Council debates $3.6 million turf-field proposal for Shadow Creek Ranch; ROI and backstops questioned

Pearland staff presented a proposal to use hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) revenues to convert athletic fields at Shadow Creek Ranch to artificial turf, adding $3.0 million in FY26 on top of a $600,000 budget amendment already approved—$3.6 million in total as shown in staff slides. The item was presented as a strategy to attract additional tournaments and higher-value “state-of-play” events that generate hotel room nights.

Parks and tourism staff explained that turf fields reduce weather-related cancellations and expand the types of tournaments the city can host. Tracy (Parks staff member) said the city currently has multiple agreements with rights holders, including USFA and Triple Crown, and that discussions are underway with other rights holders such as Perfect Game. “We currently have agreements with … USFA. We … have an agreement with [Triple Crown] from 2024 through 2027,” Tracy said, and noted that turf would allow the city to host larger, higher-profile events and minimize rain cancellations.

Staff presented recent tournament-generated hotel revenue at about $182,000 per year over the last three years, with about 28 tournaments hosted in that period. Triple Crown’s first year generated roughly $45,000 in hotel revenue and about 352 room nights, staff said. Using the city’s ROI metric as explained at the meeting, converting the fields to turf and repaying $3.6 million over five years would require roughly 5,500 room nights annually at an assumed average daily rate of $130.

Council members and hoteliers questioned that gap. Councilmember Fernandez and others noted that current tournament-driven room-night pickup (about 1,400 rooms per year implied by the $182,000 average) is well short of the 5,500-room target needed to fully cover the capital over five years. Councilmember Bohm and other members pressed staff on whether the city could reasonably expect the additional dates and room-night volume and asked for comparative data from other cities.

City staff proposed financial safeguards if the revenue target is not met: primary backstops identified during discussion were other special revenue or tourism-reserve mechanisms (described in the meeting as TIRS) and potential PEDC contributions before any general-fund backfill would be considered. Staff also said a five-year use of the HOT reserve to make the upfront investment would still provide improved fields and tournament capacity while allowing staff to monitor actual bookings.

Council asked staff to return with a model showing historic room-night trends, projected increases from additional turf fields, and comparisons to peer jurisdictions to validate revenue assumptions. No council vote or formal commitment to the turf conversion was made at the meeting; council requested a memo with the requested analysis as part of the FY26 budget process.

Clarifying details provided in the meeting: staff reported 28 tournaments hosted over the last three years, average annual hotel revenue from tournaments of roughly $182,000, Triple Crown’s first-year hotel revenue of $45,000 and 352 room nights, and the HOT-fund proposal of $3.0 million in FY26 plus $600,000 previously approved. Staff and council agreed the city would use reserve funds and other special-revenue sources as primary backstops before considering general-fund coverage if the ROI target is not met.