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

Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP) formerly hosted their World Cup at Disney’s Wide World of
Sports for over six years up until 2008. PSP is the premier professional tournament paintball
league in the world and the World Cup is their largest and premier event. The World Cup is a
five-day event that consists of tournament competition and a massive trade show, which draws
over 5,000 participants and spectators from across the world. Through their contacts and
relationships with PSP staff, Central Florida Paintball assisted PCTSM staff in early 2009 by
passing along a lead that PSP was potentially looking for a new venue for the World Cup each
October. Over the summer of 2009, PCTSM and Central Florida Paintball hosted PSP staff on
multiple site visits that culminated with PSP agreeing to bring their 2009 World Cup to Fantasy
of Flight. PCTSM has since negotiated with PSP to host the World Cup at Fantasy of Flight in
Polk County through 2012. The event generates over $3.5 million in economic impact each year.
In summary, Central Florida Paintball has been an important local partner to PCTSM in creating
and bringing paintball events in Polk County. After creating marketing plans in 2006 and 2007
that included a focus on diversifying our sports event portfolio, paintball became a targeted
market for PCTSM staff. After researching and identifying Central Florida Paintball’s facility in
North Lakeland as one of the premier paintball facilities in the country, PCTSM has fortified a
partnership with Central Florida Paintball that has helped us be very successful in the paintball
event market. Now PCTSM hosts eight paintball events each year, with the potential for even
more growth in the market with the new Action Paintball Facility in Winter Haven. The
presence of a top-notch paintball facility in Central Florida Paintball in Lakeland, along with the
combined efforts to recruit and host the Central Florida Paintball Series and NCPA National
Championships there, and the PSP World Cup at Fantasy of Flight, has helped Polk County to
achieve its goal of becoming one of the premier paintball event destinations in the United States.
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (CONT.)
DRC Findings/Recommendation Page 20 of 23
Level 3/TAV 11/21/2012 9:52 AM CU 11-05M December 5, 2012