Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sports And Tourism topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council hears plan to reconstitute Cincinnati Regional Sports Commission; city funds tied to marketing and events
Summary
Presenters from Visit Cincinnati and regional business groups outlined plans to relaunch a regional sports commission, described how budgeted city funds would be spent on promotion and event support, and said a national search for an executive director is underway. Council filed the presentation and put the item on for passage without objection.
Vice Mayor Kearney convened the Budget & Finance Committee to hear a presentation on creating the Cincinnati Regional Sports Commission, a nonprofit organization aimed at recruiting sporting events and driving visitor spending for the region.
Julie Cowart, president and CEO of Visit Cincinnati, and Matt Jones of the Cincinnati business community said the commission would be a new, public‑private organization built to pursue professional, collegiate, amateur and community sporting events and to market the region to event rights holders.
Cowart said the commission was formed after an 18‑month study of other markets and that organizers had filed incorporation papers and seated a board of trustees. "We studied regional cities," she said, noting examples including Columbus, Kansas City, Louisville and Indianapolis. Cowart said Visit Cincinnati and local business groups have committed resources for 2025 and beyond and that the group had engaged a search firm for an executive director.
Cowart told the committee that the city’s budget already authorizes money for the effort and stressed how that money would be used: "I am here to commit to you that none of the city's dollars will be spent on salaries or on...bonuses. This is all gonna go into the programming and the marketing and selling of Cincinnati as a sports destination." She said organizers had identified about $537,000 in promotion‑related activities the funds would underwrite, including trade shows, underwriting event support, familiarization (FAM) trips for rights holders and limited operating expenses.
Jones described corporate support for the effort and said business leaders had been receptive. Cowart and Jones said the reconstituted commission would operate as a regional nonprofit and aim to generate incremental hotel room nights and visitor spending; Cowart cited national sports‑sector economic figures during the presentation, noting the sports economy’s size nationally to illustrate potential local gains.
Committee members expressed broad support. Council members discussed facilities, with presenters saying existing college and convention center venues allow the city to pursue many events now and that an arena would broaden the range of opportunities. Council members also asked what success would look like in Year 1; Cowart said the executive director, once hired, would set measurable targets for room nights and event wins.
After discussion the chair said the presentation would be filed and that the disbursement already authorized in the budget would be put on for passage without objection.
Next steps identified by presenters were completing nonprofit and 501(c)(3) paperwork, finishing the executive director search and beginning marketing and outreach to rights holders and event organizers.
