Olympic fever, albeit short term and every four years, can be a big driver in sports facilities. As we’ve seen Team USA excel in the pool and in gymnastics, expect little boys and girls everywhere (and their parents) to have visions of gold medals dancing in their heads.
These expected booms in these sports (and more) can mean an increase in building these facilities—to meet the demands of more people who want to use state-of-the-art equipment and venues.
An article in the South Bend Tribune reflects that demand—in the case of two northern Indiana cities, Elkhart and Plymouth, their schools’ facilities are aging (and a YMCA has closed) but those pools could be replaced by larger sports complexes to be used not just for students but for regional meets.
If plans go through, northern Indiana would become home to two sports centers that could draw a variety of athletes, from soccer players to swimmers to fitness buffs. Both cities are planning to include a ...
Recently I was browsing through the NASC website, www.sportscommissions.org, and was reminded what a tremendous resource it is for our membership. It’s very easy to navigate, even for a web-challenged Baby Boomer like me! Being a destination sales person, I am drawn to the “Directories” tab. Having contact information for a person within an organization is a valuable resource in this day and age and is a useful feature no matter what your membership category. I particularly like the “advanced search filter” the directories offer. I use it when traveling to various destinations around the country. I search to identify organizations located in the city I am visiting and use this information to add face-to-face meetings to my schedule while I’m there.
I have been a frequent visitor to the Models & Samples page under the “Research” tab and have used the examples there on many occasions. I am a be...
Rio itself. With all the talk of crime in the streets, incomplete construction, Zika, pollution and the like, Rio has looked like the winner so far in these Olympic games. The opening ceremonies may have been too long, even with a 7:30 p.m. Eastern start, but they were memorable, from Gisele Bundchen’s catwalk across the stadium floor to the Tonga flagbearer (he’s a taekwondo athlete, by the way) to the global warming lecture, it was must see TV. And, they did it on a budget that was 12 times less than in London and 20 times less than Beijing.
Why we care…
With all the doom and gloom coming into these games, Rio needed to start strong, and organizers have delivered. Security is visible and plentiful, but once the games got under way, the complaints seemed to quiet down. Let’s hope it stays that way for the next two weeks.
Read the rest of Game Day Communication’s “The Take” here.
Blog post courtesy of Game Day Communications.
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...
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...