A bill moving through the Louisiana Legislature aims to bolster East Baton Rouge Parish’s sports tourism efforts by reallocating state funds to Visit Baton Rouge, the parish’s tourism agency.
House Bill 226, sponsored by state Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, proposes amending how money from the East Baton Rouge Parish Enhancement Fund is distributed. That fund was created in 1999.
Under current law, $100,000 from the fund is appropriated annually to the Baton Rouge Sports Foundation, or SportsBR, to secure amateur sporting events for the parish. If the bill becomes law, that allocation would instead go to Visit Baton Rouge.
Laura Cating, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Visit Baton Rouge, tells Daily Report that Visit Baton Rouge has now assumed the responsibilities of SportsBR with the full support of the foundation’s board. The tourism agency has added two full-time sports development staff members.
Currently, Visit Baton Rouge doesn’t receive any funding from the East Baton Rouge Parish Enhancement Fund, or any other state budget dollars. The agency operates entirely on local hotel occupancy taxes paid by visitors.
Jason Suitt, director of sports development for Visit Baton Rouge, says the money will help the parish continue to attract high-profile sporting events that drive tourism and visitor spending.
“If HB226 passes, Visit Baton Rouge will use the funds to continue covering bid fees and supporting sponsorships for visiting events that drive economic impact in every corner of our parish,” he says.
Suitt points to annual sporting events hosted in the parish like the Louisiana Marathon and the Marucci World Series, as well as visiting events like 2023’s U.S. Youth Soccer Southern Regional Championship, 2024’s Masters of Strength Fest and 2025’s United States Bowling Congress Championship Series, as examples of the kind of events Visit Baton Rouge wants to continue attracting.
HB226 maintains the other allocations from the East Baton Rouge Parish Enhancement Fund, with $100,000 from the fund appropriated annually for urban mass transit and the remainder of the fund’s balance going to the Raising Cane’s River Center.
The bill has passed out of the House Committee on Appropriations and is scheduled for a floor debate on Monday.
