Mount Maunganui's ASB Baypark will again host the world-class jet sprints event after a three-year deal was signed with the NZ Jetsprint Association at the weekend.

The contract, which will see Baypark become the home stadium for jet sprinting, was signed between council owned Bay Venues, Jetsprint BOP and the Jetsprint Association during the organisation's AGM on Saturday.

Action from the 2014 Jet Sprints event at Baypark Stadium.

It will mean the two-day world invitational championship will be hosted annually at ASB Stadium at Auckland Anniversary weekend, beginning January 24-25, 2015.

The inaugural 2014 ENZED V8 Jetsprints was held at Baypark in January this year, attracting crowds of more than 15,000 in what was the world's first stadium-based jetsprinting event.

NZJSA chair, Eric Hoksema, is extremely excited at the opportunities presented by the three-year contract, which includes a further three-year right of renewal for the delivery of a stand-alone world invitational Stadium Jetsprint Cup.

'The news was very positively received by NZJSA members and racers alike.

'Last year, I said the Baypark event had the potential to transform the sport on a global scale – and it has done just that. The stadium-based event has allowed us to take the sport to the next level.

'What is even more exciting is that the eyes of the world are back on New Zealand as global leaders for the sport – fitting, given that we are the birthplace of jetsprinting,” says Eric.

'The Baypark Jetsprint event in January was an absolute success and has once again put New Zealand at the forefront as innovators in world class sporting fixtures. We're really keen to build on this success over the next three years and take the sport to even greater heights.”

Bay Venues CEO Gary Dawson says the 2015 event will serve as a great precursor to the Kiwi bid to host the 2016 World Jetsprint Championships in New Zealand – including one round at ASB Baypark.

'It's a real coup for Bay Venues to secure this event for ASB Baypark for the next three years.”

He acknowledges what was perceived by some as a 'risky venture” turned out to be a very profitable event for the venue, gaining extensive media coverage and publicity for Baypark.

'The January 2014 event was a world first attempt that many people thought would never work. Not only did it work, but we have now negotiated a multi-year deal to bring this event back to the stadium. We believe the event will just grow from strength to strength and really put ASB Baypark on the map.”

The flow on effects to the local tourism economy will be a promising boost for operators over the 2014/15 summer season, says Tourism BOP general manager, Rhys Arrowsmith.

'Tourism Bay of Plenty was extremely impressed by the level of professionalism and the untiring passion that Jetsprint BOP and Baypark staff put into what is clearly now a major international calendar event that we will continue to support and grow to its full potential.

'Very rarely do you get an event that is such an instant success. It essentially created two types of people – those that went and those that wished they went. Many months later, the ENZED V8 Jetsprint Championships is still talked about as a benchmark of flagship events. So, we welcome the news that it will be back in the Bay for the next three years at least.”

Mayor Stuart Crosby believes Tauranga City is now poised to play host to what could become a first class, world renowned event.

'The ‘repackaging' of an already iconic Kiwi sport to make it more audience-friendly and accessible captured the imagination of all who were lucky enough to attend in 2014.

'The next three years will provide us with a great opportunity to open up the sport to spectators who have never seen jetsprinting as well as showcase all that Tauranga has to offer to diehard jetsprint fans from across the globe.”

Six months on, Jetsprints BOP event director, Pip Minnell, is still proud of the way that the inaugural event came together. 'We had a vision and we just had to dig deep, literally, and believe in what we wanted to do. It was a huge commitment to take on transforming a stadium sports venue, which holds international rugby matches – to dig the ground up, fill it with water, run a boat race series inside it for one weekend, and then return it to its original state.”

'We're more than ready to do it all again – bigger and better in 2015 – with the very keen interest being shown by teams from as far away as Canada and the United States, as well as Australia. Multi-year naming rights and major sponsor contracts are also underway.”

To top it all off, the success of the event has been recognised at a national level after the inaugural 2014 ENZED V8 Jetsprints at ASB Baypark named as finalist in the ‘Best Emerging Event' category of the New Zealand Association of Event Professionals Event Awards. Read more here.