HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-11-122 - Curling Event BidStaff Re vet
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REPORT TO: Council
DATE OF MEETING: August 29, 2011
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SUBMITTED BY: Jeff Wllmer, Deputy CAO Community Services, 2325
PREPARED BY: Keith Baulk, Director of Enterprise, 2393
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: August 24, 2011
REPORT NO.: CSD-11-122
SUBJECT: Curling Event Bid
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City serves as the financial guarantor for the 2013 Road to the Roar host
committee budget should the event incur a financial loss.
REPORT:
The "Road to the Roar" is a branded Olympic qualifying event owned by the Canadian Curling
Association (CCA). It is a competition involving some of the country's best teams (8 Men's and 8
Women's teams). The event results in the top two teams from the Men's competition and the top
two teams from the Women's competition advancing to the final Olympic qualifier (Road to the
Rings) in Winnipeg in early 2014. This event will ultimately determine the Men's and Women's
Olympic teams to represent Canada in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The Kitchener Host
Committee (Westmount Curling Club, KW Granite Club and the City of Kitchener) has bid for the
2013 event.
The event was last held in 2009 as part of the qualifying process for the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Vancouver. The following key benefits are associated with the event:
• 18 hours of national broadcast time on TSN
• Over 6 million total viewers watched the inaugural event
• The host community, Prince George, was profiled with a feature at the start of each
broadcast -the expectation is the City of Kitchener would receive the same profiling
• All ticket sales revenue and local sponsorship sales are retained by the Host Committee.
• A financial legacy was left for the benefit of curling in the region through a share of the
profit being allocated the curling club.
• Close to 300 volunteers were involved in the event.
• The host community is intimately tied to events throughout the season (Scotties
Tournament of Hearts, Tim Horton's Brier, etc. as well as post-event at the Roar of the
Rings and Olympic Winter Games) which impacts the Pre-Trials publicity.
• Economic Impact to the community, as reported by City of Prince George, was
approximately $3 - $4 million and the event expenses were $575,000.
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Staff Re ort
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The Prince George host committee reported a profit of slightly over $100,000
The CCA is responsible for all the "between the boards" costs meaning those associated
with preparing the competition area along with the costs of transporting, housing and
feeding the athletes.
The Host Committee is responsible for the "outside the boards" costs including costs
associated with the arena, local transportation, marketing, hosting, media and logistics.
The City of Kitchener's bid was submitted a few months ago. The bid proposed that the CCA
would be the financial guarantor for the event meaning that if the event lost money the CCA
would cover any losses. The CCA responded and indicated they would not be willing to serve as
the financial guarantor for the host committee's budget. As a result we are looking for council
support to confirm the City serve as the financial guarantor. It is common practice for the City to
be a financial guarantor for these types of bids and/or events that are hosted by local non profit
groups or minor sport organizations. Where the City has served as the guarantor the financial
success ratio of previous events has been excellent. The host committee has created what they
feel is a conservative expense budget and has confidence a profit will be achieved.
Jerry Finnen, the lead advisor for the bid committee and Doug Suerich of the Granite Club will
also be in attendance to answer any questions. Jerry was the Chairperson for the 2003 Scott
Tournament of Hearts (Women's National Championship) and is a member of the Westmount
Curling Club. Doug is the president of the KW Granite Club.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
This major pre-Olympic event aligns with the Quality of Life component of the City's Strategic
Plan. Specifically, it touches on "Nurturing a Sense of Pride and Community" as well as a
"Focus on Vitality".
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Based on the previous event held in Prince George the Road to the Roar has the potential to
generate upwards of $4 million dollars in economic impact and has the potential to generate a
significant profit. In order to protect the non profit members of the host committee (the two
curling clubs) the City of Kitchener would need to act as the financial guarantor and cover any
losses for the outside the boards budget.
The bid committee has confidence that a profit will be achieved, however should a loss be
incurred the deficit would be accounted for in the KMAC event account which would ultimately
impact the City's 2013 year end financial position.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
There will be opportunities for the public to be part of the "Road to the Roar" as volunteers or
spectators for the event. A communications plan will be developed with our stakeholders as
soon as the winning city is announced.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Jeff Willmer, Deputy CAO, Community Services Department
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