What your event rights holder wants from you

 Posted on: November 7 2017
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First and foremost, we want information.  Rights holders operate in multiple states, counties, municipalities and other entities which all may have different rules when it comes to facility permits, health and safety rules, etc.  Knowing that information is incredible helpful to rights holders and can save them hours of research time and phone calls trying to sort it all out.

Local information is also helpful, especially for youth events.  People need things to do between games, or need to buy things they forgot etc.  Providing a simple one-sheeter with information such as the nearest hospital, urgent care center, sporting goods store, mall, movie theater etc. will be useful when training staff and can be included in their staffs books they use throughout the weekend.  Think about the things you would want to know about if you were traveling for your son’s or daughter’s tournament.

For youth sports especially, it is also important to have a relationship with the local youth club(s).  Youth clubs can provide vital support in getting first year events off the ground by assisting in marketing and promotion efforts.  They may also be needed for sanctioning purposes as well depending on the sport

Tell us what you need.  CVBs and Sports Commissions have different funding models so we need to know what is important to you, heads in beds, economic impact, total visitors, etc.  We also need to know what reporting you will need post event so we are prepared to collect the information you need.  If you are worried about room nights and need a pick-up report, don’t wait till after the event to tell me that. 

A brutally honest request is for you to read.  Rights Holders that send RFPs typically will outline what they need and what is important to them.  They may also ask for you to respond in a specific format.  Please follow those instructions.  I am the first to admit that not all RFPs are created equal, but make sure you are really reading them all the way through before you start asking questions.  If you email me asking 5 questions and 4 of them are answered in the RFP, I will start to question your ability to host, due to your lack of attention to detail. 

Lastly, money!  Grant programs and even non-financial incentives can all be drivers for rights holders to bring events to your city.  Tell us what is available and what we need to do to access those funds or incentives. 

By Matthew Libber, CSEE
Elite Tournaments

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