales 12,329 Total Revenue 264,059 Expenses Marketing and Promotion 10,000 Ticketing Software 9,500 Sportsnet Contractual Share and Guarantee 230,265 Granite Club Contractual Share 39,135 IT Upgrades and Wi-Fi 5,459 Kitchen/Canteen Upgrades 5,152 Security, Ambulance and Miscellaneous 11,659 Total Expenses 311,170 Net Difference - CK Expenses 47,111 Final Report for the 2018 Princess Auto Elite 10 - Grand Slam of Curling Event 4 Economic Spin-off Ticket sales were 46% sold in Chatham-Kent. There was an additional 52% sold in Ontario, but outside of Chatham-Kent. 1.2% of tickets sold were in Canada, but outside of Ontario, and 1.6% were sold in the United States. In a follow up with hotels in Chatham, they were booked at over 70% capacity for the month of September, when the IPM and the Curling events helped lead the way. Using the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport TREIM model our Tourism staff were able to estimate over $1.1 million of economic spin-off during the day event. A significant contributor to the local economy. There was also significant uptake on our social media handles, during the broadcast #visitCK was used, mentioned and shared countless times during the event, including by the curlers and broadcast crews. The CK commercial was shown 12 times during the event and was available to 8.2 million homes in Canada alone, the event was also streamed to various countries as well. Financial Implications The Municipality provided the guarantee to Rogers Media Inc. that if the event has a shortfall of the $160,000 hosting fee, which was included in the forecasted income and expenses, the Municipality will cover any shortfall in a payment to Rogers Media Inc. The net proceeds of the event covered the guarantee and the Municipality did not need to cover any portion of the guarantee. The Municipality provided $10,000 towards the host requirement of spending $10,000 in marketing to promote the event within our community. These funds were spent by the Granite Club in promotion of the event. The Municipality provided an additional $37,111 towards supporting the event to receive the benefits of the national and local marketing campaign, which includes Sportsnet commercial spots, in-ice logos, and rink board advertising for Chatham-Kent, along with the tourism benefits and economic spin-offs from attracting many out of town visitors, including the curlers, their families and Sportsnet staff. Prepared by: ____________________________ Mike Turner, CPA, CMA Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer P:\RTC\FBIS - Finance Budget and Information and Technology Services\2018\RTC Dec 17 2018 Pintys Grand Slam of Curling Event Update.doc .