At Tuesday evening’s Turlock City Council Meeting, the Council will be voting on authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to provide letters to the Turlock CVB and Chamber of Commerce in support of an application to host a stage event for the 2013 Amgen Tour of California.
The Amgen Tour of California is considered one of the largest cycling events in America, as it is a Tour de France-style cycling road race, created and presented by AEG, that has challenged the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course in mid-May of each year.
The 2012 Amgen Tour of California drew more than 2 million spectators during the annual eight-day race, which featured the best field of international and domestic processional cycling teams ever assembled for a U.S. stage race. The cyclists competed over a challenging, nearly 750-mile course from May 13-20, 2012.
Over the course of eight days, the race partners with 14 Host Cities for official stage starts, finishes and official activities, and have included such past hosts as Santa Rosa, San Francisco, Santa Cruz County, San Jose, Livermore, Sonora, Clovis, Bakersfield, Palmdale, Big Bear Lake, Ontario, Mt. Baldy, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles, drawing massive crowds throughout.
Broadcast live on NBC and NBC Sports Network, the race was seen in 216 countries and territories worldwide through more than 28 hours of coverage. Also, for the first time in race history, the 2012 Amgen Tour of California aired live for two hours on NBC during the final stage of the race.
The official race website saw nearly one million visitors during race week, and the official race app, the RadioShack Tour Tracker, was downloaded by 36,500 users, compared to 6,726 users the year before. The 2011 and 2012 Amgen Tour of California have been included as a broadcast partnership with the Amaury Sports Organization, owner of the Tour de France. ASO brought its Tour de France television production team to California and shot the entire race in HD.
The creator, owner, and producers of the Amgen Tour of California is California-based sports and entertainment presenter AEG Sports. Management and cycling specialists Medalist Sports serves as the logistical arm of the race, with California-based Amgen serving as the event’s title sponsor. All three of these race partners have held these roles since the inception of the Amgen Tour of California in 2006.
AEG is also committed to the local communities that host the race as a means of increasing tourism and economic development throughout the state of California, as well as educating Californians and enthusiasts worldwide about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The Amgen Tour of California solicits cities to apply for the stage event. Not all cities are asked to apply and not every year. This is the first time Turlock has been asked to apply for a stage in the Amgen event. This opportunity will provide a platform for Turlock to showcase local businesses and the community.
Turlock has started to become a sports destination city with the University sports events, such as the NCAA track and field events, regional ASA baseball tournaments, as well as other sports centered events. The Amgen Tour event would also add to Turlock’s list of hosted premier sporting events.
The fiscal impacts or benefits to the City are not yet known, as there would potentially be both direct and indirect costs associated with street closures, added public safety personnel, event planning, and clean up. In order to host a stage of the Amgen event, there is a required community investment of $75,000 to $100,000, however these funds would come from private sponsorships and community donations.
A mid-year budget amendment may be required if Turlock is awarded as a host city. This would be evaluated as the planning process proceeds, should Turlock be chosen.
The council could choose not to support the application to host a stage event for the 2012 Amgen Tour of California event. However, City Staff does not recommend it as the Tour provides a powerful platform to gain worldwide exposure, create economic impact and provide priceless experiences for local residents, supporters and dignitaries.
The Turlock City Council will meet for their regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall, located at 156 S. Broadway, at 7pm on Tuesday, August 14th.
For more information regarding the City Council meeting, or to view the full agenda, please visit
http://www.ci.turlock.ca.us/government/turlockcitycouncil/citycouncilmeetings.
