Everett, Wash. Published: Friday, September 7, 2007
Everett woos skating pros
Events center a candidate for 3-day competition
By David Chircop, Herald Writer
EVERETT -- The world's biggest names in figure skating could take center ice at Comcast Arena at Everett Events Center in October 2008.
Everett was invited by U.S. Figure Skating this summer to bid on playing host to Skate America, a three-day Olympic-style international figure skating event.
The competition could draw 60 professional athletes from 15 countries, net international media exposure and pump millions of dollars into Snohomish County's economy.
"With the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics (in Vancouver), it's an ideal area," said Steve Baker, co-owner of Production Sports, a Mountlake Terrace company trying to bring the event here.
A county hotel tax advisory committee recommended Thursday afternoon to give Production Sports up to $100,000 to market the event if Everett is selected.
The County Council is scheduled to finalize the decision Monday, said County Councilman Dave Gossett, who serves on the tax advisory committee.
Organizers say Everett's odds of landing the event are good. They also figure it could mean about 40,000 people spending $2.5 million at county businesses.
Bob Dunlop, a top U.S. Figure Skating official, visited the events center in February when Everett was being considered for the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
The city lost out to Seoul, but "I thought it was a great setup," said Dunlop, the senior director of events for the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based skating organization.
This summer, he asked Baker to bid on the Skate America competition.
"Although we haven't held the event there, we look at it as a very promising location," Dunlop said.
The ideal arena for Skate America has between 7,000 to 10,000 seats, Dunlop said.
Comcast Arena at Everett Events Center has 8,300 seats for hockey, but it can be expanded to 10,000 seats.
But it's not just size that makes Everett a good fit.
Its proximity to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the events center's second ice rink also make the site attractive, Dunlop said.
U.S. Figure Skating is expected to choose a host city in the next few weeks. Dunlop wouldn't reveal which other cities are in the mix, but he said just a few cities typically compete.
Figure skating is a family affair for Baker, a former skater who competed for Great Britain in international events in the 1970s and 1980s.
His wife, Sharon, skated for Great Britain in the 1988 Olympics, and their son, Jean-Luc, is the current Under 16 Ice Dance Champion.
"It is our dream to work with our local community to host this world-class competition," Baker wrote in the proposal to the bed-tax advisory board.
Baker is the director of the Seattle Skating Club. He and the club's business manager, Laura Lee, created Production Sports after they were tapped to apply in late June.
The pair previously helped play host to Pacific coast sectional and Northwest Pacific regional competitions.
Booking the events center was not without obstacles.
The pair worked with the event center's management team to pull off a quadruple lutz when they persuaded the Everett Silvertips minor league hockey team to shuffle its schedule and the Everett Home Show and Garden Show to change its run dates.
Skate America features competition in women's and men's singles, pairs, and ice dancing.
Past champions include five-time World and nine-time U.S. champion Michelle Kwan, 2002 Olympic bronze medalist Timothy Goebel, 2002 Olympic pairs champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada, 1992 Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi, and 1984 Olympic champion Scott Hamilton.
The event this year is being held Oct. 26-28 in Reading, Pa., a city similar in size to Everett that's about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
The competition started in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1979 as a precursor to the Olympics.
It is one of six stops on the International Skating Union Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series and is considered the kickoff event for the international skating season.
It has since been held in cities big and small and is no stranger to the Northwest.
In the late 1980s it was held twice in Portland, Ore. an area in the skating world best known for producing disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding. The event came to Spokane in 2002.
Tammy Dunn, sports marketing manager with the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau, said landing Skate America in Everett would be a boon for the area, filling rooms and garnering unprecedented television coverage. The county has about 5,000 hotel and motel rooms.
"This kind of caliber recognition is new," she said.
This year, NBC Sports will begin airing two hours of live competition and is estimating an audience of 4.3 million people.
Canadian, Japanese, Chinese and various European Union print and TV media also cover the competition.
All that could be a boost for the events center, which predicts the competition would sell out, packing in about 40,000 spectators.
Hotel rooms could also be filled.
While many guests would likely find lodging in Seattle, the 13-story resort hotel being constructed at Tulalip Casino and several other hotels and motels in the county would likely reap benefits.
That's especially important because the October event would come during the off-season, when hotels have trouble keeping occupancy rates up.
"This is a bonus to us," said Warren Beach, president of the Snohomish County Lodging Association.
Frank Foster with the Snohomish County Sports Commission also is excited by the prospect.
"This is hand-in-glove to what we want," he said. "This is just a marketing plus, plus, plus to Snohomish County."
