ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY- Erik J. Thorvig, Economic Development Coordinator
Title
APPROVING SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT WITH 3M OPEN
Background
The inaugural 3M Open will be held at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine July 1-7th. This event will replace the 3M Championship which was held in Blaine since 2001. The 3M Open is a regular PGA Tour event with 156 of the world’s best golfers competing. The following are some facts about the event.
Tournament Schedule: The regular tournament will be Thursday-Sunday with practice rounds open to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Attendance: Over 150,000 over the week. This is over four times the amount that attended the 3M Championship. For the 3M Championship admission was free, however tickets will be $45/day for the 3M Open.
Economic Impact: Anticipated impact for the area is $50mil. The benefiting sectors include lodging, retail, transportation and entertainment. This is almost three times the economic impact of the 3M Championship.
Television: The tournament will be televised on the Golf Channel on Thursday and Friday and CBS on Saturday and Sunday. The event will distributed to more than 225 countries.
Sponsorships: The tournament is targeting over 400 local and national companies that could have a presence at the tournament.
For the 3M Championship, the City of Blaine was asked to be an event sponsor in the amount of $100,000. The event sponsorship included access to a hospitality tent on Friday-Sunday of the tournament. Invitations targeted existing and new Blaine businesses, general corporate location consultants, and real estate and development contacts.
The tournament has requested the City of Blaine to be an event sponsor again in the amount of $100,000. The sponsorship will provide the City of Blaine access to a hospitality tent on the 18th hole, Tuesday-Sunday, and 40 event tickets per day. With the event being much more high profile and in demand than the 3M Championship, this is a unique opportunity to invite and host guests that play a direct role in economic development activity in Blaine. Staff intends to create a targeted invite list and look at the possibility of themed days (developer day, broker day, Blaine business day, etc.) and review this with the EDA/Council sometime this spring before invitations are sent out.
This expenditure was included in the 2019 EDA budget approval.
Recommendation
By motion, approve the Resolution.
Body
BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Commissioners (the “Board”) of the Blaine Economic Development Authority (the “EDA”), as follows:
WHEREAS, it is one of the goals and purposes of the Blaine EDA to improve the community, strengthen the tax base and enhance employment opportunities; and
WHEREAS, the 3M Open is anticipated to have a $50mil economic impact to the local area; and
WHEREAS, the 3M Open will bring over 150,000 people to the City of Blaine; and
WHEREAS, as the host City, the tournament has requested a sponsorship from the City of Blaine in the amount of $100,000 which provides access to the City of Blaine to a hospitality tent; and
WHEREAS, the EDA will make a contribution towards the tent of $100,000; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Commissioners of the Blaine Economic Development Authority, City of Blaine, Minnesota, that the President and Executive Director of the Blaine Economic Development Authority are hereby authorized to expend said funds to promote the City of Blaine at the 3M Open Tournament held at the TPC Golf Course in Blaine, July 1 - July 7, 2019.
PASSED by the Blaine Economic Development Authority this 17th day of January, 2019.