Subject:
Title
Approval, Re: Tourist Development Council (TDC) FY 2026-2027 Marketing Support Program recommendations
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Fiscal Impact:
FY 2026-2027 cycle: $664,120 total - $424,120 from Cultural Fund 1446, $240,000 from Marketing Fund 1441.
Dept/Office:
Tourism Development Office
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners approve the Tourist Development Council recommendations for the FY 2026-2027 Marketing Support Program, Attachment A and B.
Further, based on the facts specified, by approving this agenda item, the Board will make the legislative finding that Tourist Development Tax funds are authorized for cultural and sports grants pursuant to Section 125.0104(5)(a)3., Florida Statutes, and Section 102-119(3)a, (5)a, and (6)a. of the Brevard County Code of Ordinances. Each of the tourist-oriented cultural sports events has as one of its main purposes the attraction of tourists, and the event organizer and the Space Coast Office of Tourism both intend to ensure marketing and promotion of these events to tourists.
Additionally, request authority for the Director, Tourism Development Office, to negotiate and sign all necessary agreements and related documents upon County Attorney’s Office, Risk Management and Central Services approval and authorize the County Manager to execute necessary budget change requests.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
The Marketing Support Program is designed to provide marketing support and/or financial support for event related expenses to events and year-round programming for eligible Cultural and Sports events. For qualified events or year-round programming, the Marketing Support Program will provide out-of-county advertising and marketing by the TDO and/or defray the cost of conducting an event in Brevard County. In the case of an event that does not require or want out-of-county advertising and marketing, a reimbursement (with proper supporting documentation) will be available in the amount of the awarded funding.
The program is reviewed by the Tourist Development Council and administered by the Tourism Development Office. The program promotes events and year-round programming to tourists to attend high quality cultural and/or sports events to generate significant economic impact through participant spending.
The Tourism Development Council at their July 22, 2026, meeting unanimously (8-0) recommended the Board approve funding for FY 2026-2027 Marketing Support Program applications for each event as outlined in Attachment A.
The FY 2026-2027 Marketing Support Program requires each application to reach a minimum of 5,001 out-of-county attendees measured by the TDO or 250 verified room nights. Forty-five (45) applications have been recommended for approval by the TDC. Of those, 4 sports events (321 Triathlon, Space Coast Police K-9, Game On! Riverfront Triathlon, and Space Coast Chess Open) on Attachment A either did not meet the minimum requirement or were ineligible for various reasons (i.e. have not previously held the event in Brevard County, have not previously applied for the grant with the TDO, or were previously held in another city and, therefore, are considered new event which does not meet the approved criteria). However, the TDC decided to recommend those 4 events anyway.
The funding tiers for the FY 2026-2027 cycle, as per the FY 2026-2027 Marketing Support Program Criteria, Section 6.0 Available Funds are as follows: Cultural applications that attract 5,001-10,000 out-of-county attendees are eligible for up to $12,500; 10,001-25,000 out-of-county attendees are eligible for up to $17,500; 25,001-50,000 out-of-county attendees are eligible for up to $22,500; and 50,001+ out-of-county attendees are eligible for up to $45,000. Total support requests for all approved applications for the FY 2026-2027 Marketing Support Program amount to $664,120.
For Sports events funding awards will be calculated at $15 per room night. An event must meet the eligibility requirements in Section 5.0 and have a minimum of 250 room nights. Maximum funding per sports event is $25,000. Room night counts will be determined by the Sports Commissioner from prior years’ data and TDO staff analysis. Sports events not achieving the room night number will have their award reduced to equal the actual number of room nights multiplied by $15.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Please return a memo of the Board’s action to the Tourism Development Office and CAO.