We’ve talked a lot about how you can use the facilities you have for the best events you can attract. And yes, we’ve seen a facilities “arms race” blossom, as cities look to expand their sports venues to bring in even bigger and, they hope, better events.
The “Gold Standard,” if you will, of sports facilities just may be in Blaine, Minnesota, where the National Sports Center is located. Billing itself as the World’s Largest Amateur Sports and Meeting Facility, the National Sports Center (NSC) boasts 50+ athletic fields, a golf course, an indoor FieldTurf field, velodrome, stadium, rinks and its own residence hall. It brings in more than 100 unique programs and events that will draw more than 4 million visitors each year.
In fact, the facility has welcomed over 50 million visitors since its opening in 1990, when it was built by the state of Minnesota as part of a statewide building program to improve its amateur sports facilities. The NSC ...
Check out our line-up of best practices and event webinars below and reserve your spot today!
USA Cycling
Thursday, July 21, 2016
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET
Presented by Micah Rice
Sponsored by MGM Resorts International
Register Now!
Join Micah Rice from USA Cycling as he discusses what he looks for in a host city and what it takes to host their events. Micah will share details on their upcoming 2018-2019 USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships, 2018-2019 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships and the 2019-2020 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 21st, remember, you can download the webinar recording from our Webinar Archives (login required).
Create Success with Housing
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Presented by Patrick MacCoubrey
Register Now!
In this webinar learn how event housing can help you improve ...
When it was announced that golf would return to the Olympics for the 2016 games, just about everyone was excited about the possibility of showing off the game to a worldwide audience. Coming with its own built-in star power in the form of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and the like, golf seemed to be a sure-fire hit in ticket sales and TV viewership.
And then the Zika virus came along.
Although that might not be the real reason that many of the sport’s stars are not competing for their countries this summer, Zika and the potentially devastating effect it can have on the unborn have been enough to steer many of golf’s top names from heading to Brazil.
The latest to bow out? Jordan Spieth, who told International Golf Federation officials this week, just before a news conference, that he would not be playing next month in Brazil.
Spieth joins Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and McIlroy in deciding to skip the Games, mostly due to concerns about the Zika virus that is prevalen...
For a number of years back in the very late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the Florida State Games used to host a Business of Sports Symposium. As a new kid running a CVB in Lincoln, Nebraska, it was a great way to learn more about this new sales specialty. There weren’t many CVBs involved then. It was mostly sports commissions with some of them tussling with CVBs to get part of the lodging tax dollars.
So, this young guy from North Carolina, Hill Carrow, tried to organize a “National Association of Sports Commissions”. It didn’t resonate on the first try. He persisted, and a few of us started to listen. Along the way, we created the bones of the organization deciding such a group should be dedicated to sharing information with each other and rights holders, along with quality, professional education. The NASC was officially born in a meeting room in St. Louis with about fourteen people in attendance.
Why tell you ...
More than 900 members and events rights holders attended the 2016 NASC Sports Event Symposium in Grand Rapids to elect new NASC leadership, honor members with national awards and participate in dozens of continuing education programs led by industry leadership.
“As the only only not-for-profit trade association for the sport tourism industry offering an annual meeting for serious-minded sport tourism professionals, we enjoyed a week of educational programs to share best practices in the industry as well as honoring those doing great work in our member communities,” said Don Schumacher, CSEE, executive director of the NASC. “In future years, our
members will have the opportunity to visit three fantastic American cities in Sacramento, Minneapolis and San Diego as we host our annual Symposium in each city.”
The Symposium Committee is currently developing the schedule, recommended pricing structure and other important elements of the planning process. The Board of...
The Bluegrass Sports Commission in Lexington, Kentucky, has ambitious plans to draw more youth sports to the area, while offering recreation for residents with a $25 million sports complex.
The proposal, presented to the Urban County Council this spring, includes a 134-acre site already owned by the city. The Commission has agreed to raise more than $6 million for the complex, and is asking the city to fund the remainder. The payoff? An economic study by Hunden Strategic Partners shows that over 20 years the complex could generate $450 million in spending at Lexington hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
Although the designs aren’t final, the site has room for more than 20 sports including baseball, softball, soccer and more. The tentative plan also calls for a playground as well as walking tracks that would connect to area trails.
“This could be a true economic driver for our city,” Brian Miller, president and CEO of the commission, told the...
As the interest in the sport tourism market continues to grow, we are making a special effort to tell the NASCʼs story and increase exposure for our members at the national level.
For the third year, the NASC, in association with SportsBusiness Journal, will publish a special advertiser-supported section on the impact our members make in their communities and in sports. The section appearing in the August 8 issue will focus on the evolution of the sport tourism industry and how it impacts communities. Other areas of coverage will include industry trends and best practices, case studies and examples of successful events, and the monetization and economic impact of events.
This is a perfect platform for NASC members to showcase their role in the sport tourism industry. As an advertiser, you will be guaranteed an opportunity for a company spokesperson to be interviewed for the story.
With SportsBusiness Journal as our partner, we know that your message will be reaching an audie...
As your professional association continues toward its 25th Anniversary at our 2017 Sports Event Symposium in Sacramento, it seems a good time to look back on the process that led to adopting bylaws and obtaining not-for- profit status. The process itself took three years, and perhaps what is most important is this: the NASC was founded to be THE place where host organizations could gather and share experiences.
The first conversations regarding an association took place in 1989. A volunteer committee was formed and work continued through 1990 and 1991, culminating in adoption of bylaws and the election of officers and directors April 10-11, 1992. The single person deserving of credit for making this process work is Hill Carrow. Hill made certain our organizational meetings had agendas and minutes and each meeting resulted in progress.
Those persons present in 1992 and still involved in the NASC besides Hill are Vicky Comegys, Dennis Gann, Mike Millay, Dan Quandt, and myself.
Fina...
We are in the middle of Olympic Trials season, where the best the USA has to offer will face off head to head to determine who will represent America at the summer games in Rio. And while the trials could pay off in Olympic gold for the athletes, the host cities are striking their own kind of gold.
For example, the USA Swimming Trials under way in Omaha are expected to bring in $35 million-$40 million in economic impact for the seven-day event, up about 20% from the last time they were the host, in 2012. The area’s 30,000 hotel rooms already are booked. Of the event tickets sold for the Trials, it’s estimated that 90% have been sold to guests outside of Nebraska. And remember, the NCAA College World Series is still going on (finals start Monday) so Omaha is bustling with sports tourism guests—and their dollars.
And next month USA Gymnastics will hold its Olympic Trials July 8-10 trials at SAP Center in San Jose.
San Jose hosted the 2012 trials, the 2007 U.S. ...
We continue our featured benefit for the month of June with a blog post on the NASC Economic Impact Calculator.
The Economic Impact Calculator model and Event Spending data are based upon studies completed by Sportsimpacts at over 50 events within the last decade spanning various market sizes and event types, and a 2011-2012 Consumer Spending study conducted by the University of Arizona Sports Management program that analyzed daily visitor spending trends at 30 events spanning various market sizes and event types.
Dr. Pat Rishe, Executive Director of Sportsimpacts, a national sports consulting firm, originally developed the calculator in 2007, which offers a consistent approach to calculate and report economic impact results. When used properly, the calculator allows NASC members to approximate the total direct spending stemming from all non-local sources, and report upon such findings in an accurate manner.
Access to the calculator is offered to all NASC members as a benefit of member...