On the business development front, the Sports Commission and Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau recently submitted a bid to host the 2012 US Sports Congress at the Omni Resort at ChampionsGate. This annual conference, which would take place in December of 2012, would bring together Sports Commissions and event organizers from across the United States to Osceola County to discuss the state of the amateur sports industry. Some of the event organizers who have attended in previous years are USA Volleyball, USA Badminton, USA Weightlifting, USA Rugby, Amateur Athletic Union, USA Gymnastics, USA Archery, USA Lacrosse, NAIA, NCAA, PGA, and USA Football to name a few. Hosting this conference would provide us the opportunity to bring multiple event organizers to Osceola County with the goal of showcasing our existing sports venues, along those facilities coming online in future years. Check back in future impact reports to see if we were awarded the event!

The two other conferences we prospected, the Sports Lawyers Association Annual Conference and the IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, have their conferences booked at other locations until 2016. Although we will not be able to bid on these anytime soon, we will make a note and try the next time they are up for bid!

As mentioned above, the Sports Commission and Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau conducted a site visit with Tough Mudder in Osceola County. Tough Mudder is a 12-mile obstacle course, designed by British Special Forces, to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie. All ages participate in these types of events, with thousands of participants/spectators usually in attendance. We showed them several properties in Osceola County, and look forward to their follow-up visit in December. We should know more details later this year on whether Tough Mudder will host an event in Osceola County.

In addition, we recently received a request for proposal from USA Fencing with regards to hosting their 2012 World Cup. This event would take place in June of 2012 and would feature Fencers from 32 different countries. Approximately 1,000+ room nights would be generated in the host community. Based on our diligence, none of our hotels and sports venues could meet their hosting parameters.

Next, the Sports Commission and Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau researched a proposal from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regarding their 2013 & 2014 Men's and Women's Conference Basketball Championships. The MEAC Basketball Tournament is held annually in early March, and brings collegiate basketball teams from across the east coast together for the opportunity to crown a men's & women's conference basketball champions. Bethune Cookman, Florida A&M and Hampton are few of the schools that are members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. After our diligence, it was determined that we could not host the event based on the MEAC's hosting parameters. The biggest factor was the financial commitment required to host the event.  

Finally, the Sports Commission was recently in touch with B.A.S.S. with respect to possibly hosting one of their 2012 Collegiate fishing tournaments. B.A.S.S. continually enjoys coming to Osceola County, not only because of the warm welcome and service they receive, but also because the Lake Toho is one of the top five bass fisheries in the world. This event, encompassing two days plus additional pre-fishing days, could feature up to 600 collegiate anglers from across the United States. The event would be staged on Lake Toho, with the Kissimmee Lakefront Park serving as the launch and weigh in facility. We hope to know more details with respect to this opportunity in next month's impact report.