[Update: the email was sent to non-ticketed attendees (participants/athletes and credentialed individuals (vendors/media)]
This afternoon CrossFit sent an email to attendees of the 2024 CrossFit Games. In the email, CrossFit stated that it is eligible for a financial grant from the State of Texas based on the number of attendees who live outside of Texas. Recipients of the email are asked to fill out a short form and provide their country, state/province and city of residence.
The deadline for “opt-in” submissions is Tuesday, September 2.
The form, via Google Docs, asks for an email, first and last name, country of resident, state or province and city. It also asks for consent for CrossFit to share this information with the State of Texas “for the sole purpose related to this grant.”
As for the grant, the email provides some additional detail related to the “Texas Event Trust Fund”. In the most basic terms, the State of Texas has a program that provides organizers of large events the ability to receive a portion of the estimated increase in tax revenue resulting from the event.
In the case of the 2024 CrossFit Games, CrossFit, LLC and Visit Fort Worth entered into a Trust Fund Event Support Contract (read here) with the City of Fort Worth. In that agreement, the State of Texas agreed to deposit $667,009 into the Event Trust Fund if the City of Ft. Worth contributed an additional $106,722 for a total amount of $773,731.
This is where the email comes into play. CrossFit and Visit Fort Worth must validate their estimates by proving the actual attendance of the event, the estimated number of attendees who are not residents of Texas. Additionally, the state of Texas must also approve the source and methodology of validating such numbers, which the State has already approved.
Once everything is verified, the City of Fort Worth can disburse the $773,731 in the event Trust Fund with Visit Forth Worth’s expenses to be covered first. CrossFit would be entitled to the remaining balance to cover their costs. All amounts paid to Visit Fort Worth and CrossFit must be supported by providing expense documentation (i.e. invoices).
It is unclear how those funds would be split between Visit Fort Worth and CrossFit.
CrossFit and Visit Fort Worth must submit their actual data to the state of Texas by no later than 45 days following the event.
