Fishing News
Can region lure fishing competition? - Convention Bureau eyes ESPN tourney
Patty Tascarella, [email protected]
DOWNTOWN -- Pittsburgh is angling to host ESPN's BASSMASTERS Classic.
To reel in the 2005 championship, which could generate an estimated $45 million in tourism dollars, the region must raise $750,000, ESPN's fee for hosting the event.
"It's a great revenue generator," said Anthony D'Alesandro, national sales manager at the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The bureau has been working with B.A.S.S., the Alabama-based fishing organization that initiated the classic, for several months. He credited Dennis Tubbs of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission with the "brainstorm" of bringing it here. The two men attended the 2002 classic in Birmingham, Ala., in July.
B.A.S.S. site manager Dewey Kendrick paid a several-day visit to Pittsburgh in early June, checking to see if the city met the classic's requirements.
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