BassFans probably remember when B.A.S.S. announced Shreveport-Bossier City, La. as site of the 2009 Bassmaster Classic. A collective What?! rippled through the sport. Not only was Shreveport a somewhat forgotten fishing destination, but the Red River in February was the ultimate gamble: Too much rain and the bite would be a total disaster.



But the Classic went off without a hitch and in fact set attendance records. Indeed, the Shreveport-Bossier Classic was regarded as one of the most successful Classics ever. The impact wasn't lost on the local community, and in the time since, Shreveport-Bossier has hosted Bassmaster Opens, Strens, an FLW Tour stop and the BFL All-American.

Plus, the community is set to host the 2012 Bassmaster Classic in February.

Or is it?

What BassFans might not know is that the binding contract between B.A.S.S. and the Shreveport Regional Sports Authority (SRSA) to bring the Classic to Shreveport-Bossier has become a political football.

On one side is the not-for-profit SRSA, formerly headed by Mary Ann Tice, which was responsible for bringing the first Classic to Shreveport-Bossier and the numerous other high-profile fishing events that followed in its wake.

On the other is the newly formed Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission (SBSC) – a division of the local Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Words such as coup, extortion, racism, dirty politics and more have surfaced during the fight, and until late this week, it appeared things were at a standstill.

But in a rather shocking turn, the SRSA this week asked B.A.S.S. for a release from the contract, which means that from this point forward, the Classic will be funded through the SBSC and the Shreveport-Bossier Classic no longer appears to be in jeopardy.

Just how close did Shreveport come to losing the Classic? Impossible to tell. B.A.S.S. officials remained publicly committed to the venue, and Shreveport-Bossier officials operated under the assumption the Classic would come. But across the industry, manufacturers and sponsors seemed braced for a potential late venue change.

How could the business contract for the sport's premier event suddenly find itself adrift in political undercurrents? How could a relatively modest community like Shreveport risk losing an event as critical as the Classic?

It all began, one might say, with a decades-old law.

Free To Operate

Louisiana, like many states, has battled corrupt politics. Just one example: Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, who was sentenced to serve 10 years in federal prison for racketeering and corruption.

Several decades ago, the Louisiana Legislature recognized the possibility for a corruptive relationship between economic-development agencies and government officials, and created Louisiana statute 33:9024. That law set up economic-development corporations as not-for-profits and prohibited them from exercising governmental powers.

That law paved the way for the SRSA, which was founded as a not-for-profit corporation in 1996. The SRSA was modestly staffed, its staff received modest pay, and it was largely reliant on public funds. Nonetheless, the SRSA was the driving force that marketed the area for sports, liasoned with sports groups and closed the binding contracts that brought economy-driving sporting events to the area.

Mary Ann Tice served as executive director, and her work – $183 million in economic impact over 15 years on a yearly operational budget that ran from a maximum of $270,000 to a low of $63,000 in 2009 – was widely heralded. There was even a Mary Ann Tice day declared in Shreveport after the '09 Classic.

However, trouble brewed soon after. Different versions of the story are told, but there's the widely held belief within the SRSA that Tice was the object of a political hit – local officials saw what events like the Classic could deliver and they wanted control.

The other side, which includes the office of Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, has cited problematic SRSA events that weren't as smooth or beneficial as the Classic, then threw support behind the public-sector SBSC. At the same time, accusations and insinuations arose that firing of an SRSA employee was racially motivated.

Mayor Glover's office declined to answer specific questions from BassFan about the effectiveness of the SRSA and why there was the need for a new commission, but Mayor Glover did issue BassFan the following statement:

"The Shreveport-Bossier region has been highly successful in attracting and hosting sports-related events. Each of these successes were collective efforts with contributions coming from every level and strata of our community. Going forward we will continue to work together to attract and host events that will have a positive economic impact on our region and enrich our quality of life. Regarding the 2012 Bassmaster Classic, for me there was never a consideration that it would be anywhere else other than Shreveport-Bossier."

However, Shreveport city councilmember Michael Corbin did agree to an interview with BassFan and noted: "I think that through a number of events that didn't go as well as planned, and some pure political struggles, the city council and the Caddo Parish Commission decided they'd no longer fund Mary Ann's sports commission. At the same time, they put together a new sports commission funded by a bed tax, and each of the four political entities – the City of Shreveport, the city of Bossier, Bossier Parish and Caddo Parish – committed matching funds to the new commission for next year."



Those funds for next year, of course, included funds for the Bassmaster Classic.

The SRSA immediately cried foul, after which the City of Shreveport and Caddo Parish agreed to fund the SRSA through the end of the year – in other words, allow the SRSA to survive a brief time longer and pay its contracted, outstanding debts – if the SRSA would transfer control of the Classic contract to the newly formed SBSC.

'A Political Hit'?

SRSA volunteer Elliot Stonecipher spared no ire for the Mayor and accused him and his administration of willfully wresting control of sports marketing away from a highly successful and efficient SRSA by discrediting Tice after her decision to fire an SRSA employee.

"I'm 60 years old, my career has been spent in and around politics and I've never seen anything this egregious," Stonecipher told BassFan. "Mary Ann Tice did everything making $60,000 a year, when she was getting paid, with no health insurance and no vacation. A Mary Ann Tice day was declared by this same mayor. Everybody knew what she provided for the city. For her to end up being the target of a political hit – they even defamed her on TV – it's some of the worst stuff I've ever seen happen.

"The board of the new Sports Commission (SBSC) is the same politicians that performed the political hit on the Sports Authority (SRSA). This is the same bus that ran over Mary Ann Tice and it's nothing more than a handful of elected officials who wanted control of the ability to involve themselves in any and all sports marketing here. It's pretty incredible stuff and it's why the legislature acted so decisively (decades ago) when it set up economic-development corporations as not-for-profits. The law says very explicitly that politicians are not supposed to toy with these things."

What Next?

However the battle plays out, it seems clear that a Shreveport Classic has been saved, because as previously noted, the SRSA did ask B.A.S.S. for a release from the contract. That clears the way for B.A.S.S. to draft a new contract with the SBSC and gain full access to funds that were previously in limbo.

And if there was ever a time B.A.S.S. needed those funds, it's now. The company is under new ownership, it's moving its corporate headquarters in the next month or two, it's rebuilding departments like human resources and accounting that were previously sourced to ESPN, and across the sport business is flat.

The money that a community pays B.A.S.S. to host a Classic isn't small change, and it's crucial to B.A.S.S. In some cases, the fee to host a Classic can be several millions of dollars.

B.A.S.S. ownership partner Don Logan told BassFan that he didn't involve himself with the local political battle in Shreveport, but operated under the assumption that the community would work it out in time.

"We're ready to go to Shreveport, we just want them to get it worked out," Logan told BassFan. "They seem to want the same thing we do – have the best event we can possibly have there. I don't know what the local issues are, and we're not going to get involved in the local issues. They've all seemed to indicate it's going to happen. I'm confident it's going to happen. And I look forward to being there."

Were there plans to potentially move the Classic? According to Logan, no. But it's hard to imagine that, this late in the game, there wasn't at least the beginnings of a contingency plan.

Truth is, BassFans may never know just how close Shreveport came to losing the 2012 Classic.

"It's such a big deal to them and their area and our fans down there – such a big economic deal for the whole community down there – I just can't imagine them ever reaching a point were we would not hold the Classic down there," Logan said. "I just can't imagine it."

Notable

> The 2009 Shreveport-Bossier Classic total attendance was 137,700, besting the previous record of 82,600 established at the 2003 New Orleans Classic.

> BassFan asked FLW Outdoors if the battle between the SRSA and the SBSC affects FLW Outdoors. Operations-division president Kathy Fennel said no. She did note that FLW Outdoors has been contacted by the new SBSC and added: "We've held a number of successful events in Shreveport-Bossier City over the years. It's a great destination with a solid fanbase and access to quality fisheries. We fully intend to work with any organization charged with bringing quality events to the region."

> For the text of Louisiana statute 33:9024, click here.