Pitbull Tweets $1 Million Contract with Visit Florida

MIAMI — In a tweet titled, “FULL DISCLOSURE — FLORIDA,” singer Pitbull made public the terms of his million-dollar payout from Visit Florida on Thursday after state House Speaker Richard Corcoran took Mr. 305 to court demanding that the terms of the deal be publicly disclosed.

“It’s been an honor to represent Miami and the Sunshine State,” the singer tweeted. “I’ve taken Miami and Florida worldwide — way before any contract, and will do so way after.”

Pitbull, who will once again appear in a nationally televised New Year’s Eve broadcast from Miami on Fox, said that the location was not by accident.

“I love my home state," he proclaimed in the tweet. "When asked to take on a New Year’s show, I INSISTED it be live from Florida. #LOVEFL Since birth … and till the day I die. Dale!”

Dale is the singer's popular catchphrase that he uses regularly with fans on social media from the Spanish "go ahead."

According to the terms of the contract, Pitbull was to be paid a total of $1 million for the contract. This included $250,000 in July 2015 upon executing the agreement, $250,000 upon delivery of a video titled, "Sexy Beaches," another $100,000 upon delivering "Conquering Florida" video intro and outros, $100,000 upon delivery of the first "Pit Package" promotion and another $100,000 scheduled talent fee on New Year's Eve 2015 for promotion of "#LoveFL" during scheduled live performances.

Released in July, "Sexy Beaches" received more than 10.6 million views and helped propel the state to a tourism record this year with an estimated 85 million people visiting in the first nine months of the year.

The terms of the deal had not previously been disclosed publicly subject to a confidentiality clause. The contract ran from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 with an option to renew.

Corcoran also took to Twitter on Thursday in response to the singer’s disclosure.

“It is unfortunate that it took litigation to lift the veil of secrecy on this particular contract,” he said. “This was a long unnecessary journey through claims of trade secrets, threats of prosecution and corporate welfare paid by taxpayers.

Corcoran added that he will not hesitate to use any tool at the “people’s disposal to protect the taxpayer and ensure transparency is the rule and not the exception in state government.”

He concluded his statement with the hope that any coverage around the issue be to foster a “larger discussion of the proper role of government in the free market and the need to end the idea that government as ‘venture capitalist’ is good for our economy.”

Photo by Eva Rinaldi via Flickr.