Bikini-clad volleyball players, jet skiers and competitive firefighters are coming back to Charleston next year and the following year and the year after that in a new event called SportsFEST, the city's Convention & Visitors Bureau announced Thursday.
All three activities made their initial visit to Charleston earlier this year, though not at the same time.
"We're going to relive the excitement of this summer," CVB President and CEO Patty Pitrolo said during a noon news conference at the Charleston Civic Center.
"We had the Toyota Cup jet skiing, which was a phenomenal success despite the fact the river was a little high. In addition we had EVP volleyball." To stage the tournament, the EVP Tour and city built six sand volleyball courts at Magic Island, she said.
"We also had the Firefighters Combat Challenge later in the summer. It was in front of the state Capitol and was visually spectacular. We're going to move the Firefighters Combat Challenge down the road to the Boulevard in front of Haddad Riverfront Park.
"This past summer, these three events had an economic impact on Charleston of $2.1 million."
But television the volleyball and jet skiing will be syndicated on the Beach Sports Network expands the impact of the events, Pitrolo said.
"This is a busy season for us in term of trade shows. We've been to Birmingham and to Nevada, and we're going to Reno. The World's Strongest Man competition on ESPN, that has done wonders. Catfishing in America ... and The Learning Channel did the chili cook-off.
"When we go to these trade shows, people are noticing Charleston. People have seen these shows. People sell a community. What we hear more than anything else is how hospitable we are."
SportsFEST 2010 will be held Aug. 19-22, 2010.
"Now we have to grow it," Pitrolo said. "We'd like to have concerts there and have vendors there, so from morning to evening you have things to do."
Because of the struggling economy and difficulty in finding sponsors, the CVB decided to combine the three events, she said.
"It's much easier to get vendors in for one event than three. What we've learned is we need to establish a list of vendors who will work with us, pre-approved by the health department."
Ross Balling of Extreme Volleyball Professionals and A.J. Handler of Upstate Watercraft Promotions said they were happy enter three-year contracts with the city.
"We're excited for the players to have something on the map for them," Balling said. "I drove here from Chicago. It's an eight-hour drive. It's a real central location for a lot of the volleyball players. Chicago is a huge location. New York is a huge location."
Pitrolo said the CVB came up with the three-year idea. "We threw that out, and it was good for both sides." The CVB also provided some incentive $15,000 in prize money each year for both the jet skiers and volleyball players, plus publicity for all three events. Charleston Professional Firefighters Local 317 will raise the $23,000 needed to host the challenge, Pitrolo said.
"And it's nice for people to depend on having something to do at a certain time of year, especially now that Regatta is gone," she said. "This is something to do in August.
"It also gives us something to market, like to the motor coach industry, because they plan a year in advance."
Trey Frame, a local pro jet-ski racer, is credited with coming up with the idea of holding a pro event here. He approached Samantha Carney, the CVB's sports marketing specialist, about a year ago.
"To see something that started with a conversation with Samantha in Graziano's Pizza turn into a three-year deal, it's a dream," Frame said.
Reach Jim Balow at balow@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.