Florida legislators have "quietly pledged" more than $2M to the IMG Academy "on top of more than" $7M they have sent its way the last two years, according to Jeremy Wallace of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. Money materialized for the Academy, "even as other funding projects for stadiums and sports venues were staunchly opposed by budget hawks." Lawmakers said that IMG became the exception because it has "become an international sports juggernaut that is attracting 12,000 athletes a year to train in the region." That in turn is "pulling in tourists and growing Florida's fledgling sports tourism industry." State Rep. Jim Boyd said, "This is bringing in more than a half a billion dollars in economic benefit to the region. Sure it's a big corporation, but it creates value for our community." Wallace notes what started as a "small tennis academy" has "blossomed into a 584-acre international training site." The money contributed by the state is "going toward" a $197M campus expansion "that IMG officials said supports 2,600 jobs and will ultimately spur" more than $320M of economic output. IMG Academy "runs a boarding school for 1,000 students who can pay as much as $80,000 a year to attend, depending on the sport." IMG officials said that they are "luring Gatorade's research and development headquarters from Illinois to their growing campus." IMG is also "in discussions with tennis equipment manufacturer Prince, based in Atlanta, to relocate." IMG officials said that they have "generated an excess" of nearly $5.8M "in extra sales taxes since the state started giving them support." But how the private company "got insinuated into the budget isn't sitting well with everyone, including advocates of other sports venues competing for some of the same dollars" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 6/18).
