NBP Contact: Douglas E. Jessmer, Media and Communications Manager, douglas@sanca.us, 941-358-7275 office, 941-374-8492 mobile

For immediate release  |  Dec. 27, 2018

NATHAN BENDERSON PARK’S
FY 2018 ECONOMIC IMPACT
EXCEEDS $32 MILLION

Five-year stretch produces
more than $142 million in impact

NOTE: Manatee County’s economic impact figures will be released in January.

SARASOTA, Fla.: The region’s premier sports venue continues making an economic impact on the area, reaching nearly $32.6 million.
Nathan Benderson Park, the Sarasota County park managed by the nonprofit Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates (SANCA), brought $32,574,316 in economic impact on the region in fiscal year 2018, according to numbers provided by Visit Sarasota County. This figure adds into a five-year total of $142.1 million since April 2014, when SANCA began operation of the park.
“We are proud of our contribution to the local economy through sport tourism,” said Stephen V. Rodriguez, the president of SANCA. “The public-private partnership works. SANCA operates and maintains this Sarasota County park at no cost to local taxpayers and a cost savings to Sarasota County, while contributing to the region’s diverse tourism industry.”
“We do not do this alone, and are thankful of our many partners and volunteers that support the efforts at Nathan Benderson Park to make a difference in our community,” he said.
Virginia Haley, the executive director of Visit Sarasota County, said the park is a touchpoint for first-time visitors to the region.
“One of the reasons we worked so hard on the creation of this park was the vision of what it would bring economically, and it has certainly outperformed,” she said. “Many of our major events, like this year’s World Rowing Masters Regatta, these are people who have never been to Sarasota before. The park is a gateway for meeting Sarasota for the first time.”
The fiscal-year 2018 figure is an increase of almost $4 million over the previous year’s figure of $28,667,047, which does not include the pinnacle of rowing events, the 2017 World Rowing Championships.
The park was the host to the World Rowing Masters Regatta in September, which brought more than 2,124 competitors from 48 nations to the park, along with nearly 3,100 spectators. Other major events that drove NBP’s economic impact last year were the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships ($3.2 million), the USRowing Southeast Regionals ($2.3 million), and the Florida Scholastic Rowing Association Sweeps Championship ($2.4 million).
In fiscal year 2017-18, which began Oct. 1, 2017 and ended Sept. 30, there were 48 events attended by 120,645 people, generating $29.4 million in impact. There were 50 training teams, camps and visits over 1,134 days (190 calendar days) with 1,653 participants, yielding $3.2 million in impact.
Event data is sourced by SANCA from the events’ rights holders. That data includes the number of adults and youths, the total number of hotel rooms booked, and whether the visitors are from the area, elsewhere in Florida, out-of-state or overseas. The totals are provided to Visit Sarasota County, which calculates the impact based on visitor spending, using state and local models and formulas.
“Sarasota County has more than paid itself back in economic benefit by investing in the development of Nathan Benderson Park,” Rodriguez said, “and this benefit will continue for many years to come. Communities throughout the nation dream of having such a facility that has achieved this level of success and return on investment in such a short period of time.”

— NBP —

YEARLY ECONOMIC IMPACT AT NBP
Fiscal years are Oct. 1-Sept. 30

2013-14: $12,689,021
2014-15: $26,044,990
2015-16: $19,549,621
2016-17: $28,667,047*
2017-18: $32,574,316
TOTAL: $142,138,495
*Does not include World Rowing Championships impact, which was $22,613,500.
Source: SANCA and Visit Sarasota County

— NBP —

Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates Inc. (SANCA), is a not-for-profit 501c3 business created to manage Nathan Benderson Park (NBP), a community/public asset and world-class, multi-use sports venue. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for our community and be an economic generator for our region. SANCA’s primary purpose is to develop and promote NBP as a world class event center, team training site and Sarasota County park, while providing outreach programs through recreation, safety training, education and volunteering as a service to our community. For more information, go to nathanbendersonpark.org/about-us/sanca-mission.