2022 was an important inflection point in the history of our association. After two years of being unable to host live events, we experienced significant pressure on the sustainability of our event-driven revenue organization. 

Sports ETA’s mission is to be the essential resource and leading advocate for the sports events and tourism industry. In FY ‘22, we did just that:

• Hosted six (6) live events
  • Including two (2) Symposiums
• Unveiled the 2022 State of the Industry Report, which measured the 2020 and 2021 impact on the sports events and tourism industry and served as a benchmark for our 2019 study
• Launched Sports Tourism Learning Institute (STLI), the industry’s education engine to transform, enrich and power member’s careers
• Joined forces with industry partners to enhance advocacy and value for our members
• Supported national tourism relevancy 
• Supported local and national youth sports initiatives to fuel participation
• Our staff wrote letters of support on tourism initiatives and spoke at member’s board meetings and conferences, state association meetings, national and international conventions, as well as multiple media interviews
• Released several industry reports, white papers, studies
• Amplified community group offerings
  • Created two (2) new community groups

While the list above highlights the countless hours poured into supporting the sports events and tourism industry, there is much more to share. 
Dive deeper into the FY’22 Annual Report.

A Look Ahead

A solid FY ‘22 gave us the resources to further invest in a number of important operational items in 2023. This includes:

• New and improved content for events
• Additional new education courses in our online catalog
• Additional investment in research and data collection
• Efficiency and content enhancements to our website
• Major improvements to our accounting and financial systems
• Integration of all reporting systems into a cohesive full-service financial management capability

As 2023 unfolds, it is our goal to further support growth in member communities, both in size and engagement. We look to invest in programming that is important to our communities, hit our financial landmarks, and continue to enhance the mission and vision of Sports ETA.

On behalf of the Sports ETA Board of Directors and the entire Sports ETA staff, I thank you for your continued support. Without it, we couldn’t keep our passion, helping sports events and tourism professionals achieve previously unimaginable levels of performance, alive. We’re able to do this by nurturing a diverse and inclusive community of smart, creative, and interesting people — you. 

We’re keeping our promise to deliver quality education, ample networking opportunities, and to protect the integrity of the sports events and tourism industry.

We hope you'll join us as we Think Bigger in 2023!

Al Kidd
President & CEO
Sports ETA