Quegiebo
January 26th, 2007, 06:27 PM
City Faces New Test With ACC Tourney
By TED JACKOVICS The Tampa Tribune
Published: Jan 26, 2007
TAMPA - When it comes to staging major events, Tampa has been there and done that.
It's hosted a hometown Stanley Cup victory and the Super Bowl on three occasions. The city twice came close to putting on the Republican National Convention. It sells out the Monster Jam truck event at Raymond James Stadium, which TV political satirist Jon Stewart could not resist pointing out on his visit here for a performance Sunday.
Nonetheless, a cadre of local tourism officials face a fresh challenge in helping the city prepare for the Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball tournament in March.
"Seven years ago, when the ACC decided to bring the tournament to Tampa, they knew we could pull it off," said Karen Brand, vice president of communications for the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Now we have to deliver."
The 11-game tournament, which until now has been held only in North Carolina, Georgia and Maryland, generated an estimated $25 million to $35 million economic impact at each of the venues in the past six years, Brand said.
The bureau had no summary of local hotel room availability during the March 8-11 tournament, but the event is expected to attract nearly all of its 22,000 daily game attendees from beyond the Tampa Bay area.
Filling hotel rooms and drawing visitors to local restaurants and shops is the primary goal, and communities beyond Hillsborough County are bound to benefit from visitors heading to beaches and golf courses.
However, more is at stake than the money visitors are expected to spend here, Brand said.
"We are at a point analogous to how Tampa was perceived in ice hockey before the Lightning won the Stanley Cup," she said. "This is the first time the tournament has been held in Florida.
Everything Must Be Perfect
"While we are known for hosting the Super Bowl and we have had NCAA basketball tournaments in Tampa Bay, we are not really known as a basketball city. That means everything has to go perfectly."
At the same time, the visitors bureau must continue preparations for the NCAA women's basketball Final Four in 2008, and the National Football League's Super Bowl in 2009 - in addition to contributing to Gasparilla activities this weekend.
The Hillsborough tourism group is sending a contingent of 20 people to Miami next week to participate in Super Bowl media events.
One goal is to provide a Tampa presence for Miami Super Bowl visitors who might be interested in visiting Tampa for the 2009 game. However, the group's top priority will be to study the latest in logistics strategies the Miami Super Bowl organizers will employ, Brand said.
"For example, we learned at the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville that trying to accommodate visitors on cruise ships would not work well here," said Brand, who will finish her work at the visitors bureau Tuesday. She is moving to Connecticut with her husband.
It is customary that Super Bowl host cities staff a booth at the Super Bowl's weeklong media gatherings. The bureau exercised its option to buy 14 game tickets, so not all of the workers will be able to attend.
As tough as Super Bowl tickets might be to obtain - the face value of Super Bowl tickets ranges from $600 to $700 - obtaining a $363 ticket for the 11-game ACC tourney in Tampa likely may be even more difficult.
Plenty Of Activities Are Planned
There's been no public sale for ACC tournament tickets since 1966. Tickets are made available only to the 12 conference schools, which customarily apportion them to their highest contributing boosters.
Plenty of activities are scheduled for people shut out from attending the ACC tourney games, including free "Fan Fest " activities with interactive games food and entertainment just outside the St. Pete Times Forum. Game action will be shown on the face of a parking garage.
Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.
http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGB05P0YDXE.html
By TED JACKOVICS The Tampa Tribune
Published: Jan 26, 2007
TAMPA - When it comes to staging major events, Tampa has been there and done that.
It's hosted a hometown Stanley Cup victory and the Super Bowl on three occasions. The city twice came close to putting on the Republican National Convention. It sells out the Monster Jam truck event at Raymond James Stadium, which TV political satirist Jon Stewart could not resist pointing out on his visit here for a performance Sunday.
Nonetheless, a cadre of local tourism officials face a fresh challenge in helping the city prepare for the Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball tournament in March.
"Seven years ago, when the ACC decided to bring the tournament to Tampa, they knew we could pull it off," said Karen Brand, vice president of communications for the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Now we have to deliver."
The 11-game tournament, which until now has been held only in North Carolina, Georgia and Maryland, generated an estimated $25 million to $35 million economic impact at each of the venues in the past six years, Brand said.
The bureau had no summary of local hotel room availability during the March 8-11 tournament, but the event is expected to attract nearly all of its 22,000 daily game attendees from beyond the Tampa Bay area.
Filling hotel rooms and drawing visitors to local restaurants and shops is the primary goal, and communities beyond Hillsborough County are bound to benefit from visitors heading to beaches and golf courses.
However, more is at stake than the money visitors are expected to spend here, Brand said.
"We are at a point analogous to how Tampa was perceived in ice hockey before the Lightning won the Stanley Cup," she said. "This is the first time the tournament has been held in Florida.
Everything Must Be Perfect
"While we are known for hosting the Super Bowl and we have had NCAA basketball tournaments in Tampa Bay, we are not really known as a basketball city. That means everything has to go perfectly."
At the same time, the visitors bureau must continue preparations for the NCAA women's basketball Final Four in 2008, and the National Football League's Super Bowl in 2009 - in addition to contributing to Gasparilla activities this weekend.
The Hillsborough tourism group is sending a contingent of 20 people to Miami next week to participate in Super Bowl media events.
One goal is to provide a Tampa presence for Miami Super Bowl visitors who might be interested in visiting Tampa for the 2009 game. However, the group's top priority will be to study the latest in logistics strategies the Miami Super Bowl organizers will employ, Brand said.
"For example, we learned at the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville that trying to accommodate visitors on cruise ships would not work well here," said Brand, who will finish her work at the visitors bureau Tuesday. She is moving to Connecticut with her husband.
It is customary that Super Bowl host cities staff a booth at the Super Bowl's weeklong media gatherings. The bureau exercised its option to buy 14 game tickets, so not all of the workers will be able to attend.
As tough as Super Bowl tickets might be to obtain - the face value of Super Bowl tickets ranges from $600 to $700 - obtaining a $363 ticket for the 11-game ACC tourney in Tampa likely may be even more difficult.
Plenty Of Activities Are Planned
There's been no public sale for ACC tournament tickets since 1966. Tickets are made available only to the 12 conference schools, which customarily apportion them to their highest contributing boosters.
Plenty of activities are scheduled for people shut out from attending the ACC tourney games, including free "Fan Fest " activities with interactive games food and entertainment just outside the St. Pete Times Forum. Game action will be shown on the face of a parking garage.
Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.
http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGB05P0YDXE.html