LEGISLATIVE ANALYST REPORT

TO: Honorable Members of the Board of Supervisors

FROM: Gabe Cabrera, Office of the Legislative Analyst (OLA)

DATE: February 1, 2005

RE: Sports Commissions in Other Jurisdictions (File No. 041552)

Summary of Requested Action

Motion (sponsored by Supervisor Ma) requesting the OLA to research and prepare an in-depth report on model municipalities with respect to establishing a sports commission in the City and County of San Francisco.

Executive Summary

Our office performed an expedited but thorough analysis of sports commissions in other jurisdictions. We surveyed the ten (10) largest cities in the country with a sports commission including New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Antonio, Detroit, San Jose, Jacksonville, Columbus and Memphis. We also surveyed other California cities with a sports commission including Stockton, Pleasanton/Livermore/Dublin/San Ramon (the Tri-Valley area) and San Bernardino.

A sports commission is any City or non-City organization characteristically designed to market a city as an attractive destination for amateur and professional sports events. Historically, local chambers of commerce conducted all marketing activities for a city. Over time, these activities became so specialized that separate chamber divisions or totally independent organizations were formed to handle them. Sports commissions are offshoots of these first marketing activities. These organizations originated in several manners throughout the country. Some were and are still associated with the local convention and visitors bureaus. Others were formed as independent nonprofit organizations (either 501c3, 501c6 or both).¹  Still others are local government agencies. Whatever the case, the primary goal of a sports commission is to capitalize on the economic and public image impacts that sports events can have on cities.

Determining whether the City needs a sports commission was beyond the scope of this analysis. However, at least four City agencies already perform some (not all) of the functions of sports commissions in other cities: 1) Recreation and Parks Department, 2) the Office of Convention Facilities Management within the Department of Administrative Services, 3) the Entertainment Commission and 4) the Economic and Workforce Development Department. These functions are described in the Current Practice section of this report.

If the City chooses to establish a sports commission, it should first attempt to answer some basic questions. For instance, what form should the sports commission take? What size should its board of directors and staff be? Should the board have an executive committee? How should the organization be funded? Decisions that other sports commissions made regarding these questions are included in the Best Practices section of this report. Alternatively, the City could endorse an existing sports commission like the recently established San Francisco Sports Council (a 501c6 organization) whose primary mission is to attract, host and support amateur and professional athletic events in San Francisco. The Legislative Analyst believes that this is a policy matter for the Board of Supervisors.

Background

What sports commissions do

Apart from marketing a city as an attractive destination for amateur and professional sports events, a sports commission may also perform the following functions:

• Advertise and promote these sports events;
• Help sports event sponsors and other groups to find athletic facilities, accommodations and businesses;
• Develop a bank of volunteers from which sports event sponsors can draw;
• Produce sports events, educational exhibits and clinics in-house;
• Measure and report economic impact of sports events to its members, city officials and the community at large;
• Develop charitable and/or non-charitable sports and fitness programs for people of all ages but primarily for underprivileged youth in the area;
• Offer training programs to amateur athletes competing in local, regional, national and/or international competition; and
• Support the development and maintenance of amateur and professional athletic facilities.

Table 1 shows the 10 largest cities in the country with a sports commission.

Table 2 shows the 7 cities in California with a sports commission.

Current Practice

The following City agencies already perform some (not all) of the functions of sports commissions in other jurisdictions.

• Recreation and Park Department;
• Office of Convention Facilities Management within the Department of Administrative Services;
• Entertainment Commission; and
• Economic and Workforce Development Department.

Recreation and Park Department (RPD)

This department’s mission is to "provide enriching recreational activities, maintain beautiful parks and preserve the environment for the well-being of our diverse community". To fulfill this mission, RPD maintains more than 200 parks, playgrounds and open spaces throughout the City, including Monster Park at Candlestick Point and Kezar Stadium. The home of the San Francisco 49ers, Monster Park is managed by the Department’s Property Management Unit, which leases the facility to other groups for music concerts, soccer matches, fantasy football camps and other special events when the 49ers are not playing. Kezar Stadium is the home of the Women’s American Football League’s San Francisco Tsunamis, and it, too, is leased-out for special events when the Tsunamis are not playing. Moreover, RPD runs or supports a variety of charitable and non-charitable recreational sports programs for people of all ages ranging from aerobics to yoga. The Attachment to this report contains a complete list of these programs. In FY 03-04, the number of program participants totaled approximately 4.1 million. During the same fiscal year, RPD sponsored seventeen (17) athletic leagues with 1,614 athletic teams participating. The Department’s budget totaled about $124 million in FY 03-04 and about $106 million in FY 04-05. However, it is unclear how much RPD spends on the above activities because their costs are dispersed throughout Department’s budget.

Office of Convention Facilities Management

The Office of Convention Facilities Management within the Department of Administrative Services is responsible for management of the City’s two primary convention facilities: the Moscone Center and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. To accomplish this goal, the Office maintains contracts with the Moscone Center Joint Venture, which manages the operations of the Moscone Center and with the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau (SFCVB), which promotes the City as an attractive destination for conventions, meetings and tradeshows. The Office’s one-year contract with the SFCVB expires June 30, 2005 and is funded entirely by the City’s Hotel Tax. Under the contract’s terms, the maximum amount available to the SFCVB for FY 04-05 is $7,320,578.

Entertainment Commission

Established in 2002, the Entertainment Commission is responsible for planning and permitting cultural, entertainment, athletic and other events throughout the City. Its functions that may overlap with those of a sports commission include: 1) promoting the use of City facilities; 2) planning and coordinating City services for major events; and 3) providing information regarding venues and services appropriate for events and functions ancillary to conventions. The Commission’s budget totaled $980,000 in FY 04-05, which is funded by a combination of permit application fees and General Fund dollars.

Economic and Workforce Development Department

This office of the Mayor became a separate City department in 2004. It has a number of mandates designed to grow the City’s economy and labor force. Over its history, the Department has played a role in attracting sports events to San Francisco. These events include but are not limited to the T-Mobile International Bike Race, the X-Games, the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Game Weekend, the Emerald Bowl (college football) and the Nike Marathon. The Department recently had talks with the San Jose Earthquakes (professional soccer) about relocating their team to San Francisco; however, the Earthquakes eventually chose to stay in San Jose. The Department continues to work with the San Francisco 49ers and other private companies to build a new football stadium at Candlestick Point. The Department’s budget totaled $2,450,139 in FY 04-05, which is funded primarily by the City’s General Fund with some expenditure recoveries and an existing fund balance.

San Francisco Sports Council

Established in 2004, the San Francisco Sports Council (SFSC) is a 501c6 nonprofit organization whose mission is "to enhance the economic growth, image and quality of life in San Francisco by actively attracting, hosting and supporting significant amateur and professional athletic events, conventions, exhibitions and related activities." To achieve this mission, the SFSC intends to:

• "Facilitate and streamline the process working with San Francisco by assisting with the coordination of critical City services;
• Serve as the liaison between the City and sports promoters and organizations, national organizing bodies and existing sporting events regarding sports and recreational activities in San Francisco;
• Work with the SFCVB to organize, fund and bid for regional, national and international amateur and professional sports and recreational events to San Francisco;
• Ensure that the appropriate marketing, organizational, administrative and volunteer support systems are in place to enhance the ultimate success of new and existing sporting events in San Francisco;
• Educate the general public regarding the importance of sports and recreational facilities in San Francisco;
• Preserve and develop sports and recreational facilities to benefit all levels of community involvement in San Francisco; and
• Serve as a strong advocate in the community at large and in the business community for the effort to build a new football stadium and a downtown multi-purpose arena."

The SFSC believes that it will improve the City’s ability to attract sports events to San Francisco because its focus is exclusively on sports, while the above-mentioned City agencies have multiple and sometimes competing goals, and because it will help these agencies to coordinate their sports event-related services in an effort to make San Francisco a more sports event-friendly city. Moreover, the SFSC intends to operate a subsidiary 501c3 nonprofit foundation to support charitable sports and fitness programs for youth in the area. A Board of Directors will govern the SFSC and its foundation. An independent advisory board will counsel the Board and raise awareness and funds for the SFSC’s goals and strategies. The SFSC will offer internships and volunteer opportunities in sports event management, marketing, promotions and public relations. The SFSC will hire at least 2 full-time staff within its first year of operation. The SFSC estimates that its first-year budget will total between $150,000 and $188,000. This budget is expected to grow each year thereafter as new staff is added. Both the SFSC and its foundation will be funded by a combination of membership dues, fundraising revenue, event management fees and government and foundation grants.

Best Practices

How are sports commissions organized

The three major forms of sports commissions are:

• Independent nonprofit organization (either 501c3, 501c6 or both);
• Division of local convention and visitors bureaus; and
• Local government agency.

Finding 1-A: A slight majority of sports commissions surveyed (8 of 14) are organized as independent nonprofit organizations.

How are sports commission governed and staffed

Table 4 shows sports commissions surveyed by board and staff size and whether they have an executive committee.

Finding 2-A: Generally, commissions organized as 501c6 membership-based organizations have larger boards than other forms of sports commissions because they represent numerous interests.

Finding 2-B: Half of the sports commissions surveyed (7 of 14) have executive committees. For the purposes of this analysis, an executive committee is a subgroup of board members that has special powers and/or responsibilities.

Finding 2-C: Staff size depends largely on the particular functions of a sports commission. That is, a commission that seeks to attract sports events, produces sports events in-house, measures and reports economic impacts requires more staff than one that only seeks to attract sports events.

How are sports commissions funded

Some of the main sources of revenue currently being used by the sports commissions include the following:

• Membership sales;
• Individual and corporate donations (cash and/or in-kind services);
• Government and foundation grants;
• Local general fund monies;
• Local tax on hotel accommodations;
• Fees generated from producing and/or managing events (from operating tournaments to hosting an annual awards banquet); and
• A combination of these revenue sources.