SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates uncovered inconsistent contracts and unrealistic projections are leading to big changes in the way Seminole County attracts tournaments to its new Sports Complex.
After only half of the projected hotel stays were actually produced by tournaments during the first three months of operations at the Seminole County Sports Complex, investigative reporter Karla Ray looked through dozens of contracts to find out what changes could help protect the county's investment.
The $27 million facility is already projected to pay for itself this year, but the success isn’t as great as originally expected.
“It's a bit of a learning curve that both the county and the Central Florida Sports Commission have to work together on,” Seminole County Economic Development Chief Administrator Tricia Setzer said.
The complex was built with tourism tax dollars, meaning county leaders and their partners at the CFSC needs to put heads in hotel beds to pay the investment back.
9 Investigates scoured dozens of incentives contracts for the first three months of tournaments played at the Sports Complex. Of eight coordinated by Seminole County, fewer than 20 percent of expected hotel room stays were actually booked. The CFSC, which has more experience attracting teams and tournaments, also had poor projections. Only 56 percent of the rooms promised during a dozen tournaments came to fruition. Despite poor performance, more than $59,000 in grants were given out to tournament organizers to off-set the cost of using the complex.
“Due to new tournaments, a tournament organizer may over-project the amount of teams that are going to participate in that tournament,” Setzer said.
9 Investigates also found inconsistencies within the contracts to use the facility. Only two of the tournaments played at the complex had an explicit 14-day cancellation period. The rest could be cancelled up to 48 hours before.
One tournament, which promised 1,080 hotel stays, was cancelled by the organizer.
“We’re working to revise those facility use contracts to have a more aggressive cancellation schedule, to protect the facility and Seminole County as a whole,” Setzer said.
Contract changes will have to go before the Board of County Commission for final approval. County leaders are also amending the contract with the Central Florida Sports Commission. Due to underperformance, the CFSC could face a penalty of $54,000, Eyewitness News learned.
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