CONTACT: Mike Testa
(916) 919-3422
May 21, 2014
SACRAMENTO, CA-Longtime champions for Sacramento's construction of a downtown entertainment and sports complex, the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) and Sports Commission are applauding last night's historic City Council vote and immediately pursuing new convention and sporting opportunities for Sacramento's approved facility.
Deemed an organizational priority by the SCVB's Board of Directors and Executive Staff for more than a decade, the SCVB believes that the new facility will greatly enhance and grow the City's convention and tourism industry.
"In the meetings industry, convention planners choose destinations based on two major factors: infrastructure and image," said Steve Hammond, president & CEO of the SCVB. "The SCVB believes that this new entertainment and sports complex will significantly enhance both our infrastructure and image and last night's vote has immediately presented opportunities for Sacramento to engage convention clients that we previously could not accommodate."
From an infrastructure standpoint, some of the groups the SCVB pursues want venues with large general session space-but they want these venues close to downtown hotels and meeting facilities. From an image standpoint, the entertainment and sports complex will be a development catalyst for Sacramento's Central Business District and will put a vibrant new face on the Sacramento brand.
The entertainment and sports complex also presents significant opportunities for sporting events that could produce first-time events to Sacramento as well as return events, like NCAA Basketball.
"We've had on-going conversations with a number of sports groups that have expressed interest in bringing their business to Sacramento once the arena is approved and we have reached out to some of those contacts already this morning to update them on the progress," continued Hammond. "We are confident that the City's ROI for the arena will begin even before construction is completed."
The mission of the SCVB is to strengthen the positive awareness of the City and County of Sacramento as a convention and visitor destination to increase revenues and stimulate economic development for the community.
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