Tourism agency VisitPittsburgh is seeking a 2% increase in Allegheny County’s hotel tax "to fund a new sports commission whose job it would be to attract major sporting events to Pittsburgh, perhaps even a Super Bowl," according to Mark Belko of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Creation of the commission -- and a "dedicated pot of money to help sweeten bids -- is but one of the uses VisitPittsburgh envisions." The money also would be used to "offset the cost of bids to bring more conventions to Pittsburgh, make capital improvements to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, provide a source of dedicated funding for the Pittsburgh Film Office, and spruce up community parks so they are 'tournament ready' for sports-related events and competitions." However, the "cornerstone of the legislation is the sports commission." Any increase in the county’s current 7% hotel tax rate "would have to be approved by the state Legislature and enacted by county council." VisitPittsburgh CEO Craig Davis said that the city "has been hampered in the past by not having the money to sweeten offers in order to compete with other cities." He added that there "currently are 105 such commissions" in the U.S., with Pittsburgh "being one of the few in its so-called 'competitive set' without one." Under the VisitPittsburgh proposal, the commission "most likely would be set up as a wholly owned entity under the agency -- either as a nonprofit or LLC -- with its own" BOD. Under the VisitPittsburgh plan, $1.5M a year "would go to the commission to help attract sporting events," and another $1.3M "would go into a fund to help bring more conventions to the city" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/5).
COLD WAR? In Buffalo, Vic Carucci writes with Pittsburgh eyeing a Super Bowl, “why not Buffalo?” Carucci: “The Bills likely will have a new downtown stadium in the next five to seven years. The heavy funding for the facility that team owners Terry and Kim Pegula are expected to provide is bound to at least get the NFL thinking about how it has repaid other club owners who have made such investments: with a Super Bowl. The league is due to pick a site for Super Bowl LVII in 2019. If Pittsburgh’s bid should win, that could serve as a potential springboard for a similar pursuit by the Bills” (BUFFALO NEWS, 7/6).
