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HomeMy WebLinkAbout111016_2012 RMUSSSA softball CSE funding applicationVAIL COMMISSION ON SPECIAL EVENTS 2012 EVENT FUNDING APPLICATION NAME OF EVENT: RMUSSSA Vail Valley Labor Day Classic Softball Tournament PROPOSED DATES: September 1-3, 2012 AMOUNT OF CASH FUNDING REQUESTED: $3,527.00 PRODUCING ENTITY: 1. Bobby Ladd, President, Vail Valley Softball Club Scott Cameron, President, RMUSSSA 2. Bobby Ladd 3. Vail Valley Softball Club, LLC PO Box 1805 Edwards, CO 81632 4. Contact Info Bobby Ladd — bobbyl@ralarch.com, 970-376-4227 5. Website — www.vvsbc.com www.rmusssa.com 6. Number of years organization has been in business VVSBC — 3years RMUSSSA — 8 years 7. Mission Statement — To provide a competitive softball environment while promoting sportsmanship and a family atmosphere. 8. Organization’s tax status — For profit, LLC. Tax ID — 27-2175492 EVENT DESCRIPTION 1. Event Description — adult men’s and mixed slowpitch softball tournaments. 2. Location — Ford Park softball fields 3. No portion of the event will take place outside of the Town of Vail. 4. There will be no in-kind services required of the Town of Vail to stage this event. 5. Year 3 of event. First two years were produced same as proposed for this year, except the June event will not be run this year to focus exclusively on the Labor Day event. 6. September Number of Participants — 192 (336 attendees) Number of volunteers — 2 Number of staff — 12 Total — 206 (350 attendees) Local — 20% In-state — 74% Out of state — 6% 7. Potential Benefits — Promoting recreational softball in Vail to the Denver softball community and beyond to re-build the Labor Day softball event into an event attracting national exposure like it did over 10 years ago and promoting weekend vacationing in Vail in the summer months in addition to encouraging local softball teams to participate. 8. Economic Impact Lodging Potential Room Nights Generated 216 Average Daily Rate $148.00 Potential Lodging Revenue $31,968 Potential Lodging Sales Tax (9.8%) Generated $3,133 Incremental Spend Incremental Spend per Room Night $266.00 Potential Incremental Spend Revenue $57,456 Potential Incremental Spend Sales Tax (8.5%) Generated $4,884 BUDGET 1. See attached 2. Event 45% funded by CSE 3. The funds will be used to cover event costs of field rental, insurance, supplies, labor costs (umpires), and other miscellaneous fees. 4. If CSE funding is denied, this event may still occur. 5. There are no alternative sponsorship sources in the budget. Future sponsorship may be secured once the event grows in size to attract corporate softball and sporting goods sponsors. 6. Event will generate 55% of the total budget through team entry fees. 7. Yes, this event will continue to run beyond 2010 as long as softball facilities are available. 8. Yes, CSE funding will be requested next year. For future tournaments, anticipated participation growth will help generate more income from team entry fees. In addition, once a tournament participation base is established, entry fees could be evaluated and possibly increased to better cover tournament costs, but initially the goal is to keep tournament entry costs low to provide more incentive for participation. CSE Funding requests for 2013 would be anticipated around 35% of the total event budget. Labor Day Tournamet Budget IncomeItemTotal Number of Teams16 Number of Games56 Number of Divisions2 Entry Fee per Team$250 Entry Revenues4,000.00$ Costs FildRtl$800Field Rental$800 Tournament Prize Winners per division$450$900 Softball Cost$210 Insurance cost$425 Marketing$750 Miscellaneousexpenses$200Miscellaneous expenses$200 Temporary fence$0 USSSA New Team Sanction fee$20$320 USSSA Team Sanction fee$5$80 USSSA Tournament Sanction fee per division$50$100p Umpire Fees per game$50$2,800 Umpire Team Fee per team$5$80 Umpire Assignor Fee per Game$2$112 UIC Fee$400 lUIC Travel$100 Umpire Lodging$250 Total Costs7,527.00$ Total(3,527.00)$ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 1. Lodging Plan We are working with the Vail Valley Partnership and local Vail lodging entities to partner to provide blocks of rooms to out of town attendees which will be marketed along with the event. The VVP will help provide an internet link to lodging options that will track booking arrangements made through that link. Additional lodging reports will be generated individually by any host hotels that are utilized. 2. Marketing The Marketing Plan for the RMUSSSA Vail Valley Series Softball Tournaments revolves around sanctioning the tournaments through USSSA (www.usssa.com) which is a national sanctioning entity. RMUSSSA (www.rmusssa.com) is the Colorado state USSSA affiliated entity. The tournaments will be included and listed on the RMUSSSA state schedule starting at the first of the year. This schedule is published on the website and readily accessible by all softball teams in the state. For 2010, there were over 1500 sanctioned USSSA softball teams in Colorado. In addition, the tournament will be listed through the national USSSA website. Through the national website, every USSSA registered softball team in the country can be contacted via email to promote the tournament and solicit entries. Emails will be sent regularly to every team in the country registered with USSSA in addition to being posted on national softball message boards. The www.vvsbc.com website will also be listed in all promotions and will be updated to include promotional information on the tournaments as well as viral marketing media ranging from commercials to still images promoting the event. Marketing towards local, unsanctioned teams will be done by providing local recreation districts (Vail Rec, WECMRD, Glenwood Rec) with marketing brochures and emails to distribute to their participants as well as mailing, posting, and distributing flyers at various softball events on the Front Range and Western Slope. Additional marketing alternatives are being evaluated at this time. 3. Previous years evaluation See attached. VAIL COMMISSION ON SPECIAL EVENTS 2011 EVENT R ECAP NAME OF EVENT: RMUSSSA Vail Valley Softball Series Tournaments DATES: JUNE 4, 2011 and September 4, 2011 1. EVENT OVERVIEW: The June event had 5 teams register to participate. Four of the teams were from outside of Eagle County. The tournament was limited to Saturday only to avoid conflicts with the TEVA Mountain Games on Sunday. This event was staged as a “feeder” event to offer teams an early season opportunity to play in the Vail Softball Series with the intent of trying to build the Labor Day tournament as the main attraction. The prize package was kept to a minimum in lines with the intent of the scale of this event and entry fees were reduced to try and entice teams to participate. Parking was the only real major challenge for this event as it fell on the same weekend as TEVA. As with 2010, there was a scheduling conflict with the RMUSSSA tourney schedule. This event was scheduled the weekend between two larger tournament events in the Greater Denver area, and it was difficult for teams to commit to play three weekends in a row. The scheduling of the June event will be greatly evaluated for next year, including possibly eliminating it to focus solely on growing the Labor Day event and to avoid the possibility that the June event is diluting the Labor Day turnout. The Labor Day Event had 9 teams register to participate. That number was down from last year, but the percentage of out of county participants was greater this year. An expanded prize package was offered for this tournament along with a guarantee of a minimum of 5 games per team versus the typical two or three game guarantee that accompanies most softball tournaments. There were competing events in Loveland and Grand Junction that reduced the turnout for the weekend. The event was hosted on Sunday only and ran from 9am to 8pm. Parking was a minor challenge later in the day as the overflow parking from the main parking structures spilled into Ford Park and along the frontage road. The event itself ran smoothly and all participants surveyed expressed a positive reaction to the event. Two thirds of the teams were repeat participants from 2010 and half of the teams were weekend destination visitors with most attendants arriving Friday and departing Monday. The total number of teams did not meet my expectations for these events, but I view the number of repeat attendees as a positive representation that the event is well received by participants. I have verbal commitments from 7 of the teams that registered to participate next year, including several teams that would be attending for the 3rd year in a row. Additionally, I have spoken with 5 other teams that did not participate this year but are planning on attending next year as a positive word of mouth recommendation from teams that has participated this year has encouraged the new teams to play next year. A similar event is hosted every year in Summit County in the middle of July. This event began approximately 20 years ago as a local event attracting 8-10 teams mostly from Summit County and surrounding areas. In 2004, the event promoter partnered with RMUSSSA and the event began to grow. For 2011, it attracted 57 teams. The Labor Day event has the potential to match or exceed this growth, and for 2012 alternative marketing plans will be implemented to try and achieve this goal. 2. EVENT BUDGET: Income Town of Vail funding $ 7,000.00 Team Entry Fees $ 1,555.00 Total Income $ 8,555.00 Expenses Named Insured Liability Insurance (Required by VRD) $ 425.00 Marketing $ 1,431.81 Tournament Prize Packages $ 885.38 Umpire Fees $ 1,499.00 Event Officials Fees $ 858.00 Field Rental $ 800.00 Umpire Room Rental $ 250.00 Supplies — Softballs $ 405.00 Supplies — Miscellaneous $ 285.41 USSSA Sanction fees $ 235.00 Miscellaneous Labor $ 80.00 Temporary Fencing $ 1,185.00 Total Expenses $ 8,339.60 Net Income $ 215.40 3. MARKETING: Marketing was handled through three different avenues. The primary marketing avenue was through the internet. Several emails were sent out through the USSSA.com national website and team database promoting the events. This database includes every USSSA registered softball team in the country. Emails were also sent to numerous recreation districts in the Western Slope and Denver to be forwarded to all of their local registered softball teams. The secondary marketing avenue was through mailings. Postcards were sent out to hundreds of team managers throughout the entire Western Slope region promoting the events. The third and final avenue was through word of mouth and personal invitation. Postcards were handed out at several tournaments and leagues in the Greater Denver area. A copy of the postcard is attached to this report. 4. LODGING: Host hotels were not utilized for these events. A booking engine link was set up thru the VVP and included in all email and internet advertising that provided a variety of lodging options within the Town of Vail. 5. SURVEY: A. Attendance and demographics 1. June — 105 attendants September — 210 attendants Attendance estimates are based on the average number of players multiplied by the number of participating teams, plus additional team spectators based on at the field observations. 2. 100% of the participants came to Vail specifically for this event. Approximately 65% of the participants attended in 2010. 3. June — 60% outside of Eagle County, 40% from Eagle County September — 83% outside of Eagle County, 17% from Eagle County 4. Average age — 30-35 years old Average income - $50,000 annually B. Estimated spending by event attendees 1. Lodging 1. June — 20% September — 50% 2. June — 8 room nights September — 84 room nights 3. $90-$130 per night of lodging 2. Dining June - $15 dining per participant (estimated) September - $95 dining per participant (estimated) 3. Shopping Unknown 4. Other Activities Unknown C. Visitor intent to return Almost all participants from both events expressed an interest in returning next year. Almost everyone that shared their experience stated that they had a great time. D. Estimated ROI Lodging — June - 8 room nights x $110 average lodging cost = $880 September — 84 room nights x $110 average lodge cost = $9,240 Dining — June — 105 attendants x $15 average = $1,575 September — 210 participants x $95 average = $19,950 Shopping — Unknown Other — Unknown Total estimated participant expenditures - $31,645 Funding Ration - $31,645 / $5,900 = 5.37 spending ratio Sales tax revenue - $1,265.80 6. POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH The Labor Day event has a significant potential for growth, given the past history of the Labor Day softball event back in the 1990’s and similar tournament models in Summit county. With growth of the tournament, opportunities for additional outside sponsors will increase proportionately. 7. SENSE OF COMMUNITY These events positively impacted the sense of community. They injected activity into the Ford Park fields and promoted recreational activity within the Town of Vail to a family oriented group. People walking by stopped to spectate and observe. 8. “GREEN” IMPACT These events were very low-impact to the environment. Recyclables were disposed of in the recycling containers at the field and the trash was disposed of properly. Local teenagers were employed to retrieve softballs hit into the trees and grass outside of the field, leaving little to no trace behind. 4. Projected Demographics 16 participating teams 12 players per team 192 total participants 72 participants will travel independently with their family (216 total attendees) 72 participants will travel alone and share rooms with other participants 48 participants will be locally located This will generate approximately 108 room nights per night with an anticipated stay of 2 nights for a total of 216 room nights. The estimated average incremental spend per room night is $266. 5. Organization Roster Vail Valley Softball Club, President Bobby Ladd bobbyl@ralarch.com 970.376.4227 Colorado USSSA State Director Scott Cameron tnacty@aol.com 303-589-7522 Colorado USSSA Assistant Director Bobby Ladd bobbyl@ralarch.com 970-376-4227 Colorado USSSA Umpire-in-Chief Bill Harper softballump@aol.com 719-338-7979