El Paso Competing For Big Bowling Tourney; Could Bring $75 Million

El Paso City Council on Tuesday gave the green light for the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau to bid for the 2015 United States Bowling Congress Championship.

This could mean that 100,000 people would visit and spend their money in the city over a 100-day period.

If El Paso were to get the tournament, the convention center would turn into a bowling haven similar to the woman’s bowling championship that took place last year but at an even bigger scale. That one had 40,000 visitors.

The US Bowling Congress Championship one includes woman and men bowlers and city officials estimate about 100,000 visitors and $75 million spent on hotels, restaurants, attractions and more. Bill Blaziek, the General Manager for the Convention Center told council that they had estimated those amounts using the tournament’s history.

The bid is going to cost local governments. The bowling tournament requires bidding cities to guarantee a $1.4 million site fee. To be competitive ,the visitors bureau wants to up the ante to $1.6 million.

If the county agrees to that, the fee would be divided in three parts by the county, city and sports commission. City leaders said just like the last tournament, this one is also worth it for the city’s image.

“We also had 40,000 ambassadors leaving El Paso for every state in America as well as foreign countries saying, ‘we had a great time, it’s a very safe community, we didn’t get to travel to Mexico this time, but maybe next time,” said Blaziek, referring to the visitors from the women’s tournament.

Mayor John Cook said it would also dispel the misrepresentations that El Paso is a dangerous city. “People will start thinking about us in terms of a bowling conference going on instead of a drug war,” he said.

The $1.6 million isn’t the only cost. Officials wouldn’t be able to book any other events at the convention center from January to July of 2015, if El Paso was awarded the tournament. Blaziek said the impact of the tournament would offset that.

Also, it would cost the convention center about $1 million in operation costs to set up for the tournament, though they hope the state will reimburse them for that using a fund that is specifically designated for these situations.

City leaders should know if they’ve been short-listed by the end of the summer.