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ACC TOURNAMENT AIMED TO REPLACE BIKE WEEKS
Myrtle Beach landed an event on Wednesday that could replace potential lost tourism revenue from May’s motorcycle rallies.
The ACC named BB&T Coastal Field the host for its annual eight-team, five-day baseball tournament from 2011 to 2013. The ACC also considered bids from Jacksonville, Fla., which hosted the event from 2005 to 2008, and three cities in North Carolina: Greensboro, Greenville and Winston-Salem.
The tournament has drawn upward of 73,000 fans in Jacksonville, numbers that would create millions in tourism revenue and even more in free publicity for the Grand Strand, said Coastal Carolina University economist Don Schunk.
“We don’t know for sure what the mid- to late-May season is going to look like around Myrtle Beach, because we don’t know how the whole bike issue will play out,” said Schunk, alluding to recent laws passed in Myrtle Beach that will make it harder for the city to host its yearly bike rallies — thereby leading to lost revenue for local businesses.
“The opportunity to bring in that many visitors for three years, and presumably more if we do a good job, is a huge shot in the arm at a time of year when we don’t know what our future Mays will look like.”
The ACC tournament runs Wednesday through Sunday of Memorial Day weekend each year. It will be held in Durham, N.C., this year before moving to Greensboro in 2010.
Myrtle Beach’s proximity to the heart of the ACC apparently played a role in the league’s decision, associate commissioner Davis Whitfield told the Florida Times-Union. Jacksonville pushed hard for the event after posting record attendance figures the past four years.
“There wasn’t a hair’s difference in most of the bids,” Whitfield said. “Myrtle Beach is more within our footprint, and economics did have something to do with it.”
A delegation consisting of Myrtle Beach Pelicans officials and local leaders presented a bid to the ACC last year and then hosted conference officials for a site visit in February.
“We felt that if we didn’t get it, it would be no fault of our own,” Pelicans General Manager North Johnson said. “We felt coming out of it that we hit a home run and somebody would have to hit a grand slam to beat us.”
The Pelicans are not obligated to make any major changes at the stadium, though Johnson said this is an appropriate time to consider replacing the 11-year-old playing surface.
“It looks like it’s in great shape, but the irrigation and drainage systems are starting to wear out,” he said. “We’ve had some conversations with the city about that. ... The good thing is we have two years to work on it. We don’t have to rush through it. We’ll have time to get things in motion and do it the right way.”
The ACC named BB&T Coastal Field the host for its annual eight-team, five-day baseball tournament from 2011 to 2013. The ACC also considered bids from Jacksonville, Fla., which hosted the event from 2005 to 2008, and three cities in North Carolina: Greensboro, Greenville and Winston-Salem.
The tournament has drawn upward of 73,000 fans in Jacksonville, numbers that would create millions in tourism revenue and even more in free publicity for the Grand Strand, said Coastal Carolina University economist Don Schunk.
“We don’t know for sure what the mid- to late-May season is going to look like around Myrtle Beach, because we don’t know how the whole bike issue will play out,” said Schunk, alluding to recent laws passed in Myrtle Beach that will make it harder for the city to host its yearly bike rallies — thereby leading to lost revenue for local businesses.
“The opportunity to bring in that many visitors for three years, and presumably more if we do a good job, is a huge shot in the arm at a time of year when we don’t know what our future Mays will look like.”
The ACC tournament runs Wednesday through Sunday of Memorial Day weekend each year. It will be held in Durham, N.C., this year before moving to Greensboro in 2010.
Myrtle Beach’s proximity to the heart of the ACC apparently played a role in the league’s decision, associate commissioner Davis Whitfield told the Florida Times-Union. Jacksonville pushed hard for the event after posting record attendance figures the past four years.
“There wasn’t a hair’s difference in most of the bids,” Whitfield said. “Myrtle Beach is more within our footprint, and economics did have something to do with it.”
A delegation consisting of Myrtle Beach Pelicans officials and local leaders presented a bid to the ACC last year and then hosted conference officials for a site visit in February.
“We felt that if we didn’t get it, it would be no fault of our own,” Pelicans General Manager North Johnson said. “We felt coming out of it that we hit a home run and somebody would have to hit a grand slam to beat us.”
The Pelicans are not obligated to make any major changes at the stadium, though Johnson said this is an appropriate time to consider replacing the 11-year-old playing surface.
“It looks like it’s in great shape, but the irrigation and drainage systems are starting to wear out,” he said. “We’ve had some conversations with the city about that. ... The good thing is we have two years to work on it. We don’t have to rush through it. We’ll have time to get things in motion and do it the right way.”
Comment
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Comment by Sandy Keller on May 30, 2009 at 8:52pm - The State chapter of the NAACP is trying to stop the ACC from coming to Myrtle Beach.
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Comment by Myrtle-Beach on May 17, 2009 at 10:20pm - I know... Not a good year for local politicians
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Comment by Mel Purdy on May 16, 2009 at 1:10pm - They need to do something their seems to be a lot of lost revenue this week!!! BASEBALL!!
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