The number of events held at Chickasha’s sports complex is “down significantly, compared to last year,” the Chickasha Industrial Authority was informed recently.
At least one cause was unseasonal rains in July. “We missed a couple of tournaments because of that,” Parks and Recreation Director Spencer Winzenried told Southwest Ledger.
Nevertheless, year-to-date attendance at the sports complex is “about 180,000,” Winzenried said on Aug. 14. The sports complex is “the busiest venue in Chickasha,” he said. Sports events produce “about $1 million for hotels and motels in Chickasha” annually, because tournaments attract families, Winzenried said. “Most tournaments last two to three days,” he added.
CIA discussion Aug. 12 about events conducted at the sports complex triggered a question of whether the City of Chickasha is receiving hotel/motel taxes on Airbnb rentals.
The city collects hotel/motel taxes directly from those businesses but is not receiving any of those taxes from Airbnb’s, Finance Director Elaine Jensen said. “We need to locate them,” she told the Ledger afterward.
Typically, individuals and teams practice on the fields on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, while sporting contests are held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The 15-field complex has been the site of summer baseball and softball games, but now that the new school year has begun, preparations are underway to transition to soccer and football, Winzenried said.
Organizations pay the city rentals of $250 per field per day; there is no discount for booking all 15 fields for the day rather than, say, one to five fields, Winzenried said. Gate fees “stay with the organization, while we get the field rentals.”
Concessions are “subbed out” to a third party: Josh Woods, who won the contract in competitive bidding. “He gives the city 20% off the top,” Winzenried said.
The Parks Department has a crew of five who maintain the sports complex, and field rentals help defray those expenses.
The city has hired a sports director, and perhaps starting next year “we’ll start running the tournaments ourselves,” Winzenried said.
When that begins, the city will collect revenue not only from the field rentals but also from gate fees, Mayor Zach Grayson noted. “We’d probably split the gate fees with the event sponsors,” City Manager Jim Crosby told the Ledger.