Footvolley is a growing international sport, created in Brazil, combining soccer and beach volleyball.  The Pro Footvolley Tour, a for-profit operation, hosted the 2018 World Footvolley Classic in Miami Beach at the North Beach Bandshell on April 6^th, 2018 through April 8^th, 2018. Sergio Menezes, the President of the Pro Footvolley Tour, is a University of Miami graduate, a long-time Miami Beach resident, and competed for team USA in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and was featured on NBC Sports in primetime.

In 2018, the event organizers requested and received a waiver of $7,546.00 in special event fees (including applications fee, permit fee, vehicle beach access passes, square footage fees, sales tax on square footage fees and Police administrative fees).

During the July 17, 2019 City Commission meeting, the Administration shared that the event organizers were requesting $25,000 in sponsorship and were referred to the VCA who confirmed that the applicant qualified for up to $30,000 in sponsorship funding. The funds would not be available until October 2019, per the VCA granting schedule.  In addition, the Administration shared that the event organizers were also requesting special event fee waivers and recommended the waiver of special event fees but recommended that any sponsorship be handled through the VCA.

Special events taking place in Miami Beach which seek funding typically apply through the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (“MBVCA”), a public-private entity that offers reimbursable grants from resort tax collection. The approval and value of these grants is based on target criteria the event must demonstrate, including Miami Beach hotel room nights and media impressions.  The minimum number of Miami Beach hotel room nights for MBVCA grant consideration is 350, unless the event occurs in North Beach, where the minimum requirement is 75 Miami Beach hotel room nights.  Accordingly, the event needs to work with VCA to establish the impact the event will have on hotel room nights in Miami Beach.

The July 2019 Commission shared concern about the number of events requesting sponsorship and fee waivers from the City and suggested the City already has granted 238% more fee waivers than the previous fiscal year and cash sponsorships now cost the City nearly $2 million. Such funding could assist with other projects, such as Homelessness.

Specifically, the July 2019 Commission referred the FootVolley event to the Finance and Citywide Project Committee to discuss the value of granting the event special event fee waivers but to look at the totality of annual special events making annual requests for funding and waivers and determine why they haven't sought out alternative sponsorship than the City or how they City can encourage these event to do so.  Though these events benefit the City and the surrounding community, the City needs to explore strategizes that can evaluate these annual events in a bundle and scrutinize/evaluate such requests based on the value to the City. 

Following the July 2019 Commission meeting, the FootVolley organizers met with VCA and missed the August 30th deadline for funding for FY 19/20, as they are now moving their event to after February 1st 2020, which would put them in the next cycle of VCA funding. 

Considering there are no confirmed dates for this event, the administration recommends the applicant to come back to the Tourism and Culture department to request fee waivers once all of the details have been confirmed.