Wednesday, December 05, 2012 - Regular Planning ... - Polk County

Exhibit 7
Central Florida Paintball
Since 2006, Central Florida Paintball has been an essential partner in Polk County Tourism and
Sports Marketing’s (PCTSM) efforts to expand our event portfolio to include the sport of
paintball. The efforts of Central Florida Paintball owner John Smith helped PCTSM to begin
hosting Paintball events starting in 2007. Those grassroots efforts eventually helped lead into
not only expanding the series of paintball events hosted at the Central Florida Paintball facility in
North Lakeland, but also helped establish a relationship with two national-level paintball
organizations who now host their two premier championship events in Polk County annually.
Staff first met with Central Florida Paintball owner John Smith back in 2007 to discuss the
possibilities of hosting some multiple day events out at the Central Florida Paintball facility in
North Lakeland. In partnership with PCTSM, Central Florida Paintball created the Southern
Paintball Championship Series, now known as the Central Florida Paintball Event Series. The
series consists of six separate events that take place on six different weekends over the course of
the year. The events are all two-day tournaments that draw on average between 30 and 45
paintball teams from across the state of Florida to compete. Since 2008, the Central Florida
Paintball Event Series generates over $500,000 in economic impact to Polk County annually.
On top of their own series, Central Florida Paintball and John Smith has been an important
partner in recruiting two prestigious paintball events to Polk County. The National Collegiate
Paintball Association (NCPA) has hosted their NCPA Collegiate Paintball National
Championships at the Central Florida Paintball Facility in Lakeland each April since 2008. The
event generates over $600,000 in economic impact to Polk County each year, and also includes
television coverage on the Fox Collegiate Sports Network. The television coverage includes
highlights from the event at the facility, as well as exposure for Lakeland and Polk County as a
premier paintball and sports destination. Fox Sports Network airs the taped one-hour program
on their family of networks over 50 times from June through September each year. PCTSM just
recently negotiated to keep the event at Central Florida Paintball in April 2011, after Loudon
County in Virginia put together and offered a bid package in an attempt to bring the event to
their area.
(Continued on next page)
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
DRC Findings/Recommendation Page 19 of 23
Level 3/TAV 11/21/2012 9:52 AM CU 11-05M December 5, 2012