Lights, Camera, Action Sports! Dew Tour Takes Center Stage in Ocean City

After months of anticipation, the Dew Tour finally pulled into Ocean City for it’s first stop of the season. Thousands of people flocked to the town’s historic boardwalk for the four-day event. Things got underway with qualifying rounds on Thursday and continued through late Sunday night.

The weather played a huge factor into the event. The weekend started with extreme heat and ended with severe weather. Thursday and Friday saw some of the hottest temperatures that the state had ever seen. Despite the sweltering heat, crowds filled the stands to catch a glimpse of their favorite action stars.

Guests Bearing Gifts

In selling the benefits of tournaments and other outside events to county and municipal recreation officials, Terry reminds them that making community-based facilities available to outside entities frequently pays handsome dividends.  From rental fees to facility upgrades, hosting activities and events is a smart way to stretch the limited resources local governments and clubs need to maintain their quality of life amenities.

We offer a very good example which presented itself just this week.

The Town of Ocean City was elated to be selected the premier event site for the 2011 Dew Action Sports Tour this July.  The resort community, which lives to welcome visitors and promote its many attractions, saw this opportunity for just what it is — a nationally broadcast infomercial showcasing the appeal of Ocean City around the dynamics of action sports.

There is also a great deal of direct hotel and admission tax revenue by fans who will flock to see the competition live and spend the weekend.  One thing we learned when Dew was last in Maryland — there are a lot of skateboarders in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Ocean City itself has a vibrant action sports scene.  In fact, the municipal skate park, known as the Ocean Bowl, is the oldest community-owned skate park in the country.

Like many municipally owned recreational facilities, maintenance was deferred for more pressing needs –until they learned company was coming.  Having millions of skateboarding fans focused on their city (particularly when the bowl may be used for the festival activities) suddenly pushed needed repairs to the top of the “to do” list.  Now, a long-delayed addition to the park is considered a priority too.

In other words — instead of being an outlay or expenditure, work on the Ocean Bowl is now an investment for hosting future events that bring more blessings to the resort town of Ocean City.

And who benefits most?  Those residents who enjoy the park the rest of the year.  In essence, improvements to a top flight community asset are being bankrolled by the proceeds a major sports event.  One that focuses on that facility and will bring even more visitors and $$$$ to town.

We were delighted to see Ocean City council voted yesterday to fund the park improvements.  Work could start as early as today.  By Memorial Day, Rodney could be doing doing half pipes with his life preserver.

This is a lesson we hope many other county and municipal recreation officials will heed.  There’s a lot of opportunity in hosting events and tournaments.  Talk to Terry about taking advantage of them.

Move Over Jersey Shore, Dew Tour Comes to Ocean City

As we previously reported earlier in the week, the Dew Tour confirmed today that it will be making Ocean City the first stop on its 2011 schedule. The event will take place over the course of four days beginning on July 21. Ocean City will be the only East Coast stop on a tour that includes visits to Portland, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. OC is the first beach venue in the Dew Tour’s history.

This unique beach setting led to the creation of some new components. Besides the familiar BMX and skateboard events, a new skateboard bowl contest and a surfing competition have been added to this leg of the tour. The surfing competition is sure to be a highlight for the Ocean City stop. In addition to the featured events, there will be a live concert on the beach and the Dew Tour Festival Village.

This announcement is an important victory for Ocean City and the state. It helps in setting Ocean City apart from similar locales like Wildwood and Virginia Beach and making it a more desirable vacation spot. This is a huge step in bringing in more tourism dollars for the town of Ocean City.

Ocean Bowl Skate Park

The Dew Tour is returning to Maryland after a two year absence. The Camden Yards complex in Baltimore hosted the event in 2007 and 2008. Around 54,000 spectators came out to Camden Yards in 2007 and 52,000 in 2008. The city figured the economic impact to be around $10 million.

To be determined: whether or not the Flying Tomato will be soaring in the skies of Ocean City come July.

Keep it here for more Ocean City Dew Tour updates!

Dew Done Deal !!!

Don’t blame us, but the news about the Dew Action Sports Tour kicking off their summer season in Ocean City leaked out today.  Seems Maryland Daily Record got a member of the Ocean City Council to confess that, indeed, they received the eagerly anticipated proposal from Alli Sports on Monday.

A press conference is scheduled for Thursday, and of course Terry will be there.  (Terry was heavily involved in selling Ocean City to the Dew Dudes.  His association with them goes back to when the tour first formed in 2005 and Louisville was one of the sites.)  That’s when we’ll learn all the particulars about the event.

This we do know, however — the Dew Tour is a major media event that will be broadcast live on NBC for two hours over the course of the competition.  It will also be carried on USA network and many of the action sports websites.  As an advertising vehicle for the host cities, Dew is priceless in showcasing the attractions and appeal of the destination.

(Much as we love Rodney, not even HE gets that much exposure.  Maybe we can coax him on to a skateboard to open the show.)

Ocean City, which prides itself on being a family vacation spot, is going to love hosting this high energy production this summer.  We understand the dates are July 21-24, with the network coverage on the weekend.

Stay tuned and hang loose.  This is a major coup for Ocean City.