Tampa Lands 2016 NCAA Frozen Four

Nice shout-out in this morning's Tampa Trib for Tampa Bay Sports Commission Executive Director Rob Higgins after he helped land the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four:

Even those who don’t know a puck from a pansy should be pleased Tampa will host the 2016 Frozen Four — the NCAA college hockey championship.
...
Under executive director Rob Higgins, and with the help of political and business leaders, the agency has been impressive in recruiting sporting events that help fill hotel rooms, restaurants and local attractions.

The key is "heads in beds," and these kind of events seem to provide much more real economic benefits than things like the Republican National Convention (which kept locals away from Tampa) or permanent sporting events, which seem to merely transplant spending from one part of the region to another.

Another thing: while the Tampa Bay Sports Commission likely had to offer concessions (financial help for facilities, hotels, transportation, police, etc), the bang-for-the-buck will likely better for these 19,000 fans than it would for an event like the NCAA Basketball tournament, which tends to draw more interest and competition.

That's why the successes and failures of the commission don't hinge on events like Super Bowls, but smaller (and cheaper) tournaments that attract out-of-towners to the region.