Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Programs: The palm beach county sports commission produced a record setting year for sports tourism in the palm beaches. During fy 17, the commission hosted 162 sports events that attracted visitors from across the state, nation, and globe. These sports events generated 223,650 trackable room nights for palm beach countys hospitality industry. This room night total represents a new standard. For the first time in its history, the sports commissions efforts resulted in more than 220,000 room nights. The 20,388 increase in room nights represents a 10% year over year increase and a 35% rise over a 5-year span. The sports commission set new benchmarks for sports tourism performance measures during the last fiscal year for the number of bids submitted (57), the number of familiarization tours with events rights holders (31), and the number of room nights generated from new events (55,011). In addition, the sports commission supported 12 sports events that created regional, national, and international television media for the palm beaches. The sports commission partnered with marquee national and international organizations to host high-profile events throughout the year. This list includes partnerships with major league lacrosse to bring the florida launch to fau stadium. The florida state golf association hosted its 100th amateur championship, the national association of intercollegiate athletics (naia) brought its mens soccer and womens golf national championships for the second straight year, and usa field hockey delivered the world largest field hockey tournament for the third consecutive year. Palm beach county was one (1) of 35 destinations to host a ncaa fbs post season college football bowl game and one (1) of 26 destinations to host a usa bmx national event in fy17. The florida sports foundation hosted its sunshine state nationals, an olympic style festival for competitors of all age groups, at the palm beach county convention center for the third straight year. The sports commission supported 24 amateur baseball tournaments that contributed to nearly 30,000 hotel room nights and produced the national beep baseball association (nbba) world series. The nbba world series is one of the most admired events for visually impaired athletes. The above events are only a sample of the sports commissions portfolio of events. On april 18th, the ncaa announced the host sites for ncaa championships in division i, ii, and iii. The ncaa received more than 3,000 bid submissions for 84 of the ncaas 90 championships. The palm beach county sports commission was awarded five (5) ncaa golf championships that will take place over 4 years (ncaa dii men and womens golf national championships, the ncaa diii mens and womens golf national championships, and the ncaa division i mens golf regional championship). The sports commission continues to focus on inspiring the youth of palm beach county to engage sports and healthy lifestyles. Nearly 5,000 youth attended the sports commissions annual kids fitness festival of the palm beaches, which was held at the palm beach county convention center. These youth were introduced to over 40 different sports and participated in introductory sports clinics, which were produced by a variety of local and national sports organizations.