by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Mike Bouda, coordinator of Sports & Entertainment for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC), said although the decisions made in Tallahassee to reduce property tax revenue has “forced all City departments to look at things differently, our mission remains the same.
“We have an obligation to provide high-quality sports events to the community and utilize our top-level facilities. Many local businesses depend on sports events for a large part of their revenue. We just have to change the way we get there.”
Bouda said sports events are in a completely different economic development category than, for instance, Bridgestone/Firestone building a tire distribution facility at Cecil Commerce Center and creating hundreds of new high-paying jobs at the port. It’s completely different from the Miles Group and Hallmark Partners building new multi-use developments along Riverside Avenue in Brooklyn. What they all have in common, however, is stimulating Jacksonville’s economy and making Jacksonville a city regularly seen and talked about in the national press, both print and broadcast.
“Everything the JEDC does is revenue-generating, but sports and entertainment involves all the really fun things. Our events benefit the hotels and restaurants and even the gas stations and convenience stores when people come from out of town to attend an event. The City also makes money on parking and concessions,” he said.
Fall means football and between the annual Florida/Georgia game, this year’s Florida State/Alabama game, the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl and the Jaguars, sports fans everywhere are aware of the local gridiron tradition.
In about two months, Jacksonville will add international rugby to the already extensive inventory of spectator sports when the Leeds Rhinos of England face Australia’s South Sydney Rabbitohs Jan. 26 at the University of North Florida.
“Bringing the game here is part of our sports diversification effort,” said Bouda. “We’ve always had the infrastructure required to host any kind of football game including the Super Bowl, but recently we’ve been able to host more college baseball, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and a pre-Olympic international gymnastics competition.”
Bouda also said he expects the rugby match to stimulate the economy and provide a great deal of media exposure to parts of the world that aren’t yet familiar with Jacksonville.
“G’day U.S.A.,” the Australian government’s annual campaign to encourage its citizens to visit the United States, has traditionally been focused exclusively on tourism to Los Angeles and New York City. But this year, Bouda said, the Aussies have added Jacksonville to the mix and it’s all due to the match in January.
“Russell Crowe owning the South Sydney team doesn’t hurt,” said Bouda. “When he appeared on Monday Night Football, he didn’t talk about his new movie the studio sent him there to promote, he talked about his rugby team playing in Jacksonville in January. He’s also booked to appear on the ‘Jay Leno Show’ five days before the match, and we expect he’ll talk about it again on that show. We couldn’t buy that kind of exposure for the city with 30-second spots in prime time costing about $80,000 each.
“We also scheduled the date of the match to coincide with Australia Day, a national holiday, so we know thousands of rugby fans in Australia – and thousands more in England – will be lifting a pint and watching Jacksonville live on satellite.”
He added there will also be long-range effects that will last after the rugby players have gone home.
“We think having the match here will have a huge impact on Jacksonville due to the large number of international visitors who will be here, especially business and government leaders from Australia and the United Kingdom. It’s going to bring fans here from all over the country and we’re already taking international orders for tickets,” said Bouda.
The future will hold more public-private partnerships to bring major sports events to Jacksonville, predicted Bouda, and the pieces are already in place get the job done.
“It’s important for the City to take the lead. First, we own the facilities and second, promoters really like working with us because being part of City government, we can get the job done in all areas from parking to public works to public safety. A private concern wouldn’t have the relationships and authority we do across all City divisions,” said Bouda.
“Our goal is to continue the reputation that JEDC Sports & Entertainment is the only sports team you need. Whatever you have we can handle it for you.”