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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m O c t o b e r 2 0 1 8 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 19 Most Outrageous-But-Seduc- tive Claim: It will be just like Spoleto, a highly successful annual cultural extravaganza in Charleston, S.C. Actually, maybe it should be more like Spoleto, which doesn't pretend to present programming that "reflects the community" (read: poor people). In- stead, Spoleto's programming reflects what rich culture-vultures will pay big bucks for to take in. More to the point, it is a destination attraction: Attendees travel to the 17-day event (in private jets, no doubt), stay in hotels and precious B&Bs, nosh in trendy boîtes, shop in chic boutiques. Bad Idea: It is an unfortunate but unmistakable conclusion that after more than two decades, Arts & Ideas has made barely a dent on the collective cultural consciousness of south-central Connecticut. As the city's Nemerson puts it, "Every summer 50 percent of the people who live here say, 'Oh — I wish I had gone to the Arts & Ideas festival.'" And 50 percent of the people have still never even heard of it. Now, Isn't That Special Event: Special Olympics World Games Year(s): 1995 The 1995 Special Olympics World Games put Tim Shriver, son of the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, on the world stage as president of the international event for physically and intellectually challenged sporting competitors from around the globe. What it did not put on the world stage was its host city — New Haven. Most Outrageous-But-Seduc- tive Claim: The event will be just like the real Olympic Games — the whole world is watching! Goodbye, Cruel World: Um, no. While it's true that the opening cer- emonies at the Yale Bowl attracted some 70,000 spectators, 7,000 athletes competing in 21 sports, President Bill Clinton and nationwide TV coverage on ESPN, the compe- tition itself came and went largely unnoticed. This was the Special Olympics. Its appeal as a spectacle for actual sports fans was approximately zero. Its lure as a tourism magnet was obvi- ously limited to families and friends of participants. After the Games drew to a close, one of the competitors called the event "a dream come true." For greater New Haven, it was mostly just O N T H E O T H E R H A N D . . . a dream. Tennis, Anyone? Event: Connecticut Open Tennis Year(s): 1991-present Most Outrageous-But-Seductive Claim: That building a 13,000-seat, $19 million pleasuredome known as the Connecticut Tennis Center — fund- ed by taxpayers but on Yale property — would make the Elm City a tennis Valhalla — year-round tournaments, celebrity players shopping on Chapel Street, maybe even the NCAA men's and women's championships (Yale plays D-I tennis, don't they?). Plus, concerts! Double Fault: Where to begin? The event — whether it featured men, or women, or both — never found an audience in New Haven, declining in attendance from a high of 140,000 to 50,000 this year. Since day one the idea was to lure rich folks from West- port who'd pay $83 to sit in the lower bowl, sip mimosas and listen to Maria Sharapova shriek her head off. Never happened. Fairfield County swells don't come to New Haven. For one thing, there's no way to advertise to them, since southwest Connecticut is in the NYC media market and no Elm City entity can afford to buy Manhattan media. Also, the event is doomed by its place on the tennis calendar — the week before the U.S. Open, a grueling, two-week slog for which many top players want to rest up before heading to Flushing. So New Haven is perenni- ally plagued by last-minute withdraw- als and "injuries" to the few players ticket-buyers might pay to see. Oh, yes — and now, taxpayers own not only the stadium, but the tournament itself: In 2013, when the event was nearly sold to Winston-Sa- lem, N.C. (where the men's tourney had relocated two years earlier), the Malloy administration stepped up to buy it. For $618,000. Of your money. Despite the tireless exertions of longtime tournament director Anne Worcester, the tournament — wheth- er under the sponsorship banner of Volvo, or Pilot Pen — "simply doesn't work here," is how New Haven Inde- pendent Editor Paul Bass sums it up. n Major events like the International Festival of Arts & Ideas (above) and the Connecticut Open tennis tourney promised to lure affluent visitors. But convenient location has (counterintuitively) worked against them, and the Elm City's location outside major markets has made advertising them a difficult proposition.

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