TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Noel Pfeffer, City Attorney
DATE: January 5, 2016
Title
DISCUSSION: LEGAL STATUS OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY AND MATCH POINT, INC., GRANTING MATCH POINT, INC. A LICENSE FOR PROFESSIONAL TENNIS TOURNAMENT EVENTS AT THE CITY’S TENNIS CENTER
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Motion to authorize the City Attorney and Special Counsel to file the appropriate legal action to determine the validity of the MatchPoint Agreement if an amicable resolution cannot otherwise be achieved.
Body
Background:
During previous discussions, the City Commission, by consensus, directed the City Attorney to evaluate the validity and enforceability of the existing agreements with Match Point, Inc. (“MatchPoint”). The initial agreement, entered into by the City in 2005, and amended numerous times over the years, grants a long term license (through 2030) to MatchPoint to manage and operate the City’s tennis center for major professional tennis tournaments. The agreements require the City to maintain the tennis stadium and other City facilities in a specified state of repair, provide parking, office space, and other City equipment, all at no cost to MatchPoint. In addition, the agreements require the City to pay MatchPoint in excess of $1.5 million dollars annually as consideration for the management and operation of professional tennis events. This annual payment is subject to an automatic percentage increase each year. The City is entitled to sell sponsorships and keep parking revenues.
Attached to this memorandum is a legal opinion prepared by Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman providing a history of the agreements, an overview of the contract terms, and the firms legal analysis of the theories why the agreements may be void. This firm was selected to review this matter because the issues identified in the MatchPoint agreements are analogous to the recent litigation handled by this firm rega...
Click here for full text