Visit Broken Arrow
Meeting of: 12-09-2025
Title:
title
Consideration, discussion, and possible approval of the proposed updates to the Visit Broken Arrow Community Event Sponsorship Rebate Program
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Background:
At the October 14, 2025 Visit Broken Arrow Board meeting, a temporary working committee was created in order to discuss possible changes to the VBA Event Sponsorship Rebate Program.
A meeting was held on November 3rd, and several options were discussed. From that meeting, staff has developed a proposed update to the Event Sponsorship Rebate.
The full proposal is attached, however, highlights of the proposed program include:
Tiered rebate system based on VBA staff verified event attendance.
• Tier 1 - Signature Event 10,000+ attendance- $7,500
o Additional Provision: Events exceeding 30,000 verified attendees may be considered for enhanced funding above $7,500, pending Board approval
• Tier 2 - Regional Event 5,000-9,999 attendance -$5,000
• Tier 3 - Community Event 1,000-4,999 attendance - $2,500
• Tier 4 - Emerging Event 300-999 attendance - $1,000
The proposed program also includes:
• 1:1 Match requirement
• VBA Funds may not exceed maximum percentage of 30% of total event operating budget
• Multi-Year Step-Down funding
• Post-Event Reporting Requirements
• And internally: 40% of total allocated grant funding may be used for Event Sponsorship Rebates. The other 60% is to be used for hotel-night generating events only, utilizing the existing Hotel Rebate guidelines
Cost: N/A
Funding Source: Visit Broken Arrow
Requested By: Makala Barton, Tourism Manager
Approved By: City Manager’s Office
Attachments: Proposed Community Event Sponsorship Rebate Program
Recommendation:
recommend
Approve the proposed updates to the Visit Broken Arrow Community Event Sponsorship Rebate Program
end