GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – Guntersville’s fastest and biggest event on the water could look slightly different in 2025.
This comes after city leaders said Marshall County Tourism and Sports lost thousands of dollars on this year’s HydroFest.
There is no set date for next year’s Hydrofest as Marshall County Tourism and Sports looks at new ways to bring more people to the event. This comes after the annual boat races came up more than $80,000 short in sponsorships and ticket sales.
“We have not made an announcement about 2025,” said Marshall County Sports and Tourism President Katy Norton to the Guntersville City Council on Monday.
Norton asked the council to help ease the financial burden left by the 2024 HydroFest boat races.
This year’s event cost $486,0000, but Tourism and Sports were only able to make about $400,000 back.
Norton says plans for the event are on hold as Tourism and Sports looks to raise more funds for the annual boat races.
“We are working with a company out of Washington because they are very successful at bringing several million dollars to the sport,” said Norton.
Mayor Leigh Dollar says that is likely due to a shortage of businesses and corporations chipping in.
“There were fewer corporate sponsorships this year and also the gate money wasn’t as much,” Dollar said.
District 2 Councilman Larry Wilson attributed the shortage in ticket sales to the severe weather during race week.
“The temperatures, the hot weather and the proximity to the 4th of July holiday combined to reduce attendance,” said Wilson.
The city council ultimately decided to grant Marshall County Tourism and Sports with $40,000 from their tourism surcharge fund to assist with the expenses as they regroup on next year’s race.
“I hope they look at some other options and ways to save money, ways to get more sponsorships so that we can make it a reality because boat racing has such a long history in Guntersville and it’s part of who we are so it’s important for us to have, but at the same time it’s got to pay for itself,” Dollar said.
Dollar says the tourism department is currently deciding on hosting the event at all, and if they do, many changes could take place such as the dates of the races and even changes to the course.
WAFF 48 will update when a decision is made.
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