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 2019 NASC Symposium is right around the corner -- which means we are gearing up for the Sports Legacy Fund Silent Auction!
While in Knoxville, make sure you stop by the one and only Women's Basketball Hall of Fame for our Halftime event on Tuesday, May 6. You won't want to miss this opportunity to sip on Ole Smokey Mountain Moonshine, play casino games, network with industry colleagues, and bid on silent auction items!
So what can you bid on? How about a WiFi Smart Video Doorbell or a pair of Beat headphones? A throwback prize of a Nintendo NES Classic Mini Console and a $100 Visa gift card! We are constantly adding new items, so check back often to view newly added items.
Don't wait, start bidding now. The 2019 Sports Legacy Fund Silent Auction is open for mobile bids until 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7. To view auction items and place a bid, click here. You will be asked to create a free account.
Live action bidding will take place on Tue...
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 ...
It may be holiday time, but for many in youth sports, it’s coming up on tournament time. During holiday breaks many teams, whether they’re affiliated with a school or with an AAU-type organization, use the time away from school for traveling tournaments.
So now may be a good time to listen to one of soccer’s legends, Mia Hamm, on how parents should handle their kids in sports.
In a speech recently in Colorado Springs, she offered this bit of advice: “Resist the urge to make excuses for your kids.”
Mia Hamm is now a sports mom herself, and in that role hears other sports parents blame the refs, the coaches, even their kids’ teammates if Johnny or Mary doesn’t have a good game.
“They look up to you,” she told the crowd. “They are so vulnerable after a defeat. They don’t need to hear, ‘Oh, my, if Suzie had just passed that ball to you.’ Or ‘If that ref had a clue. Somebody needs to talk to him....
You know the drill: At youth tournaments, there are row upon rows of trophies, medals, etc. for everyone. Not just the members of the team that won, but EVERYONE. Because we want all the players to feel valued and to get a reward just for participating.
Pittsburgh Steeler’s linebacker James Harrison famously railed against participation trophies, going as far as taking away his kids’ awards, saying he wanted them to earn their trophies.
And now, add Louisville women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz to the list of those who want more of an effort from his players than just showing up. Earlier this season, after a particularly poor showing (his opinion) by his team in a basketball, game, Coach Walz blasted the “participation trophy” mentality of players.
“We just live right now in a generation of kids that are coming through, everybody gets a damn trophy,” he said. “You finish last, you come home with a trophy. Are you kidding me? What...
Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton has made headlines lately, not just for his play on the field, but for his complaints to the NFL Commissioner off the field. Newton, a strong and mobile quarterback, has been hit hard this season, with few if any penalties called for the hits. He’s said he “doesn’t feel safe” on the field anymore, an issue he and his team have brought up to Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The continuing discussion on when, or if, football is ever played safety was brought up again in a recent article in The Atlantic. The article quotes Christopher Whitlow, chief of neuroradiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine, who wanted to see how head impact affects developing brains. His team studied male football players between ages 8 and 13 over the course of a season, recording “head impact data” using a Head Impact Telemetry System to measure force, which was correlated with video of games and practices.
The findings, publ...