A longtime Maryland Stadium Authority official updated the board in early December on upcoming sports tourism events, just as he had dozens of times over the years. There were bowl games and conferences to discuss.

But it would be Terry Hasseltine’s final report. The 17-year veteran of the state’s sports tourism arm is no longer employed by the authority as of late December, said executive director Michael Frenz.

Hasseltine was the face of Maryland’s efforts to attract world cups, matches between European soccer clubs and other top-flight international sporting events, and his departure was abrupt. In that final December meeting held at the authority’s offices within the B&O Warehouse, he discussed plans to review grant applications in January.

The reason for his exit is opaque. Hasseltine directed requests for comment to the authority, as did Gov. Wes Moore’s office. Both Frenz and authority chair Craig Thompson declined to share what prompted it.

“It’s a personnel matter,” each said.

Public documents filed to the Internal Revenue Service show that events Hasseltine helped host operated at a significant financial loss. That does not explain what led to his departure, but could offer clues.

Hasseltine became the executive director of the Maryland Sports Commission in 2008 after holding a similar role in Kentucky. For nearly two decades, he spearheaded efforts to recruit college basketball tournaments and football games to Maryland, as well as award grants for youth sports. The commission even organizes a spelling bee.

He also served as the head of the commission’s nonprofit arm, the Sport and Entertainment Corporation of Maryland, since its creation in 2019. The nonprofit has helped host multiday annual events such as the Maryland Cycling Classic in the Baltimore area and the Maryland 5 Star equestrian competition in Cecil County.

The future of that nonprofit, however, is unclear. Since the authority is separate from the nonprofit, Frenz was hesitant to provide specific information, but said the nonprofit, which formerly had six employees, now has zero.

Employees did not receive their final paychecks in late December, around Christmas.

“We’re doing what we can, within the limits of our authority, to see that they get paid,” Frenz said.

The futures of the cycling and equestrian competitions are murky. A fiscal snapshot of each event shows they struggled financially.

The 5 Star has attracted Olympic equestrian athletes to the Fair Hill venue in Cecil County each October since 2021. It is one of only seven major events in the world that features the highest level of eventing, a type of equestrian competition.

In 2023, the five-day event generated about $1.4 million in revenue — but had $7.5 million in expenses for a roughly $6 million loss, according to a Form 990 filed to the IRS and available via ProPublica.

“It’s an expensive event to put on and it was always a concern if the revenues generated were enough to cover the expenses,” said Ross Peddicord, the former executive director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board.

That same year, the Cycling Classic had $2.6 million in expenses and only $37,000 in revenue, the document shows, but the nonprofit overall broke even due to significant grants and gifts.

The Form 990 does not appear to include key revenue streams, such as corporate sponsorships, for each event. For example, the Cycling Classic received well over $1 million in sponsorships in 2023, said Steve Brunner, one of its organizers.

The most recent Form 990 for the Sport and Entertainment Corporation of Maryland is not available on the IRS website, but in 2022, the nonprofit lost about $3 million.

It was scheduled to receive $550,000 a year from Cecil County to continue hosting the 5 Star — and thoroughbred races at the same Fair Hill facility — through 2029.

But the future of the county’s annual investment could be in jeopardy.

Cecil County Executive Adam Streight said Tuesday that recent developments “have raised serious questions” and that it would be “irresponsible to commit to any course of action” until the county meets with the commission.

Streight was “taken by surprise by the sudden departures” of Hasseltine as well as Jeff Newman, the former head of the 5 Star, after learning about it via social media.

“My administration is committed to working with future leadership to ensure both events remain in Cecil County, where they belong,” Streight said in a statement.

The 5 Star received about $3 million a year from a state fund created by the General Assembly in 2022. That fund allots $10 million annually in state lottery money for sports and entertainment events.

The Banner requested a list of such events from Hasseltine in Dec. 2024, which showed that the 5 Star had received $8.7 million over the prior three years, more than any other event. That fund, controlled by the commission, also awarded money to college football and soccer games at M&T Bank Stadium, music festivals, PGA tournaments and last year’s Preakness Festival, among others.

A legislative analyst last January proposed slashing that $10 million annual fund during meetings with members of the General Assembly, as Annapolis faced a budget shortage, but Hasseltine emphasized the economic impact that such events create.

Instead, he argued, the state should “double down” on sports tourism.

The future of the Cycling Classic is unclear. Its chair, John Kelly, said Tuesday that his company, Kelly Benefits, “has been a proud supporter of the Maryland Cycling Classic and hope to be again in the future.”

Frenz said there is interest in continuing the 5 Star.

Will Phipps, an equine consultant based in southern Pennsylvania, is among those who wants to make sure the event has a future. He raised funds for the 5 Star during its early days, a half-decade ago, but worried about its financial model.

Emulating the Preakness Stakes with high-end catering and “grandiose infrastructure,” Phipps said, was not a recipe for sustainability.

In recent days, he sent a letter to the stadium authority, he said, and hopes to pitch them on a viable plan. For one, the event could be run on a budget one-half or one-third the size, he said.

“We have put together a model of success that shows how this could run in the black and not be a burden on the taxpayer and contribute heavily to the local economy,” he said.

Reporter Lee Sanderlin contributed to this article.