Mary Bryant, director of the Loudon County Visitor's Bureau, came before the Lenoir City Council Monday afternoon to gauge the group's interest in co-hosting another fishing tournament in the city.

Bryant explained the bureau has been working with the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation to try and secure what she called the "Superbowl" of bass fishing tournaments for October, 2010.

Because of pending negotiations she was unable to speak openly about which tournament is specifically being sought, though she did say it would feature 50 of the sport's top anglers and bring as many as 88,000 spectators to the Knoxville metropolitan area. The tournament would fill 4,000 hotel rooms.

The event would be based in Knoxville with the launching area possibly in Lenoir City Park.

Because the meeting was a workshop, council members were unable to vote on Bryant's request, but a general consensus was expressed in favor of helping host, and fund, the event.

The FLW Fishing Tournament, which currently comes to the county annually, brings in an estimated $250,000 to the community, Bryant said. 

The proposed tournament would have fewer anglers of a higher quality and would bring an increase in national media attention to the area.

"They're asking for some support items that FLW did not ask for," Bryant said without going into specifics. She said the city could not handle the size of the event on its own and so the partnership with Knoxville was necessary.

"We're kind of tagging along with Knoxville Tourism and Sports. It's a good strategic partnership," she said. "We have the water they want to fish out of."

If the people who put on the tournament select the Knoxville and Lenoir City areas as hosts, any funding on the city's part would be included in the 2010-2011 fiscal year budget and would be part of the financial plans at that time.

"If the Knoxville area doesn't get it, we don't have to worry about it," Mayor Matt Brookshire said.

Bryant listed some of the cities who have hosted the event before, including Nashville; Cincinnati, Ohio; Jackson, Miss.; Las Vegas, Nev. and Chicago, Ill.

She said smaller markets have also hosted the event, giving Greenville, S.C., as an example.

The tournament's organizers need a large venue, like the Knoxville Convention Center, to host most of its events. Bryant described the atmosphere as that of a rock concert and said a major national sports network would be there to cover the happenings.

"Knoxville is really excited about this competition because of the media coverage," she said.

For Lenoir City's part, the financial burden would not be as high as Knoxville's, and most spectators would be expected to stay in the neighboring county. Bryant said most of the anglers would probably choose to stay in Lenoir City close to the lake. Also there is potential for a second media crew from the network to stay in Lenoir City.

Council member Tony Aikens asked Bryant if she had requested funding from the county as well.

Bryant said she had no plans to do so, but would be willing to at the council's request.