Tourism: Energy Crisis Arrives on Heels of
Name, Sponsor Issues
DEL MAR , You’d almost think, “Another summer, another Del Mar Fair.”
For the 22nd District Agricultural Association, however, there are many factors that affect operations this year, according to fairgrounds CEO and General Manager Tim Fennell. The fair opens to the public June 15.
Among the most noticeable changes is one that won’t take effect until June 2002, at least, but is already in the works: a rechristening of the event, back to the San Diego County Fair.
Alongside the fair’s name is an effort to find a sponsor to buy naming rights to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Fennell said the sponsorship could generate between $750,000 and $1 million annually. Through the media attention the name-sponsor search has already created, several companies have contacted the fairgrounds to ask to be contacted when the sponsor search’s request for proposal is completed, he said.
The RFP should be done in the next 60 days, and fairgrounds officials expect to handle the search in-house, he said.
According to Fennell, the word “fairgrounds” isn’t likely to even be in the title anymore.
Not using the word could assist in negotiations with the various performers booked for the site, Fennell explained.
“When I contacted the artists’ management and suggested they play the fairgrounds, the response was a negative one,” he said. “Most fairgrounds don’t look like Del Mar’s fairgrounds, and people kind of generalize and fairgrounds in general do not necessarily have a positive reputation in some people’s minds.”
The idea of selling naming rights, now widespread among stadiums and sports facilities and entering venues such as the meeting facilities and convention centers, is unusual for fairgrounds.
“Fairgrounds in general need to be brought up to the year 2001. A lot of fairgrounds have valuable property and they are in great locations,” said Fennell, whose background is in stadiums and sports arenas.
Also, finding a naming sponsor for the fairgrounds wouldn’t eliminate the possibility of presenting sponsors for the property’s various events, Fennell said.
“Theoretically, you could have ‘The San Diego County Fair, presented by , at so-and-so park,'” he said.
In a 1997 economic impact study, the fairgrounds had a financial impact of $267 million on the county. This year, Fennell estimates the impact will be “well in excess of $300 million.”
Another factor affecting the fair, and the fairgrounds in general this year is the electricity crisis.
Although Fennell and his staff were assured the fairgrounds were not in a blackout zone or scheduled for a blackout, the fair brought in generators to operate the rides.
As it is, the fairgrounds’ electricity costs doubled this year. Fennell said he budgeted an additional $1 million toward power.
Another challenge with this year’s fair is timing: There are only 13 days to transition from the fair’s end July 4 to the start of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on July 18. The racing season ends Sept. 5.
The season is scheduled by the California Racing Board, Fennell noted. The fair could have ended with even fewer days between, depending on what day July 4 landed, he said.
With usually 20 or more days between the two events, Fennell and the staff had to start setting up for both this month.
For instance, the stage is being set up closer to the grandstands than it usually would, so the racetrack can be prepared.
Also, bleachers for the races that would normally be set up after the fair are being put together now, he said.
For Cami Mattson, executive director of the San Diego North Convention & Visitors Bureau, the fair is far more than a pleasant summer prospect.
“The Del Mar Fair has an awesome impact toward hotels throughout the county, but you have a great impact within a 10- to 15-mile radius of the fairgrounds,” Mattson said.
She noted the impact “goes right on into the thoroughbred racing, which is an extended period from June to September in which there’s high room rates and high occupancy.”
It also brings exposure for the other area attractions, she said.
