Written by John Boyle, Asheville Watchdog.
While little has been humorous about the past two years for the Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, President Chris Smith says a famous quote from American humorist Mark Twain resonates with him.
“What’s the saying? — ‘Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated,’” Smith said Sept. 9, paraphrasing the sentiments Twain expressed when a rumor circulated that he was dying or dead. “We have plans for full steam ahead.”
The Sports Commission spent much of the past two years embroiled in a struggle with the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority over the commission’s autonomy and ultimately its funding. The TDA wanted to absorb the commission into its much larger operation, but the commission, a local nonprofit founded by sports enthusiasts in 2010, wanted to remain independent.
The TDA, which derives its revenues from an occupancy tax imposed on hotels, bed and breakfast inns, and vacation rentals, previously provided $230,000 in annual funding to the commission. But after the commission’s decision to remain independent, that funding dropped to $60,000. Then the TDA eliminated commission funding at the end of June.
Additionally, the TDA signed an 18-month, $81,000 contract in April with Airstream Ventures, a Florida-based sports promotion company, to attract sporting events to Asheville.
The Sports Commission did retain $45,000 in funding from the city of Asheville and $15,000 from Buncombe County. Still, the commission faced a precarious financial situation earlier this year.
But Smith and Sports Commission board members Stephen Zubrod and Jan Davis say the nonprofit has returned to financial stability and will be able to continue its mission. Smith said he and the commission’s other paid employee, Vice President of Operations Madison Davis (no relation to Jan Davis), presented a budget to their board in July that was approved.
“I think it is a very manageable budget that includes tightening things up a little bit, but also implementing management fees for some events that we have run in the past,” Smith said. “You know, our services were pro bono, and now there might be a little bit of a fee attached to that.”
Additionally, with some events where the Sports Commission sells sponsorships, it will keep some of the proceeds as a commission. It will also work to increase those sponsorships.
‘If it’s a sport, we’re going to actively pursue it’
The Sports Commission has brought in and run high-profile events, including the Southern Conference and Maui Open basketball tournaments, the Billie Jean King tennis tournament, and the Grapple Wrestling tournament for local high schools. The commission recently landed a three-year deal for the Southern Conference’s volleyball tournament, the first of which will take place in November in Asheville.
“We’re very, very optimistic that that will be a huge success for them, and that we can parlay three or four other championships that we’re talking to them about right now,” Smith said. “We have bids in for a couple of their events, and we plan on putting bids in for even more. So, we’d kind of like to make this ‘Title Town’ for the SoCon.”
The commission is working on “all kinds of events that run the gamut from cross country to wrestling to basketball to volleyball, golf, running events, you name it,” Smith said.
“If it’s a sport, we’re going to actively pursue it, and we have been talking aggressively to about 23 different organizations or events at the current moment that we hope to get here in Asheville,” he said.
The current budget, which runs through June 2025, shows total projected income of $278,500 and total expenses of $283,900, for a deficit of $5,400. Last fiscal year, the commission had a deficit of $106,786, after bringing in $171,048 and spending $277,817.
Smith said it used a reserve fund to make up the difference last year, and that fund still has about $95,000 in it. He expects the new budget to end up with no deficit but said they were using conservative figures on income.
The current budget shows $120,000 coming from the commission’s “advisory services,” $15,000 from “community partners” and $5,000 in donations. Sponsorship commissions are estimated at $22,000, event income at $22,500, and fundraising at $20,000.
Jan Davis, one of the commission’s founders, said the organization is in a good place now, even though the TDA is no longer a funding partner. Davis, who remains on the commission’s board as a non-voting member, said previously the TDA’s move to absorb the commission was about asserting power.
“I’m hoping the chasm, the gap that we’ve had between the organizations will improve as time goes by,” Davis said. “I think we recognized that we needed to be self-sustaining, and we were actually working in that direction when all this started happening. I really feel that necessity is the mother of invention in some of these cases, and you have to be a little more proactive.”
Brenda Durden, chair of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, said the TDA remains as a sponsorship partner only with the sports commission, as the one-year agreement for financial support ran out June 30.
“This means that the Buncombe County TDA and Explore Asheville (its subsidiary) will not be renewing an agreement with the sports commission,” Durden said via email. “The BCTDA will be happy to explore sponsorship opportunities for new events the Sports Commission pursues. We will continue to collaborate on future sporting events for the economic benefit of our community as a founding member of the organization along with UNC Asheville, the City and the County.”
The TDA maintains that it books a strong amount of sporting events itself. Last September, the TDA presented a chart to its board members that stated Explore Asheville plays a major role in booking sporting events.
“While 33 percent of fiscal year 2023 booked business was sports, 54 percent of sports business (18 percent of total) was booked directly by the Explore Asheville team, and 46 percent of sports business (15 percent of total) was booked by the Explore Asheville team in collaboration with Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission,” the chart stated.
Smith declined comment on those figures.
The Sports Commission maintains that it has generated about 30 percent of hotel room night stays in recent years, although the TDA disputes that number. The Sports Commission has also previously said the TDA counts as accomplishments some sports events that have had a decades-long presence in the area and return each year.
Michael Kryzanek, vice president of business development at Explore Asheville, also touted his organization’s record and willingness to work collaboratively.
“We have worked collaboratively with the teams at Harrah’s Cherokee Center and the Sports Commission to land a number of events for our community, such as Southern Conference tournaments and the Billie Jean King Cup ties, and look forward to collaborating on future events,” Kryzanek said via email. “We have and will continue to contribute to an event’s success as clients and event organizers desire.”
Stephen Zubrod, chair of the Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, said that after a “very contentious year” for the commission, he’s glad that the entity remains independent.
“We are also very grateful to our many corporate sponsors and community partners who have stepped up in recent months to help us replace the funding that we lost in June,” Zubrod said via email. “With this groundswell of community support the Asheville Sports Commission is now on a financially sustainable path and moving forward.”
He also mentioned the upcoming Ingles SoCon Women’s Volleyball Championship coming to Asheville in November. Davis and Smith also said Ingles, the homegrown grocery chain based in Black Mountain, has played a key role in helping the commission carry on its mission.
Ingles did not respond to a request for comment.
Zubrod said the TDA’s decision to hire Airstream Ventures for sports marketing “is unfortunate,” though.
“In my personal opinion, it’s a real head-scratcher move to hire a firm out of Florida, at an exorbitant cost, to duplicate what the Asheville Sports Commission is already doing quite effectively,” Zubrod said. “And it’s simply antithetical to Asheville’s culture and motto of ‘Buy Local!’”
Asheville Watchdog reached out to Airstream Ventures founder and CEO Alan Verlander for comment but did not hear back by deadline.
Tripping over each other?
Davis, a former Asheville City Council member, said initially he had some concerns about the TDA, the sports commission, and now Airstream tripping over one another in pursuit of sporting events.
“I thought we would at first, but they’ve been more following us around than us tripping over them,” Davis said, referring to Airstream. “I think it’s also hard for a group to come in and understand the community well enough to make the necessary deals and arrangements to be tremendously successful.”
Davis said he wishes Airstream well, as considerable money is going its way, but he noted the company doesn’t have the volunteer base the Sports Commission does.
“Theirs is definitely a pay-for-play situation, and that’s not in my mind the best way of doing community sports,” Davis said.
Smith said the Sports Commission has used a total of 438 volunteers over the years, including 133 for the last Southern Conference basketball tournament.
With three entities pursuing or promoting sporting events, Zubrod said the sports commission has to chart its own course. As an assistant swimming coach at a local high school, Zubrod said, he tells the kids to “swim your own race,” and he thinks that’s good advice for the commission now.
The commission will continue to focus on its mission of competing with other cities to bring sporting events to Asheville, Zubrod said. And it will collaborate with other partners, including Airstream, he said, “when it benefits our local community and business owners.
“Your best chance at success is to stick to your race strategy, focus on it intensely, and win your race,” Zubrod said. “That coaching advice is relevant to this situation.”
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at [email protected]. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.