JACKSONVILLE, Fla -- From pro football, to international soccer, to the PGA Tour, Jacksonville's Sports and Entertainment Director Alan Verlander wants to find out how many dollar signs these events translate into.
"It's well over $100 million but I have no idea," he said.
He's initiating a study into the economics of local sports.
"We need to get a handle on how much money is spent here in Jacksonville through sports so that's why we need to get some things on paper."
Verlander says sports is the lifeblood of this community. Beyond entertainment, it's helping keep folks employed, put food on the table and build a global name.
But along with calculating the current components, Verlander has made it his mission to bring in as many new sporting events as possible. On the bidding table are the swimming time trials for the 2016 Olympics.
"That economic impact to Omaha was about $40-45 million," he said.
The city's also bidding on getting the Davis Cup tennis tie, where the United States will go head to head against Brazil in February.
"The Davis Cup is obviously a huge event to the sport of tennis. We've got some great professionals here in Todd Martin and MaliVai Washington so it would make sense."
Plus they're looking at action sports, like motocross and skateboarding. Verlander isn't leaving any stone unturned.
"We're not looking just at the traditional sports, we're looking at all sports that can generate an economic impact here to Jacksonville."
He also tells Action News he was on the phone with the NBA on Tuesday, trying to bring some exhibition games to Jacksonville. He is also in talks with Major League Baseball to try to host part of spring training.
