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Substitute for HOUSE BILL No. 2346
AN ACT concerning economic development; establishing the Kansas sports tourism grant
program to be administered by the secretary of commerce to provide matching grants
to assist communities in developing and continuing sporting events; providing for the
funding of such grants from the state economic development initiatives fund;
establishing the Kansas sports tourism program grant fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. There is hereby established the Kansas sports tourism
grant program, which shall be administered by the secretary of
commerce. The purpose of the Kansas sports tourism grant program
shall be to provide matching grants to tourism or sports-related
organizations to support and enhance sports tourism events held in
Kansas, thereby assisting communities to attract high quality sports
tourism events that generate significant economic impact through out-
of-state guest and participant spending. Such grants shall be awarded as
a pledge conditioned on and determined by analysis of post-event data
and shall be matched on a $1-for-$1 basis with funds from one or more
sponsors, as provided by section 2, and amendments thereto. Such
grants shall be awarded with the intent to ease the financial burden that
sports destinations experience when bidding on and hosting sports
tourism events and incentivize event owners to bring events that are
beneficial to the Kansas economy.
Sec. 2. (a) Applicants for a Kansas sports tourism grant shall
submit applications to the secretary of commerce in the form and
manner as determined by the secretary. Applications shall be submitted
at least 90 days before the sports tourism event. The secretary may
charge a fee of up to $100 for the purpose of compensating the
secretary for costs of administering the program that shall be submitted
with the application. Applicants shall include information as required
by the secretary, including, but not limited to, the estimated economic
impact and the number of hotel beds consumed using the destinations
international event impact calculator. The secretary may assist a grant
applicant in obtaining such information and using such calculator.
Applications shall include a written explanation of the applicant's
purpose in applying for the grant and how grant funding would grow
sports tourism in the applicant's community, region or the state.
(b) The secretary shall require that applicants who are event
owners, as determined by the secretary, to obtain grant sponsorship
from the community's official destination marketing organization. If the
community does not have an official destination marketing
organization, the city's sports commission shall serve as sponsor. If the
city does not have an official destination marketing organization or a
sports commission, the city department that serves in the lead tourism
advocacy role for the community shall serve as the sponsor . Sports
tourism events shall be held in Kansas to be eligible for a grant. The
event may be an existing recurring event or a new planned event, but,
in any fiscal year when grant applications exceed available funding, the
secretary shall prioritize awarding grants to new planned events . The
secretary shall reserve at least $250,000 of the available funds for
grants for sports tourism events in counties other than Sedgwick,
Wyandotte and Johnson.
(c) (1) If the secretary determines that awarding a matching grant
to an applicant would further the purposes of the program and the
applicant meets the requirements as provided by this section, the
secretary may award a grant to the applicant on a matching $1-to-$1
basis to the funds from the sponsor or sponsors. Grant awards shall be
made as a pledge conditioned on a post-event analysis and the grant
funds provided after the event. The secretary shall make such
determination and respond to the applicant with any proposed grant
award within 45 days of the date of the application's submission.
(2) The final amount of the grant award shall be determined by the
secretary as provided by section 3, and amendments thereto. The
maximum grant amount shall be limited to not more than 12.5% of the
state sales tax generated from the local jurisdiction during the time
period of the event. The secretary of revenue shall provide aggregate
HOUSE BILL No. 2346—page 2
sales tax revenue information to the secretary of commerce upon
request for the purpose of determining the maximum grant amount. The
final grant amount, as determined by the secretary of commerce, shall
be awarded within 90 days after the event or at the time that the
maximum grant amount may be determined, whichever occurs later.
(d) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the secretary shall not
award grants for sports tourism events directly involving the national
association for stock car auto racing, national basketball association,
the national football league, major league baseball, the national hockey
league, major league soccer, professional women's soccer, international
sporting events, including, but not limited to, men's professional soccer,
established resident Kansas professional sports entities, the Kansas
state high school activities association, private or public secondary
schools or private or public postsecondary colleges or universities.
(2) The secretary may award grants for exhibition games by teams
from major professional sports leagues.
(3) No grant funds shall be awarded for any sports tourism event
for reimbursement or payment for services or goods that are not
competitively bid.
Sec. 3. (a) The final amount of the grant shall be determined after
the sports tourism event by the secretary of commerce upon review of
the post-event report required by section 4, and amendments thereto,
the actual expenses of the event as provided by subsection (c), verified
economic impact and hotel night bookings generated by the event and
the application of the following table. The final amount shall be limited
by the maximum grant award determined pursuant to section 2, and
amendments thereto. The secretary shall use the destinations
international event impact calculator to determine the actual economic
impact and hotel night bookings generated by the sports tourism event.
The secretary may award a sports tourism event that meets an economic
impact and consumed hotel nights level threshold, as provided by the
table in subsection (b), a grant amount of up to the amount allowed for
the next higher economic impact and consumed hotel nights
requirements threshold as set forth in such table.
(b) The secretary shall allocate sports tourism grant program funds
for grants in each fiscal year to the sports tourism events within the
state that generate verified economic impacts as provided by the
following table:
Total Grant State Sponsor Economic Hotel Night
Allocation Allocation Allocation Impact Minimum
$2,031 $1,015.50 $1,015.50 $125,000 250
$4,063 $2,031.50 $2,031.50 $250,000 500
$8,123 $4,061.50 $4,061.50 $500,000 750
$12,188 $6,094.00 $6,094.00 $750,000 1,000
$16,250 $8,125.00 $8,125.00 $1,000,000 1,250
$24,375 $12,187.50 $12,187.50 $1,500,000 1,500
$32,500 $16,250.00 $16,250.00 $2,000,000 1,750
$40,625 $20,312.50 $20,312.50 $2,500,000 2,000
$48,750 $24,375.00 $24,375.00 $3,000,000 2,250
$56,875 $28,437.50 $28,437.50 $3,500,000 2,500
$65,000 $32,500.00 $32,500.00 $4,000,000 3,000
$73,125 $36,562.50 $36,562.50 $4,500,000 3,500
$81,250 $40,625.00 $40,625.00 $5,000,000 4,000
$89,375 $44,687.50 $44,687.50 $5,500,000 4,500
$97,500 $48,750.00 $48,750.00 $6,000,000 5,000
$105,625 $52,812.50 $52,812.50 $6,500,000 5,500
$113,750 $56,875.00 $56,875.00 $7,000,000 6,000
$121,875 $60,937.50 $60,937.50 $7,500,000 6,500
$130,000 $65,000.00 $65,000.00 $8,000,000 7,000
$138,125 $69,062.50 $69,062.50 $8,500,000 7,500
(c) Grant funds shall be used for expenses identified in the
application and approved by the secretary.
(1) Expenses allowed by the secretary may include:
(A) Official's travel and housing;
HOUSE BILL No. 2346—page 3
(B) promotions and marketing;
(C) site fees, fees for use of rights or sanction fees;
(D) renting equipment or flooring that is required to produce the
event; or
(E) funds for supporting a bid effort, if the applicant is the bid
winner.
(2) The secretary shall not allow the use of grant funds for the
following expenses:
(A) Building, renovating or remodeling of a facility or purchasing
permanent equipment;
(B) debts incurred by the applicant prior to the pledge of the grant;
(C) printed programs that solicit advertising;
(D) hospitality or social functions for events outside the sporting
events venue that include alcohol; or
(E) expenses for travel outside of the county hosting the sports
tourism event.
Sec. 4. As a condition of receiving a grant, an applicant shall agree
to provide a post-event report to the secretary of commerce. Such
report shall include:
(a) An economic impact report, including the:
(1) Sports tourism event name;
(2) location of the event;
(3) start and end dates of the event;
(4) the total number of hotel nights consumed in the local or
regional Kansas market; and
(5) such other information or data as may be required by the
secretary for the purposes of:
(A) Determining the economic impact of the event; and
(B) preparing the secretary's report to the legislature pursuant to
section 6, and amendments thereto; and
(b) an expense report, including proof of payment of eligible
expenses equal to at least the amount of the grant. Accepted forms of
proof of payment may include itemized credit card receipts, invoices
with canceled checks or credit card statements.
Sec. 5. (a) There is hereby established in the state treasury the
Kansas sports tourism program grant fund, which shall be administered
by the secretary of commerce. All moneys credited to the Kansas sports
tourism program grant fund shall be used by the Kansas department of
commerce for Kansas sports tourism program grants to applicants
approved by the secretary pursuant to the provisions of sections 1
through 4, and amendments thereto. All expenditures from the Kansas
sports tourism program grant fund shall be made in accordance with
appropriation acts upon warrants of the director of accounts and reports
issued pursuant to vouchers approved by the secretary of commerce or
the secretary's designee.
(b) (1) Subject to appropriations therefor, on July 1, 2026 , or as
soon thereafter as moneys are available, the director of accounts and
reports shall transfer $1,500,000 from the state economic development
initiatives fund, established by K.S.A. 79-4804, and amendments
thereto, to the Kansas sports tourism program grant fund.
(2) Subject to appropriations therefor, on July 1, 2027 , and each
July 1 thereafter, the secretary of commerce shall certify the amount of
unencumbered funds in the Kansas sports tourism program grant fund
to the director of accounts and reports. Upon receipt of such
certification, or as soon thereafter as moneys are available, if the
amount certified by the secretary of commerce is less than $1,500,000,
the director of accounts and reports shall transfer the amount that
results in the amount of unencumbered funds in the Kansas sports
tourism program grant fund being equal to $1,500,000 immediately
subsequent to such transfer from the state economic development
initiatives fund, established by K.S.A. 79-4804, and amendments
thereto, to the Kansas sports tourism program grant fund.
(c) Subject to appropriations, the aggregate total of grants awarded
by the secretary each fiscal year shall be limited to $1,500,000.
HOUSE BILL No. 2346—page 4
Sec. 6. The secretary of commerce shall submit an annual report to
the house of representatives committee on commerce, labor and
economic development, the senate committee on commerce and the
legislative coordinating council on or before December 31, 2026, and
December 31 of each year thereafter through December 31, 2031, that
shall include the following information for the fiscal year ending on the
previous June 30 and all information available up to the date of the
report:
(a) The number of grants awarded;
(b) the economic impact generated in the aggregate and by each
sports tourism event;
(c) the number of hotel nights booked in Kansas in the aggregate
and by locality and region for each sports tourism event;
(d) the total grant funds distributed and the grant recipients and
sponsors for each event;
(e) the distribution of grant funds by county;
(f) for each event, the amount of state sales tax generated from the
local jurisdiction during the event and the amount of state sales tax
generated from such jurisdiction during the same time period in the
previous year;
(g) the amount of local sales tax generated during the event;
(h) the amount of transient guest tax generated during the event;
and
(i) qualified applicants and events not approved by the secretary.
Sec. 7. (a) Except for the report requirement pursuant to section 6,
and amendments thereto, the provisions of sections 1 through 6, and
amendments thereto, shall expire on June 30, 2031.
(b) On July 1, 2031:
(1) The director of accounts and reports shall transfer all moneys
in the Kansas sports tourism program grant fund to the state general
fund;
(2) all liabilities of the Kansas sports tourism program grant fund
shall be transferred to and imposed on the state general fund; and
(3) the Kansas sports tourism program grant fund shall be
abolished.
HOUSE BILL No. 2346—page 5
Sec. 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
I hereby certify that the above BILL originated in the HOUSE, and was
adopted by that body
HOUSE adopted
Conference Committee Report
Speaker of the House.
Chief Clerk of the House.
Passed the SENATE
as amended
SENATE adopted
Conference Committee Report
President of the Senate.
Secretary of the Senate.
APPROVED
Governor.