WASHINGTON — The Dew Tour will not be returning to Ocean City in 2015.
The extreme sports competition informed Ocean City officials that it will be changing its format in a way that will eliminate the use of Ocean City or any other city along the eastern seaboard.
“If they change their format again or change how they want to do this that they would always keep Ocean City under consideration,” Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan told the City Council during a work session.
The loss is big for the resort town.
“It was really a truly family event and had become a signature event in Ocean City,” Mayor Meehan said. “We certainly had become nationally known by those that had never heard of Ocean City via the tremendous coverage we received on NBC and reruns on ESPN.”
That exposure not only helped bring people to the resort town, but could bring a big project to the area.
Texas-based Hat Trick Consultants is looking into building a 6,200-seat arena in Worcester County with the intention of bringing a professional minor league hockey team to the Ocean City area.
“The way they found out about Ocean City was by watching the Dew Tour on TV,” Ocean City Council Secretary Mary Knight told the council.
Despite the loss of the Dew Tour, Ocean City officials are confident that they can replace the event with fun activities to keep visitors busy and entertained while they are visiting the resort town.