BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE COUNTY MANAGER AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET

DATE: 6/29/2020 MEETING DATE: 8/11/2020 TO: Jeff Cole, County Manager ITEM TYPE: Consent Item THRU:

ITEM ID: 11680

BY: Brenda DeMartino, Office Manager SUBJECT: Event Sponsorship Funding

RECOMMENDATION/REQUIRED ACTION: Request approval: 1. To provide Tourist Development Tax funding for host fees and related event expenses for Lake County's bids to host the 2021 B.A.S.S. Open Series Tournament, the 2021 (FLW) Toyota Series , and the 2021 (MLF) Bass Pro Tour. 2. For the Chairman to execute the agreement with B.A.S.S., LLC, MLFLW, LLC and MLF, LLC, if selected as tournament host location.

The fiscal impact is not to exceed $185,000.00 (expenditure - TDT funding). Commission District 3.

BACKGROUND SUMMARY: has been identified by Visit Lake and the Board of County Commissioners as a target industry for sports and tourism event recruitment. Visit Lake's LakeBigBass.com brand was developed to assist in the marketing of Lake County as a bass fishing destination. Thus far, Visit Lake's recruitment efforts have resulted in multiple tournaments selecting Lake County as the host for their events.

The Office of Visit Lake is in the process of submitting multiple event bids for three fishing tournaments in 2021. Those include:

1. B.A.S.S., LLC to host a 2021 Bassmaster Eastern Open fishing tournament in February 2021 on the Harris Chain of Lakes 2. MLFLW, LLC to host a 2021 FLW Toyota Series fishing tournament in March 2021 on the Harris Chain of Lakes 3. MLF, LLC to host a 2021 MLF Bass Pro Tour fishing tournament in May 2021 on the Harris Chain of Lakes These three events have a combined projected economic impact of more than $2.7 million to the local economy and are projected to generate more than 3,400 total hotel room nights in Lake County.

The Bassmaster Eastern Open event is projected to host 450 anglers over a three-day bass fishing tournament. The FLW Toyota Series event is projected to host 300 anglers over a three-day bass fishing tournament. The MLF Bass Pro Tour event will feature 80 professional anglers over a six-day bass fishing tournament. MLF will produce and air a two-hour television show about the professional tournament that will receive 22 total hours of national television programming on Discovery Channel and Sportsman Channel. Additionally, MLF will provide more than 48 hours of live streaming coverage of the event via their website and social media channels.

The host fees for the events are as follows: 1. 2021 Bassmaster Eastern Open event host fee of $30,000 2. 2021 FLW Toyota Series event host fee of $20,000 3. 2021 MLF Bass Pro Tour event host fee of $60,000

In addition to providing the $110,000 in host fee funding, staff is requesting that the County allocate and additional $75,000 to cover other funding needs during the events, for a total request of $185,000.

Fiscal Impact: Not to exceed $185,000.00. Account No.:

Fund Name Fund Number Org Code Object Code Project Number Amount Resort Tax 1250 1260100 830480 $185,000.00 Advertised Date: Paper: Attachments:

1. Requested Action Tracking Form 2. Projected Budget - MLF Bass Pro Tour - 2021 3. Projected Budget - Bassmaster Open Series - 2021 4. Projected Budget - 2021 FLW Series - Harris Chain 5. 2021 Bass Pro Tour Request for Proposal 6. 2021 Bassmaster Open Series Request for Proposal 7. 2021 FLW Series - Harris Chain Request for Proposal

STAFF APPROVALS AND DATES: Brenda DeMartino Created/Initiated - 6/29/2020 Brandon Matulka Approved - 7/16/2020 Jennifer Barker Approved - 7/17/2020 Todd Thornton Approved - 7/17/2020 Melanie Marsh Approved - 7/23/2020 Angela Harrold Final Approval - 7/23/2020

ACTION TAKEN BY BOARD: Action: New Continued/Deferred Until: Other: