Palm Beach County, FL, officials said that hosting the
Davis Cup Finals at Delray Beach "would mean an economic
windfall of about $15 million" for the county, according to
Krause & Bennett of the Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL.
Charles Lehmann, Dir of the county's Tourist Development
Council, said that the money would come from "the thousands
of tennis fans who would spend an estimated $300 a day on
hotels, meals and other attractions." On Wednesday, the
USTA and ITF chose the Delray Beach Tennis Center as the
site of the finals, provided the U.S. beats Italy and Sweden
beats Spain this weekend. If not, Davis Cup rules would
send the finals to a different location. Tennis Center
Manager Brahm Dubin said it would receive $10,000 to $15,000
to host the tournament, which "may mean breaking even this
year for the first time since the center opened five years
ago" (Krause & Bennett, Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL 9/23).
In Palm Beach, Clarke & Chuck put the economic impact
between $13-15M, and note that Delray Beach submitted its
bid "just" three weeks ago. The County's Convention and
Visitor's Bureau will cover half of the $200,000 cost of
hosting the event. City and county officials are looking
for sponsors to pay the remainder (PALM BEACH POST, 9/24).
