Hartford has lost out to Hot Springs, Ark. in its efforts to lure the $1 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League All-American Tournament this year.
The event was held at the Connecticut Convention Center in July 2006 and the Greater Hartford Convention & Visitors Bureau along with the city and other agencies were in negotiations with the tournament’s organizer, FLW Outdoors. It estimated that Hartford received a direct economic impact of more than $1 million from the 2006 event.
In FLW’s announcement that Hot Springs was selected as the host city, FLW Outdoors president and CEO Charlie Evans said that Hartford was a “great host” and there are plans for a future Connecticut tournament, possibly in 2010. Included in the FLW Outdoors press release was a statement that there were “unavoidable conflicts” with Hartford that forced the tournament to be moved to Hot Springs.
GHCVB spokesperson Laura Soll said that plans for the 2008 tournament in Hartford were never finalized and that no agreement was reached. “We don’t want people to think there was something going,” she said. “We were in negotiations and that’s basically it.” Soll declined to comment further on the specifics in the discussions between local officials and FLW Outdoors. Â
