TAMPA, Fla. — The Red Bull Flugtag will return to the Tampa Bay area for the first time in more than a decade.
City officials announced that the event, where competitors attempt to fly homemade, human-powered flying machines, will take place on Nov. 9 outside the Tampa Convention Center.
It’s expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators. It will be the third Flugtag event to happen in Tampa. The last time the Flugtag was in Tampa was in 2011 and in 2008. Team members will build their own machines and "fly" them off the end of a 27-foot-tall flight deck into the water.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said that the event will not only be entertaining but will also bring many visitors to the city. It's projected to bring in more than $3 million into the community, according to a news release.
“It’s so exciting and so entertaining to see the innovation, the ingenuity and the sheer madness of people who come out and really give it their all to entertain the audience,” she said at a news conference Monday morning.
Tampa Bay has hosted many different major sporting events through the years, including the Super Bowl, Wrestlemania, the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship and the NCAA Women's Final Four, which will come to the city next year.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan said Tampa set the United States record for the number of attendees at Flugtag in 2008 with 110,000 people and then broke its own record in 2011 with 135,000 people.
"There's no doubt our track record and success for hosting has a lot to do with the fact that our community rallies around visiting events. At the top of that list is our hometown's proven history with hosting Flugtag," he said at the conference.
Registration opens for team selection on July 8 if people who want to apply to be one of the 40 teams selected. The teams are comprised of five members. The registration period is open until Sept. 19, and team selection will be on Sept. 23.