While the Rodeo Diner on US-192 is always busy, for years they’ve depended on the steady flow of athletes visiting from all over the country. Those athletes all come to Kissimmee to compete as part of the United States Specialty Sports Association -- USSSA.
Now that’s all going to change. Thursday the Brevard County Commission signed a 20-year agreement with the USSSA. They will be moving to Brevard when Space Coast Stadium in Viera becomes available once the Washington Nationals move their spring training facilities to West Palm beach.
“We get a lot of business and it helps our sales go up. Now that they are leaving we are going to get affected really bad,” said Jonathan Harris, manager of the Rodeo Diner.
The Astros are also moving to West Palm Beach sometime after their 2016 training season. Their departure, combined with the USSSA, leaving will be a big change.
As part of their agreement, the USSSA has guaranteed 175 days of games to be played in Viera. They expect that to boost hotel stays by about 75,000. Which means there could be that many fewer tourists spending their money in Osceola County.
However, local leaders haven’t lost hope yet.
“We already have some leads to fill those slots that USSSA was putting out," said Osceola County Commissioner Michael Hartford. "So we expect maybe we will see a drop, but we will see that we are going to start building and start over again.”
Right now, they are actively searching to fill the hole these sports organizations will leave and they said they already have prospects but nothings set in stone. For now local business owners are hoping for the best.
“Nothing we can do about them leaving. We just have to cut our losses and hope for the best,” Harris said.