It cost Big League Dreams $21,925 last year to partner with the City of Manteca to open up the sports complex for the community’s annual Fourth of July celebration.
That figure - which includes sacrificing all of the gate reciepts, lost revenue from use of the fields, employee costs, and operating expenses that run the gamut from electricity to clean-up - is something that BLD Chief Operating Officer Jeff Odekirk has no problem donating.
Odekirk on Monday said if the city wants to continue staging its Fourth of July celebration at the complex he has no problem working with them. And if they want to go somewhere else, he also has no problem with that as well.
“We have a terrific city partnership” Odekirk said.
City Manager Karen McLaughlin Monday indicated she was preparing a report for the Feb. 7 council meeting on the Fourth of July-BLD partnership and what exactly the city receives out of the deal. McLaughlin said she is planning to recommend that the city continue using the BLD complex for the Fourth of July celebration.
“It works well for what we do plus it is right on top of where we shoot off the aerial fireworks,” McLaughlin said.
A controversy erupted during the last council meeting when several council members questioned whether BLD was contributing to the event or simply profiting from it. Also the possibility of shifting the celebration to another location was brought up if BLD wouldn’t help offset the costs.
McLaughlin said part of the misunderstanding was attributed to incorrect information passed on by staff regarding the gate receipts for the day. The city keeps 100 percent of the Fourth of July admission gate. Last year that came to $5,524. Council was erroneously it was a 50-50 split.
Odekirk said in reality BLD is probably the biggest single contributor to the celebration. BLD waives a $12,800 fee that they charge when they turn the entire facility over to an outside organization for an event. At the same time they are incurring full cost for their staff plus other related expenses. And since they have to juggle tournaments around the celebration, their revenue drops as well.
Odekirk also said it wasn’t true as one council member stated that the Fourth of July was their most profitable day of the year for BLD
“We could make a lot more money if we just scheduled regular play,” Odekirk said.
Odekirk said his biggest concern was not about getting proper credit for BLD’s contribution to the Fourth of July event but comments that under-age drinking is allowed.
“That is not the case,” Odekirk said.
He noted that “whether someone is 21 or 81” they are issued a wristband they have to wear if they are to consume alcohol from one of the two BLD restaurants.
Odekirk said that in 14 years none of the 11 sports complexes that BLD operates has ever been cited by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for a violation involving under-age drinking.
The City Council last month earmarked $40,000 from the recreation fund to help cover the cost of the Fourth of July celebration. Of that, $16,800 is paying for the aerial fireworks display.
McLaughlin noted the city has $11,870 leftover from last year’s receipts after staging the event. They also can augment that with around $5,600 in proceeds from the city’s fireworks’ booth that operates the week leading up to the Fourth of July at Union Road and Yosemite Avenue as well as vendor booth rentals and the sale of items such as Glo-sticks that brought in $363.61 last year.
That is in addition to donations including a number of businesses that do business with the city such as the legal firm that handles bond underwriting. Those donations typically range from $500 to $1,000 apiece.
