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Triple Crown Tournament Will Return in 2021 But Future Contracts Uncertain

Triple Crown Sports

The Triple Crown softball tournament was granted a one-year extension to their contract by Park City’s City Council on Tuesday. Although the tournament will return in 2021, the future of the event in Park City is still up for debate.

 

Citing special circumstances related to COVID-19, Park City’s City Council voted to extend Triple Crown’s current contract with the city through November 2021.

 

The annual softball tournament was cancelled this July after the city imposed a number of health restrictions on events taking place during the pandemic like quarantines, mandatory testing, and limiting the number of spectators allowed at games.    

 

According to city estimates, the tournament typically brings in around 7,000 visitors to Park City throughout the course of the week and many local businesses rely on the increased July revenue.

 

Despite the economic benefits, however, the tournament’s relationship with the city hasn’t always been a smooth one.

 

Triple Crown organizers had strong words for city council back in July and Councilmember Steve Joyce said on Tuesday he would vote for an extension but would need convincing on further contract negotiations.

 

“There’s an obligation here that we have both to our businesses and to these guys for Triple Crown,” he said. “For me, once we separate this into the next discussion of, you know, extending a contract for, we talked about five, 10 years and stuff like that, that’s just really a non-starter with me. I’ll support this and I just want to be really clear that my support on this one year at $40,000 is absolutely not indicative of any long-term support from me.”

 

Park City has also been incrementally phasing out most of the fee waivers for events in the city, including Triple Crown’s, by $10,00 per year over the past several years. Fee waivers were also a sticking point for Councilmember Nann Worel, who questioned if the money would go to better use if it were given directly to local businesses.

 

“That’s where my heartburn comes here,” explained Worel. “I said last time we talked about this that I really have issues with providing fee waivers for a for-profit entity. If we were to waive $40,000 and the economic impact was $58,000, I’d rather just give that to our local businesses rather than support not a local for-profit entity. That’s where my struggle is with all of this.”

 

Despite the skepticism of some on the council for continuing the tournament, Councilmember Max Doilney was quick to point out the impact an event like Triple Crown has on the local economy. The Historic Park City Alliance, which represents many of downtown Park City’s businesses, also voiced strong support for the tournament at a council meeting last month.

 

“The small businesses that are hurting the most right now, who are not going to be able to survive more uncertainty going forward, are the ones that I think benefit the most from a tournament like this one where they can count on two weeks of business, they can get that return customer, they can get it mid-week,” Doilney said. “It’s an unexpected bump in particular for the smallest businesses in town.”    

 

No date has been set as of yet for future contract negotiations between Park City Municipal and Triple Crown. The 2021 Triple Crown tournament is scheduled for July 12th-25th.

Sean Higgins covers all things Park City and is the Saturday Weekend Edition host at KPCW. Sean spent the first five years of his journalism career covering World Cup skiing for Ski Racing Media here in Utah and served as Senior Editor until January 2020. As Senior Editor, he managed the day-to-day news section of skiracing.com, as well as produced and hosted Ski Racing’s weekly podcast. During his tenure with Ski Racing Media, he was also a field reporter for NBC Sports, covering events in Europe.
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