Council President Questions Sports Complex Study Release

OCEAN CITY — With Ocean City’s youth sports complex economic feasibility study now apparently back in the revision stage, resort officials this month griped about having never seen the first one.

It’s no secret Ocean City officials have long been exploring a youth sports complex in or near the resort area to tap into the growing multi-billion-dollar industry. In 2019, the Town of Ocean City partnered with the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) on an economic impact study for a youth sports complex in or near the resort, the results of which have not yet been made public.

When pressed for the study results last year, City Manager Doug Miller said the consultant, Crossroads, had completed the study, but the results had not yet been published. Miller said at the time COVID came along and the consultant was unsure if certain assumptions made in the study were still valid. Therefore, Crossroads was deciding whether to publish the results with the caveat not all of the assumptions made were still valid post-pandemic, or to go back and rework the study.

It’s not clear which direction the consultant went on that decision, but appears Crossroads has essentially tossed out certain assumptions in its first study and is going back to the drawing board. Tourism and Business Development Director Tom Perlozzo briefed the Tourism Commission on the status of the study Sept. 13, saying the consultant was revisiting some of the pre-COVID assumptions.

Council President and Tourism Commission Chair Matt James questioned why the initial study has not been shared with the council. A similar inquiry was raised by a private citizen last month, questioning why the $49,000 sports marketing economic feasibility study had not been made available to the public and further questioned why any discussion about the study was always held in closed session. James asked why the results of the first study had not been made available.

“Why haven’t they given us the first one that we paid for?” he said.

Perlozzo said the landscape has changed and that the consultant was revising some of the assumptions in the first study.

“We were very specific about a location in Ocean City,” he said. “I’m not sure the study was ever finalized.”

James was adamant about not paying for a study town officials evidently did not receive.

“We paid for a product and they never finished it,” he said. “Now, they want to go back and revise it. I don’t think we could pay for it because they never finished it. We paid for a study that was never completed.”

To date, none of the results of the study commissioned by Ocean City have been released or made public. Meanwhile, potential youth sports complex discussions continue in both Ocean City and Worcester County, sometimes in public forums, such as a meeting two weeks ago between the Worcester County Commissioners and a potential consultant and developer.

In Ocean City, conceptual plans for a sports complex, either one for the town itself or in partnership with Worcester County, have been routinely discussed over the last several months during talks about the budget, the capital improvement plan or room tax, for example.

Resort officials have insisted they have never seen the initial Crossroads study, but it was pointed out last month it appears there has been some behind-the-scenes discussions. For example, the town’s departmental activity reports in recent weeks have referenced meetings with the Baltimore Ravens owner, the president of Under Armor, a meeting with the Worcester County Commission president, the county’s chief administrative officer and other meetings with potential sports complex developers.

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.