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Flagler County TDC approves discretionary funding for multiple sports and tourism events
Summary
At its meeting, the Flagler County Tourist Development Council approved discretionary event funding for several 2020 events, including lacrosse tournaments, a sports summit and a state flag football championship; most votes were unanimous, with one abstention recorded.
The Flagler County Tourist Development Council voted to approve discretionary funding for several upcoming sports and tourism events, including support for lacrosse tournaments, the Florida Sports Summit and the Florida state flag football championships.
The approvals included $12,500 for the Florida Lacrosse Alliance’s January tournament, $15,000 for the Florida Sports Foundation’s Florida Sports Summit in May 2020, $5,000 for the Florida flag football state championships in June 2020, $10,500 for the Triple Crown Pumpkin Lacrosse Tournament in October 2020 and $1,000 to support keepingourpubliclandsopen.org’s October 17, 2020 event. A separate, long‑standing Father’s Day lacrosse tournament also was approved; an abstention was recorded for that item because a board member had a hotel room block at a host property.
The board heard staff presentations describing the expected visitor impacts of the events. Craig (Tourism staff) summarized the lacrosse item, saying the Florida Lacrosse Alliance took over an event previously run by Triple Crown and that “last year, the numbers were approximately 45 or 50 teams. This year, it's jumped up to 80 teams already.” He told the board that the newer organizer would list local hotels on its tournament site and would track lodging through its registration system so the TDC could report post‑event occupancy numbers.
On the Florida Sports Summit, Craig said the summit will bring about 60 event rights holders to the county and that staff had negotiated a fan‑tour/FAM component: “we'll be able to take them throughout the county, show them different facilities,” he said, describing the opportunity to showcase facilities such as Indian Trails and Wadsworth to organizations that own sporting events. The summit request included funds to cover a bid fee and to underwrite the FAM tours and related hospitality; board members noted the cost per attendee was modest compared with the potential of attracting new events.
Board members asked how teams and attendees would be lodged; Craig said tournament organizers are not using formal room blocks this year but will capture where registrants stay through their entry system. The board also confirmed coordination with Palm Coast recreation for events using county parks and fields.
Votes were recorded as follows: items identified by staff and listed above were approved (most by unanimous voice vote). For the Father’s Day tournament the board recorded five votes in favor and one abstention (Mark Richardson, who stated he had a room block at his hotel). No public opposition was recorded during the meeting.
The approvals allow staff to proceed with contractual and operational steps for the events; staff said they will report back with post‑event lodging and economic data when available.
The actions affect events scheduled from January through October 2020 and are intended to drive hotel stays, restaurant business and related visitor economy spending in Flagler County.
