FY22 PBCSC Marketing Plan

Palm Beach County Sports Commission FY2022 Marketing Plan Executive Summary

MISSION

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission attracts sporting events and activities to Palm Beach County to enhance occupancy of hotel room nights; to maximize the positive economic impact of these events and activities on the Palm Beach County economy; to maximize the utilization of County facilities; to utilize events and activities to promote the image of Palm Beach County as a sports tourism destination on a national and international level.

COVID-19 IMPACTS ON SPORTS TOURISM

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the sports world. The coronavirus outbreak has forced organizations within the sports industry to make difficult and heartbreaking decisions regarding their events and business models. Nearly every major sporting event was canceled, relocated, or postponed after the onset of the pandemic.

Sports tourism represents a substantial value to the U.S. economy. However, this economic value has been severely limited by the coronavirus pandemic that has especially damaged the sports events and tourism industry. Nearly all industries are impacted by COVID-19, but to varying degrees. Given that sports and events are considered non-essential services and typically involve the gathering of many participants and spectators, which increases the risk of transmission, the sports tourism industry was significantly impacted for much of 2020 and 2021. Given the event cancellations/postponements, travel restrictions, and ensuing job losses and budget cuts resulting from COVID-19, the sports tourism industry suffered throughout the United States. Some sportsrelated organizations did not survive the pandemic.

Over the ten months from March to December 2020, an estimated 75 million fewer people traveled to sports events within the United States, compared to 2019, resulting in a loss of $20 billion in direct spending. Palm Beach County experienced a significant loss of sports tourism benefits. In 2020, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission lost 77 booked events due to cancellation and relocation. The loss of those events resulted in an elimination of 85,519 booked room nights and a projected economic impact reduction of $59.8 million. In 2021, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission lost 46 events due to cancellation and relocation. Losing those 46 events resulted in a removal of 50,394 booked room nights and a projected economic impact loss of $35.2 million.

Although the Palm Beach County Sports Commission endured its most challenging year in its history, the recovery of Palm Beach County’s sports tourism economy is proceeding. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission, in collaboration with the Tourist Development Council, implemented a phased recovery strategy for sports tourism. The plan was successful, and our Sports Commission realized tourism production during the summer of 2021 that mirrors pre-pandemic conditions in 2019. The Sports Commission’s portfolio of events during the summer of 2021 experienced levels of volume, reach, and potency that represent nearly a full recovery.

ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES

• Visitor Acquisition: Building Back Better in 2022 - The Sports Commission’s tourism output returned to pre-pandemic normalcy in June and July of 2021. However, much work is needed to build the Sports Commission’s annual event portfolio back to its pre-pandemic stature. In FY 2020, the Sports Commission’s event portfolio experienced a 37% reduction after COVID-19 shutdowns were implemented with half of the year remaining. During FY 21, Quarter 1, the Sports Commission underwent a 40% loss in hosted events. Sports-related room nights dropped by 41% in FY 21, Quarter 1 (year over year comparison to FY 20).

o Fall/Winter Sports Events – Our Sports Commission is actively looking to build back sports tourism during the Fall and Winter, which is a need time for Palm Beach County’s hotel industry.

Strategies being deployed include direct marketing and recruitment towards sports markets that have an active event calendar from October to January; concentration on outdoor sports, which offers Florida destinations a competitive advantage due its ability to host sports on year-round basis with an appealing warm/mild climate; pursuit of several game-changing events, including the National Hockey Festival (world’s largest field hockey tournament), Perfect Game WWBA

Fall Championships (additional baseball events with 100+ team participation rates), USA BMX

Sunshine State Nationals (premier BMX event in Florida), US Youth Soccer Olympic Development

Program & Development Player League Regional & National Championships (200+ team tournaments with growing participation rates), and much more. o Summer Sports Events - The primary timeframe of emphasis for recruiting and developing events is the summer. Hotel occupancy rates are at their lowest during the summer months; therefore, our Sports Commission will prioritize its efforts to enroll events during this period.

Several targets offer strong sports tourism products for the summer. The youth sports marketplace lends itself to the summer timeframe, more than any other market segment since families may travel with their children freely (outside of the school-year calendar). Summer is also a time when events tailored for Florida athletes thrive. As a dominant state for sports,

Florida is home to an impressive array of state sports associations and governing bodies, offering a variety of sports events and activities that create drive market tourism. Tournaments, showcases, invitationals, qualifiers, championships, camps, and clinics with a statewide reach will are abundant during the summer. These events are more likely to maintain its tourism potency if the Delta variant negatively impacts traveler sentiment. To help develop tourism in the summer months, a focus is placed on sports with active calendars during the summer, such as baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, softball, aquatic sports, tennis, golf, and more.

• Sports in Focus - The versatility and variety of facilities, venues, and infrastructure for sports is Palm

Beach County’s competitive advantage in terms of developing sports tourism. The changeability of venues combined with the numerous types of public and private facilities that live in Palm Beach County allowed our Sports Commission to program 50+ different types of sports as vehicles to create tourism.

This is a key characteristic of Palm Beach County’s ability to remain in the top five of Florida’s chief sports tourism destinations. While the Sports Commission plans to host over 170 events in FY 22, representing approximately 50 different types of sports, several specific types of sports will be a primary focus. These sports offer significant tourism impacts and some will be more adaptable during potential instabilities with the COVID-19 pandemic.

o National Governing Bodies / Olympic Sports- The National Governing Bodies (NGB’s) are organizations that have a regulatory or sanctioning function over their specific sport. Every sport has a different governing body that can define the way the sport operates through its affiliated clubs and societies. There are a total of 47 National Governing Bodies that exist under the

umbrella of the United States Olympic Committee. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has formed partnerships with many of these governing bodies to host national events, which create tourism impacts and has led to future business opportunities. Examples of these partnerships include USA Baseball, United States Golf Association, USA Gymnastics, USA Field

Hockey, US Soccer Federation, USA Water Ski, USA Wrestling, United States Equestrian

Federation, USA Track & Field, USA Swimming, USA Volleyball, USA Softball, USA Water Polo,

USA Badminton, and more. Marketing campaigns specifically tailored to the NGBs/Olympic sports will occur throughout the year. A full-court press on recruitment, bid submittal, and networking with past clients and prospective partners to obtain events under the NGB umbrella, will vigorously take place. Finally, the Sports Commission will attend ACES (Association of Chief

Executives for Sport) Conference in Colorado Springs. This will be a significant business development effort to identify new business, as it relates to Olympic sports, for 2022 and beyond. o Baseball - As Florida’s only home to two (2) Major League Baseball (MLB) Spring Training complexes, which accommodate four (4) MLB teams, Palm Beach County is the Spring Training

Capital of Florida. Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium provide two marquee baseball stadiums and 26-MLB regulation diamonds, over the two sites. Baseball was the dominant sport that led to a full recovery of sports tourism during summer. Our Sports

Commission hosted a variety of national baseball tournaments, which generated one-third of the room night production from May – September. These events cater to the high school, collegiate, and adult age groups. In FY 22, the Sports Commission plans to build an even better collection of summer events while rebuilding the fall’s slate of baseball tournaments that were relocated or impeded by COVID-19 o Golf - Palm Beach County is Florida’s Golf Capital and it’s no surprise that our Sports Commission has utilized this sport on a year-round basis to drive visitation and room night generation. Golf is a vehicle to attract leisure visitors seeking to play on courses designed by the greatest architects in the game. Our Sports Commission also consistently utilizes Palm Beach County’s 170+ golf courses to host a variety of golf-related tournaments, both on an amateur and professional level. Considering Palm Beach County’s vast golf landscape, our Sports Commission will continue to be a leader in recruiting and hosting some of the nation’s premier amateur golf events. In 2021, our Sports Commission hosted 35 state, regional, and national golf events. Golf is one of our county’s identifying tourism products and represents 20% of the Sports

Commission’s event portfolio. Golf will always be a cornerstone for sports tourism in The Palm

Beaches and has persevered as a tourism generator during the pandemic. In fact, golf was the first sport to return during the COVID-19 pandemic, from a leisure perspective. Golf was also one of the first sports to come back from an event perspective, in the post-COVID-19 world.

Distancing is easy to achieve within the sport, which will make it more resilient to new threats posed by coronavirus variants. County Sports Commission is working to support a return of the

LPGA in January of 2022. Our Sports Commission plans to further golf’s powerful position in

Palm Beach County by building more layers of statewide and national golf events. o Racquet Sports - Palm Beach County is home to 1,400 tennis courts and an 8,000-seat stadium.

Currently, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission is hosting a variety of tennis events sanctioned by several event rights holders. Our Sports Commission supports the Delray Beach

Open, which is one of two ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour events in Florida. Our

Sports Commission has cultivated several United States Tennis Association (USTA) events in

Palm Beach County, which are creating tourism year-round. Our development efforts are gaining momentum in the pickleball space. Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America and

USA Pickleball reported that the number of pickleball courts has more than doubled, since 2012.

Both tennis and pickleball have distancing built within the sport’s framework, which makes them resilient in a COVID-19 era. Tennis joined golf as one of the first events to return to play after

the pandemic shutdown of Palm Beach County’s sports scene. FY 22 development plans include the recruitment and hosting of racquet sports to drive tourism from the drive and fly markets. o Equestrian Sports Tourism - Equestrian sports continue to represent the largest sports tourism product in Palm Beach County. The Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), which is owned by

Equestrian Sports Productions (ESP) and takes place at the Palm Beach International Equestrian

Center (PBIEC), is a 3-month long event that generates more bed tax revenue and economic impact compared to any other annual event in The Palm Beaches. WEF attracted visitors from all 50 U.S. states and 26 nations in 2021. Equestrian sports moved forward, despite challenges presented by COVID-19. The nature of equestrian sports allows for distancing to be achieved easily and Equestrian Sports Productions (ESP) worked with the United States Equestrian

Federation (USEF) on protocols to activate show jumping events during the pandemic. ESP successfully recuperated its Summer Series after the pandemic’s shut down in 2020.

Participation demand increased due to Florida’s growing desirability as a sports destination during the pandemic and the Holiday & Horses Circuit / Winter Equestrian Festival attracted more domestic and international riders. Equestrian Sports Productions also expanded WEF by two weeks, which inspired equine sport participants to stay and play longer in The Palm Beaches.

The Sports Commission is partnering with the United States Polo Association (USPA) Global

Licensing in growing the polo season’s reach and tourism impact. The Gauntlet of Polo was formed, which is a series of three high-goal Polo tournaments: the C.V. Whitney Cup the USPA

Gold Cup, and the U.S. Open Polo Championship. This partnership has led to a national television broadcast of the U.S. Open Polo Championship. The Sports Commission’s commitment to the equestrian sports market will be robust in FY 22. o Lacrosse - Lacrosse served as one of the largest vehicles for sports tourism, economic impact, and hotel rooms, prior to COVID-19. In the fall of 2019, the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse

Coaches Association (IWLCA) Presidents Cup took place in Palm Beach County (International

Polo Club and Village Park). This event brought 460 lacrosse teams, nearly 9,000 high school lacrosse players, 20,000 spectators, and 1,000+ college coaches and recruiters. This event was the largest lacrosse showcase taking place on the globe. The IWLCA Presidents Cup created 14,000+ hotel room nights and $11.2 million in visitor spending. Unfortunately, this event was relocated to Tampa in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will occur in Tampa and Dallas in 2021–23. The IWLCA President’s Cup represents our Sports Commission’s largest casualty to

COVID-19. After becoming the nation’s premier destination for amateur lacrosse in 2019, losing the IWLCA Presidents Cup is an enormous setback. Despite this setback, our Sports Commission recognizes that building a foundation of lacrosse events will be a great catalyst for sports tourism. Replacing the IWLCA Presidents Cup in 2022 will be nearly impossible. However, lacrosse provides an opportunity for our Sports Commission to build its event portfolio back after it was diminished due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our development plan for lacrosse will include partnerships with national organizations in addition to grassroots strategies that include alliances with local lacrosse organizations. o Soccer (Youth, Collegiate & Global markets) - The sport of soccer continues to offer strong tourism products. Soccer participation in the United States increased in 2019 for the first time since 2015. After the United States failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, participation dwindled; however, in 2019 not only were more Americans playing soccer, but participation numbers increased by 4.5 percent in one year, which is a significant rise for the third-mostpopular sport in the United States. Now, nearly 12 million people in the U.S. participate in soccer.

Travel soccer also offers highly participated events taking place in the summer and fall. These reasons are why soccer will remain a target for the Sports Commission in FY 22. o Palm Beach County Convention Center - Creating business opportunities for the Palm Beach

County Convention Center is a priority for our Sports Commission. The Convention Center’s exhibit hall is 100,000 square feet and with 1,800 tiered seats and connecting hotel, it can be

transformed into a venue for indoor sports. In 2021, the Palm Beach County Convention Center was home to (4) sports events, which included a marquee regional gymnastics meet, a statewide volleyball tournament, Deka-Fit – owned by Spartan Race, and a 200+ team national basketball tournament. The following is currently happening to grow the presence of sports events for the Convention Center in 2022: Accumulating a plan to bring back the 200+ national basketball tournament, the regional volleyball tournament, and Deka Fit. Pursuing a list of new targets for 2022, which includes the United States Table Tennis Open, Eminence Cup (DanceSport), Sunshine State Games, indoor pickleball, and more. Concentration is primarily on short-term business to avoid the Food & Beverage minimum, which excludes most amateur sports events.

SPORTS MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

• Marketing Research: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission along with a top national research firm developed and deployed a sports destination business intelligence survey targeted at event rights holders, promoters, and national governing bodies. This research survey examined the demographics and psychographics of our customers and their decision-making processes. The survey asked respondents to rate our destination against a competitive set. This insight has been extremely valuable in informing marketing efforts as we work to recruit events from many of these same rights holders. • Search Engine Optimization - Search engine optimization and an effectively designed website are critical to promote and sell our destination. Over 26% of event owners indicated that they are more likely to use the website of a sports commission when researching destinations. As Our sports commission can increase the quantity and quality of traffic through organic search engine results, this, in turn, gives us more opportunities to convert qualified prospects into customers. Our website is an integral marketing tool that showcases and informs our sports event partners, potential clients, sports tourist, and the local sports community on facilities, sporting events, membership, attractions, hotels, and other Palm Beach

County assets. Using this data, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission debuted a redesigned website to enhance the brand and provide the best service possible for all visitors. In FY 22, the Palm Beach

County Sports Commission will continue to integrate multi-media galleries with videos and photos into the website that showcase our many offerings in the county. • Digital Social Media Promotion - The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to integrate social media into its marketing strategies. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will utilize this medium to promote brand awareness, provide additional support to event owners, and be a tool to engage and promote partners. Social media strategies will include using social media influencers, specialized advertising campaigns to grow a targeted audience, increasing live streaming capabilities at events, and special promotions delivered on our social media vehicles to increase audience engagement. • Trade Shows - When selecting a destination, the majority of survey respondents (68.8%) who had not previously hosted an event in Palm Beach County before said they use tradeshows to get ideas for destinations in which to host their events. Additionally, when asked how they prefer to be solicited by

Sports Commissions this group is much more likely to say they prefer contact at tradeshows and exhibitions. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will attend the sports travel industry’s most effective conferences, conventions, and tradeshows staged throughout the United States to further its networking, relationship building, and sales efforts. • Familiarization Tours: When moving prospective event clients through the sales process, site visits or familiarization tours are one of the most beneficial event development strategies. Site visits allow for an event owner to explore potential sports venues while experiencing Palm Beach County’s tourism assets, such as hotels, restaurants, and attractions. In FY 22, our Sports Commission will continue to pursue this winning strategy while creating several new group FAM’s by sport discipline for key event rights holders and event promoters. Through our market research, we found that 81% of event owners will not select a destination unless they tour the location in person first. • High Quality Service: 98% of event owners, rights holders, and governing bodies surveyed indicated that they were satisfied by the level of service provided by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The

Palm Beach County Sports Commission believes that our commitment to event servicing separates us from the competition. Our belief is that event servicing is the primary initiative that results in the repeat event business. Our event management support includes managing an event in its entirety assisting with various operational requirements, such as venue support, hotel, and housing solutions, logistical needs, event supplies, sourcing event equipment and service providers, transportation, volunteer recruitment, permitting, event layouts, and marketing and public relation strategies. • Marketing Campaigns - The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to develop marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness and promote Palm Beach County as a premier sports destination. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s marketing and communication efforts focus on promoting Palm Beach County’s sports assets and capabilities. The Palm Beach County Sports

Commission will utilize specialty print and digital mediums in leading industry trade publications to promote our message of “Just Bring Your Game.” The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to promote The Palm Beaches as a premier sports destination through digital and print mediums in leading trade publications, such as Sports Travel Magazine, Sports Destination Magazine,

SportsEvents Magazine, the Sports Business Journal, and Sports Planning Guide & Directory. Advertising campaigns will also be planned to coincide with industry trade shows and national conventions. This provides an additional instrument and brand awareness during meetings with prospective event clients that occur during the trade shows.

AIRLIFT INBOUND MARKETING SUPPORT

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to promote the Palm Beach International Airport in FY 22. Commercials and print/digital ads for the airport will be included in assets as we engage in our marketing plan and position our sports commission in trade publications, digital assets, and collateral.

PERFECT WEEK OF SPORTS IN THE PALM BEACHES

• The Perfect Week of Sports, first held in 2020, is a marketing initiative of the Palm Beach County Sports Commission with an emphasis on promoting The Palm Beaches as a premier professional sports destination. The ‘Perfect Week’ is a collection of diverse professional sports events that take place with a calendar week in Palm Beach County. The Perfect Week of Sports has shown great potential in its first iteration and, with an even stronger marketing push in 2022, can continue to take its position as a landmark of The Palm Beaches sports calendar. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will partner with the other TDC agencies to help promote this special tourism week. The FY 22 strategy for the Perfect Week of Sports will include earned media, with public relations and television coverage, owned media through social media, promotion collateral, and website campaigns, and paid media with video production and digital media ads.

CHAMPION EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

• In order to position Palm Beach County as a premier destination for sports, being a champion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is imperative and the most pivotal pillar towards being a leader in sports tourism. Our Sports Commission must nurture an environment that celebrates diversity and demonstrates that people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, and capability are embraced. • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training: Diversity in the workplace is a benefit to any organization and is crucial to professional success. In the sports and tourism industries, diversity is a direct reflection of the customers we serve and is vital for success. Our Sports Commission has contracted with an EDI expert consultant and Barry University to help advise and improve our processes, procedures, and practices to ensure their alignment with DEI best practices. In addition, Barry University provided training sessions in the area of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for all Sports Commission staff. This effort

underscores the value and benefits of working in an environment enriched by diversity and encourages essential skills to improve cooperation and maximize a diverse workplace's values. • Marketing Audit: A recent marketing audit, specifically to measure diversity and inclusion within the

PBCSC marketing and media campaigns and materials, revealed that there has been a strong diversity representation in photos and other depictions used when promoting the organization, destination, and its events. This was true of both digital and print materials. PBCSC currently uses a variety of advertising sources that reach a wide range of diverse populations. PBCSC has an ongoing diversity outreach strategy, where it targets organizations with diversity-specific events. • Recognizing Local Sports Organizations for Champion of Equity & Diversity: The Palm Beach County

Sports Commission created a new award, to be distributed at its annual Palm Beach Sports Hall of Fame

Celebration. “The Champion of Equity & Diversity in Sports” is presented to organizations or individuals that have a profound impact on our community through creating an equitable and inclusive environment in sports. The African American Golfers Hall of Fame received the inaugural award. The Palm Beach

County Sports Commission will create additional recognitions for those local organizations that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. • Business Connect: Business Inclusion & Diversity Connect is the Palm Beach County Sports Commission special event supplier diversity and inclusion program which will be launched in 2022. The Business

Connect program works proactively to create opportunities for experienced, qualified, and certified businesses from local and diverse communities to compete for supply opportunities with Palm Beach

County Sports Commission hosted events. This program provides a resource and encourages events to source products and services from these previously underused and well-qualified suppliers. The goal is to curate a robust list of 50+ event-ready Palm Beach County minority-owned businesses in 12 business lines to work with event producers hosting events in Palm Beach County. These businesses will be designated ‘approved’ vendors and will be added to the Business Inclusion & Diversity Connect Resource

Guide of certified businesses ready to compete for opportunities. The Business Inclusion & Diversity

Connect program also offers networking, educational, and business development opportunities to encourage greater business success for each participant. • Event Development: The Sports Commission will implement an aggressive inclusion strategy to attract specific sports events that celebrate diversity. Our Sports Commission has a lengthy list of targeted organizations events, which specifically commemorates diversity, equity, and inclusion.

OUTLOOK

• Although the Palm Beach County Sports Commission endured its most challenging year in its history, the recovery of Palm Beach County’s sports tourism economy is proceeding. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission continues to strive for excellence and is always looking toward the future. As the Sports Commission continues to grow stronger and achieve new benchmarks, we will convey this success and enhanced capabilities to the sports travel industry. Our message to the sports travel industry continues to be – “Just Bring Your Game”.

Palm Beach County Sports Commission FY2022 Marketing Plan

DELTA VARIANT

Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s comeback from COVID-19 was realized this summer when sports-

related visitors and room nights returned to pre-pandemic numbers. The Palm Beach County Sports

Commission’s production for the combination of June and July topped that of any previous year. After hosting

national and international events this summer and observing pent-up demand drive participation to record

levels for some sports, the confidence for a robust FY 22 was soaring. However, the Delta variant of COVID-19

presents a threat to the revival of sports tourism. This variant could obstruct the Sports Commission’s

momentum due to its growing infection and hospitalization rates. If the sports tourism marketplace deteriorates

or local and state governments apply constraints on activities, our Sports Commission will be prepared to react.

The following outlines actions that would take place:

• Our Sports Commission would revisit the Palm Beach County Tourism Recovery Plan, specifically for

sports tourism events, which was established after the state of Florida declared a state of emergency

during March of 2020.

• Focus is already being placed on sports that have great adaptability to distancing, such as golf, tennis,

equestrian, endurance, aquatic, and individual sports.

• Emphasis is placed on drive market events and concentration is being applied to garner a greater

understanding of participant and athlete origins for events (understanding local, statewide, regional, or

global origination for attendees).

Our Sports Commission would also consider falling back to the early stages of the sports event recovery

plan, which would create a primary focus on drive market events. Drive market events initiated the

recovery of sports tourism events and will be more stable regarding traveler sentiment and government

restrictions. Participant origin for events will be analyzed and favorability weighed for those events with

team/athlete origins on the east coast or within a 12-hour drive. These events could be transformed into

drive market products.

• Event-related backup plans are being established by working to secure more venue space (fields,

diamonds, courts, etc..) over multiple facilities, which would allow event owners to spread out

competitions to achieve more separation and distancing.

• Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation, which oversees a multitude of sports facilities and

programming, has been a significant resource during COVID-19. Parks and Recreation constructed

excellent guidance and protocols for return to play, after the onset of COVID-19. If the Delta variant

causes government-mandated restrictions, our Sports Commission will have constant communication

with Parks and Recreation.

• Our Sports Commission will also work with local sports organizations to measure the sentiment and

opinions of athletes, coaches, and their families regarding sports participation. This will be a measuring

tool to understand the viability of event hosting on a statewide, regional, and national level with the

Delta variant rising in numbers.

*The above steps are fluent and flexible, based on information presented by health officials.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MISSION PG.2

VISITOR ACQUISITION STRATEGY PG.2

COVID-19 IMPACTS ON SPORTS TOURISM PG.2

DELTA VARIANT PG.4

KEY MOMENTS IN FY 21

SPORTS TOURISM PRODUCTION TRENDS PG.7

PG.15

ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND FOUR PILLARS OF SUCCESS PG.16

SPORTS TOURISM IN THE PALM BEACHES – BUILD BACK BETTER IN 2022 PG.19

REBUILD THE FALL/WINTER CAMPAIGN OF SPORTS EVENTS AS A PRIORITY PG.20

SUMMER SPORTS EVENTS PG.21

PURSUIT OF SPORT EVENT PRODUCTS BASED ON REACH

SPORTS SALES & DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES PG.22

PG.24

SPORTS IN FOCUS, FY 22

SPORTS TOURISM INVESTMENTS

EVENT SERVICING PG.25

PG.36

PG.39

EVENT PARTNERSHIPS

PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS PG.39

PG.40

PALM BEACH COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER PG.40

MOTORSPORTS IN THE PALM BEACHES PG.41

EVENTS CREATED AND OWNED BY THE SPORTS COMMISSION PG.42

SPORTS MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES PG.44

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PG.44

MARKETING STRATEGY PG.46

AIRLIFT INBOUND MARKETING SUPPORT PG.48

PERFECT WEEK OF SPORTS IN THE PALM BEACHES PG.48

TESTIMONIALS

SOCIAL MEDIA PG.50

PG.50

PUBLIC RELATIONS PG.52

SUPER 8 MARKETS PG.53

CHAMPION DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INLUSION PG.55

MISSION

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission attracts sporting events and activities to Palm Beach County

to enhance occupancy of hotel room nights; to maximize the positive economic impact of these events

and activities on the Palm Beach County economy; to maximize the utilization of County facilities; to utilize

events and activities to promote the image of Palm Beach County as a sports tourism destination on a

national and international level.

VISITOR ACQUISITION STRATEGY

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s visitor acquisition strategy is based on recruiting sports

events to The Palm Beaches, which in turn creates visitation from participants and affiliated spectators.

From a tourism perspective, sports events are divided into two types of categories: participatory sports

events and spectator sports events.

More specifically, sports travel is defined as the packaging of tourism-related products for individuals or

groups with the primary purpose of participating in competitive or recreational sports events and

activities or spectating at professional, collegiate, amateur, and other types of sports events. Both

spectator and participatory sports would play a role in a community’s tourism industry by acquiring

visitors.

COVID-19 IMPACTS ON SPORTS TOURISM

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the sports world. The coronavirus outbreak has forced organizations

within the sports industry to make difficult and heartbreaking decisions regarding their events and

business models. Nearly every major sporting event was canceled, relocated, or postponed after the

onset of the pandemic.

Sports tourism represents a substantial value to the U.S. economy. However, this economic value has

been severely limited by the coronavirus pandemic that has especially damaged the sports events and

tourism industry. Nearly all industries are impacted by COVID-19, but to varying degrees. Given that

sports and events are considered non-essential services and typically involve the gathering of many

participants and spectators, which increases the risk of transmission, the sports tourism industry was significantly impacted for much of 2020 and 2021. Given the event cancellations/postponements, travel

restrictions, and ensuing job losses and budget cuts resulting from COVID-19, the sports tourism industry

suffered throughout the United States. Some sports-related organizations did not survive the pandemic.

Over the ten months from March to December 2020, an estimated 75 million fewer people traveled to sports events within the United States, compared to 2019, resulting in a loss of $20 billion in direct

spending. Palm Beach County experienced a significant loss of sports tourism benefits. In 2020, the Palm

Beach County Sports Commission lost 77 booked events due to cancellation and relocation. The loss of

those events resulted in an elimination of 85,519 booked room nights and a projected economic impact reduction of $59.8 million. In 2021, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission lost 46 events due to

cancellation and relocation. Losing those 46 events resulted in a removal of 50,394 booked room nights and a projected economic impact loss of $35.2 million.

Although the Palm Beach County Sports Commission endured its most challenging year in its history, the

recovery of Palm Beach County’s sports tourism economy is proceeding. The Palm Beach County Sports

Commission, in collaboration with the Tourist Development Council, implemented a phased recovery

strategy for sports tourism. The plan was successful, and our Sports Commission realized tourism

production during the summer of 2021 that mirrors pre-pandemic conditions in 2019. The Sports

Commission’s portfolio of events during the summer of 2021 experienced levels of volume, reach, and

potency that represent nearly a full recovery.

COVID-19 - PALM BEACH COUNTY RECOVERY STAGES – SPORTS TOURISM EVENTS

Stage 1: Identified sports and venues that lend themselves to social distancing practices & modify

certain events for the pandemic.

Stage 2: Support the recovery of local sports leagues, camps, activities, and events.

Stage 3: Implement the hosting of sports events that will attract participants from the drive market.

Stage 4: Reestablish national events, which will attract participants outside of Florida and require airlift

All Stages: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to recruit sports tourism events for

the future.

DELTA VARIANT

Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s comeback from COVID-19 was realized this summer when

sports-related visitors and room nights returned to pre-pandemic numbers. The Palm Beach County

Sports Commission’s production for the combination of June and July topped that of any previous year.

After hosting national and international events this summer and observing pent-up demand drive

participation to record levels for some sports, the confidence for a robust FY 22 was soaring. However,

the Delta variant of COVID-19 presents a threat to the revival of sports tourism. This variant could obstruct

the Sports Commission’s momentum due to its growing infection and hospitalization rates. If the sports

tourism marketplace deteriorates or local and state governments apply constraints on activities, our

Sports Commission will be prepared to react. The following outlines actions that would take place:

• Our Sports Commission would revisit the Palm Beach County Tourism Recovery Plan, specifically

for sports tourism events, which was established after the state of Florida declared a state of

emergency during March of 2020.

• Focus is already being placed on sports that have great adaptability to distancing, such as golf,

tennis, equestrian, endurance, aquatic, and individual sports.

• Emphasis is placed on drive market events and concentration is being applied to garner a greater

understanding of participant and athlete origins for events (understanding local, statewide,

regional, or global origination for attendees).

Our Sports Commission would also consider falling back to the early stages of the sports event

recovery plan, which would create a primary focus on drive market events. Drive market events

initiated the recovery of sports tourism events and will be more stable regarding traveler

sentiment and government restrictions. Participant origin for events will be analyzed and favorability weighed for those events with team/athlete origins on the east coast or within a 12-

hour drive. These events could be transformed into drive market products.

• Event-related backup plans are being established by working to secure more venue space (fields,

diamonds, courts, etc..) over multiple facilities, which would allow event owners to spread out

competitions to achieve more separation and distancing.

• Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation, which oversees a multitude of sports facilities and

programming, has been a significant resource during COVID-19. Parks and Recreation constructed

excellent guidance and protocols for return to play, after the onset of COVID-19. If the Delta

variant causes government-mandated restrictions, our Sports Commission will have constant

communication with Parks and Recreation.

• Our Sports Commission will also work with local sports organizations to measure the sentiment

and opinions of athletes, coaches, and their families regarding sports participation. This will be a

measuring tool to understand the viability of event hosting on a statewide, regional, and national

level with the Delta variant rising in numbers.

*The above steps are fluent and flexible, based on information presented by health officials.

After a statewide shutdown, historic downturns in travel, and the sports event industry’s collapse in 2020,

coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic seemed implausible for 2021. However, a tourism recovery

plan was implemented and bolstered a “return to play” that ultimately led to a valiant sports tourism

comeback in 2021. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is still navigating in unchartered times and

the pandemic’s destruction of sports event products in The Palm Beaches will take more time to build

back. Nevertheless, this past year (FY 21) provided significant milestones in terms of operating in a post-

pandemic era and sparked momentum towards a comprehensive sports tourism recovery.

KEY MOMENTS IN FY 21

October:

• On October 10-12, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission hosted a United States Tennis

Association Florida Sectional, Florida State Golf Association (FSGA) tournament, and a Blue Line

Hockey ice hockey event at Palm Beach Skate Zone & Ice Works. This was the first weekend with

multiple events attracting athletes and teams from across the state while providing hotel

business.

• The PGA Tour Champions returned to Palm Beach County with the TimberTech Championship

from October 27 – November 1. The PGA Tour Champions represents the first professional sports

event that took place in The Palm Beaches during the pandemic. Although the TimberTech

Championship did not allow for spectators, this event provided 3-days of live television coverage

on the Golf Channel.

November:

• The Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL) Fall Classic was granted permission to take place at

Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on November 7-21 and became

the first national sports event to take place in Palm Beach County, since the onset of COVID-19.

• The Equestrian Holiday & Horses Circuit returned in December without spectators and attracted

a greater number of total participants from the northeast compared to the prior year (before

COVID-19), due to Florida’s perception as a more sustainable environment for a winter

showjumping site (especially during COVID-19).

December:

• The Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl was a milestone in the recovery and the first national event

to allow for a restricted number of spectator seating. This college football bowl game was also

televised live on ESPN.

January:

• The Delray Beach Open (ATP Tour) moved its dates up to January and escaped the disruption that

COVID-19 was bringing to professional tennis. This event had a successful execution with limited

spectators and received 41 hours of live TV coverage.

• The Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) returned without spectators; however, more participants

from across the nation and globe attended the event due to Florida’s desirability as a host for

sports. WEF’s economic prowess is similar to pre-pandemic levels. The Gauntlet of Polo also

returned with minimal spectators at the International Polo Club.

February:

• The AVP Americas East End Beach Volleyball Tour made its Palm Beach County debut with more

than 200 teams spread out over 18 courts on Singer Beach in the City of Riviera Beach.

• Next Level Greats 7v7 Football brought 30 teams from across Florida to play on Orange Bowl Field

at Glades Pioneer Park, Lake Lytal Park, and County Pines Recreational Complex at Samuel

Friedland Park.

March:

• Major League Baseball Spring Training returned to the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Roger

Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Restrictions included limited attendance (approximately 1,500 seats for

both venues) and restricted travel. Essentially, Palm Beach County’s spring training teams played

each other.

• The Palm Beach Challenge, a spring training platform for NCAA Division II schools, returned to

action at the Santaluces Athletic Complex and attracted teams from across the United States,

during the entirety of March.

• The Tim Rand Invitational, which is a prominent national gymnastics meet, represented the last

sports event to take place in Palm Beach County before COVID-19 forced a county-wide shutdown

in 2020. On March 5-7, this event returned to the Palm Beach County Convention Center and

brought 800 gymnasts from across the southeast region, creating a symbolic milestone on the

road to recovery.

• US Amateur Basketball sanctioned a youth basketball tournament with over 80 girls’ and boys’

teams. The event was spread out over 12 different gyms, demonstrating how indoor sports may

return during the pandemic.

• The Honda Classic, on the PGA Tour, symbolized one of the largest leaps forward during the

recovery. The Honda Classic attracted the largest gathering of spectators for a sports event, since

COVID-19. PGA National was limited to 10,000 attendees per day or 50,000 total (25% of pre-

pandemic numbers). The event was also televised on the Golf Channel and NBC.

• During the same weekend of The Honda Classic, the APP (Association of Pickleball Professionals)

Tour made its debut at the Delray Beach Tennis Center with over 1,000 athletes from across the nation/ was televised on CBS Sports Network.

April:

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission hosted six (6) events during the weekend of April 10-

11, including the USA Powerlifting Florida Championship, a Kayak fishing tournament, a regional

slow-pitch softball event, a statewide AAU karate tournament, a national adult baseball camp,

and a statewide USSSA Fastpitch girls’ youth softball tournament. Although restrictions were in

place, the weekend resembled a return to normalcy in terms of sports tourism activity.

• After being canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, the Spartan Race returned to Palm Beach

County and brought 6,000 participants to Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park on April 24-

25 to compete in the 3.2-mile course. Staggered start times allowed for distancing. Spartan Race

signifies a giant step forward for tourism recovery.

May:

• The prestigious Walker Cup took place at Seminole Golf Club on May 7-9, strengthening Palm

Beach County’s golf resume. Moreover, this event featured the most prestigious international

match-up in amateur golf: the United States vs. Great Britain & Ireland. The event also delivered

2-days of uninterrupted coverage on the Golf Channel. The world saw the epic scenery of The

Palm Beaches. Additionally, the world saw that Palm Beach County was once again a stage for

international sports.

• After losing an NCAA Golf National Championship to COVID-19 in 2020, the Sports Commission

hosted the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf National Championship at PGA National Resort & Spa on

May 16 -21, demonstrating the return of a collegiate national championship to The Palm Beaches.

Limited spectators were allowed. This event equals another major milestone for the recovery.

• The Sunshine State Games Lacrosse Championships tournament took place at The Gardens North

County District Park, attracting nearly 100 teams from Florida. This event represented the largest

lacrosse event to take place in Palm Beach County, since COVID-19.

June & July:

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s summer campaign of sports events signified a

vigorous revival of sports tourism in a post-COVID-19 era. After hosting the Baseball Americas

Qualifier for the XXXII Olympiad from May 31st – June 5th, the Sports Commission experienced a

full recovery in terms of events in volume, reach, and potency. The Sports Commission hosted 55

events in June & July, which created robust tourism that exceeded production created during the

summer of 2019 (pre-COVID-19)

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission created an Olympic stage in The Palm Beaches. The

Baseball Americas Qualifier for the XXXII Olympiad took place from May 31 – June 5. Cuba,

Colombia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United States

vied for a single spot in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Team USA ultimately won their ticket to the

Olympics through Palm Beach County. The tourism and media impact of hosting a Baseball

Olympic Qualifier is immeasurable, especially for a baseball destination like Palm Beach County.

Attendance was significantly restricted, although nearly 10,000 fans attended the games and

enjoyed Olympic baseball. The Baseball Americas Qualifier games were broadcast on ESPN+ and

televised in more than 70 countries & territories. This Olympic qualifier was the first global multi-

team event to take place in The Palm Beaches, since COVID-19.

• Florida Elite Lacrosse events, sanctioned by US Lacrosse, were held at the Seacrest Soccer

Complex on June 5-6. Nearly 100 traveling youth lacrosse teams participated with 2,000+

athletes. This embodied a comeback for the sport of lacrosse in Palm Beach County.

• After relocating last year due to the pandemic, the Prospect Select Baseball National Showcase

took place at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, and the Santaluces

Athletic Complex from June 8 – 14. Prospect Select Baseball brought 283 teams, and 5,000+

athletes from across the nation. The 283 teams are the highest in the event’s history, which

indicates the pent-up demand for sports participation.

• The First Responder Games, which consisted of 30 different sports at multiple venues throughout

Palm Beach County, took place on June 8-20. Over 2,000 members of the police, fire, medical, and

military communities traveled from across the nation and participated in this Olympic-style

Festival.

• The Palm Beach International Equestrian Center was home to the U.S. Dressage Olympic

Qualification Event, June 8 – 12. Palm Beach County became home to two Olympic qualification

events over two weeks.

• The USA BMX Gold Cup Regional Qualifier, which represents the first national event to take place

at the Okeeheelee BMX Track since COVID-19, attracted over 600 riders from across the nation.

• Balling on the Beach became the first multi-team basketball event to take place at the Palm Beach

County Convention Center. This was an extraordinary relocation that brought 200 elementary &

middle school teams to compete on 10 courts, that were placed in the 100,000 sq. ft. exhibit hall.

Over 2,000+ youth athletes with 3,000+ family members from 30 states, traveled to The Palm

Beaches.

• The Perfect Game Ultimate Baseball Championship & 13U WWBA National Championship took

place at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on June 22-25 and July 3-7. Over 80 teams with 4,500 visitors

from 30 states traveled for these Perfect Game events.

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission established a training camp for international soccer

teams competing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Training, which took place across the United States.

Teams from six (6) nations trained at The Gardens North County District Park and South County

Regional Park. This represented another building block for the return of more international sports

event hosting opportunities.

• The Cal Ripken Baseball Rookie State Championships & 9U-12U State Championships took place

at Gardens Park on June 24-27 & July 1-4. The pair of Cal Ripken Baseball youth events attracted

100+ teams with 5,300 attendees from Florida and the southeast region of the United States.

• After its cancellation in 2020 due to COVID-19, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Boys

16s & 18s National Clay Court Championships returned to Palm Beach County and utilized 100

courts at multiple tennis facilities, including the Delray Beach Tennis Center, from July 11-18. This

week-long USTA national event attracted the top 450 high school tennis players in the nation,

while also bringing hundreds of college coaches and thousands of spectators.

August:

• The Cal Ripken Baseball 10U/12U World Series took place at Gardens Park on August 6 -14, after

its cancellation last year, due to COVID-19. The Cal Ripken World Series is one of the grandest

stages for little league baseball players in America. A total of 36 teams from across the nation,

consisting of 540 players and 2,000+ spectators stayed in Palm Beach County for over a week. The

hotel impact was enormous, and the sports tourism comeback grows stronger.

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission and Keiser University partnered to host two season-

opening NAIA women’s volleyball tournaments at Keiser University’s flagship campus in West

Palm Beach (August 12-14 and August 18-19). The two invitational events featured a total of 26

collegiate teams from 14 different states. The event was branded the “Palm Beach County Sports

Commission Volleyball Classic.”

Year-End Performance:

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will host 153 events with a forecasted 227,605 room

nights. While the total room night creation for the summer months surpasses production

compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), the year-end totals are down. This is due to the wreckage

COVID-19 inflicted on the Sports Commission’s event portfolio during the fall, winter, and early

spring months.

• 44,424 room nights were created from bids for new events, which is over 20% of the total room

night production for FY 21.

• 18 events showcased Palm Beach County to a nationally or international televised broadcast

• 93 bids have been submitted in FY 21 for future events scheduled to take place from 2022 to 2026

– offering a potential of 230,300 room nights over the five years.

• Total economic impact projection of $204,512,400

Lost Business for FY 21:

• 46 Sports Commission events experienced a cancellation and relocation.

• 50,394 booked room nights were eliminated

• Projected economic impact loss of $35.2 million.

SPORTS TOURISM PRODUCTION TRENDS

ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND FOUR PILLARS OF SUCCESS

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s visitor acquisition and development strategy are built on

four pillars of success: Recruit and Develop New Events, Retain and Grow Current Events, Brand

Awareness and Marketing, and being a Champion Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Sports Event

Industry.

SPORTS TOURISM IN THE PALM BEACHES – BUILD BACK BETTER IN 2022

The Sports Commission’s tourism output returned to pre-pandemic normalcy in June and July of 2021.

However, much work is needed to build the Sports Commission’s annual event portfolio back to its pre-

pandemic stature. In FY 2020, the Sports Commission’s event portfolio experienced a 37% reduction after

COVID-19 shutdowns were implemented with half of the year remaining. During FY 21, Quarter 1, the

Sports Commission underwent a 40% loss in hosted events. Sports-related room nights dropped by 41%

in FY 21, Quarter 1 (year over year comparison to FY 20).

REBUILD THE FALL/WINTER CAMPAIGN OF SPORTS EVENTS AS A PRIORITY

As the onset of COVID-19 forced events to cancel or relocate away from Palm Beach County, our Sports

Commission witnessed some of its largest event properties dissolve or sign multi-year agreements in other destinations, in the fall and winter months. Therefore, the fall/winter period (Quarter 1, October –

January) has suffered the most. Event victims of COVID-19 that resulted in lost business during this

timeframe included the world’s largest lacrosse tournament, which would have generated 14,000+ room

nights, US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program with 2,000+ room nights, a weekend of Perfect

Game events with 5,500+ room nights, a season-long event filled with collegiate swim teams, and a global

tennis event with participants from 60 nations just to name a few.

Our Sports Commission is actively looking to build back sports tourism during this timeframe, which

represents a period of need for Palm Beach County’s hotel industry. Strategies being deployed include:

• Direct marketing and recruitment towards sports markets that have an active event calendar from

October – January.

• Concentration on outdoor sports, which offers Florida destinations a competitive advantage due to its ability to host sports on a year-round basis with an appealing warm/mild climate

• Pursuit of several game-changing events, including the National Hockey Festival (world’s largest

field hockey tournament), Perfect Game WWBA Fall Championships (additional baseball events

with 100+ team participation rates), USA BMX Sunshine State Nationals (premier BMX event in

Florida), US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (ODP) & Development Player League

(DPL) Regional & National Championships (200+ team tournaments with growing participation

rates), and much more.

SUMMER SPORTS EVENTS

The primary emphasis for recruiting and developing events is the summer. Hotel occupancy rates are at

their lowest during the summer months; therefore, our Sports Commission will prioritize its efforts to

enroll events during this period. Several targets offer strong sports tourism products for the summer:

• The youth sports marketplace lends itself to the summer months, more than any other market

segment, since families may travel with their children freely (outside of the school-year calendar).

• Summer is also a time when events tailored for Florida athletes thrive. As a dominant state for

sports, Florida is home to an impressive array of state sports associations and governing bodies,

offering a variety of sports events and activities that create drive market tourism. Tournaments,

showcases, invitationals, qualifiers, championships, camps, and clinics with a statewide reach are

abundant during the summer. These events are more likely to maintain their tourism potency if

the Delta variant negatively impacts traveler sentiment.

• To help develop tourism in the summer, a focus is placed on sports with active calendars during

that period, such as baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, softball, aquatic sports, tennis, golf, and

more.

PURSUIT OF SPORT EVENT PRODUCTS BASED ON REACH

Emphasis on Florida Drive Market: Our Sports Commission will continue its aggressive effort on attracting

and hosting statewide events, such as tournaments, competitions, meets, qualifiers, showcases, camps,

clinics, and championships to maximize the “Florida drive market.” These events, which are tailored for

Florida residents, are often presented by state associations for sport or national organizations with state

chapters. Greater emphasis is placed on these drive market events as the COVID-19 Delta variant is

creating uncertainty about traveler sentiment. Drive market events were the catalyst for sports tourism

recovery in FY 21 and will be a safeguard market to maintain tourism products during any setbacks created

by the Delta variant.

Regional & National Sports Events: Our Sports Commission successfully created a return to full normalcy

for national sports events in The Palm Beaches during the summer of 2021. Many of these national events

enjoyed a higher participation rate compared to pre-COVID-19 levels, due to pent-up demand. The plan

for 2022 is to host a full return of regional and national events with a particular focus on recruitment and

activation of participatory event properties as a priority.

Events with a regional or national reach create longer lengths of stay, increased visitor spending, and

airlift. The Sports Commission is planning to host participatory events (individual and team sports) without

limitations on participation or restrictions. The plan for spectator-driven events, such as the TimberTech

Championship, Boca Raton Bowl, Delray Beach Open, and The Honda Classic, also includes a full return

without restrictions or a limited audience.

The virus is unpredictable, and the Delta variant poses a threat to recovery. Our Sports Commission will

embrace the following tactics to react to setbacks created by the Delta variant:

• Analyze participant origin for regional/national events – team and athlete origin from the east

coast or within a 12-hour driving distance will be desired – as these events could be modified into

a drive market event.

• Develop backup plans, which include additional venues, field space, or court space – allowing an

event to implement pods and spread out to create safer distancing and separations.

• Our Sports Commission will continue its ongoing communication with major events that attract

guests from the local community and across the nation – restrictions and enhanced safety

protocols will be implemented, especially within indoor settings – if the Delta variant worsens.

International Sports Tourism: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in cancellations of international events

throughout the majority of 2021. Events with a global reach have been the most fragile during the

pandemic. However, the Winter Equestrian Festival was successful in bringing international riders to The

Palm Beaches and several events were effective in delivering international teams to The Palm Beaches.

The Baseball Americas Qualifier for the XXXII Olympiad was the first global multi-team sports event to

take place in Palm Beach County this past June. This Olympic Baseball Qualifier was also the only

predominant international event of the summer, which attracted teams and spectators from outside the

United States.

In 2022, the Sports Commission is planning for a return of international events. For example, our Sports

Commission is working with the International Tennis Federation and USA Rugby on bids for three (3) global

events during the spring of 2022. These events would bring nearly 3,000 athletes from over 30 nations

while creating 6,000+ room nights. These events are examples of several major international

opportunities that are under development for 2022. If the Delta variant worsens, the pursuit of

international business could slow down or come to a stop.

Our sports commission will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and International

Federations on strategizing for future international sports business in The Palm Beaches. These

organizations are the authorities for their respective sports and will be able to provide guidance as our

Sports Commission attempts to regain market share for international sports.

Alliances With Local Sports Associations:

Creating joint ventures with local sports associations and organizations is a critical strategy for sports

tourism development. Providing resources and support from our Sports Commission allows Palm Beach

County-based sports organizations to host events with a statewide and national draw. Local sports

associations have specific rights and opportunities to bid for events within their respective sport. If our

Sports Commission assists local sports organizations with bids for these events, together with we could

strengthen sports participation within our community while creating tourism.

Partnerships with local sports associations are more essential in the post-COVID-19 era. Aiding local sports

organizations with their return of programs was the first stage for our Sports Commission’s recovery

efforts. Local sports organizations can share participation sentiment from local athletes and their families.

This knowledge is invaluable to our Sports Commission, especially as COVID-19 positivity rates are

fluctuating.

Specific partnerships in 2022 to highlight:

• Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Lynn University, & Keiser University –

development of collegiate championships

• Ski Club of the Palm Beaches – bid for the USA Water Ski Nationals

• Delray Beach Riptide – this local lacrosse club is transforming local summer events into national

tournaments

• Palm Beach Gardens Youth Athletic Association – bids for Cal Ripken Baseball national events

SPORTS SALES & DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

Bid Process: A primary mechanism for event solicitation is through the bid process. The Palm Beach

County Sports Commission will continue to research and assess the needs of numerous event owners.

Assessments include the time of year, venue requirements, hotel requirements, logistical necessities,

marketing initiatives, funding expectations, and relationship potential, which are determining factors on

whether the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will commit its resources to submit a bid. Palm Beach

County Sports Commission will continue to identify qualified leads that fit within Palm Beach County’s

infrastructure and climate to minimize time and expenses allocated to unsuccessful bids. To recognize

potential bid opportunities, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will be at the forefront of the

industry and engage with event owners.

Travel Party Size: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission strongly considers “average travel party”

during the evaluation of event hosting opportunities. By analyzing sports participation data provided by

the Florida Sports Foundation, the Sports Commission considers and directs its efforts on recruiting events

that have a high spectator to athlete ratio, which results in a greater hotel room night demand. Some of

the sports that carry the highest spectator to athlete ratio are listed below:

A. Ballroom Dancing – 4.28 B. Cheer/Dance – 4.15

C. Swimming – 3.98

D. Gymnastics – 3.97

E. Softball – 3.97

F. Equestrian – 3.92

G. Martial Arts – 3.79

H. Youth Baseball (12 & under) – 3.76

SPORTS IN FOCUS, FY 22

The versatility and variety of facilities, venues, and infrastructure for sports is Palm Beach County’s

competitive advantage in terms of developing sports tourism. The changeability of venues combined with

the numerous types of public and private facilities that live in Palm Beach County allowed our Sports

Commission to program 50+ different types of sports as vehicles to create tourism. This is a key

characteristic of Palm Beach County’s ability to remain in the top five of Florida’s chief sports tourism

destinations.

While the Sports Commission plans to host over 170 events in FY 22, representing approximately 50

different types of sports, several specific types of sports will be a primary focus. These sports offer

significant tourism impacts and some will be more adaptable during potential instabilities with the COVID-

19 pandemic.

Baseball Development: As Florida’s only home to two (2) Major League Baseball (MLB) Spring Training

complexes, which accommodate four (4) MLB teams, Palm Beach County is the Spring Training Capital of

Florida. Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium provide two marquee baseball

stadiums and 26-MLB regulation diamonds, over the two sites.

Baseball was the dominant sport that led to a full recovery of sports tourism during summer. Our Sports

Commission hosted a variety of national baseball tournaments, which generated one-third of the room

night production from May – September. These events cater to the high school, collegiate, and adult age

groups.

In FY 22, the Sports Commission plans to build an even better collection of summer events while rebuilding

the fall’s slate of baseball tournaments that were relocated or impeded by COVID-19:

• Expanding partnerships with current clients to bring more events in the summer (Prospect Select,

& Prep Baseball Report could add 4 or 5 events from June – September).

• Formation of partnerships with new clients – Ripken Tour & Prospectwire have a national reach

and are a primary target for new events in 2022.

• Discussions of NCAA Division I college baseball spring training games at the MLB Spring Training

facilities, in partnership with ESPN Events for 2022, are occurring.

• Bring back fall events that were relocated or modified in FY 21, due to COVID-19 (Perfect Game

WWBA Week & Men’s Senior Baseball League Fall Classic create 12,000+ room nights in October

& November).

• Our Sports Commission is working on an extraordinary relocation of Perfect Game WWBA

tournaments over 4 straight weeks in July – this would bring 2,000 teams, 36,000 athletes, &

50,000+ room nights – it is currently the largest streak of amateur baseball in the United States.

Golf: Palm Beach County is Florida’s Golf Capital and it’s no surprise that our Sports Commission has

utilized this sport on a year-round basis to drive visitation and room night generation. Golf is a vehicle to

attract leisure visitors seeking to play on courses designed by the greatest architects in the game. Our

Sports Commission also consistently utilizes Palm Beach County’s 170+ golf courses to host a variety of

golf-related tournaments, both on an amateur and professional level.

Considering Palm Beach County’s vast golf landscape, our Sports Commission will continue to be a leader

in recruiting and hosting some of the nation’s premier amateur golf events. In 2021, our Sports

Commission hosted 35 state, regional, and national golf events. Golf is one of our county’s identifying

tourism products and represents 20% of the Sports Commission’s event portfolio. Golf will always be a

cornerstone for sports tourism in The Palm Beaches and has persevered as a tourism generator during the

pandemic. In fact, golf was the first sport to return during the COVID-19 pandemic, from a leisure

perspective. Golf was also one of the first sports to come back from an event perspective, in the post-

COVID-19 world. Distancing is easy to achieve within the sport, which will make it more resilient to new

threats posed by coronavirus variants.

Before the pandemic, Palm Beach County became one of the only destinations that offered the “Trifecta”

of professional golf. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has supported the PGA TOUR in Palm

Beach Gardens and PGA TOUR Champions in Boca Raton for over a decade. In 2020, the Ladies

Professional Golf Association (LPGA) also established an event in Boca Raton (Gainbridge LPGA), creating

the Trifecta of Golf in Palm Beach County. Unfortunately, the LPGA relocated its event to Orlando, due to

COVID-19 restrictions. However, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission is working to support a return

of the LPGA in January of 2022.

The Honda Classic continues to be one of Palm Beach County’s finest events in terms of attendance,

economic benefits, global impressions, and excellence. The Honda Classic, which is one of the premier

events on the PGA Tour, will take place on February 21-27, allowing it to kick off the Florida swing at PGA

National Resort & Spa. The TimberTech Championship (PGA Tour Champions) will take place on November

1-7 on The Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton. This event also creates significant economic

benefits and worldwide impressions. The Gainbridge LPGA would take place in January and become the

third professional golf event creating global impressions in 2022.

Our Sports Commission plans to further golf’s powerful position in Palm Beach County by building more

layers of statewide and national golf events:

• Grow the number of amateur golf events from current partners, such as the American Junior Golf

Association (AJGA), United States Golf Association (USGA), Florida State Golf Association (FSGA),

Optimist International, and more.

• Organize the NCAA Division I Regional Championship in partnership with Florida Atlantic

University in FY 22 in addition to bidding on future collegiate championships (Conference USA,

Mid-American Conference, & NAIA National Championship)

• Enhance support for PGA Tour events (The Honda Classic & TimberTech Championship), which

are marquee events for Palm Beach County that command a large television audience.

• The Ladies Professional Golf Association made Palm Beach County its home in 2019 and departed

after the onset of COVID-19. Our Sports Commission is supporting the return on the LPGA in 2022,

which will provide another televised event for The Palm Beaches.

Racquet Sports: Palm Beach County is home to 1,400 tennis courts and an 8,000-seat stadium. Currently,

the Palm Beach County Sports Commission is hosting a variety of tennis events sanctioned by several

event rights holders. Our Sports Commission supports the Delray Beach Open, which is one of two ATP

(Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour events in Florida. Our Sports Commission has cultivated several

United States Tennis Association (USTA) events in Palm Beach County, which are creating tourism year-

round.

Our development efforts are gaining momentum in the pickleball space. Pickleball is one of the fastest-

growing sports in America and USA Pickleball reported that the number of pickleball courts has more than

doubled, since 2012. Both tennis and pickleball have distancing built within the sport’s framework, which

makes them resilient in a COVID-19 era. Tennis joined golf as one of the first events to return to play after

the pandemic shutdown of Palm Beach County’s sports scene.

FY 22 development plans include the recruitment and hosting of racquet sports to drive tourism from the

drive and fly markets as shown below:

• Our Sports Commission will continue to recruit and host USTA events – ranging from Florida

Sectionals to National Clay Court Championships

• The International Tennis Federation (ITF) awarded its Senior and Super Senior World

Championships to The Palm Beaches – bringing 14 days of global tennis – which will be a landmark

occasion in a post-COVID-19 world – filling thousands of hotel rooms.

• Collegiate tennis events are being targeted on the NCAA and NAIA levels

• Our Sports Commission is working on bids for two APP (Association of Pickleball Professionals)

Tour events, which is the highest level for the sport, creating hotel demand and bringing national

television coverage

• Pursuit of USA Pickleball sanctioned tournaments for 2022 is underway and efforts to reestablish

a winter pickleball event that was lost due to COVID-19 in Delray Beach are taking place.

Equestrian Sports Tourism: Equestrian sports continue to represent the largest sports tourism product in

Palm Beach County. The Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), which is owned by Equestrian Sports

Productions (ESP) and takes place at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC), is a 3-month

long event that generates more bed tax revenue and economic impact compared to any other annual

event in The Palm Beaches. WEF attracted visitors from all 50 U.S. states and 26 nations in 2021.

Equestrian sports moved forward, despite challenges presented by COVID-19. The nature of equestrian

sports allows for distancing to be achieved easily and Equestrian Sports Productions (ESP) worked with

the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) on protocols to activate show jumping events during the

pandemic. ESP successfully recuperated its Summer Series after the pandemic’s shut down in 2020.

Participation demand increased due to Florida’s growing desirability as a sports destination during the

pandemic and the Holiday & Horses Circuit / Winter Equestrian Festival attracted more domestic and

international riders. Equestrian Sports Productions also expanded WEF by two weeks, which inspired

equine sport participants to stay and play longer in The Palm Beaches.

The Sports Commission is partnering with the United States Polo Association (USPA) Global Licensing in

growing the polo season’s reach and tourism impact. The Gauntlet of Polo was formed, which is a series

of three high-goal Polo tournaments: the C.V. Whitney Cup the USPA Gold Cup, and the U.S. Open Polo

Championship. This partnership has led to a national television broadcast of the U.S. Open Polo

Championship.

The Sports Commission’s commitment to the equestrian sports market will be robust in FY 22:

• Our Sports Commission will continue its support of the Winter Equestrian Festival which takes

place from January through the first week of April. Strategies are being discussed with Equestrian Sports Productions to host additional FEI (Fédération Équestre Internationale) sanctioned events

in April, which will create more overnight stays from equestrian sports participants.

• Our Sports Commission will continue its investments into the Equestrian Holiday & Horses Circuit,

which is suited to expand Palm Beach County’s equestrian season back into December.

• WEF will be utilized as a catalyst to recruit more showjumping tourism products, such as

collegiate, preparatory, and scholastic events.

• A collaborative partnership with the TDC agencies has led to Palm Beach County obtaining a

nationally televised broadcast of the U.S. Open Polo Championship and our Sports Commission is

prepared to continue this effort in 2022.

Lacrosse: Lacrosse served as one of the largest vehicles for sports tourism, economic impact, and hotel

rooms, prior to COVID-19. In the fall of 2019, the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association

(IWLCA) Presidents Cup took place in Palm Beach County (International Polo Club and Village Park). This

event brought 460 lacrosse teams, nearly 9,000 high school lacrosse players, 20,000 spectators, and

1,000+ college coaches and recruiters. This event was the largest lacrosse showcase taking place on the globe. The IWLCA Presidents Cup created 14,000+ hotel room nights and $11.2 million in visitor spending.

Unfortunately, this event was relocated to Tampa in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will occur

in Tampa and Dallas in 2021–23. The IWLCA President’s Cup represents our Sports Commission’s largest

casualty to COVID-19. After becoming the nation’s premier destination for amateur lacrosse in 2019,

losing the IWLCA Presidents Cup is an enormous setback.

Despite this setback, our Sports Commission recognizes that building a foundation of lacrosse events will

be a great catalyst for sports tourism. Participation in lacrosse has mushroomed in numbers of players,

schools, and geographically, to become the fastest growing sport in high schools and colleges. Travel

lacrosse teams have also grown at a feverish rate. Today, 2,098,000 total youth lacrosse participants live

in the United States. This number has grown from 1.1 million youth participants in 2017.

Replacing the IWLCA Presidents Cup in 2022 will be nearly impossible. However, lacrosse provides an

opportunity for our Sports Commission to build its event portfolio back after it was diminished due to the

COVID-19 pandemic. Our development plan for lacrosse will include partnerships with national

organizations in addition to grassroots strategies that include alliances with local lacrosse organizations.

Developing sports tourism from the growing sport of lacrosse includes:

• Recruiting more national lacrosse events for males and females, including middle school, high

school, and collegiate tournaments.

• Recruitment and development of a youth lacrosse tournament, “The Eye of the Hurricane”, which

is a boys’ and girls’ event (from 5th through 8th grade) that could draw 150 teams and create

3,500 room nights in the winter.

• Recruitment of Sunshine State Games Lacrosse for the summer of 2022, which is one of the largest

statewide lacrosse tournaments.

• Partnerships with local lacrosse organizations, such as the Delray Beach Riptide, led to the

production of three Florida Elite Travel Lacrosse events in Palm Beach County, attracting over 100

lacrosse teams, 2,000 athletes, and nearly 3,000 hotel room nights.

• Collaboration with US Lacrosse in terms of submitting bids for events or developing start-up

lacrosse tournaments in Palm Beach County with the potential to grow.

• Begin the work to aggressively bring back the IWLCA Presidents Cup to Palm Beach County in 2024

and beyond.

Soccer (Youth, Professional & Global markets):

The sport of soccer continues to offer strong tourism products. Soccer participation in the United States

increased in 2019 for the first time since 2015. After the United States failed to qualify for the 2018 World

Cup, participation dwindled; however, in 2019 not only were more Americans playing soccer, but

participation numbers increased by 4.5 percent in one year, which is a significant rise for the third-most-

popular sport in the United States. Now, nearly 12 million people in the U.S. participate in soccer. Travel

soccer also offers highly participated events taking place in the summer and fall. These reasons are why

soccer will remain a target for the Sports Commission in FY 22.

Youth Soccer: FY 22 development plans include the recruitment and hosting of youth soccer events to

drive tourism from the drive and fly markets as shown below:

• Our Sports Commission will host the 3v3 Live National Championships in Palm Beach Gardens over

Thanksgiving weekend in 2021. This event was scheduled to take place in 2020 but relocated to

Alabama because of COVID-19 restrictions. Our Sports Commission will organize the event in 2021

& 2022, which is projected to drive over 300 soccer teams each year.

• Our Sports Commission continues to work with United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA)

to develop event opportunities within its Olympic Development Program, Presidents Cup Series,

National League, National Championships, Futsal, and Esports.

• The Florida Youth Soccer Association (FYSA) continues to provide drive-market event

opportunities with several state and regional championships available for bid.

• The Sports Commission will continue to work with its local soccer clubs like the Palm Beach

Gardens Predators and Palm Beach Soccer Academy to continue to grow their event properties

or create additional opportunities.

• The American Youth Soccer Organization offers a state, regional, and national championship and

is a prime target for FY 22 and beyond.

CONCACAF: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to build its partnership with the

Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). CONCACAF

is one of FIFA’s six (6) continental confederations, servicing 41 Member Associations, from Canada in the

north to Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana in the south. Through offices located in Miami, Guatemala

City, and Kingston, Jamaica, CONCACAF provides leadership for a network of unified competitions and

development activities that unites this diverse region in soccer, with the goals of actively promoting

universal access to the sport and raising the quality of football across the Confederation.

CONCACAF brings soccer closer to people across the region through competitions including the

CONCACAF Nations League and the biennial Gold Cup for national teams, and club tournaments including

Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, the Scotiabank CONCACAF League, the Caribbean Club

Championship, and the Caribbean Shield. CONCACAF also supports FIFA in coordinating qualification

events for Men’s and Women’s World Cups and Olympic Games, and the Beach Soccer and Futsal World

Cups. The Confederation also organizes championships at the under-13, under-15, under-20, and Olympic

Championship levels for girls and boys, women, and men.

In July of 2021, CONCACAF began hosting its biennial “Gold Cup”, with the preliminary rounds taking place

in Fort Lauderdale, FL at the Inter Miami CF training facility. The preliminary rounds consisted of 12 total

nations vying to qualify for the Gold Cup Group Stage. The Sports Commission was able to work with

CONCACAF to host 6 of the 12 teams in Palm Beach County for training camps for 10 days before the Gold

Cup Preliminary Rounds. The Sports Commission worked with Bermuda, Guatemala, Guyana, French

Guiana, Montserrat, and Trinidad & Tobago to find training locations in Palm Beach County, notably at

The Gardens North County District Park. With our first-class facilities and accommodations, we look to

expand on this opportunity and recruit more teams for training.

Collegiate Sports Marketplace: Considering Palm Beach County is home to five (5) universities and

colleges in Palm Beach County, such as Florida Atlantic University (NCAA Division I), Palm Beach Atlantic

University (NCAA Division II), Lynn University (NCAA Division II), Keiser University (NAIA) and Palm Beach

State College (NJCAA), our Sports Commission will continue to partner with these institutions to pursue

conference, regional and national championships. In addition to these events, which represent the

pinnacle of college sports, our Sports Commission will develop other collegiate-related event properties,

such as training camps, showcases, invitationals, and tournaments (both on varsity and club levels).

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has established a tremendous resume in hosting college

national championships. The resume includes four NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championships, two NAIA

Women’s Golf National Championships, one NCAA Women's College Cup (Soccer National Championship),

three NCAA Golf National Championships, and numerous Conference Championships (mainly Conference

USA, Sunshine State Conference, and The Sun Conference). Our Sports Commission has also hosted NCAA

and NAIA regional playoffs for a variety of sports. These events generate large levels of visitation and

overnight accommodations, while creating enormous media impressions for The Palm Beaches.

In 2022, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will host several marquee collegiate events, which

includes the NCAA Division I Golf Regional Championship, the Boca Raton Bowl (NCAA Football Bowl

Subdivision College Football Bowl Game), the Sun Conference Baseball Championship, a NCAA Division II

spring training baseball event, a NCAA Division I Women’s basketball tournament, and a NAIA Volleyball

Invitational. The plan to grow and enhance Palm Beach County’s position as a premier destination for

collegiate sports championships and events in 2022, includes:

• Organize the NCAA Division I Regional Golf Championship at PGA National Resort & Spa and

implement an in-county and out-of-county digital marketing campaign to attract leisure golf fans

to The Palm Beaches.

• Prepare bids for NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship, which is looking for a new home in

2022, and the NAIA Men’s Golf National Championships for 2023-24.

• Preparing a bid to host the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Women’s Golf Championship for the

winter of 2022 – would be the first SEC-related event to take place in The Palm Beaches.

• Developing execution plan and marketing campaign for the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl,

which is produced by ESPN Events and takes place in December – and will be televised on ESPN

• Pursuing an opportunity with ESPN Events to develop a spring training baseball setting for NCAA

Division I teams, which would also create a televised event on ESPN.

• Planning to host the Palm Beach Challenge, an NCAA Division II spring training baseball event, by

securing the Santaluces Athletic Complex and creating a marketing campaign towards college

baseball programs, located in the “Super Eight Markets.”

• Solidifying an NCAA Division I Women’s basketball tournament, scheduled to take place at

Massimino Court on the campus of Keiser University in December.

• Partnering with Keiser University in hosting The Sun Conference Baseball Championships

• Partnering with Keiser University in developing an NAIA Season Opening Volleyball Invitational in

August, which would attract 30 teams over two weekends.

National Governing Bodies / Olympic Sports: The National Governing Bodies (NGB’s) are organizations

that have a regulatory or sanctioning function over their specific sport. Every sport has a different

governing body that can define the way the sport operates through its affiliated clubs and societies. There

are a total of 47 National Governing Bodies that exist under the umbrella of the United States Olympic

Committee. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has formed partnerships with many of these

governing bodies to host national events, which create tourism impacts and has led to future business

opportunities. Examples of these partnerships include USA Baseball, United States Golf Association, USA

Gymnastics, USA Field Hockey, US Soccer Federation, USA Water Ski, USA Wrestling, United States

Equestrian Federation, USA Track & Field, USA Swimming, USA Volleyball, USA Softball, USA Water Polo,

USA Badminton, and more.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed to the summer of 2021 and were successfully executed.

The Olympic Games represent a huge victory for the perseverance and power of sports, considering this

achievement took place during a national health crisis that caused a great threat to sports activation and

participation. This victory will spur interest and growth for many Olympic sports in 2022 and beyond.

Following any Olympic Games, the NGB’s, notably at the local club level, experience a spike in membership

and participation. This year, our Sports Commission will be targeting the NGB’s in pursuit of various

events, including state competitions, regional events, national championships, and training camps. After

the Olympic Games, many of the NGB's will expand their event portfolio due to added revenue, greater

time to focus on the development of events, and the motivation to take advantage of the heightened

popularity for their sport. Our Sports Commission will emphasize growing event production coming

directly from NGBs.

Marketing campaigns specifically tailored to the NGBs/Olympic sports will occur throughout the year. A

full-court press on recruitment, bid submittal, and networking with past clients and prospective partners

to obtain events under the NGB umbrella, will vigorously take place. Finally, the Sports Commission will

attend ACES (Association of Chief Executives for Sport) Conference in Colorado Springs. This will be a

significant business development effort to identify new business, as it relates to Olympic sports, for 2022

and beyond.

SPORTS TOURISM INVESTMENTS

• Grant Program, Business Development, & Tourism Sponsorships - Historically, our grant program

has been the primary mechanism available to us in attracting and retaining sporting events for

Palm Beach County. Funds are necessary for the Sports Commission to submit competitive

proposals on sports events and to provide enticement to event organizers in selecting Palm Beach

County as a destination.

• Business Development/Tourism Sponsorship - The business development/tourism sponsorships

have been a great addition to our financial incentive program. Although this program is only utilized to make small investments into events ($5,000 or less), it allows us to be nimbler, notably with event opportunities that require a quick turnaround/decision on the financial investment.

• Event Servicing Funds - Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s event servicing program is a

funding mechanism that is set aside to assist sport organizations directly with their event

production obligations. Rather than reimbursing a sports organization for their event-related

expenses, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission would simply source the service directly.

Creating economies of scale by packaging services over multiple sports events, the Palm Beach

County Sports Commission would be able to receive competitive prices from service providers.

• Florida Sports Foundation Incentives - The Florida Sports Foundation (FSF) has an active grant

program to support sporting events that generate economic impact from out-of-state attendees.

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to utilize this grant program to help

supplement our tourism investments.

EVENT SERVICING

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission believes that our commitment to event servicing separates us

from the competition. Our belief is that event servicing is the primary initiative that results in the repeat

event business. Our event management support includes managing an event in its entirety assisting with

various operational requirements, such as venue support, hotel, and housing solutions, logistical needs,

event supplies, sourcing event equipment and service providers, transportation, volunteer recruitment,

permitting, event layouts, and marketing and public relation strategies. The Palm Beach County Sports

Commission is extremely experienced in sharing overall responsibility for an event and maintains

numerous contractual relationships with multiple event owners. Ultimately, the Palm Beach County

Sports Commission strives to provide superior event services in order to persuade an event owner that

Palm Beach County is the only option when searching for a destination.

Event services provided to event rights holders selecting Palm Beach County as their home includes, but

is not limited to:

Operational & Logistical support Design of Event Layouts Public Relations Venue/Facility Coordination Volunteer Recruitment On-site staffing Pre-Event Planning Hotel/Lodging Hospitality

Budget management Transportation Public Relations

Sourcing of service providers Security Planning Marketing

Permitting In-Kind partnerships Medical

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has a proven track record of retaining events by working with

event owners to enhance their productivity. By improving operational efficiencies or marketing strategies,

the Palm Beach County Sports Commission can increase an event’s participation levels and profits, thereby

securing the event for future years and generating more revenues for both the event owner and for Palm

Beach County.

EVENT PARTNERSHIPS

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s willingness to form an event partnership, manage an event

in its entirety and shoulder the workload that comes with the arrangement has been a key element in

allowing Palm Beach County to win national bids and host successful events. Event partnerships also

represent revenue-generating opportunities for the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. In many

instances, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will be obligated to develop and manage an event

budget. Both the event producer and the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will share in certain

event-related revenues and expenses, as well as the potential proceeds.

PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS

Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to partner with local sports clubs, organizations, chapters, and/or associations to maximize “bid-win potential.” Having the “experts” in each specific event

space as partners will demonstrate our ability to effectively prepare for events and will also enable us to

have access to volunteers needed for successful event production.

PALM BEACH COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION

The Sports Commission’s partnership with Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation is vital to our county’s

ability to maintain sports as a cornerstone for its tourism initiatives. Palm Beach County Parks &

Recreation system encourages a vibrant atmosphere for sports event development due to its 8,000 acres

of parklands that offer a variety of facilities for sports, and some of the most multidimensional facilities in

the United States. In 2019, prior to the pandemic’s beginning, Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation

venues accommodated 37 tourism generating sports events, which contributed to nearly 30,000+ hotel

room nights. Palm Beach County’s award-winning parks system continues to be vital to our Sports

Commission’s success.

PALM BEACH COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER

Creating business opportunities for the Palm Beach County Convention Center is a priority for our Sports

Commission. The Convention Center’s exhibit hall is 100,000 square feet and with 1,800 tiered seats and

connecting hotel, it can be transformed into a venue for indoor sports. In 2021, the Palm Beach County

Convention Center was home to (4) sports events, which included a marquee regional gymnastics meet,

a statewide volleyball tournament, Deka-Fit – owned by Spartan Race, and a 200+ team national

basketball tournament. The following is currently happening to grow the presence of sports events for

the Convention Center in 2022:

• Accumulating a plan to bring back the 200+ national basketball tournament, the regional

volleyball tournament, and Deka Fit.

• Pursuing a list of new targets for 2022, which includes the United States Table Tennis Open,

Eminence Cup (DanceSport), Sunshine State Games, indoor pickleball, and more.

• Concentration is primarily on short-term business to avoid the Food & Beverage minimum,

which excludes most amateur sports events.

MOTORSPORTS IN THE PALM BEACHES

Palm Beach County has been a motorsports destination since 1964 and gained notoriety in 1981 after an

acquisition that led to the renamed Moroso Motorsports Park. Today, this motorsports facility is named

the Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR) and boasts a 10-turn, 2.2-mile road course, world-recordsetting 1/4-mile drag strip, autocross track, and a mud bog for off-road vehicles. Illustrious motorsports

circuits, such as the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), Sports

Car Club of America (SCCA), Monster Truckz Mayhem Tour, and the Florida Motorcycle Road Racing

Association, have hosted their events at PBIR. Hundreds of events and thousands of participants and

spectators attend PBIR annually. However, PBIR presents the consideration for retaining a sport, events,

and an identity.

PBIR is likely to be sold, which could mean the end to motorsports in The Palm Beaches. Intelligence

reveals that such a sale would lead to a complete repurposing of the land that is now built for motorsports.

This would be a heartbreaking loss of an iconic sports venue for Palm Beach County. A sports tourism

asset would be eliminated. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is evaluating options for advocacy

regarding the preservation of PBIR and a motorsports presence in the United States. This certainly will be

a major sports tourism retention discussion that will take place in FY 22.

EVENTS CREATED AND OWNED BY THE SPORTS COMMISSION

The creation and ownership of events by sports commissions was a major theme in the State of the

Industry report from Sports ETA, with 37% of sports commissions now owning their own events. This

strategy provides alternative revenue streams and significant marketing and media exposure. Below

summarizes the Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s event ownership:

• Holiday Basketball Classic of The Palm Beaches - The Palm Beach County Sports Commission

created the Holiday Basketball Classic of the Palm Beaches in 2016 to be an annual high school

basketball national invitational. This event generates hotel impact while embracing our local

community.

• Lou Groza Collegiate Place-kicker Award - This December will mark the 30th Anniversary of this

nationally recognized award, owned by our Sports Commission. The Lou Groza Collegiate Place-

Kicker Award is a prestigious college football award. Extensive publicity brings national exposure

to Palm Beach County on an annual basis. This award is presented on the Home Depot ESPN

College Football Award show, which is televised live on ESPN, attracting nearly 1 million viewers.

• Kid’s Fitness Festival - The Kid’s Fitness Festival of The Palm Beaches is the only multi-sport event

that takes place annually in Palm Beach County. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission

partners with over 40 different sports organizations, event owners, and national governing bodies

to present interactive sports clinics to over 5,000 youth from across Palm Beach County. In 2021,

the event the attendance was significantly reduced due to COVID-19.

SPORTS MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Marketing Research: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission along with a top national research firm

developed and deployed a sports destination business intelligence survey targeted at event rights holders,

promoters, and national governing bodies. This research survey examined the demographics and

psychographics of our customers and their decision-making processes. The survey asked respondents to

rate our destination against a competitive set. This insight has been extremely valuable in informing

marketing efforts as we work to recruit events from many of these same rights holders.

Event Owner Demographics

KEY FINDINGS OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Search Engine Optimization: Search engine optimization and an effectively designed website are critical

to promote and sell our destination. Over 26% of event owners indicated that they are more likely to use

the website of a sports commission when researching destinations. As Our sports commission can increase

the quantity and quality of traffic through organic search engine results, this, in turn, gives us more

opportunities to convert qualified prospects into customers. Our website is an integral marketing tool that

showcases and informs our sports event partners, potential clients, sports tourist, and the local sports

community on facilities, sporting events, membership, attractions, hotels, and other Palm Beach County

assets. Using this data, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission debuted a redesigned website to

enhance the brand and provide the best service possible for all visitors. In FY 22, the Palm Beach County

Sports Commission will continue to integrate multi-media galleries with videos and photos into the

website that showcase our many offerings in the county.

Digital Social Media Promotion: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to integrate

social media into its marketing strategies. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will utilize this

medium to promote brand awareness, provide additional support to event owners, and be a tool to

engage and promote partners. Social media strategies will include using social media influencers,

specialized advertising campaigns to grow a targeted audience, increasing live streaming capabilities at

events, and special promotions delivered on our social media vehicles to increase audience engagement.

Trade Shows: When selecting a destination, the majority of survey respondents (68.8%) who had not

previously hosted an event in Palm Beach County before said they use tradeshows to get ideas for

destinations in which to host their events. Additionally, when asked how they prefer to be solicited by

Sports Commissions this group is much more likely to say they prefer contact at tradeshows and

exhibitions.

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will attend the sports travel industry’s most effective

conferences, conventions, and tradeshows staged throughout the United States to further its networking,

relationship building, and sales efforts.

In FY 22, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will attend the following trade shows:

• Connect Sports Marketplace

• Destination International

• Sports ETA (Events and Tourism Association) Symposium

• ACES (Association of Chief Executives for Sport) Conference

• TEAMS (Travel, Events and Management, & Sports) Conference & Expo

• Sunshine Sports Council Summit

• Florida Sports Summit

Familiarization Tours: When moving prospective event clients through the sales process, site visits or

familiarization tours are one of the most beneficial event development strategies. Site visits allow for an

event owner to explore potential sports venues while experiencing Palm Beach County’s tourism assets,

such as hotels, restaurants, and attractions. In FY 22, our Sports Commission will continue to pursue this

winning strategy while creating several new group FAM’s by sport discipline for key event rights holders

and event promoters. Through our market research, we found that 81% of event owners will not select a

destination unless they tour the location in person first.

High-Quality Service: 98% of event owners, rights holders, and governing bodies surveyed indicated that

they were satisfied by the level of service provided by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The

Palm Beach County Sports Commission believes that our commitment to event servicing separates us

from the competition. Our belief is that event servicing is the primary initiative that results in the repeat

event business. Our event management support includes managing an event in its entirety assisting with

various operational requirements, such as venue support, hotel, and housing solutions, logistical needs,

event supplies, sourcing event equipment and service providers, transportation, volunteer recruitment,

permitting, event layouts, and marketing and public relation strategies.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Marketing Campaigns: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to develop marketing

campaigns to increase brand awareness and promote Palm Beach County as a premier sports destination.

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s marketing and communication efforts focus on promoting

Palm Beach County’s sports assets and capabilities. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will utilize

specialty print and digital mediums in leading industry trade publications to promote our message of “Just

Bring Your Game.”

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to promote The Palm Beaches as a premier

sports destination through digital and print mediums in leading trade publications, such as Sports Travel

Magazine, Sports Destination Magazine, SportsEvents Magazine, the Sports Business Journal, and Sports

Planning Guide & Directory.

Advertising campaigns will also be planned to coincide with industry trade shows and national

conventions. This provides an additional instrument and brand awareness during meetings with

prospective event clients that occur during the trade shows.

Content Marketing: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will enhance its digital presence with rich

media, such as images, videos, and virtual tours. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is committed

to capturing rich media through impactful photography and videos that demonstrate the capabilities of

Palm Beach County’s sports venues and the range of sports events that make the Palm Beaches their

home.

Award-Winning Facility Guide: The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has created an award-winning

Sports Facility Guide to The Palm Beaches. This sixty-four-page full-color guide promotes a variety of sports venues/facilities in The Palm Beaches. This Sports Facility Guide to The Palm Beaches will be used

as a marketing tool to showcase the world-class facilities and venues Palm Beach County has to offer. This

guide will be used in direct mail campaigns to event owners, rights holders, and national governing bodies.

This is also a primary collateral piece at trade shows for highlighting the diversity and versatility of sports

venues in The Palm Beaches.

Virtual Informational Venue Tours: In 2022, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will create virtual

informational venue tours. These informational tours will be narrated by a host and will include venue

footage, video highlights from past events at each venue, and promotional video for key sports venues in

The Palm Beaches.

AIRLIFT INBOUND MARKETING SUPPORT

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to promote the Palm Beach International Airport in FY 22. Commercials and print/digital ads for the airport will be included in assets as we engage in our

marketing plan and position our sports commission in trade publications, digital assets, and collateral.

PERFECT WEEK OF SPORTS IN THE PALM BEACHES

The Perfect Week of Sports, first held in 2020, is a marketing initiative of the Palm Beach County Sports

Commission with an emphasis on promoting The Palm Beaches as a premier professional sports

destination. The ‘Perfect Week’ is a collection of diverse professional sports events that take place with a

calendar week in Palm Beach County.

The Perfect Week of Sports has shown great potential in its first iteration and, with an even stronger

marketing push in 2022, can continue to take its position as a landmark of The Palm Beaches sports

calendar. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will partner with the other TDC agencies to help

promote this special tourism week.

The FY 22 strategy for the Perfect Week of Sports will include earned media, with public relations and

television coverage, owned media through social media, promotion collateral, and website campaigns,

and paid media with video production and digital media ads.

Press Announcement: The Perfect Week of Sports will be announced with a press event featuring

representatives from each event or sports and national sports journalists. This year’s press event can draw

an even larger audience. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission plans to include influencers and

professional athletes in the announcement. Having the presence of one or more current athletes would

help to create interest and a stronger buzz around the Perfect Week of Sports.

Social Influencers: An effort to include social media influencers will elevate the event and destination’s

profile. Last ‘Perfect Week,’ two Instagram influencers were brought in to share content regarding each

of the events, in partnership with Discover The Palm Beaches. The influencers’ audience skewed much

younger than the typical viewing audiences of the sports involved in the ‘Perfect Week.’ The influencers

allowed our destination and sports commission to be exposed to entirely new audiences. Further

incorporating influencers into our marketing strategy will help the event become a stronger brand.

Social media: social media, both paid and organic, will be a large portion of the marketing regarding the

Perfect Week of Sports. The best way to approach social media for this event will be a multi-faceted

approach:

• Extensive posts from the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, which events involved in the

Perfect Week will be encouraged to share

• Creating content that the events themselves can share. The content will be branded with the

destination and can help our destination reach new audiences

• Use of influencers and professional athletes

• Daily press releases from The Palm Beach County Sports Commission that should generate more

content for us to share throughout the week

• Creating content at each event and posting immediately will keep the content fun and fresh

Videos: A promotional video will be created prior to the Perfect Week of Sports to help promote this

unique experience in The Palm Beaches. The video will be shared nationally and internationally through

paid and organic social and through the channels of our partners.

TESTIMONIALS

68.9% of survey respondents said that they rely on word of mouth to select a destination to host sports

events. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will increase the use of testimonials videos. People

look for social proof in all areas of life, including how we behave and the purchasing decisions we make

online. In return, these testimonials will add weight to our sales message when trying to engage with

potential customers on other mediums, such as print material and email.

FILM & TV

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is committed to partnering with our sister agencies to produce

content for the Palm Beaches TV. These partnerships leverage each agency's resources so that we may

provide as much new content as possible, which then provides our constituents the best possible viewing

experience. The Palm Beaches TV platform gives each agency a unique avenue to provide direct messaging

to the consumer with a global audience. The programming that is being produced runs 24 hours a day, 7

days a week. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to enhance its brand and customer

service initiatives through this platform by developing and distributing unique fresh content highlighting

sports event tourism in The Palm Beaches.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will utilize several key social media strategies in FY22.

• Maintain the Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s status as the most followed sports

commission on Facebook in the state of Florida. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has

more followers on social media than any of our competitive set of sports commissions.

• Lead the way into new and emerging platforms; being first and at the forefront of new social

media platforms and trends will help further establish The Palm Beaches and the Palm Beach

County Sports Commission as a central source for the best sports tourism content.

• Palm Beach County Sports Commission’s social media content will be designed specifically to

target event owners and potential business partners.

• This targeted audience will be reached through the following actionable steps:

o Targeted ads placed directly in the news feed of event owners and similar individuals. Our

sports commission has an extensive database of event owners that can be targeted by

Facebook and Instagram’s advertising platforms which will serve relevant ads to the right

people at the right times.

o Geofencing ads around industry trade shows will allow the sports commission to make a

strong brand awareness push even if not physically in attendance. Geographically

targeting sports events, trade shows, or other industry events will help us serve relevant

ads to the desired audience.

o Email blasts promoting content found on our social media (i.e., blog-style ‘listicle’ posts,

virtual tour content, etc.) will create opportunities for our content to be shared. When

content is shared by a user, the sports commission brand can spread to an entirely new

audience.

o Posting, commenting, and generally engaging with like-minded brands to make Palm

Beach County Sports Commission social media more visible should be a key component

of our social media strategy.

Engagement:

• The Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to create quality content that educates

event owners on Palm Beach County’s venues, our sports commission’s services, and the region

as a sports tourism destination while incorporating calls to action that lead event clients towards

Fam Tours and booking events in The Palm Beaches.

o Quality content will come from virtual tours, professional videos of events, staff-

generated videos with in-house equipment, blog posts, news stories, and more.

o Our best content will demonstrate the breadth and depth of venues and events in The

Palm Beaches, ultimately engaging a wide range of event owners.

Social Media Outlook:

• There are several steps that the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will take to continue

growing and maintaining a sizable social media audience:

o Creating branded content such as professional videos and in-house generated content

clips. The ability to create content quickly will help create additional attention

surrounding our social media channels.

o Lead the expansion onto new and emerging platforms such as TikTok. Building on trends

of social media and posting relevant content will be key in creating larger audiences for

destination content.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

In FY 22, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission will continue to strategically incorporate public

relations to communicate with its target audience. Strategies utilized will include:

• Continuing to grow its network and relationships with national and international media.

• Regularly securing placements in national news outlets for professional and amateur sporting

events that take place in Palm Beach County.

• Tracking the earned media value of media placements through Critical Mention software.

Understanding and utilizing this data will help bolster future media strategy.

o Using Critical Mention’s media database, we will be able to maintain an extensive and up-

to-date media contact database. The software tracks reporters covering sports in Palm

Beach County.

• Media database will continue to receive relevant press releases and story pitches from us on a

regular basis. This will ensure that we remain top-of-mind when they are crafting stories.

• Distributing a monthly sports event calendar to relevant national media members will help the

media stay aware of happenings in Palm Beach County. Building brand trust between our sports

commission and reports should be of high importance.

• Build relationships with key media representatives and influencers to keep The Palm Beaches top

of mind through proactive pitching and hosting within the destination.

• Media ‘Fam’ tours will be created to grow media coverage and expose national sports journalists

to the breadth and versatility of sports venues and experiences in The Palm Beaches.

SUPER 8 MARKETS

With international travel limited for much of 2020, domestic visitors were more important to Florida’s

tourism economy than at any time in recent history. According to Visit Florida, over 94% of Florida’s 86.7

million out-of-state visitors came from U.S. origin markets.

Although the Palm Beach County Sports Commission does not target leisure travelers, consideration is

given to Florida’s “Super Eight Markets” and secondary markets when recruiting sports events. Visitors

from these DMAs are regularly looking for a reason or seeking inspiration to book a trip to Florida. For

example, sports such as lacrosse, field hockey, soccer, baseball, and basketball have high populations of

travel teams from the Super 8 markets. Pursuing events that consist of athletes and teams originating

from the “Super Eight Markets,” should generate greater attendance and participation numbers in a

Florida destination.

Super 8 Markets:

1. New York

2. Chicago

3. Atlanta

4. Birmingham 5. Philadelphia

6. Washington D.C.

7. Boston

8. Minneapolis St Paul

CHAMPION DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Diversity is Palm Beach County’s greatest characteristic, and sports are one of the most diverse tourism

products that exist. People from different races, nationalities, cultures, and beliefs come together to form

teams acting as a single unit and competing for a common goal.

In order to position Palm Beach County as a premier destination for sports, being a champion of Diversity,

Equity, and Inclusion is imperative and the most pivotal pillar towards being a leader in sports tourism.

Our Sports Commission must nurture an environment that celebrates diversity and demonstrates that

people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, and capability are

embraced.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training: Diversity in the workplace is a benefit to any organization and is

crucial to professional success. In the sports and tourism industries, diversity is a direct reflection of the

customers we serve and is vital for success. Our Sports Commission has contracted with an EDI expert

consultant and Barry University to help advise and improve our processes, procedures, and practices to

ensure their alignment with DEI best practices. In addition, Barry University provided training sessions in

the area of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for all Sports Commission staff. This effort underscores the

value and benefits of working in an environment enriched by diversity and encourages essential skills to

improve cooperation and maximize a diverse workplace's values.

Marketing Audit: A recent marketing audit, specifically to measure diversity and inclusion within the

PBCSC marketing and media campaigns and materials, revealed that there has been a strong diversity

representation in photos and other depictions used when promoting the organization, destination, and

its events. This was true of both digital and print materials. PBCSC currently uses a variety of advertising

sources that reach a wide range of diverse populations. PBCSC has an ongoing diversity outreach strategy,

where it targets organizations with diversity-specific events.

Recognizing Local Sports Organizations for Champion of Equity & Diversity: The Palm Beach County

Sports Commission created a new award, to be distributed at its annual Palm Beach Sports Hall of Fame

Celebration. “The Champion of Equity & Diversity in Sports” is presented to organizations or individuals

that have a profound impact on our community through creating an equitable and inclusive environment

in sports. The African American Golfers Hall of Fame received the inaugural award. The Palm Beach County

Sports Commission will create additional recognitions for those local organizations that advance diversity,

equity, and inclusion.

Urban League: This past year, the Sports Commission partnered with the Urban League of Palm Beach

County Foundation to support a local sports team for minority boys and girls to allow the team an

opportunity to compete in national events. This partnership will carry over in FY 2022. The Urban League

will identify a local sports team looking to compete or participate in sports. Our Sports Commission will

source funding through private sponsorship to accomplish this initiative.

Business Connect: Business Inclusion & Diversity Connect is the Palm Beach County Sports Commission

special event supplier diversity and inclusion program which will be launched in 2022. The Business

Connect program works proactively to create opportunities for experienced, qualified, and certified

businesses from local and diverse communities to compete for supply opportunities with Palm Beach

County Sports Commission hosted events. This program provides a resource and encourages events to

source products and services from these previously underused and well-qualified suppliers. The goal is to

curate a robust list of 50+ event-ready Palm Beach County minority-owned businesses in 12 business lines

to work with event producers hosting events in Palm Beach County. These businesses will be designated

‘approved’ vendors and will be added to the Business Inclusion & Diversity Connect Resource Guide of

certified businesses ready to compete for opportunities. The Business Inclusion & Diversity Connect

program also offers networking, educational, and business development opportunities to encourage

greater business success for each participant.

Event Development: The Sports Commission will implement an aggressive inclusion strategy to attract

specific sports events that celebrate diversity. Our Sports Commission has a lengthy list of targeted

organizations events, which specifically commemorates diversity, equity, and inclusion. Below are some

of the event targets:

• Asian Basketball Championships of North America

• USSSA Black American Softball Word Tour

• USSSA Hispanic Slowpitch Softball Tour

• Black Collegiate Gaming Association (esports events)

• American Tennis Association (Oldest African American Sports Organization)

• North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (softball)

• International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (Soccer)

• National Beep Baseball Association World Series (visually impaired athletes – PBCSC hosted in

2017)

• United States Tennis Association - Wheelchair Tennis Championships

• American Tennis Association (Oldest African American Sports Organization)

• International Gay Bowling Association

• National Gay Flag Football League

• Bill Dickey Golf Invitational

The sports events marketplace has multi-cultural organizations that offer events tailored and marketed

specifically to different communities, races, or ethnic groups. The PBCSC will vigorously pursue these

sports organizations and their events.