Check out our line-up of best practices and event webinars below and reserve your spot today!   The Sport of Politics Best Practices Webinar Thursday, August 25, 2016 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET Presented by Kathy Nelson and Marc Schreiber Register Now! Join Kathy Nelson, President/CEO, Kansas City Sports Commission, and Marc Schreiber, Vice President of Marketing & Development, St. Louis Sports Commission, as they discuss how you can be an advocate for your local and state legislation. They will share their story of navigating the political waters, and tips for what works and what does not. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 25th, remember, you can download the webinar recording from our Webinar Archives (login required).   USA Boxing Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International Thursday, September 8, 2016 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET Presented by Brandon Dyett Register Now! Join Bran...

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 ...

Registration and housing for the 2017 NASC Sports Event Symposium opens on Tuesday, September 6. The 2017 Symposium, scheduled for March 27-30 in Sacramento, CA, marks the 25th anniversary of the only non-profit, 501(c)3 association for the sport tourism industry in the United States.  The Symposium features dozens of authentic education sessions, countless networking opportunities, and business development appointments in the NASC Sports Marketplace.   The NASC staff, Board of Directors and Symposium Committee are looking forward to seeing you.  By attending, you will learn how to produce measurable ROI, elevate your sports events, and improve the quality of life in your destination.  First Class of NASC Hall of Fame Inductees to Be Recognized in Sacramento The 2017 schedule includes recognition of the very first class of the NASC Hall of Fame inductees during the opening ceremony. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to promote the professional manage...

Recently I was browsing through the NASC website, www.sportscommissions.org, and was reminded what a tremendous resource it is for our membership.   It’s very easy to navigate, even for a web-challenged Baby Boomer like me!  Being a destination sales person, I am drawn to the “Directories” tab.  Having contact information for a person within an organization is a valuable resource in this day and age and is a useful feature no matter what your membership category.  I particularly like the “advanced search filter” the directories offer.  I use it when traveling to various destinations around the country.  I search to identify organizations located in the city I am visiting and use this information to add face-to-face meetings to my schedule while I’m there. I have been a frequent visitor to the Models & Samples page under the “Research” tab and have used the examples there on many occasions.  I am a be...

Rio itself. With all the talk of crime in the streets, incomplete construction, Zika, pollution and the like, Rio has looked like the winner so far in these Olympic games. The opening ceremonies may have been too long, even with a 7:30 p.m. Eastern start, but they were memorable, from Gisele Bundchen’s catwalk across the stadium floor to the Tonga flagbearer (he’s a taekwondo athlete, by the way) to the global warming lecture, it was must see TV. And, they did it on a budget that was 12 times less than in London and 20 times less than Beijing. Why we care… With all the doom and gloom coming into these games, Rio needed to start strong, and organizers have delivered. Security is visible and plentiful, but once the games got under way, the complaints seemed to quiet down. Let’s hope it stays that way for the next two weeks. Read the rest of Game Day Communication’s “The Take” here. Blog post courtesy of Game Day Communications.

The challenge venue owners often face is what to do with all that space when your primary sport is no longer in season. In particular, a space as big as a racing oval has to find an activity as big as the space to bring in revenue in the off season. That’s why you’ll see, for example, multi-day concerts at race tracks. The growth of extreme sport challenges, like Tough Mudder, Spartan Race and similar obstacle events has given these race tracks and other large venues, something to host on off weekends. And Michigan International Speedway has taken that idea one step further.    The Childrenz Challenge at MIS is in its third year and is in record territory. The muddy obstacle course for 4 to 13 year olds at Michigan International Speedway is looking at a record 2,200 participants on Aug. 13.   After having about 1,300 kids last year, the 1,500-kid limit for the Childrenz Challenge already was reached by Feb. 29 this year, Scott Vitale, founder and p...

An economic impact second only to college football? That’s a pretty significant impact. And that’s what is going on this week in South Bend. Baton twirlers, yes, that staple of halftime band performances everywhere, are on the University of Notre Dame campus this week from around the country for the 47th annual America’s Youth on Parade baton twirling competition. The South Bend Tribune reports that the National Baton Twirling Association’s competition — often dubbed the Super Bowl of baton twirling — draws contestants from all 50 states and many other countries. Age categories range from tots to the collegiate level in the diverse competition, which will include majorette contests, parade corps, flag corps, drill teams and cheerleading. By the way, the competition’s sessions are free and open to the public. It's estimated that about 5,000 visitors come into the South Bend-Mishawaka area for the competition, and Meghan Huff, sports...

We’ve talked a lot about how you can use the facilities you have for the best events you can attract. And yes, we’ve seen a facilities “arms race” blossom, as cities look to expand their sports venues to bring in even bigger and, they hope, better events. The “Gold Standard,” if you will, of sports facilities just may be in Blaine, Minnesota, where the National Sports Center is located. Billing itself as the World’s Largest Amateur Sports and Meeting Facility, the National Sports Center (NSC) boasts 50+ athletic fields, a golf course, an indoor FieldTurf field, velodrome, stadium, rinks and its own residence hall. It brings in more than 100 unique programs and events that will draw more than 4 million visitors each year. In fact, the facility has welcomed over 50 million visitors since its opening in 1990, when it was built by the state of Minnesota as part of a statewide building program to improve its amateur sports facilities. The NSC ...

Check out our line-up of best practices and event webinars below and reserve your spot today!  USA Cycling Thursday, July 21, 2016 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET Presented by Micah Rice Sponsored by MGM Resorts International Register Now! Join Micah Rice from USA Cycling as he discusses what he looks for in a host city and what it takes to host their events. Micah will share details on their upcoming 2018-2019 USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships, 2018-2019 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships and the 2019-2020 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 21st, remember, you can download the webinar recording from our Webinar Archives (login required).   Create Success with Housing Tuesday, July 26, 2016 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET Presented by Patrick MacCoubrey Register Now! In this webinar learn how event housing can help you improve ...

When it was announced that golf would return to the Olympics for the 2016 games, just about everyone was excited about the possibility of showing off the game to a worldwide audience. Coming with its own built-in star power in the form of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and the like, golf seemed to be a sure-fire hit in ticket sales and TV viewership. And then the Zika virus came along. Although that might not be the real reason that many of the sport’s stars are not competing for their countries this summer, Zika and the potentially devastating effect it can have on the unborn have been enough to steer many of golf’s top names from heading to Brazil. The latest to bow out? Jordan Spieth, who told International Golf Federation officials this week, just before a news conference, that he would not be playing next month in Brazil. Spieth joins Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and McIlroy in deciding to skip the Games, mostly due to concerns about the Zika virus that is prevalen...