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A big win for two National Association Sports Commissions members as the National Hockey League selects two cities to host outdoor games in 2020. The 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic is headed to its southernmost location yet. The Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas will play host to the January 1st game. The contest will mark the first NHL regular-season outdoor game for the Dallas Stars. The game in 2020 will mark the 12th year for the first NHL Winter Classic. The Colorado Avalanche will also host an outdoor game in 2020 at the United States Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs. The NHL Stadium Series will play at Falcon Stadium on February 15, 2020. The Avalanche’s opponent will be named at a later time. This is the second NHL outdoor game for the state of Colorado, and the first in Air Force’s history. Congratulations to both Dallas Sports Commission and Denver Sports!   Read full article by NHL.

CINCINNATI, Jan. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Association of Sports Commissions is getting ready for its 2019 program slate of four national conferences, which will bring the national membership and sports events leaders in the industry together for educational and networking opportunities. The Women’s Summit from April 3-5 hosted in Tampa, Florida is developed by top female leaders in the sports events and tourism industry to help women achieve their career goals. Topics include building allies, breaking down barriers, personal branding and female entrepreneurship. Registration is open now: https://www.sportscommissions.org/education/womens-summit The NASC Symposium, which will be held May 6-9 in Knoxville, Tennessee, will bring hundreds of sports events and tourism professionals and industry partners together to exchange resources, strategies and more. The Symposium features dozens of education sessions, networking opportunities, and business development...

Illinois is the birthplace for wheelchair basketball, so it’s fitting the NWBA National Junior Wheelchair Basketball Tournament is headed back to the state. The 2019 Tournament will be held in New Lenox, IL, a suburb southwest of Chicago, from March 29-31. The tournament will host three competitions for the Junior Division: National Junior Wheelchair Basketball Tournament (NJWBT) National Junior Invitational Tournament (NJIT) National Prep Wheelchair Basketball Tournament (NPWBT) This will be the 27th year of the Junior Division Nationals, and the fourth time Prairie State College has hosted the tournament. The 16-top ranked Varsity level teams will compete in the NJWBT, with the teams ranked 17-32 competing in the NJIT. The NPWBT tournament will be comprised of the top 16 Varsity teams from Prep. “We are excited to host the 2019 National Junior Wheelchair Basketball Tournaments in the Chicago Southland and are proud supporters of adaptive recreation,&r...

NEW YEAR - NEW YOU Happy New Year! The NASC Mentoring and Engagement Committee wishes each of you the best in 2019: in business, personal relationships, competitions, and personal growth! Goal #1 - I will read this entire blog post. Goal #2 - I will take the action at the end of the post. If you can reach these two goals you’ll begin the year with two ‘Wins!’ GOALS = SUCCESS If you want to succeed you must set goals. Without goals we flounder, directionless. Goals provide a roadmap, waypoints, direction, and, ultimately, achievement. Your goals can be short-term or long-term; your goals can be personal and/or professional; your goals can be big dreamer and/or mundane. The point is that with our goals on paper they become real and attainable. Take a few moments to review how to create, measure, and realize your goals! GET MOTIVATED Get excited about what you want to achieve this year. It’s a new year and we are all recharging for the upc...

“We under promise and over-deliver.” That’s what Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo told WAFB is a key to the sports tourism boom in the area. It may take a lot of us by surprise, but it seems to be working for the area Baton Rouge will be host to the US Soccer regional youth championships in June, which is worth about $20 million to the area, Marucci World Series Championships in July, and Youth Basketball of America’s Winter Nationals in December. One of the new attractions city leaders expect will bring people to the city is Topgolf. The new location is set to open soon and is the first in Louisiana. Arrigo told WAFB that events and attractions like Topgolf bring people to Baton Rouge, and in turn they spend their money around the area at restaurants, hotels, and retail.   Read full article by WAFB.

As the football season moves into the playoffs, TravelPulse takes a look at the many similarities between sports and the business world. Both football and sales are contact sports in their own ways. In football, the contact is your rival team. In sales, you have three main contacts… Your first contact is your support network. Without the collaboration of your colleagues, your success would not be nearly as great. They keep you focused on moving towards your goals and hold you accountable. The client is known as your second contact. Typically lots of contact is made with the client via email, phone call, meetings, etc. to communicate and come to an agreement on a suitable outcome for both parties. Follow-up is the third and arguably most important contact. Because less than 30 percent of your clients will work with you again, working hard to maintain current clients is much more cost effective than finding new ones. It takes a team effort to achieve success. Be sure t...

A new year can bring the same troubles for event spaces. One of the biggest questions is how do you attract events to your venue or city. We found a few simple venue promotion ideas, thanks to Eventbrite. 1. Start with a Refresh It’s a simple idea, but it could really help. Review your website, social media channels and marketing. Make sure it’s up-to-date, on brand, and it’s selling your venue. 2. Update Photography This is the same idea as a refresh. If your pictures are outdated or grainy, it might be time to take a few new pictures. Don’t be afraid to include action in your photos whether it’s a team scrimmage or parents in the stands. This allows any potential client to visualize themselves in your venue or city. 3. Create a Virtual Tour Go one step further than photos. Give potential clients a 360° tour of your space on your website. EventBrite suggests getting started with a service like Google’s Tour Creator to showcase ...

I was lucky enough to attend the Inaugural Women’s Summit last year in Columbus, OH. I wasn’t sure what to expect with it being the first year that NASC put something like this together – it was great, everyone was a first timer! The first gathering of the Summit was the opening reception. It was relaxed and a great opportunity to meet other women in the industry. I met several colleagues I had not had the pleasure of meeting before, and are now friends. The thing I enjoy most about NASC events (Symposium, 4S, and now Women’s Summit) is the opportunity to meet others in the industry. I’m able to take the relationships I build and use it as a help line with any questions I may have regarding the sports world. The second day we had inspiring speakers, opportunities to talk about issues we encounter in our jobs as a group and were able to experience Tourney Town for Women’s Final Four (probably my favorite part of the event.) Not only was I able t...

CINCINNATI (For Immediate Release) – The National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC) and Stoll Sports Strategies, led by Jennifer Stoll, has formed a partnership to launch new research and educational initiatives for the sports tourism trade association, beginning January 1, 2019. Stoll, who led the Greater Grand Junction Sports Commission for the past five years and has been a long-time member of the NASC, will work with NASC leadership and members as well as tourism industry partners to create the Sports Tourism Learning Institute, a new research service and education arm for the organization. Additionally, she will produce industry reports and white papers to share with the NASC membership. “Jennifer will be a key leader in assisting a revamp of the NASC education products and services in the sports events and tourism industries to help our membership and industry partners stay ahead of the trends and business opportunities,” said Al Kidd, CEO of the Na...

It’s hard to believe the holidays are here and 2019 is just weeks away.  It’s a wonderful time to spend with family, enjoy the company of friends and reflect on 2018.  It’s also the time of year people begin to make their annual resolutions for changes they would like to make in the coming year.  While making your New Year’s resolutions, don’t forget to about your job and changes you would like to make there as well.  Here are my resolutions to help get you started… My first resolution for 2019 is to better develop the relationship I have with my Parks & Recreation department.  While some cities have amazing private sports parks or school facilities to utilize, many of us rely a great deal on our public parks to host many of our events.  As cities to continue to grow and the availability of open field time shrinks, a great relationship with your parks and recreation staff can help overcome facility obstacles.&nbs...