Sports tourism is a booming industry that continually brings in astounding revenue. Harford County, in Maryland, is a prime example of this revenue impact. In Harford County, sports tourism brought in nearly $50 million and supported 650 jobs, each year over the past three years. According to The Baltimore Sun, this revenue came in from three sports- youth baseball, lacrosse, and soccer tournaments- at three different venues.
Due to this steep incline in revenue, the Maryland Office of Tourism, did a study to see the true impact of tourism on the county overall. The study showed that Harford County gained $374 million in total or more than $1 million a day. With sports tourism bringing in $50 million, the county owes a lot to the sports industry for the more revenue.
According to the study, baseball averaged the most events per year with 39, and the most participants, 20,600. That brought nearly 55,000 spectators to the county’s Ripken Stadium. Lacrosse made a big imp...
We can all agree that visiting potential sites is an integral part of the site selection process for events. However, not all site visits are created equal. Rights Holders are looking for a quick trip to look at the venue to make sure it will work for their needs. Looking at facility specs on paper, or online, is helpful; but, we really need to see the space in person to identify any potential issues, planning the layout, and identifying branding opportunities. While not all Rights Holders are looking for the same experience, there are some common themes we look for to make the most of the visit.
Do Your Homework
Just as we ask for destinations to do their homework before our appointments at Symposium, we want you to do your homework before our site visits as well. Byron Hicks, the Manager of Events for USA Ultimate says, “Know my needs before I come and show me what I need. Don’t show me ball fields when I need linear field space.”...
As I’ve gained more “experience” (another way of stating that I’m getting older) in this industry, I tend to be more straight forward about the positives and negatives of the sports events industry. No need to sugar coat anything. And that’s what I’d like to comment on here, to hopefully save those of you just getting started, a lot of potential headaches.
So, here’s the scenario - you’ve just started your career at your local sports commission or CVB as the new sports events’ sales manager. As the new person, you’re fired up because you get to work in sports, and you think you have the sports facilities in your area to do big things. And you want to get out there and get that first big event for your area, a real home run, as soon as possible. You attend your first NASC Symposium and meet with numerous event-owners and they all sound great. You think to yourself, wow we could do ALL these events in our destination &n...
The Spring 2019 edition of the NASC Playbook is available now. Download your copy.
Inside this issue:
What kind of leader do you want to be
Sports Facilities Summit
On motivating your employees
Why rebrand the NASC
That aha moment
12 questions for CVBs and Sports Commissions
Symposium education track line-up
Staying competitive on and off the sports field
We encourage members to share information with your peers. Contact Meagan Grau, Director of Member Services and Engagement, at meagan@sportscommissions.org to learn more about how you can contribute to a future edition of The NASC Playbook.
The NASC Staff
Among the numerous segments comprising a destination’s tourism portfolio, often exists sports and event tourism. These efforts may reside in any number of organizational structures from within a destination marketing organization (DMO), a government entity or stand-alone organization. The growth of sports and event tourism has been undeniable. The industry’s professional association originated with merely a dozen communities gathering to share ideas more than 25 years ago. Today, what would become the National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC), serves more than 840 members from across the country and beyond.
As the go-to resource for the robust sports and events tourism industry, the NASC serves not only destination representatives, but just as importantly, sports and event rights holders looking for host destinations that can accommodate their events, venue and facility operators, and a plethora of industry suppliers. Destinations ranging in population from less ...
NASC Sports Legacy Fund to raise money for Knoxville’s DreamBikes
Every year, the NASC Sports Legacy Fund awards an annual grant to an organization that provides opportunities in sports and encourages a healthy lifestyle. This contribution is part of the legacy NASC leaves. This year, the NASC Sports Legacy Fund is benefiting an organization in need in the host city of the 2019 NASC Symposium, Knoxville, TN, and we need your help to do so! Since 2009, the NASC Sports Legacy Fund has donated more than $140,000 to beneficiaries in the host cities of the NASC Symposium.
DreamBikes, the 2019 beneficiary, is an organization that strategically places their stores in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods to give paid, hands-on job training to teenagers. Employees learn how to refurbish bikes, use POS software, and deliver great customer service. DreamBikes provides lifelong skills to their teen employees, helping them to shift gears and find a bright future.
Help us, help Drea...
“We under promise and over-deliver.” That’s what Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo told WAFB is a key to the sports tourism boom in the area. It may take a lot of us by surprise, but it seems to be working for the area
Baton Rouge will be host to the US Soccer regional youth championships in June, which is worth about $20 million to the area, Marucci World Series Championships in July, and Youth Basketball of America’s Winter Nationals in December.
One of the new attractions city leaders expect will bring people to the city is Topgolf. The new location is set to open soon and is the first in Louisiana. Arrigo told WAFB that events and attractions like Topgolf bring people to Baton Rouge, and in turn they spend their money around the area at restaurants, hotels, and retail.
Read full article by WAFB.
Youngsters who are involved in sports, we hope, are involved for the right reasons: Learning teamwork, staying active, honing social skills. A few are athletically gifted enough that they can look forward to a career at the next level, be it high school, college or beyond. Whether you work with youngsters in camps, in AAU-type organizations or at school, the process of playing with one eye on a scholarship is a stressful one.
First, the facts, courtesy the NCAA: Eight million kids are participating in high school sports. Only 480,000 of them (about 6 percent) will eventually compete in collegiate athletics at an NCAA program. And only 56 percent of those athletes will receive “some level” of scholarship assistance, and that amount averages less than $11,000 per student-athlete.
And remember, many scholarships are “partial” scholarships, especially when you are dealing with the so-called Olympic sports of track and field, soccer and the like. Even baseball ...
At the October NASC Market Segment Meetings, a lot of the talk among attendees was focused on keeping kids involved in sports. As we’ve noted, by the time young athletes hit early high school, participation drops dramatically and with an organization like NASC, kids playing sports is vital to keeping the organization, and the industry, growing.
A recent article on ESPNW takes the youth sports discussion one step further—why you want your young athlete to be involved in multiple sports in this day and age of sport specialization.
The author, sports reporter (and sports mom) Michelle Smith, gives five reasons why it’s good for kids to play several sports, including fewer overuse injuries, less chance for emotional burnout, exposure to different kids and different roles and not putting all your sports eggs into one basket.
The final point is perhaps important in the discussion of keeping kids playing sports. “Playing only one sport limits y...
Olympic fever, albeit short term and every four years, can be a big driver in sports facilities. As we’ve seen Team USA excel in the pool and in gymnastics, expect little boys and girls everywhere (and their parents) to have visions of gold medals dancing in their heads.
These expected booms in these sports (and more) can mean an increase in building these facilities—to meet the demands of more people who want to use state-of-the-art equipment and venues.
An article in the South Bend Tribune reflects that demand—in the case of two northern Indiana cities, Elkhart and Plymouth, their schools’ facilities are aging (and a YMCA has closed) but those pools could be replaced by larger sports complexes to be used not just for students but for regional meets.
If plans go through, northern Indiana would become home to two sports centers that could draw a variety of athletes, from soccer players to swimmers to fitness buffs. Both cities are planning to include a ...