While the weather and the beaches are the biggest attraction for visitors to Florida, sports teams have long played a major role in supporting tourism, our primary industry on the barrier islands.
While the islands do not have the land or the parking to host actual games of any size, the hospitality industry hosts a lot of players and fans while the sports are being practiced and during regular seasons.
Al Lang Stadium in downtown St. Petersburg has a long history of hosting major league spring training and international baseball games, and now professional soccer.
The connection to the beaches is undeniable. The New York Yankees had an agreement with the Don CeSar Hotel when it opened in 1929 that helped the resort survive the great depression … The Miami Dolphins used to practice where Dolphin Village Shopping Center now stands in St. Pete Beach, as just two examples.
Sports facilities have long been the biggest benefactor of bed tax dollars not spent on marketing. Kevin White, Director of the St. Pete/Clearwater Sports Commission (SPCSC), told Paradise News, “For budget year 2013 – 2014 that ended last September 30, we recorded an estimated 120,000 room nights of business associated with sports tourism.That was approximately 82,000 sports tourism visitors with an estimated economic impact of $29 million.”
“We continue to host youth sports and college training during the year. The youth market continues to be strong and helps with keeping the destination busy during off-peak times of the year,” he added.
Today, Tampa Bay benefits from professional baseball, football, hockey and soccer teams, plus a host of bowl games, and a bit of University competition that helps to enhance the fabric of our multi-billion dollar hospitality industry. Add in some more unconventional sports like Windsurfing, Paddleboarding and Dragon Boat Racing, and it’s a broad spectrum of major sporting events.
Our home teams are doing their best to keep up fan enthusiasm. At press time, The MLB Tampa Bay Rays were battling the Yankees for top spot in the close American League East; our Tampa Bay Lightning were fighting the New York Rangers for the NHL Eastern Conference championship to reach the Stanley Cup Final; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are very optimistic about a much better season with No. 1 draft pick Jameis Winston as the new quarterback; and the NASL Rowdies were in the hunt for top spot in the Spring Season.
Growing Watersports Capital
The area also has been a long-time center of major sailing events including the Morgan Invasion, as well as surfing, windsurfing, paddleboarding and Dragon Boat racing to mention a few.
Two most recent major events are the RS:X Youth 2014 World Windsurfing Championships (WWC) October 18-24 off Clearwater Beach — first held in the U.S., and the WPA Paddleboarding Championships October 24-26 off St Pete Beach with the Sirata Beach Resort as host (see November 2014 issue).“Our Commission helped secure both events,” Smith added. “With the assistance of Rob Mirlenbrink, WPA Region 5 President, we reached out to the WPA National Office that we would like to be their East Coast partner and host the 2014 World Championships. With the help of our local Stand-up Paddleboard groups, the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber, the City of St. Pete Beach, and the Sirata Beach Resort the event was secured. With the commitment of WPA our area will host a regional Championship each year we do not host the World Championship occurring every four years.”
Tampa held its first Dragon Boat races in 2004 and two years later hosted the national championships. It won its bid for the biennial world races in 2007, becoming just the second U.S. city to host the event.This past April 25, the Tampa BayDragon Boat Club hosted the 13th annual Tampa Bay International Dragon Boat Festival. In August 2011, 2,000 athletes from 17 countries competed for the sport’s top title in the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships with six days of races and other events in downtown Tampa.
Clearwater & Dunedin MLB Ties
Both Clearwater and Dunedin have benefited from long-time MLB ties. The MLB Philadelphia Phillies have been training in Clearwater since 1947. Carpenter Field, built in 1967, was used in Spring Training by the Phillies’ major league and Minor League players, along with teams in the Florida State League, Gulf Coast Rookie League and the Florida Instructional League. Grapefruit League games are played in the $28 million, 8,800-capacity Bright House Field, opened in 2004, with the affiliate Class A Clearwater Threshers playing their Florida State League games there.
From 1977 until 1989, the MLB Toronto Blue Jays played at the 3,417-seat Grant Field in Dunedin.
In 1990 the City built a larger $2.4 million Dunedin Stadium, and in 2000 the Jays signed a new 15-year agreement pending a $12 million renovation to what is now the 5,509-seat Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. It also hosts the Jays’ Class A Florida State League affiliate Dunedin Blue Jays. The city also has built the nearby Bobby Mattick Training Center with five full-sized diamonds and an artificial turf half-field.
Both cities acknowledge the importance of the tourism dollars both the MLB and Class A teams bring in each year. For Paradise News, Mayor George Cretekos noted, “Clearwater has been the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies since 1947 and the team’s facilities at Bright House Field and the adjoining Carpenter Complex are some of the finest in all of Major League Baseball.The economic impact of the Phillies to Clearwater surpasses $125 million, but just as important is the community involvement throughout the year of the Phillies and its minor league affilia
te, the FSL Clearwater Threshers.
“Because Clearwater is the second home of the Phillies, Pinellas County businesses, charities and individuals have benefitted from that partnership.That relationship has also helped the city become a sports destination for soccer to softball… for lacrosse to beach volleyball… for all age groups. In addition, it has opened up new opportunities for the city and other municipalities with Major League Soccer League teams to expand their training operations in Clearwater and Pinellas County.” Mayor George Cretekos said.
Most recent figures available for the City of Clearwater are for the 2013 Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training, with estimated direct spending of $79.48 million from 142,787 attendees, more than 75% out of state or out of county, with a cumulative number of 205,732 hotel/motel nights. Indirect and induced spending elsewhere in Florida of $55.6 million made a total of $135.1 million economic impact to the City, County and State.
Dunedin Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski told Paradise News, “The Toronto Blue Jays have had their Spring Training home in Dunedin since 1977. We are proud to say that unlike other teams, the Jays have only had one home for Spring Training and Dunedin is it.
“Our most recent economic studies show that the Jays bring roughly $80 million into our region every year. Some 60% of Spring Training visitors come from either outside the county or outside the state. Therefore, they are a strong attractor of tourism to not only our city but to our region on a whole. Because Dunedin does not have a large hotel stock, the surrounding communities truly benefit from our Spring Training visitors. And of course, our delightful downtown thrives on any given game day.”
“Our current contract will expire in 2017 so we are in negotiations for our next long-term deal. We are actively working with the Blue Jays as well as County and State officials to financially partner on a remodeled facility that will dramatically improve the overall experience for our residents, visitors and team.”
Al Lang Field: 100 Years Plus!
Now home to the NASL Tampa Bay Rowdies, historic Al Lang Stadium had its origins in 1914 when local businessman Al Lang brought the MLB St. Louis Browns for spring training to Coffee Pot Park, a small park just south of the current stadium site. After Lang’s successful term as Mayor from 1916-19, he devoted his life to building a successful relationship between baseball and Florida. With his support, the City built St. Petersburg Athletic Park – aka Waterfront Park in 1923 on the current site of Al Lang Stadium, which was built in 1947 and named in his honor. The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees shared the new ballpark in its first spring training season, and other teams including the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Braves also used the site.
In 1998 the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays began using the stadium for spring training. With their regular season home at Tropicana Field approximately one mile west, the Devil Rays became the first major league team to train and play regular season games in the same city in almost 90 years. In 2006, the Rays, seeking to expand their fan base across the Tampa Bay area, decided to move their spring training operations to Charlotte Sports Park about 80 miles south. They played their last spring training ballgame at Al Lang Stadium on March 28, 2008.
In 2011, the soccer team FC Tampa Bay of the North American Soccer League announced it would move to Al Lang Stadium from George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. This ended three years in which the stadium had no long-term tenant. Al Lang Stadium subsequently underwent minor renovations to convert it into a soccer facility, with temporary seats added on the grass along the sidelines to increase capacity. The team played its first game at Al Lang on April 9, 2011, and later changed its name to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, after the historical team that had played from 1975 to 1993.
‘New’ Rowdies Take Over
On October 27, 2012, the Tampa Bay Rowdies became the 2012 NASL Champions by winning the two-leg Soccer Bowl against the Minnesota Stars at Al Lang Stadium. It was the first time that a major championship was held at the site. In 2013, the Rowdies signed a lease extension keeping the team at Al Lang Stadium through the 2016 season.
Bill Edwards, local businessman and philanthropist, became majority owner in December 2013, and last October brokered a deal with the City that gave his Big 3 Entertainment company management control of Al Lang Stadium for the next four years. As part of the arrangement, the facility would no longer be used for spring baseball, and Edwards agreed to complete $1.5 million in renovations as he sought to make Al Lang more soccer friendly.
When the Rowdies opened their 2014 Spring Season that April, the Stadium had more than 1,100 new premium Midfield seats as the first phase of expansion announced by Edwards. The premium Midfielder’s Club, about 10 feet from the pitch, features 212 seats that wrap around newly integrated players’ benches, and 996 Midfield Reserved seats are available. Additionally, Midfielder’s Club members enjoy a Club Badge for food and drink specials and access to the exclusive field-level Midfielder’s Club Lounge, outfitted with flat screen TV’s and full food and beverage service.
For the new Spring Season currently ongoing, Edwards noted these added improvements. “We did a total overhaul from top to bottom of the stadium, with a new field five yards wider and closer to the crowd for much better viewing; a new huge Daktronics video-board for replays; new locker rooms that had visiting teams comment ‘Wow! Better than our own!’- all new seats with more legroom so capacity is now about 7,100; and an added 38 HDTV’s around the stadium concourses.
“The Midfielder’s Club is doing awesome and we sold out two of our first three home games, with three more through June 3. We’re three points behind the Cosmos (on May 19) and if we win the season are guaranteed one of four playoff spots. Fall season home opener is July 4 versus the Atlanta Silverbacks and runs through October 31.”
“We’re having a continuing impact on local tourism, starting with Downtown St. Pete. Games are over around 9:15 so our fans can easily feed into downtown restaurants and bars, including our own new Rowdies Den that came out really well.”
“We’re seeing a lot of visiting fans when we play Canada, New York, Atlanta or Jacksonville that came in several buses with their own drum team. We’re also getting a lot of visitors from other countries where soccer is a lot bigger.”
“Last year was ‘figure it out‘ with a team and stadium I inherited. For 2015, we kept only four players and started fresh with a complete stadium overhaul. They’ve only been together for five months and are challenging for the top spot. You will hear me say repeatedly, I intend to build the best team in American soccer, and deliver the best fan experience!”
Looking Ahead
SPCSC’s Smith see more top sports in the future, noting, “The Sports Commission will be working with several National Governing Bodies and event organizers during 2015 – 2016 to host Olympic qualifying events throughout the county. This includes Sand Volleyball, BMX racing and Sailing. We are continuing to work with the USOC and other USA affiliated bodies to host athletes and events in the destination in preparation for the 2016 Rio Summer Games.
“The St. Pete/Clearwater area hosted the 2015 49er and 49er FX North American Sailing Championship February 6-9, and will have the 2016 Olympic Class NACRA 17, 49er and 49er FX World Sailing Championships February 7-14. With our continuing focus on watersports, our location continues to be an elite area and a perfect match for these types of events.”
“We continue to host youth sports and college training during the year, as the youth market continues to be strong and helps with keeping the destination busy during off peak times of the year.”
“We are fortunate to live in a place where sports, arts and culture are such a big part of our communities. When we host world-class events, everyone can see what a truly great place this is to visit,” said Smith.
Story by Steve Traiman