Sports-Development

Sports Development Executive Summary

In FY 23, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission (PBCSC) is deploying an aggressive sales and sports development effort to increase the number of sports tourisms generating events taking place in The Palm Beaches. The PBCSC continues to cultivate relationships with event owners, as well as identify, solicit, secure, and retain sports events to grow room night actualization. Below is a recap of sports development efforts that have taken place during FY23.

Event Bids & Development

A primary mechanism for event solicitation is through the Event Bid and Development process. To recognize potential bid opportunities, the PBCSC will be at the forefront of the industry and engage with event owners.

Bid submission is a highly effective tool to recruit sporting events. Attached is a comprehensive list of the bids that have been submitted in FY 23, and below is a breakdown of the development efforts over the past month:

• Florida Women’s Hockey League Winter Series o November 17 - 19, 2023 o 150 projected participants o 100 projected room nights o Palm Beach Skate Zone

• Florida Women’s Hockey League Spring Series o March 22 – 24, 2023 o 150 projected participants o 100 projected room nights o Boca Ice and Fine Arts

• Kickball 365 o December 2 - 3, 2023 o 450 projected participants o 250 projected room nights o Wellington HS Turf Fields

• I Do Beach Tennis ITF BT200 Open Singer Island o November 6 – 11, 2023 o 750 projected participants o 2,200 projected room nights o Singer Island Waterfront Area

• Conference USA Women’s Beach Volleyball Championships o April 25 – 27, 2024 o 200 projected participants o 400 projected room nights

• First Responder Games o June 2 – 16, 2024 o 1,200 projected participants o 2,000 projected room nights o Multiple venues throughout Palm Beach County

Event Site Visits

When trying to bring events to Palm Beach County, engaging event rights holders to conduct a site visit or familiarization tour is 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. Attached is a comprehensive list of the site visits that have been conducted in FY 23, and below is a breakdown of site visits conducted over the past month:

• US Soccer, US Soccer U15 Development Team Training, North County District Park

The Palm Beach County Sports Commission in partnership with Northstar Meetings Group will be hosting the TEAMS Conference and Expo this October 2-5, 2023 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. This TEAMS Conference is the world’s leading conference and expo for the sports-event industry. TEAMS attracts more than 1,000 attendees including CEOs, executive directors, and event managers from sports organizations as well as representatives from sports commissions and convention bureaus, corporate sponsors, event suppliers and other hospitality industry opinion leaders. Attendees will have the opportunity to schedule up to 40 appointments with governing body representatives and event rights holders. The pre-scheduled one-on-one sessions in your booth will allow quality face time, facilitate real business and generate ROI. The Palm Beach County Sports Commission won the bid to host TEAMS Conference in 2018.