Bicycles, skateboards, motorcylces and cash ? that?s what Charm City should be looking forward to this summer.
At a news conference today, the Maryland Stadium Authority is expected to announce that The Action Sports Pro Tour Dew Tour will be making a stop in Baltimore this summer from June 21 to 24 for its Panasonic Open.
Cities nationwide are anticipating the boom the tour will bring.
In an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, David Gilbert, president of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, said that Cleveland could expect between 60,000 and 80,000 visitors and between $8 million and $10 million in economic impact from the tour.
In the past, cities such as Louisville, Ky., have issued statements claiming that they hoped to raise as much as $20 million to $30 million and attract 100,000 visitors.
The ATSP consist of nontraditional athletes executing tricks and routines on motorbikes, bicycles and skateboards. Last year, a snowboarding competition was added for the stop in Portland, Ore.
Sean Stinson, the director of communications for the Salt Lake City Convention & Visitors Bureau, said that his city is excited about the reputation the event will bring with it when it stops there Sept. 20 to 23.
“Obviously we are going after events like this, like many, many cities,” said Stinson, whose city already has a professional basketball team and hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002. “It?s critical to draw events such as the Dew Action Sports Tour in that it offers additional visibility and credibility to Salt Lake.”
While the ATSP declined to comment on the specifics of the announcement Tuesday, Nicole Mancuso, the communications coordinator of the tour, did confirm through e-mail with The Examiner that Baltimore was being considered to host the event. Bucky Lasek, a Baltimore native and professional skateboarder on the tour, is also scheduled to be present at the news conference.
Other locations of the Dew Tour are set to include Orlando, Fla., and Portland, Ore. Co-owned by NBC Universal and Live Nation, a concert and entertainment venue management company, the ATSP began in 2005, with substantial television coverage provided by NBC.
