15F.401  Sports tourism infrastructure program.
  1.  a.  The authority shall establish, and, at the direction of the board, shall administer a sports tourism infrastructure program to provide financial assistance for infrastructure projects supporting sporting events for organizations of accredited colleges and universities, professional sporting events, and other sporting events in the state.
  b.  For purposes of this section:
  (1)  “District” means a regional sports authority district certified under section 15E.321.
  (2)  “Financial assistance” means assistance provided only from the funds available to the authority or the board and includes assistance in the form of grants, loans, and forgivable loans.
  (3)  “Fund” means the sports tourism infrastructure program fund established in section 15F.404.
  (4)  “Organization” means a corporation, conference, association, or other organization which has as one of its primary purposes the sponsoring or administration of extracurricular intercollegiate athletic contests or competitions, or professional sporting events.
  (5)  “Professional sporting events” means any sporting events for which the competing athletes receive payment for their participation in such sporting event.
  c.  The authority, by rule, shall define “accredited colleges and universities”, in consultation with the college student aid commission.
  2.  a.  A city or county in the state, or a public entity that is a nonprofit organization, may be eligible for financial assistance from the fund for an infrastructure project that actively and directly supports sporting events for accredited colleges and universities, professional sporting events, and other sporting events in the area served by the city, county, or public entity. However, financial assistance shall not be provided to a public entity that is a nonprofit organization from the fund for infrastructure projects located in a reinvestment district as defined and approved by the authority pursuant to section 15J.4 or to applicants that have received a rebate of sales tax imposed and collected by retailers pursuant to section 423.4, subsection 5. A city, county, or public entity that is a nonprofit organization that receives financial assistance under this paragraph is not eligible to receive financial assistance under the Iowa major events and tourism program under chapter 15G.
  b.  A city, county, or public entity may apply for and receive financial assistance for more than one project. The board may require additional information to substantiate the financial need for awarding more than one project in any fiscal year.
  c.  A city, county, or public entity may apply for financial assistance for a project that spans two fiscal years if all applicable contractual requirements are met. The board may adopt by rule certain metrics and return on investment estimates for purposes of this paragraph. The authority may include such metrics and estimates in a program agreement executed pursuant to this section.
  d.  A convention and visitors bureau may apply to the authority for financial assistance pursuant to this section and a district may apply to the authority for district financial assistance, but a convention and visitors bureau shall not in the same year receive financial assistance under the program created in this section and financial assistance as part of a district.
  3.  The authority shall process applications under this section in accordance with this section and section 15F.402.
  4.  a.  An applicant shall demonstrate matching funds in order to receive financial assistance pursuant to this section. The amount of matching funds that may be required shall be at the board’s discretion subject to the requirements of this subsection. 
  b.  An applicant under the program shall not receive financial assistance from the fund in an amount exceeding fifty percent of the total cost of the project.
  c.  An applicant under the program shall not receive financial assistance from the sports tourism infrastructure program fund created in section 15F.404 until all financing for the sports tourism infrastructure project is secured and documented and the applicant can demonstrate the availability of matching moneys for financing the sports tourism infrastructure project in the form of a private and public partnership with financing from city, county, and private sources.
  5.  The board shall make final funding decisions on each application and may approve, deny, defer, or modify applications for financial assistance under the sports tourism infrastructure program, in its discretion, in order to fund as many projects with the moneys available as possible. The board and the authority may negotiate with applicants regarding the details of projects and the amount and terms of any award. In making final funding decisions pursuant to this subsection, the board and the authority are exempt from chapter 17A. 
  6.  A city, county, or public entity shall not use financial assistance received under the program from the fund as reimbursement for completed projects.
  7.  An applicant receiving financial assistance shall provide an annual report to the authority for years in which it receives financial assistance under this section. The report shall include the information the authority deems relevant.
  8.  Each applicant receiving an award of financial assistance from the board shall enter into an agreement with the authority. The agreement shall contain such terms and conditions as the board may place on the award or the authority may deem necessary for the efficient administration of the program established in this subchapter.
  9.  The board shall adopt rules for the administration of this subchapter.
2016 Acts, ch 1115, §10; 2017 Acts, ch 160, §1; 2019 Acts, ch 144, §4; 2021 Acts, ch 167, §14 – 18; 2022 Acts, ch 1150, §22 – 24; 2025 Acts, ch 160, §13 – 19
Referred to in §15E.321, 15F.402
Subsection 1, paragraph a amended
Subsection 1, paragraph b, NEW subparagraph (3) and former subparagraphs (3) and (4) renumbered as (4) and (5)
Subsection 2, paragraph a amended
Subsection 4, paragraph b amended
Subsection 5 amended
Subsection 6 stricken and rewritten