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Committee adopts amendments to major‑events incentives bill; adds TKO events and new qualifiers
Summary
Senate Bill 201, which updates the state's Major Events Fund, was reported favorably as amended after the committee accepted amendments expanding covered events to those sanctioned by TKO Group Holdings (owner of WWE and UFC) and adding other events and a parallel events fund for smaller productions.
Senate Bill 201, which updates Louisiana’s Major Events Fund and related incentive rules, was reported favorably by the Appropriations Committee after sponsors and the Louisiana Economic Development agency described changes intended to better target incentives and require economic impact analysis for major events.
Sponsor testimony described four main goals: cap incentives at the greater of the solicitation amount or an event’s projected statewide economic impact; require an economic impact analysis prepared by an economist selected by the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) agency; create a separate events fund for smaller events; and tidy statutory language. Committee amendments adopted broadened the definition of covered events to include any event sanctioned by TKO Group Holdings, the parent company for WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship, and added three additional events at LED’s request. Committee members also added a named festival, Boots on the Bayou, to the list of eligible events by amendment.
LED staff testified that major events considered under the program typically produce tens of millions of dollars in economic impact (citing past examples such as the Sugar Bowl and Super Bowl). Committee members asked about geographic distribution of funded events and were told the events fund created in the bill is intended to help smaller events around the state, not only metropolitan areas.
Vice Chairman Hughes offered amendments in committee; seeing no objection, the committee adopted the amendments and reported the bill favorable as amended.
