ORLANDO, FL — Eight established sporting events during the spring and summer calendar at the Prime Site Award-winning Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) will make an estimated $123 million in economic impact with 95,760 projected guests.
During the weekend of March 6-7, the OCCC simultaneously hosted three sporting events, including a cheer and dance competition, and two volleyball tournaments. The Center hosted the Sunshine Volleyball Classic, All Star Challenge Cheer & Dance and AAU Volleyball Classic with 43,750 projected attendees with a combined $56 million in estimated economic impact. That’s in addition to hosting the Orlando Boat Show during the same weekend, a consumer event which captured a record number of attendees, according to event organizers.
“Our success is testament on how modified sporting events can be hosted safely, responsibly and enjoyably,” said OCCC Executive Director Mark Tester. “Since the onset of the pandemic, the OCCC has hosted more than 60 events, and many were sporting events. We thank our partners for their continued confidence in our center and look forward to working with many other sports organizations in the future.
Coming up this summer, the Summer Elite Grassroots Basketball will be taking over the OCCC, with boys and girls teams converging from across the United States. Three events are scheduled from July 20 – Aug. 1, 2021.
The Orlando Splash (formerly the Peach Splash) and The National Championship will be hosted by Ohiobasketball.com and 3C Basketball, the leading organizations in girls travel basketball. The Orlando Splash will take place July 20-22, 2021 and The National Championship is scheduled to be played July 23-25, 2021.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ohiobasketball.com, HoopSeen, NY2LA and HoopGroup to Orlando,” said Jason Siegel, President & CEO of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission. “The Orange County Convention Center is the perfect venue to safely host these elite travel basketball events under one roof, and we are confident that the athletes, coaches and their families will have a wonderful experience in Central Florida.”
The OCCC remains committed to working with event organizers to provide a safe experience for competitors, coaches and attendees. Protocols include events being limited to spectators, temperature monitoring during check-in, distancing between courts and participants, and following Orange County’s current mask mandate.
