HomeMy WebLinkAboutApplication for TBID Funding - Big Sky Classic 2018Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District
BOZEMAN TBID GRANT APPLICATION INFORMATION
The Bozeman TBID is seeking to partner with organizations interested in developing new or growing events,
conventions, rallies, festivals and tournaments ( to be called “the event” hereafter) that have a proven or qualified
ability to generate hotel-motel room nights in the city of Bozeman.
The mission of the Bozeman TBID is “to enhance the economic vitality of Bozeman by generating room nights for
the cities lodging facilities through effective sales and marketing strategies, building collaborative partnerships and
promoting Bozeman as a year round visitor, convention and event destination.”.
The Bozeman TBID is funded by a flat fee of $2 per room night on individuals staying at lodging facilities within the
Bozeman City limits. The Business Improvement District Law, Montana Code Annotated 2007, 7-12-1101 through 7-12-
1144 as amended, for funding of all uses and projects for tourism promotion within Bozeman as specified by the
Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District budget.
Criteria
A. Requirements
The following criteria are required prior to any funding by the TBID.
(1) The event must have a proven or qualified ability to generate hotel-motel room nights in the City of
Bozeman.
(2) The Bozeman TBID resources are available.
(3) The entire event must be deemed appropriate by the Bozeman TBID (no political candidate promotion, no
adult style entertainment, other exclusions may apply at the discretion of the Bozeman Area Chamber of
Commerce and Bozeman TBID).
(4) The Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District and the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce must
be listed as additional insured on your event insurance policy.
B. Advertising
The Bozeman TBID will, in some cases, consider underwriting advertising efforts to help publicize an event that
has a direct correlation to increased hotel/motel occupancy in Bozeman’s lodging facilities. If approved, the
following advertising criteria must be followed.
(1) The words Bozeman, Montana shall appear on all printed materials.
(2) The website bozemanchamber.com shall appear on all printed materials
(3) Acknowledgment of grant on collateral: “Produced with the support of Bozeman TBID funds.”
(4) Target Audiences must be a minimum of 150 miles away from Bozeman, MT.
(5) Copies of all advertisements must be supplied to the Bozeman TBID.
C. Event Funding
The Bozeman TBID will, in some cases, consider subsidizing costs that would otherwise make an event infeasible
to have in Bozeman. In these cases the following criteria must be followed.
(1) No direct cash subsidy will be given to the organization. Cash subsidies may be used for rental assistance,
transportation assistance, facility rental or other expenditures deemed appropriate by the Bozeman TBID.
(2) The Bozeman TBID shall be included in the bidding and planning of the event in an effort to maximize the
number of overnight stays created and insure that all aspects are deemed appropriate.
Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District
D. Other
(1) Award money will not be retroactive. (The TBID will not pay for advertising/promotions/obligations/other
contracted services for the event prior to the grant being awarded)
(2) Other rules, regulations, policies, and procedures pertaining to this grant are at the sole discretion of the
Bozeman TBID.
(3) Grant/Award winner must provide a wrap-up report and samples of produced advertisements to the TBID
upon completion (within ten day of event closure). 20% of awarded funds will be withheld until this report
is received.
Recommendations
While the Bozeman TBID will look at all events that create overnight stays, the following characteristics will
improve grant consideration.
A. The event occurs during the ten months that currently have lower occupancy in the Bozeman lodging
facilities. July and August are the two highest occupancy months for Bozeman Hoteliers.
B. The event is large in size.
C. The event brings a large number of people from 100+ miles away.
D. The event is multiday.
E. The event is new to Bozeman and/or has significant potential for growth.
F. The event is not weather dependent.
G. The event organization requesting funds is non-profit.
Process
A. Submit one copy of the following: 1) grant application 2) projected budget that includes all income and
expenses and 3) supporting documents (business plan, marketing plan, ad materials, etc.).
B. Grant application will be reviewed by the Gallatin Valley Tournament Committee and Bozeman TBID. It
will take a minimum of 45 days for grant application results.
C. Failure to comply with any of the criteria listed may require full repayment of TBID monies from the
awarded organization to the Bozeman TBID.
D. Applicant must complete a follow up report within 45 days of the event being held.
Acknowledgment of Criteria: Please sign below acknowledging that you have read and understand the above criteria:
Name of Organization Requesting Grant Bozeman American Legion Baseball Post 14
Signature Chris Tarabochia Print Name Chris Tarabochia
Position Tournament Director Date 1/22/2018_
Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District
BOZEMAN TBID GRANT APPLICATION
1. GENERAL INFORMATION
Name of Organization: Bozeman American Legion Baseball
Address: PO Box 6054, Bozeman, MT 59771
Phone: 406-763-6311
Email: admin@bozemanlegionbaseball.com
Name of Contact: Chris Tarabochia
Position of Contact: Tournament Director
Phone: 406 763-6311
Email: play@bigskyclassic.com
Title of Event: Big Sky Classic Basketball Tournament
Proposed Dates of Event: March/3-4/2017 Location of Event: Bozeman High School and Surrounding
Schools
Amount of funding requested $ 7,600 Applicants Match (if applicable) $
Total Budget $ 16,460
Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District
(If using an email version of this document, please expand spacing when necessary to fit all information. If using a hard copy,
attach additional pages.)
2. SUMMARY OF EVENT
Please describe the event in detail and what it is that you wish to accomplish.
The Big Sky Classic is now in its second year after a successful launch last year in support of the
TBID. Last year, the tournament had 45 teams and this year we are targeting 70 teams
The Big Sky Classic is designed to be another top-notch youth basketball tournament in Montana.
The tournament will host boy’s and girl’s tournament divisions for grades 4th-9th. are expected from
Wyoming, South Dakota, Missoula, Kalispell, Helena, Great Falls and Billings. The size of the
basketball teams average 8 players and 2 coaches. We are estimating 600 players, family
members, and fans to take part in this year’s tournament.
The Tournament Committee is committed to ensuring the Big Sky Classic is a high-quality
tournament that leads to growth for this and other youth basketball tournaments in Bozeman. We
continue to improve in the following areas:
• Expand marketing to web site, Facebook, cross-event marketing and email outreach to
attract teams across the state.
• Several team members are active in both this tournament and the Bozeman Hardwood
Classic, Battle in the Bridgers, and Bozeman Fall Ball Classic. Knowledge transfer about
how to run a high quality tournament, experience and volunteers are supporting both
tournaments.
• Using only MOA certified officials for all games.
As a top tournament for the area, the TBID has the opportunity to continue to support this type of
high quality event for the Bozeman community.
3. GRANT REQUEST PURPOSE
Please provide a one paragraph summary of the purpose of the funding request and what it will subsidize.
Please focus on the specific element for which you are requesting funding.
To maintain the top-quality games, the funding will be used to pay MOA and high-quality referees
rather than relying on students, volunteers or parents. We require two officials per game at $20-$25
each which would result in a total fee for officials ranging from $7,000-$8,500 for this event. This
continues to make the tournament even more legitimate as it will attract even more teams around
and outside the state. As a coach and parent, the number one reason we hear over and over as a
measure of a quality of tournament are the officials. Within competitive tournament marketing the
commitment to providing the best officiating will continue to draw teams to Bozeman and to
continue to grow the tournaments in the years to come.
Hosting a high quality tournament is an expensive endeavor. With the TBID partnership this will
ensure that the event will be successful this year and in future years.
Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District
4. LODGING FACILITY IMPACT
Explain how this event will bring people from out of town to fill hotel rooms and list the towns, states
and/or regions you expect the participants to travel from. Explain your room night goals and how they will
be measured.
The tournament will begin on a Saturday morning and runs through Sunday afternoon. Teams
traveling 50-75 miles or more will likely utilize local lodging for Friday and Saturday night during this
non-peak season of July and August. With the establishment of our Tournament Committee,
branding, marketing and joint tournament efforts we are anticipating 70 teams at a minimum with at
least half of those outside a 50-mile radius. Our projections based on past tournaments is for 45
teams at 2 nights and an estimated 8-9 players per team on average, for a total of 720 room nights.
Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District
5. ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW
Please give a brief history of your organization.
Bozeman American Legion Baseball Post 14 is working with tournament community members to
come together to continue the high quality of this event and augment the growth of this tournament
as well as future Bozeman area tournaments. By establishing the Tournament Committee
(including Hardwood Classic and Bozeman Fall Ball Classic committee members, local community
leaders and AAU coaches with tournament experience) we have taken the necessary steps to
continue to improve on the quality of this event. The proceeds from this tournament will go directly
to supporting the Bozeman American Legion Baseball Post 14 to assist in this non-profit
organization in the purchasing equipment and fund development opportunities.
6. AVAILABLE RESOURCES
What alternatives to TBID funding have been explored? Do you envision this grant as seed money? Will
this event become self-sustaining in the future?
We are working towards other sponsorships from local businesses. We are offering court, web and
t-shirt sponsorship opportunities. The fund received from the TBID will help seed the tournament by
offsetting the cost of officiating. It is our intention with the improvements and partnerships to attract
more teams and grow this event so that it continues to feed into the other top quality tournaments in
our region.
7. PROJECT BUDGET TIMELINE
Please indicate when you will need the funds from the TBID. Be aware that once funding is recommended,
a contract will need to be executed by the Bozeman TBID. A detailed budget is required to be submitted
with the application. If this is the second year of funding please provide a Profit and Loss from the
previous year.
We have already secured the gym and custodial services. A majority of the expenses will occur
about March 1st.
If the TBID grant money is approved, we would like to receive the funds for the officials on February
29th. This will allow us to pay officials promptly after their service.
8. CHALLENGES
What are the primary challenges your organization faces with regards to this event?
With the number of tournaments across the state almost every weekend during the basketball
season we face competition from other cities by not providing the best tournaments possible. We
continue to set highest standards possible in tournament organization and experience for the
players, families, fans and community.
Having one poor tournament experience in town can cause a ripple effect, impacting other
tournaments. So, it is vital to continue to set the highest standards for this tournament.
Bozeman Tourism Business Improvement District
9. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Please provide any other comments that should be considered.
The local community and tournament committee is often asked why we do not host more sporting
events in Bozeman. Bozeman is a sought after location, as we are centrally located from a variety
of population centers. The Tournament Committee wants to set the highest quality youth
tournament. This coupled with the draw of the Bozeman community gives us the opportunity to host
more tournaments and bring broader economic benefit to the TBID members and local economy.
Because of this success we now have 4 successful basketball tournaments throughout the year.
10. QUESTIONAIRE
How many volunteers are required? 100
Has this event been in Bozeman before? Yes - Annually in March
Has this event been in Montana before? Yes - Annually in March
Could this event cancel on the same day due to inclement weather? Yes No If yes, explain: Yes
While the likelihood is low, severe weather conditions could impact travel conditions.
Could this event cancel a month or less before its intended date for any reason? Yes No If yes, explain:
Yes. However, this is highly unlikely and could only occur if a severe event caused problems with
facilities or logistics. The gym space for the tournament has been secured for almost every public school
in Bozeman. Also, this tournament historically has not been canceled.
What, if any, entities will proceed from this event? Bozeman American Legion Baseball Post 14
Are you a Member in good standing with the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce?
Please sign below stating that the above information is accurate
Name of Organization Requesting Grant Bozeman American Legion Baseball Post 14
Signature Chris Tarabochia Print Name Chris Tarabochia
Position Tournament Director Date 1/22/2018