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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.

If you’re a fan of hockey, you probably watched the Columbus Blue Jackets’ monumental upset of the Tampa Bay Lightning in round one of the NHL playoffs. But for the city of Columbus, the win wasn’t just felt by the hockey team. The Greater Columbus Sports Commission celebrated a huge win as the nationally televised game on CNBC allowed millions of viewers to experience the sports atmosphere of Columbus, Ohio. Jen Cartmille, the director of Marketing for the Greater Columbus Sports Commission celebrated the spotlight, telling Columbus TV station WBNS that “when we have an NHL playoff game or host an NCAA basketball tournament and it’s shown across the country people get to see what kind of city we are... [sporting events] help sell the city.” Although Columbus is still an emerging hockey town, the excitement for the Blue Jacket’s recent success has already captivated the local community. The Blue Jackets are now the closest they have ever ...

People tend to fall on three sides of the networking spectrum: The people that love socializing and meet all kinds of people The people that hate networking and skip these sessions or don’t participate The people that are good at networking and leave with a valuable lead and/or resource Depending on the day, each of us usually falls into one of these categories when we must attend networking events. Many factors contribute to how we react to networking including the hours worked that day, what’s happening outside of work, and energy levels in general.  Please take a moment to learn some networking lessons that may provide positive results while networking at the 2019 NASC Symposium. Look at this stack of business cards! These are on my desk right now. Can you imagine if your card is located near the bottom of that stack? I’m sure my card is at the bottom of stacks on hundreds of desks around the country. This is a constant reminder that I’...

The NASC Symposium is just over two weeks away, which means it’s time to request event overview appointments! The Symposium is a phenomenal way to network and learn more about the industry from the people currently thriving in it. Wondering how to do that? It’s simple! Start by going to the NASC Symposium website to update your profile. Making sure that your profile is up to date is vital because you may not appear correctly in the member directory, which is where Symposium attendees look when requesting/accepting appointments. After that, make your request for all the organizations you would like to meet with during event overview appointments. You will be able to view a list of organization’s that you have a confirmed one-on-one appointment. Once you submit the request, rank each one, while also accepting or declining appointments requested of you, to ensure that you receive the best possible matches.  If you request an appointment, but the other organiza...

The countdown is on for the 27th annual NASC Symposium! Before your bags are packed, check the conference website. Then, as you prepare to meet event rights holders, vendors and destination representatives from throughout the USA in Knoxville, Tennessee May 6- 9, you might want to check it again. This will help you ensure the most efficient and effective use of your time! NASC staff and volunteer members have worked diligently to provide several great resources to assist you as you get organized to attend the NASC’s annual meeting (for the first time or the 27th)! Follow the links below to find answers to many of your questions: Hotel & Travel Schedule Education Marketplace NASC FAQs Blogs Hotel & Travel: Traveling to a destination by yourself (especially for the first-time) can seem a bit intimidating. A little advanced homework will reduce potential concerns and set you up for a fun, successful conference experience. Review your...

Sports tourism is a booming industry that continually brings in astounding revenue. Harford County, in Maryland, is a prime example of this revenue impact. In Harford County, sports tourism brought in nearly $50 million and supported 650 jobs, each year over the past three years. According to The Baltimore Sun, this revenue came in from three sports- youth baseball, lacrosse, and soccer tournaments- at three different venues.  Due to this steep incline in revenue, the Maryland Office of Tourism, did a study to see the true impact of tourism on the county overall. The study showed that Harford County gained $374 million in total or more than $1 million a day. With sports tourism bringing in $50 million, the county owes a lot to the sports industry for the more revenue. According to the study, baseball averaged the most events per year with 39, and the most participants, 20,600. That brought nearly 55,000 spectators to the county’s Ripken Stadium. Lacrosse made a big imp...

NASC is sending a big congratulations to the Tampa Bay Sports Commission for hosting the most attended NCAA Women’s Final Four Tournament. During the April 5-7 games, Tampa had the highest all-time attendance, hosting 123,039 fans. The Tampa Bay Business Journals says the event is a major economic driver for the area. It starts with celebratory events leading up to the game days including the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Convention, which had a record attendance of 2,891. Then Amalie Arena played host to back-to-back sellout crowds totalling 40,189 on Friday and Sunday. This was Tampa’s third time hosting the Final Four in the NCAA Women’s tournament. Tampa hosted for the first time in 2008, then again in 2015.