FAYETTEVILLE -- The Advertising and Promotion Commission approved a contract Monday with a new event manager for two cyclocross events.
Medalist Sports was awarded a $231,000 contract. Out-of-pocket and reimbursable expenses will be invoiced and paid on an actual cost basis.
Medalist will provide executive management, project management, ancillary event development, sponsorship development, hospitality management, broadcast and production technical services, ticketing and other services.
Experience Fayetteville, the city's tourism bureau, previously had a contract with Brook Watts and his Parkven Productions in Colorado to organize three cyclocross races. That agreement was dissolved earlier this year.
The tourism bureau has a separate contract with global sporting organization Union Cycliste Internationale to host the cyclocross events in the city.
Cyclocross is akin to mountain biking, involving short courses with obstacles, hills, steps and rough terrain prompting riders to get off their bikes to run for certain parts.
A first event, FayetteCross, happened in October 2019 at Centennial Park.
Union Cycliste Internationale is scheduled to hold an Oct. 13 cyclocross event. UCI's World Championships event is scheduled Jan. 29-30, 2022. Both events will be at Centennial Park.
The $320,000 contract with Parkven Productions included a quarterly payment schedule. Parkven received the full amount included in the contract and was released from its organizational duties. Money paid to Parkven came from a $2.3 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation Personal Philanthropy Group awarded to Experience Fayetteville in July 2019 to put on the three cyclocross events.