Spring training is right around the corner, and Sarasota is one of the hot spots for MLBs season starting event!

1. SPORTS TOURISM
www.scgov.net
2012 SARASOTA COUNTY
941.861.5000
Sports
Tourism
Think you know
how much money
athletic endeavors
bring into the
community? You
may be surprised.
BASEBALL
• Sarasota Baseball Classic
$323,524.18
• Snowbird Baseball
Classic
$805,973.90
• USSSA Gulf Coast
Championship
$355,800.28
• USSSA Slugtoberfest
$644,766.53
• Florida State Finals
$1,296,829.15
• Suncoast USSSA Baseball
District 2 Championship
$357,130.03
• Suncoast USSSA Baseball
Kickoff Classic
$677,637.48
• Suncoast USSSA Baseball
President’s Cup
$613,692.72
• Suncoast USSSA Baseball
Spring Break Mayhem
$226,826.51
SOFTBALL
• Hitmen County
Shootout
$90,030.00
• Mid-Season Tournament
$395,131.16
• Sarasota Heat
A.S.A. Qualifer
$287,734.07
• Sarasota Heat
Showcase
$170,189.91
BASKETBALL
• Sarasota Xplosion
$650,063.52
• Save-On Shootout @
Riverview High
$58,468.36
• SCF Classic
$113,172.01
BMX STRIDER
• Florida BMX
State Qualifier
$391,581.09
• Strider World
Championship
$184,504.07
Spring Training
Professional baseball has been
a Sarasota tradition since 1924,
when circus magnate John
Ringling helped recruit the New
York Giants to hold spring training
here. The Sports Complex and Ed
Smith Stadium are one of the most
utilized public facilities in Sarasota
County, hosting the spring training
of major and minor league teams
that develop rising talent at Twin
Lakes Park Complex throughout the
year. Sarasota’s partnership with
the Baltimore Orioles is the latest
chapter in the county’s history with
professional baseball, an economic
engine, driving both professional
league fans and amateur players to
visit the area.
Siesta Key Beach
Designated in 2011 by “Dr. Beach”
as the No. 1 Beach in America, Siesta
Beach has earned its reputation as
one of the most beautiful beaches in
the world. Siesta’s fine white sands
are composed of 99% pure quartz
and attract international sculptors
to the annual Crystal Classic Master
Sand Sculpting competition. Shallow
water near the shoreline, a variety of
amenities and year-round lifeguard
protection also make this beach a
favorite for world-class volleyball, and
amateur and professional triathlons.
In 2012, our hats
were off to the
Baltimore Orioles,
who moved
spring training to
Ed Smith Stadium.
Siesta Key is one of the largest
sandboxes in the world, and
it attracts thousands to the
annual “Crystal Classic” Master
Sand Sculpting Competition.
Bird is the word every March, when the weather
is cool, the bats are flying, and boys of summer
descend on Sarasota County’s ballfields.
BEACH
VOLLEYBALL
• 4C Totally Light 2Go
Beach Volleyball
Series
$19,879.82
• Dig the Beach
Volleyball Series
$174,331.83
• Dig the Beach
Volleyball Series Gulf
States Open
$180,026.96
• Fiesta on
Siesta Key
$188,440.13
• Volley America
East Coast
Championships
$100,893.09
BOAT
RACING
• 28th Annual Suncoast
Super Boat Grand
Prix Festival
$14,306,173.00
CRICKET
• Sarasota Six-A-Side
Festival
$379,893.25
DISC GOLF /
FRISBEE
• Sarasota Amateur
Disc Golf
Championships
$27,432.45
• The SSP
Open 2012
$19,617.45
• USA Ultimate Club
Championships
$2,295,324.47
EQUESTRIAN
• Camp Fox Lea
Grand Prix
$1,297,835.78
• Fox Lea Farm
Grand Prix Spring
Concours I
$368,236.25
• Fox Lea Farm November
Grand Prix
$342,066.80
OVERVIEW
!
Sarasota County’s
extraordinary year-round
weather and numerous
recreational venues are
tailor-made for outdoor
enthusiasts. These highlights
barely the touch the surface
of how great an impact
sports and eco-tourism have
on the local economy.

2. SPORTS TOURISM
www.scgov.net
2012 SARASOTA COUNTY
941.861.5000
Rowing
Competitive rowing is one of the
hottest amateur sports in the country,
and Sarasota County’s Nathan
Benderson Park is staged to become
one of the top rowing destinations
in the world. This beautiful park
and rower’s paradise hosted its
first regattas in 2009 (the Florida
Intercollegiate Rowing Association
State Championships and the 44th
Annual Florida Scholastic Rowing
Association State Championships),
attracting more than 10,000 spectators
GOLF
• Sara Bay Classic / LPGA
Symetra Tour
$292,656.52
KARATE
• Florida State Karate
Championships
$96,161.05
RACQUETBALL
• Suncoast Open Pro-Am
Racquetball Tournament
$75,797.68
ROWING
• FIRA and FSRA
Sculling Championships
$222,178.40
• Florida Scholastic State
Championships
$1,044,007.97
• Sarasota Invitational 2012
$206,493.35
• Southeast Regional
Championships
$973,944.16
RUNNING
• First Watch Sarasota
Half Marathon & Relay
$2,312,600.00
• PAL Half Marathon
$193,625.10
• Ringling Bridge Run IX
$73,655.91
SOCCER
• IMG Boys Soccer
Cup Invitational
$611,975.05
• Labor Day
Soccer Showcase
U.S. Soccer Winter
Showcase &
Nike Friendlies
$1,941,069.32
SWIMMING
• Area 3/5 Champion
Swim Meet
$372,626.02
• Bumpy Jones
International Classic
$34,139.33
• College/Club Winter
Training Program
$519,697.06
• Florida Age Group
Championship
Swim Meet
$997,542.99
• Florida Swimming
Senior Championships
$749,663.05
• Tropical Splash Open
Water Swim
$166,389.48
TENNIS
• 2012 Sarasota Open
$1,686,041.19
• Eddie Herr
Tennis Tournament
$947,236.50
• Little Mo International
Junior Open
$282,666.82
• Super Senior Grand Prix
Tennis Tournament
$263,861.40
TRIATHLON
• Florida International
Triathlon
$222,354.12
• Life’s A Beach Triathlon
Sarasota Longboat Key
Triathlon Race Series
$122,830.13
• Longboat Key Triathlon
Race Series
$78,948.18
• Siesta Key Triathlon
$106,666.56
• Total impact
$41,752,418.85
and participants. The Sarasota
County Commission has approved
the concept plan and preliminary
design plan to build one of the most
advanced rowing venues in the
country — a 2,000-meter course, a
straight shoreline perfect for viewing
and enclosed fresh water with no
current. Design and engineering for
the park is now under way through
a public/private partnership with the
Benderson Development Corporation.
These hands aren’t
idle, they’re pulling
precious cargo across
the finish line.
On your mark, get set…GO! And then
just try to keep up with the blur of
oars slicing into the water at Nathan
Benderson Park.
These gals (and
guys) are built for
speed, rowing for
gold and spreading
the word that
Sarasota County
is a world-class
regatta venue.
Total impact
$41,752,418.85