The National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC), the governing body of the $11.4 billion sports events and tourism industry, announced May 9, 2019, a new brand designed to represent a more inclusive organization to lead the sports event and tourism industry and its membership. The organization will now be referred to as Sports Events & Tourism Association or Sports ETA. Download Sports ETA presentation.

A record turnout of industry leaders in sports events and tourism attended the 27th annual symposium held in Knoxville, TN from May 6-9 to elect new leadership, honor members with national awards and participate in dozens of continuing education programs led by industry leaders. 

Way back in April, I had the pleasure of attending an etiquette session led by Patricia Rossi at the NASC (now called SportsETA) Women's Summit in Tampa. This was the second annual Women's Summit held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four basketball tournament. I wrote about my takeaways last year as well. Patricia was the last presenter in 48 hours chock-full of wisdom and knowledge bombs. All 70 attendees were exhausted, and perhaps more than a little sleep deprived, to say the least. You might say she had drawn the short straw. Not to mention, she was presenting to a bunch of awesome women who work in sports...let's just say (and I'm just surmising here), but this industry may be a bit more casual on the etiquette side of things than say, corporate finance. In a nutshell, Patricia rocked the house! She was engaging, hilarious, and an absolute delight. She is a southern belle that (if I'm honest) at first impression, intimid...

The Sports ETA Sports Legacy Fund raised more than $20,000 to benefit Knoxville non-profit, DreamBikes, which strategically places used bicycle stores in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods to provide hands-on, paid job training to teens. Working in conjunction with local youth organizations, DreamBikes employs teens from the area to work in the store; teaching them how to refurbish bicycles, use the POS software, and to deliver great customer service. DreamBikes provides lifelong skills to our teen employees, helping them to shift gears and find a bright future.

It’s back to work for those of us who went to the NASC Symposium in Knoxville last week. As you are getting back to your projects and events, don’t forget about all those contacts you met last week. In the sports events and tourism industry, networking is key and we hope you met a lot of great people at the Symposium to help in future projects. So don’t let those business cards go to waste. Follow-up is key to developing a new professional relationship. Forbes has a few great tips to master the art of the follow-up. Start with a quick email this week. Don’t feel it has to be something long and profound. Simply say you enjoyed meeting them and if you can, reflect back on a point from your conversation, even if it wasn’t about work. Link in on LinkedIn. This is another way to connect days after meeting. LinkedIn also offers many free tools to keep your contacts front-of-mind for both you and them. Plus, you can send them a quick note on their work...

KNOXVILLE (May 10, 2019) – The National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC), the governing body of the $11.4 billion sport tourism industry, announced this week a new brand designed to represent a more inclusive organization to lead the sports and event tourism industry and its membership. The organization will now be referred to as Sports Events & Tourism Association or Sports ETA. A record turnout of industry leaders in sports events and tourism attended the 27th annual symposium held here from May 6-9 to elect new leadership, honor members with national awards and participate in dozens of continuing education programs led by industry leadership. “In our largest-ever Symposium where sports events and tourism industry leaders meet, we introduced a new brand for the organization called Sports ETA that represents the evolving and growing nature of the industry we lead,” said Al Kidd, President & CEO of Sports Events & Tourism Association. “...

The National Association of Sport Commissions is excited to share its 2019 Member Award Winners. Every year the NASC honors organizations and individuals in the sports events and tourism industry to celebrate their accomplishments and achievements! There were a ton of impressive nominees this year, and deciding on a winner for each category was incredibly difficult. With that said, our 2019 winners hail from all over the country, from Minneapolis to Gulf Shores. Without further ado, here are your 2019 NASC Member Award Winners: Sport Commission of the Year, Over 500k -Sport Minneapolis, powered by Meet Minneapolis Sports Commission of the Year, under 500k -Spokane Sports Commission Sports Tourism Organization of the Year, over 500k -VisitAnaheim Sports Tourism Organization of the Year, under 500k - Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Sports Event Marketing Campaign  -Savannah Sports Council Destination Branding and Marketing Campaign of the Year, und...

The NASC is excited to congratulate our recent Certified Sports Event Executive graduates. Through this program, these graduates have shown the world they’re serious about making a difference in the sports events and tourism industry. Give a round of applause to these CSEE graduates, as they prepare (or continue) to take the industry by storm. CSEE 2019 Spring Graduates: Danny Corte, CSEE Jamie Patrick, CSEE Billy Bos, CSEE Mark Kowalewski, CSEE John Poole, CSEE Ashley Wilson, CSEE Jeremy Leifel, CSEE Matthew Bosen, CSEE Daniel Gallagher, CSEE Kris Jackson, CSEE Kathy O'Connell, CSEE Luchie Javelosa, CSEE Jarrett Dowling, CSEE Al Stauffacher, CSEE Consuelo Sanchez, CSEE Shaheen Roostai, CSEE Sarah Kirchberg, CSEE Kelsey McLean, CSEE Ashleigh Bachert, CSEE Matt Prewitt, CSEE Kristyn Hawkins, CSEE Mark Hargis, CSEE Clay Partain, CSEE Bill Kelly, CSEE Suzanne Keller, CSEE Holly Kesterson, CSEE St...

The National Association of Sports Commissions would like to congratulate 2019 NASC Hall of Fame inductees. Each of these members have played a vital role in the success and promotion of the National Association of Sports Commissions and have contributed significantly to the advancement of the sports events and tourism industry. Our 2019 inductees are as follows: Patricia Ernstrom- Vice President of Special Events, San Francisco 49ers Jack Kelly- CEO, World Equestrian Games Pam Gerig-Bland- Executive Director, Palm Beach County Sports Commission Kevin Smith- Founder, OnPoint Sports Strategies, LLC Induction into the NASC Hall of Fame is considered to be the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. These inductees have typically spent decades in the sports events and tourism industry; they have been leaders in the industry; and they have an extensive list of accomplishments locally, nationally, and even internationally in some cases. Patricia, Jack, Pam, and Kevin...

Milwaukee hosted some very big sporting events in 2018, and the whole city is benefiting. According to Visit Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Business Journal, sports tourism brought in additional revenue of $28 million for the Milwaukee region in 2018. When calculating the monetary impact of the events, Visit Milwaukee considered dollars spent on hotel rooms, restaurants, and additional goods and services provided to visitors. Milwaukee hosted a plethora of events throughout the year, but some of the most impactful were the USA Fencing 2018 North American Cup ($2.2 million) and the Junior Volleyball Association MKE Jamboree ($1.6 million). 2019 is shaping up to be just as exciting for the Brew City. USA Fencing will be returning for the 2019 November North American Cup, while the Milwaukee Mile Speedway will host the ARCA Midwest Tour.