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Ashley Whittaker of The Sports Facilities Companies named Sports ETA’s Woman of the Year

CLEVELAND (April 4, 2024) – Sports ETA, the trade association for the sports events and tourism industry, today at the 2024 Sports ETA Women’s Summit, named Ashley Whittaker, Partner and Senior Vice President of Marketing for The Sports Facilities Companies as the 2024 Sports ETA’s Woman of the Year.

Whittaker leads corporate business development and marketing for the Sports Facilities Companies as well as the SFC Facility Marketing Department, which is responsible for the marketing, branding, and project management of SF Network facilities. Under her leadership, SFC has exponentially more communities with better business development strategies and campaigns. SFC’s clients and firms have been featured in major media outlets such as Forbes, Fortune, HBO, TIME, Wall Street Journal, Sports Business Journal, and Sportico.

Most importantly, Whittaker embodies the mission of “Improving the Health and Economic Vitality of the Communities Served.” She has expanded her leadership role from product design to Marketing Director and now Senior Vice-President and Partner at SFC. Among her many achievements, she has served the sports tourism industry by launching 50+facility brands, elevated numerous destinations through innovative business development campaigns, and launched the SF Network platform. Most recently, Whittaker led the development and launch of the Community Playmaker media platform designed to inspire the next great American community. The magazine and digital platform is dedicated to providing solutions and ideas for visionary local government leaders.

Sports ETA Member Awards, powered by Team Travel Source, recognizes a female member who has made significant contributions in, and major contributions to, the industry trade association, Sports ETA, and the overall sports events and tourism industry through the Woman of the Year award. The Sports ETA Woman of the Year award is presented annually at the organization’s Women’s Summit, held in association with the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

“Sports ETA is honored to recognize Ashley Whittaker as our Woman of the Year,” said John David, President & CEO of Sports ETA. “With this award, we recognize her leadership and collaborative spirit in our sports events and tourism industry, and thank her for her innovative approach to marketing sports facilities.”

"Ashley is a one-of-a-kind leader,” said Jason Clement, Founder, CEO of The Sports Facilities Companies. “As a partner at Sports Facilities Companies, she has been transformational to how we serve our clients and communities. Beyond SFC, she has a heart for serving the industry, and making everyone she interacts with better. She is a strategic, creative, and innovative problem solver. We are proud to be her business partners, and she is beyond deserving of any recognition she receives."

"Ashley’s commitment to excellence and service shows up in everything she does,” said Eric Sullivan, Partner of The Sports Facilities Companies. “As a Partner at SFC, she makes our team better every day and her leadership impact is felt at every level. Congratulations on this special recognition and thank you for being such an incredible teammate and friend.”

Special shout-out to our Member Awards sponsor, Team Travel Source.

About Sports ETA:
As the only trade association for the sports events and tourism industry, Sports ETA is the most trusted resource for sports commissions, destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and sports event owners. Sports ETA is committed to the success of more than 700 member organizations and 2,400 sports event professionals. We promise to deliver quality education, ample networking opportunities, and exceptional event management and marketing know-how to our members to protect the integrity of the sports events and tourism industry.  For more information, visit SportsETA.org.