The Show won't go on.

Tuesday morning, Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District and the Vail Valley Partnership received a cancellation email from the event producer of The Show — Little League World Series youth baseball event. The tournament has been scheduled for Eagle County over the next two weeks. The short communication only cited “unforeseen circumstances with the Optimist Club” as the reason for the cancellation. The Show noted the club is the oversight nonprofit for the tournament series.

“I can't tell you how saddened I am to have to advise you and the community of this, ” said John Conner, Manager of The Show. “On behalf of The Show World Series, I wish to express our deepest apology to WECMRD and the community for the cancellation of the 2011 Tournament event in the Vail Valley. This action was not taken lightly, and we regret the situation deeply.”

The Show was projected to bring in more than 300 teams and 6,000 estimated participants and spectators.

“Obviously, we are extremely disappointed. I am really at a loss for words,” said Brad Johnson of WECMRD.

Johnson noted that when The Show first expressed interest in doing a local tournament last year, he researched the organization.

“I talked to other towns that hosted this tournament and they are a legitimate organization,” said Johnson. “If I had heard anything negative about them ahead of time, I wouldn't have gone near this thing.”

Some people are questioning whether the whole tournament series was a hoax, but Johnson stressed no money had changed hands to bring The Show to town.

Financial impact

While local hotels have lost business from the tournament, there hasn't been a rash of cancellations, since tournament organizers hadn't yet sent out a list of lodges to players' families.

“We set up a group block a few days ago,” Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa General Manager Bob Trotter said. “But we're not seeing cancellations because (The Show) never posted any booking information on their website.”

In Eagle, AmericInn General Manager Lonnie Leto said his place hadn't seen any reservations yet and has stayed pretty busy over the summer. And with the Eagle County Fair and Rodeo coming up, the hotel wouldn't have to alter any work schedules.

As late as last Friday, Johnson said the organizers had indicated 314 teams had signed up. He was shocked by the cancellation news.

While WECMRD made no payments to bring The Show to the valley, the rec district did complete some field improvements in Eagle and Edwards in preparation for the event. Other improvements, such as installing fencing, was slated to happen later this week and WECMRD was able to cancel the installations.

“In the end, we fixed up two fields that will benefit our local leagues and our local kids,” Johnson said.

Johnson added that during brief e-mail exchanges Tuesday morning, Conner indicated willingness to negotiate to have The Show help pay WECMRD's field work expenses. However, Johnson stressed those details are yet to be worked out.

In a subsequent email to Johnson, Conner wrote that The Show had planned to make a $20,000 donation to the district after the tournament. Conner wrote that donation would be increased to $35,000.

Local reaction

Mike Stephens, president of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce, expressed the local business community's disappointment about The Show news.

“It had nothing to do with anyone in the valley or anything here,” said Stephens. “The Show is for real, that's the tough thing about it. It was really going to be a shot in the arm for the whole valley.”

Stevens noted that work done in preparation for the event won't be wasted. “It is all stuff the community will be able to use.”

“The Vail Valley Partnership is disappointed to share this news with the Vail Valley business and lodging community; however, we remain optimistic that sporting events and youth tournaments are a key part of our summer brand moving forward,” said Chris Romer, Executive Director of the Vail Valley Partnership.

Romer added that this isn't the end of efforts to bring big events to the valley. That was good news for Leto.

“We just need to move on to the next one,” Leto said. “These events work — we shouldn't let this one stop us.”

WECMRD and the VVP are working with the event producer to determine additional details and a plan to share that information with the community.

— Vail Daily reporter Scott N. Miller contributed to this report.