Every year, sports tourism professionals are asked to answer some version of the same question:
"What's the value of what we do?"
Whether you're presenting to elected officials, advocating for facility investments, recruiting events, or building your annual strategic plan, data has become one of the most important tools in a destination's toolbox.
That's where Sports ETA's 2026 State of the Industry Report comes in.
Thanks to the support of Northstar Meetings Group, Sports ETA is able to provide one of the industry's most comprehensive research resources. The report offers a detailed look at the sports tourism economy, including participation trends, economic impact data, destination benchmarks, and insights from destinations, rights holders, venues, and industry partners across the country. While the headlines are impressive, the real value isn't simply reading the report—it's putting the information to work.
Here are six practical ways destinations, rights holders, and sports tourism professionals can use the State of the Industry Report to strengthen their organizations and communities.
1. Build a Stronger Case for Investment
Sports tourism professionals often find themselves competing for resources, whether that's funding, staffing, facility improvements, or marketing support. The State of the Industry Report provides trusted, third-party data that can help support those conversations.
Need to explain the economic value of hosting events? Looking to justify a facility enhancement? Trying to demonstrate the importance of sports tourism to local stakeholders?
The report provides national and state-level data that helps connect local efforts to broader industry trends. Instead of saying sports tourism is important, you can show why.
How This Could Look
A sports commission pursuing a new indoor sports facility could use the report's economic impact findings to demonstrate how sports tourism contributes to local businesses, hotel occupancy, and tax revenue. By pairing local event results with national industry benchmarks, destination leaders can strengthen the case for future investment.
2. Benchmark Your Destination Against Industry Trends
One of the biggest challenges facing sports tourism professionals is understanding how their destination compares to the broader industry.
The State of the Industry Report offers insight into participation levels, spectator spending, economic impact trends, and market performance, allowing organizations to evaluate where they stand and where opportunities may exist.
Benchmarking helps answer important questions:
- Are we focusing on the right event types?
- How does our market compare to similar destinations?
- Where are future growth opportunities emerging?
Understanding the broader landscape can help destinations make more informed decisions about where to invest time and resources.
How This Could Look
If your organization has historically focused on youth tournaments, the report's participation and spectator trends may help identify emerging opportunities in niche sports, adult amateur competitions, or spectator-driven events. The goal isn't to copy what other destinations are doing—it's to understand where the market is moving and where your destination is best positioned to compete.
3. Strengthen Event Bids and Recruitment Efforts
Successful event recruitment requires more than great facilities and community support. It also requires demonstrating market readiness and industry knowledge.
The State of the Industry Report provides data points that can strengthen bid presentations and conversations with rights holders.
When destinations understand participation growth, travel behavior, spectator demand, and economic impact trends, they are better equipped to align opportunities with organizational goals.
The report can help destinations move from simply responding to opportunities to proactively pursuing the right opportunities.
How This Could Look
When pursuing a national championship or major tournament, destination leaders can incorporate report data into bid presentations to demonstrate industry knowledge and market alignment. Understanding participation growth and travel trends can help destinations position themselves as a strategic host, not simply an available venue.
4. Inform Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Many organizations are currently planning for the next fiscal year, updating strategic plans, or evaluating long-term priorities.
The State of the Industry Report can serve as a valuable planning resource by helping organizations understand where the industry is headed and what trends may influence future growth.
The report highlights evolving dynamics across:
- Participation sports
- Spectator sports
- International sports tourism
- Venue development
- Industry partnerships
By grounding strategic planning discussions in industry research, organizations can make decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.
How This Could Look
As organizations prepare annual business plans or multi-year strategic initiatives, report findings can help validate priorities and identify areas for future growth. A destination considering investment in field sports, for example, may use participation trends and industry benchmarks to support long-term planning discussions.
5. Tell a More Powerful Economic Impact Story
Sports tourism professionals know that events generate value beyond the competition venue.
They support local businesses, drive visitation, create jobs, and contribute to community development. Yet translating those outcomes into language that resonates with stakeholders can be challenging.
The State of the Industry Report provides context that helps frame local success within the broader sports tourism economy. When stakeholders understand the scale of the industry and how local efforts contribute to larger trends, conversations become more productive and support becomes easier to build.
Data gives credibility to the story. Storytelling gives meaning to the data. Together, they create a compelling case for sports tourism's role in community growth.
How This Could Look
A DMO presenting year-end results to elected officials can pair local economic impact data with industry-wide findings from the report to demonstrate how their destination contributes to a $274.5 billion industry. The broader context helps stakeholders understand that local successes are part of a much larger economic story.
6. Rights Holders - Demonstrate Market Opportunity with Industry Data
The 2026 State of the Industry Report isn't just a resource for destinations—it also provides valuable insights for rights holders looking to demonstrate the value of their events.
This year's report includes dedicated rights holder profiles alongside industry-wide data on participation, spectator travel, and international sports tourism. Together, these insights help paint a clearer picture of the opportunities events create for host communities and partners.
Whether you're recruiting future host destinations, building a sponsorship deck, or presenting to your board, the report provides credible, third-party data that strengthens the business case behind your event.
For example, when discussing a new host market, a rights holder can pair their event-specific attendance and economic impact projections with Sports ETA's broader industry findings—such as the industry's $274.5 billion total economic impact, 192 million room nights, and 1.6 million jobs supported—to demonstrate how their event fits into a much larger economic ecosystem.
How This Could Look
A national governing body evaluating future host cities could use the report's rights holder profiles and industry benchmarks to identify destination characteristics that align with its event strategy. Similarly, an event owner meeting with prospective sponsors could use the report's participation, spectator, and international tourism data to demonstrate audience reach and the broader economic value of sports tourism.
Put It Into Practice
The sports tourism industry continues to evolve, and so do the expectations placed on destination leaders, event organizers, and sports commissions.
Today's sports tourism professionals are expected to demonstrate economic impact, identify growth opportunities, support strategic investments, and communicate value to stakeholders at every level—all while hosting exceptional events and delivering outstanding experiences for athletes, spectators, clients, and rights holders.
The State of the Industry Report was created to help answer those challenges.
Whether you're preparing for a board presentation, evaluating future host markets, developing your next strategic plan, recruiting events, or advocating for new resources, the report provides the data and context needed to support informed decision-making.
The data is valuable. What you do with it is where the real impact happens. Explore the report, share it with your team, and start turning industry insights into action.
One Sheeter on Sports Tourism - An Investment