The Great American Franchise Expo carries a When field of Saturday, Feb. 27, 2027 at 7 a.m. to Sunday, Feb. 28 at 11:59 p.m. The city record places the run at the Tampa Convention Center, 333 S. Franklin St. The venue calendar prints the same span. Neither page names a hall or a meeting room.
The description reads that attendance is free for all who register online. It names seminars on franchise law, absentee businesses and franchise financing.
The one published price
The organiser's Tampa page carries the only attendance figure. It reads: Sign Up Today to be Exempt from the $29 Door Fee. A second line reads that users who register online are exempt from the $29 door fee.
Ten people at the door owe $290. Ten who register online owe nothing. The page warns that the ticket email can land in a promotions folder.
The organiser still sells 2026
The Tampa page is titled Tampa Franchise Expo 2026. Its date line reads March 21-22, 2026, with Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The homepage carries 12 shows scheduled in 2026 and names Tampa at the Tampa Convention Center for March 21-22, 2026.
The year 2027 appears in no visible text on either page. The 2027 dates sit on the city record alone, and the 2026 clock is the last Tampa clock the organiser publishes.
Ask the organiser for the 2027 hours in writing.
No lodging term on either site
The word hotel appears in no visible text on the organiser homepage or the Tampa page. The city record carries no lodging line.
The venue hotel list holds 27 entries over 26 properties, with 26 distance figures and no dollar amount. Two properties sit at 0.2 miles: Tampa Marriott Water Street at 700 S. Florida Ave. and JW Marriott Tampa Water Street at 505 Water Street.
Seven entries sit at half a mile or less and 16 at 1 mile or less. The median of the 26 readings is 1.0 mile. The outer entries are Tampa Airport Marriott at 8.4 miles and Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Brandon at 9 miles.
The weekend holds two events
The calendar groups Molten Florida Pre-Qualifier under the same two dates, in the Exhibit Hall and Meeting Rooms, with a printed 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. field. Two events therefore share the building and the garage across that weekend.
The weekend before carries Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic Race Weekend from Friday, Feb. 19 at 10 a.m. to Saturday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m.
Seventeen thousand is a ceiling
The facility page carries a 17,000 guest capacity, 600,000 square feet over four floors and 16 minutes from the airport. That figure describes the building. Neither the city record nor the organiser page carries an attendance forecast.
One night or two
Feb. 27, 2027 falls on a Saturday and Feb. 28 on a Sunday. A Saturday arrival with a Sunday checkout is one night. A Monday checkout covers the 11:59 p.m. Sunday close and runs two nights.
Ten rooms over one night is 10 room-nights. Ten rooms over two nights is 20.
Parking is the priced part
The convention garage at 141 E. Brorein Street holds 454 spaces, 11 ADA spaces and 2 electric vehicle charging stations. The event rate runs $5.00 to $50.00. The non-event rate is $3 an hour with an $18 daily maximum, and the height limit is 6 feet 6 inches.
The page rules out long-term parking at that garage. It routes long-term stays to Pam Iorio at 301 Channelside Drive with 790 spaces and Fort Brooke at 107 N. Franklin Street with 556 hourly spaces. Both allow overnight parking to 6 a.m.
Front Drive at 333 S. Franklin Street holds 36 metered spaces at $4 an hour from 8 a.m. to midnight, with no overnight parking.
The request to send
hotelhaggle is an RFP marketplace for group bookings. Submission is free, no commission is added to the rate, and hotels answer in 24 to 72 hours.
Its seller-of-travel page, last updated Oct. 21, 2026, states the company cannot process hotel booking requests from residents of or for travel to Florida, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington. A Tampa request therefore goes to the properties directly.
Ask for the nightly rate, the parking charge, the amenity fee and the cancellation window as four written lines. Send them to both Marriott properties at 0.2 miles, to the Sky Bridge property and to The Westin Tampa Waterside at 0.3 miles.
What the file holds
One published price of $29 at the door, waived for online registrants. A 2027 date on the city record with no 2027 clock from the organiser. Twenty-seven venue entries with no rate and no cut-off. Two properties at 0.2 miles. The rest needs a written answer.
