Manatee-Sarasota success with sports facilities spurs regional competition, imitation

UNIVERSITY PARK -- Liz Hartman is the kind of visitor who the new multi-sports center at Nathan Benderson Park hopes to attract: She drove 34 hours from Colorado this weekend to attend a rowing event in which her daughter was competing.

Hartman has been to eight or nine regattas this year, including those at San Diego, Calif., Nashville, Tenn., and Philadelphia, to watch daughter Ellie, 20, row with the Barry University team from Miami Shores.

Typically, Hartman said she spends a couple of thousand dollars each time, including such things as airline fares, hotel, restaurant and entertainment expenses, she said Friday.

The Hartmans were in Sarasota this weekend for Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association races Friday and Saturday at the multi-sport complex located near Interstate-75 and University Parkway.

Although Hartman said she expected to save money on accommodations this time by staying at the home of her friend, Sara Thomas, of Holmes Beach, she would also dine out twice a day, do a little sight-seeing, or visit the glistening new Mall at University Town Center, within walking distance of

the sports venue.

"How fun! Yeah, we'll probably see stuff like that while we're here," said Hartman, 54, a mother of four and a licensed professional counselor.

Her husband, the owner of a Breckinridge, Colo., property management company, and Ellie's siblings occasionally accompany her, she said.

Experts say that free-spending out-of-town guests like the Hartmans are important for the success of multi-sports complexes like Nathan Benderson Park and can translate into economic gains for the communities around them.

Such facilities are an increasingly popular way to stimulate economic development, but according to an one expert, the best ones are professionally managed and guest-friendly; enjoy fully-committed support from governmental leaders; and embrace financial transparency for the comfort of everyone, including taxpayers, who foot a portion of the bill.

Last month, neighboring Hillsborough County officials took the first concrete steps to build a multi-sport youth complex with 16 to 20 fields, according to a report in the Tampa Tribune.

Commissioner Ken Hagan said it was sorely needed in order to compete with other counties for amateur sports tournaments, the Tribune report said.

Hillsborough County officials have pledged $15 million toward the project, it said.

But those managing local sports complexes last week said they don't fear competition from other venues.

"I don't think I'm really worried," said Antonio Saviano, director of sports at the privately owned Premier Sports Campus, 5895 Post Blvd., Lakewood Ranch.

With 22 lighted, full-sized multi-purpose playing fields, the facility already boasts 40-45 events a year, said Saviano. And just last week, he landed a two-year agreement with the National Field Hockey Association to use his facility beginning in 2016, he added.

"What we have here is unique," Saviano said. "The end is also not for me to have a sports facility; but if you don't have the community behind you, it's not going to be successful. What we have here is so unique -- the Lakewood Ranch community, the businesses, the hotels, the restaurants, they so embrace the Premier Sports Campus."

Saviano sees a "multiplier effect" going on in other counties.

"They've seen the success of our area, our area, when it comes to sports tourism, is probably the top in the country; Nathan Benderson Park is a world-class facility, (Bradenton's) IMG another world-class facility," said Saviano. "When you put all the facilities together, I really don't think you can go anywhere else in the country and have so many facilities within 10 miles of each other."

Nicole Rissler, director of sports for the Sarasota County Sports Commission, said Bradenton-Sarasota does have a competitive advantage.

"We have a perfect combination of world-class facilities, award-winning beaches, and an array of attractions and culture entities," she said. "This, coupled with a community that loves to welcome their sports participants, we feel like we have a big advantage in certain areas."

Sean Walter, her counterpart in Manatee County, cited local advantages in the Bradenton-Sarasota state-of-the art facilities -- good enough to attract international competitors. He noted "great support" in both Manatee and Sarasota counties for hosting large sporting events throughout the region, plus already globally-recognized sports brands in Bradenton's IMG Academy, which trains thousands of athletes in a variety of sports, and at Nathan Benderson Park.

If Hillsborough's new facility offered lower pricing in order to get clients in "their door," it could be a disadvantage, Walter said.

He also noted as a possible disadvantage that the Central Florida Sports Commission, comprised of five counties and the City of Orlando, "has many theme parks and hotel rooms to offer."

Some of the rowing teams that previously trained or raced in Hillsborough County have moved south to Manatee and Sarasota County facilities.

When the Florida Scholastic Rowing Association found that a Hillsborough rowing venue, the Tampa Bypass Canal, had dried up during a drought, the Bradenton-Sarasota team sprang into action.

"It was our first effort," said Paul Blackketter, president of the non-profit group that manages Benderson park.

Blackketter made a strong pitch for the association's business and has provided excellent customer service, said Brice Crossley, regatta director for the rowing association, the governing organization for high school rowing in Florida.

"We used to hold our championships at the Bypass Canal, but it had low-water conditions, so we were looking for an alternative site," said Crossley. "We planned to go to Orlando, but Sarasota made a strong bid for us to come to that location, and they've been very, very supportive in trying to keep our business. It is considered one of the best venues in the state, and will be also considered one of the best in the nation, eventually."

"There's no reason to hold the state championship elsewhere," said Crossley.

But Blackketter insisted that the sport is growing, and the rowing community must work together.

"There are more teams than venues," he said. "We need Hillsborough; we're actually wanting to team up with other rowing facilities across the state to promote them, too."

Blackketter already has coordinated with the Central Florida Sports Commission to schedule pentathlon events sequentially in order to attract more athletes, he said.

"It's a big wave we all need to get on and ride together," Blackketter said.

A few traits in common

Manatee and Sarasota counties have partnered with Benderson Development Co. LLC to develop the community park at 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle into a world-class rowing venue. Both counties and the state have invested in the complex and in two affiliated venues, Manatee's Fort Hamer Park, south of Parrish; and Blackburn Point Park, in Osprey.

Benderson Park hosts 40 or more events a year and has already landed the 2017 World Rowing Championship, which is expected to draw tens of thousands to the area.

Successful multi-sports complexes have a few traits in common, said Jason Clement, chief operating officer of Sports Facilities Advisory LLC, a Clearwater consulting and management firm that specializes in evaluating and managing multi-sport complexes. Clement's business manages close to 20 such complexes across the country, he said.

"It's important that all entities, elected officials, the management entity and taxpayers are aligned in the vision, goals and financial objectives for the development," said Clement.

"If that doesn't happen, there are misalignments, and ultimately," he said, "there are some disappointed parties because the complex can't be all things to all people."

A good management team will be achieving clearly-defined new objectives, will be communicating effectively with elected officials and the community at large, and in so doing, reporting such things as hotel-room nights generated, increases in tax base and spending in the community resulting from the events at the sports complex, Clement said.

"Transparency is important," he said, so that everyone involved clearly understands the vision and has the confidence that it is taking shape as planned. "If it's not transparent, any detractor can come in and, frankly, distract from the overall goal and vision for the complex," said Clement. "Transparency allows elected officials, the community and participants to focus on a great experience, and the performance of the venue, which is ultimately driving a large economic impact for the community."

Sara Kennedy, University Parkway reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7031. Follow her on Twitter @sarawrites.

This story was originally published April 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee-Sarasota success with sports facilities spurs regional competition, imitation ."