Leon County offering up to $50K incentive for big tourism events

Leon County is creating a formalized incentive program that aims to boost large-scale tourism events at Florida A&M and Florida State universities and Tallahassee State College.

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The IMPACT program is a direct result of the wildly successful Savannah Bananas in February, which generated an estimated $10.1 million in economic impact, and the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Unleash the Beast event the following month that generated more than $2.5 million in estimated economic impact. Both events took place at Florida State’s Doak Campbell Stadium.

The program will receive an annual $250,000 allocation from the Tourist Development Tax, also known as the hotel-bed tax, and offers up to $50,000 per event for performance-based reimbursements.

To qualify, events must meet certain criteria. That includes attracting a significant number of visitors from outside the region, generate overnight stays in Leon County hotels and produce a marketing buzz for the destination.

Leon County commissioners unanimously supported the the program’s launch. However, Leon County Commission Vice Chairman David O’Keefe expressed some initial hesitance and had planned to opposed the item.

He was concerned funding would tilt toward FSU for large-scale events instead of FAMU and TSC, adding “it just smells like more Doak events, which was kind of the trigger and excitement for this.”

Another concern, he said, was that the 2021 decision to allocate $20 million for renovations at Doak Campbell Stadium that came from Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency – a controversial move that morphed into political ammunition during election season. O’Keefe said that commitment came with eight major events that were non-football related and said he was worried about “double dipping.”

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He also didn’t see a need to create a program for supporting big tourism draws if the county had already done so in the past, including with the Savannah Bananas event. County staff said that event’s allocation was a one-off and the program creates an official application process and criteria.

O’Keefe changed course after hearing other commissioners support the program and make a case for its creation.

County Commissioner Brian Welch said this year’s events at Doak Campbell stadium were “proof of concept” and added he could only imagine other events that could bring in large crowds at FAMU and TSC.

“I think this is a no brainer. We have premier event venues with our premier partners at these universities and colleges that support so much of our ecosystem here in Leon County,” Welch said. “I think this makes perfect sense.”

Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at [email protected] and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County offering up to $50K incentive for big tourism events

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Reporting by TaMaryn Waters, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 9:11 AM.