(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has voted to create a Major Events and Tourism Fund using four million dollars in taxes paid by people in Iowa who legally bet on sports. David Adelman, a lobbyist for Iowa Tourism Industry Partners, says Iowa venues need state grants to support bids for major events. “Kind of dream projects would be things like the PGA Championship, the Pan-Am Wrestling Championship, NCAA Track and Field, the New Balance High School Boys Basketball Tournament, the National Sheriffs Association convention and the Religious Conference Management Association,” Adelman says.

About a thousand people attended that last group’s convention this past January. Last week, two-hundred thousand people were at the P-G-A Championship in South Carolina. Landing these types of events are beneficial to businesses outside the main venue. “Huge opportunities to bring people in to shop, eat at the restaurants, stay at hotels, things of that nature,” Adelman said. Bidding for big events, like major concerts, has become commonplace given the potential economic boost.

Kansas City, for example, got a 50 million dollar jolt in the local economy when Taylor Swift performed at Arrowhead Stadium. The just-concluded Iowa legislature has also voted to continue a yearly appropriation that supports regional sports authority districts in Iowa. “Last year, amateur sports brought in $23 million in state and local taxes,” Adelman says. “This is a competitive grant program that was established in 2007.”

There are 10 sports authority districts in Iowa and the 750-thousand dollars worth of grants next year will go to Convention and Visitors Bureaus in those areas.