The City of Victoria will contribute up to $90,000 toward the Olympic men’s basketball qualifying tournament at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in June.
Councillors gave preliminary approval to the spending at a committee of the whole meeting Thursday.
The support would come in the form of cash or in-kind support, with any funds drawn from the 2020 contingency budget.
The International Basketball Federation announced in November that Victoria will play host to one of four qualifying tournaments to determine the final four countries headed to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The tournament will run from June 23-28, with Canada competing against Greece, China, Uruguay, Czech Republic and Turkey.
Thomas Soulliere, director of parks, recreation and facilities, said the city expects that most, if not all, of the games will sell out.
“The packages that just went on sale on [Jan. 31] were in such high demand, I think it shut down the system temporarily because they were so popular,” he said.
The city gets a portion of tickets sales at the arena and, as a result, will likely recoup more money than it contributes to the event, he said.
Coun. Jeremy Loveday called the tournament an exciting event for the city and the region.
“This is a rare opportunity to have world-class basketball in the city of Victoria and I think it will also be a great economic driver,” he said.
A staff report says the estimated economic impact for Greater Victoria is $6 million, with 70,000 fans attending nine games over the five-day tournament.
The organizing committee is planning a three-week community festival in June that will include basketball and wheelchair basketball games as well as arts and cultural activities.
The B.C. government announced last week that it will contribute $350,000 to the tournament through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
Coun. Marianne Alto said the city will reap a number of benefits from its “modest” contribution. “Not just the financial ones, but the community excitement, the community spirit, the ability for young people to see themselves potentially in the future is really amazing,” she said.
Alto said the power of sport to inspire young people was driven home Monday night when she attended the hockey game between the Canadian women’s team and the United States at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
“There were hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of young women and girls in hockey uniforms and the energy level that they brought to the room was just extraordinary, and I suspect this [tournament] will be the same,” she said.
“So I’m happy to support this.”
