VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Beach City Council voted Tuesday night for the City Manager to execute the Comprehensive Agreement with Eastern Sports Management (ESM) for the management of the $68 million Virginia Beach Sports Center.
Virginia Beach Sports Center rendering
The goal of the facility is to create an economic asset for tourism growth that also enhances the quality of live for Virginia Beach residents.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with the City of Virginia Beach and to help bolster the economy by providing access to an elite national sports facility right here in our community,” says Andy Ballard, Eastern Sports Management’s Vice President of Operations.
The sports center is a public/private partnership between the city and ESM. The city council gave the green light for the project to move forward in July.
The City of Virginia Beach is building a “one-of-a-kind” sports facility that will compete nationally for major sports events. ESM will invest $4.2 million toward furniture, fixtures and equipment, as well as an additional $1.4 million business startup expenses. It will also operate the business for both local use and weekend events.
In the two years before the facility is completed, ESM will develop programming; recruit, hire and train all staff; negotiate contracts with vendors and local use groups and build all business systems for an operation and facility of this caliber.
The Virginia Beach Sports Center is the fifth facility that ESM will manage.
