With the school year getting started for many across the country, the Dallas Sports Commission is gearing up for the Cotton Bowl Stadium Prep Showcase. The 4th annual event will pin eight of the top Dallas-area 6-A football programs against each other.
It’s known that Texans love their high school football and this Showcase highlights that love. Seven of the eight teams competing this year made it to the playoffs in 2018. One of the most highly anticipated games for the 2019 season is when Denton Guyer takes on Cedar Hill. Both teams are ranked in the Top 10 of The Dallas Morning News’ pre-season All-Area Top 25.
The Cotton Bowl Stadium Prep Showcase happens September 6 and 7. Good luck to all the teams and the Dallas Sports Commission.
View full press release from Dallas Sports.
Tampa, Florida is looking forward to 2021. That’s the year the city will host the Super Bowl for the fifth time, the last being in 2009. A lot has changed since then, but there is more to be done.
According to Fox 13 in Tampa, new hotels, venues, and restaurants have been added over the last 10 years, along with the Riverwalk across 2.6 miles of the city. Tampa is also transforming its waterfront with a new project called Water Street. It will be a community of retail, residential and hotels, culture and education, which the city says will bring in more money than in 2009.
Visit Tampa, Tampa Bay Sports Commission and others are not stopping there. They are looking at other high-profile events and take lessons from them so Tampa is ready for its own event.
“We try to take what worked really well, and we try to make sure that each of them snowball,” said Rob Higgins, Executive Director at the Tampa Bay Sports Commission.
Organizers said they want to make sur...
Ruston, Louisiana celebrated the opening of its new sports complex by hosting a baseball tournament. Dixie Youth World Series is wrapping up its two-week-long event which brought it nearly 80 teams.
The Ruston Sports Complex sits on 185 acres in North Louisiana. When completed, the Convention and Visitors Bureau says it will have facilities for baseball, softball, tennis, soccer, and football on 36 fields and 16 turf fields. Additional plans include an indoor facility for basketball and volleyball tournaments, as well as dance and cheer competitions.
This new complex is expected to bring a $1.2 billion economic impact to the Ruston and Lincoln parishes. It already started with the Dixie Youth World Series. The baseball tournament secured more than 5,000 overnight stays.
“This is an economic boom for our city and for entire North Louisiana,” says City of Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker. “Entire North Louisiana is benefitting from this tournament and will benefit in ...
Do you have a new facility or sports complex? Did you just win a big award or event? Looking for a shoutout? How about celebrating a big win for your organization or city? Celebrate with us and other members!
With your Sports ETA membership, you can be added to our weekly e-newsletter, Get in the Game eNews. The email, sent out every Thursday, includes press releases, articles and news about our members and the world of sports tourism and events. It’s a great way to celebrate your accomplishments.
It’s very easy to be included in the Get in the Game eNews. Just submit your content to Meagan@SportsETA.org by noon ET every Wednesday. Don’t forget to also subscribe to the newsletter here. You can also check out past editions on the archives page here: http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nasc/.
Omaha Sports Commission is starting to prepare for the Olympic-qualifying Swim Trials, which will happen in June next year. This eight-day event brings in thousands of people from every state hoping to see their locals make it to the next level.
Next summer will mark Omaha’s fourth consecutive time hosting this event. Based on the 2016 statistics published in an article from the Omaha World Herald, organizers expect to sell out the 100,000 square-foot CHI Health Center for every meet and to bring in more than $74 million in tourism.
In 2016...
• 1,500 swimmers competed in the 2016 Trials and similar numbers are expected to compete in 2020, making it the largest and most exciting swimming event in the world.
• Fans booked more than 23,000 hotel room nights in 2016, ate tens of thousands of meals at local restaurants, generated millions of dollars of merchandise sales and visited numerous area attractions.
• All eight nights of the Trials were broadcas...
Cleveland is in the middle of hosting MLB’s All-Star Week. The five-day event has featured concerts, the Celebrity Softball Game, a 5K, the Home Run Derby, and still to come is the big All-Star game. With all these events, Cleveland is expected to see more than just the 35,041 people Progressive Park holds.
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission President and CEO David Gilbert told Forbes, “We know people will split up and go to different events. Not everyone who attends the All-Star Game will also attend the Home Run Derby, Futures Game or celebrity softball game. There’s also the Red Carpet All-Star Parade. People will come to town just to be a baseball tourist even if they don’t have a ticket for the game.”
As you can imagine, this is going to be a big boost for Cleveland. The All-Star weekend is expected to produce an estimated $65 million alone. That’s a good return on Cleveland’s investment since, according to Forbes, hotel capacity ha...
At this year’s Symposium in Knoxville, TN, we honored organizations for being the best in 11 different categories in 2018. We want to take this time to spotlight each of them. This month, it’s Rockford Area CVB, winner of the Destination Branding & Marketing Campaign of the Year.
“This accolade is certainly indicative of a lot of hard work, strong storytelling and diverse programming that collectively keeps elevating Rockford as a sports destination. But again, we have so much more to accomplish and are really excited about what the future holds for us and the greater sports tourism industry.” Nick Povalitis, Director of Sports Development, Rockford Area CVB.
Rockford Area CVB has seen many successes in the past few years including retaining legacy events such as the USA BMX Midwest Nationals, winning six bids with NJCAA National Championship, and creating a viral hit with a community watch party dubbed Jurassic Park RKFD.
Povalitis counts Roc...
Have you written an article on an industry topic? Read an article that you think would be helpful to your industry peers? Share it with us, and we’ll post it.
One of the many benefits of being a Sports ETA member is being able to contribute to our blog. We post weekly about industry news, tips on the 4 S’s of sports events and tourism, and achievements made by our members. It’s really easy to contribute! All you have to do is email Meagan Grau at meagan@sportscommissions.org. Not only will we post it to our blog, but we’ll add it to our social media with an audience of more than 7,000 people.
While you are checking out our blog, make sure to subscribe to get the highlights from each month straight to your inbox.
Asheville, North Carolina has hosted many cycling races in the past, so it is no surprise that they picked up another cycling coup: The Gran Fondo National Championships.
According to the Asheville Times, the Gran Fondo will guarantee a higher revenue than their most recent race, The Haute Route, since Ashville will be the host for both 2019 and 2020.
The Haute Route Asheville was a three-day event held at the end of May 2019. This event brought in about $1 million to the city. Since riders and their families always spend time in local hotels, restaurants, and shops, these events are so exciting for small businesses.
Congratulations to the Asheville Sports Commission for all their hard work on these many cycling races. Keep up the good work!
View the full article from The Citizen Times.
Normally when you hear Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama comes to mind. It is true that Crimson Tide football remains one of the most popular events in the state, however, a new event is starting to attract tourist attention.
Tuscaloosa is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year by having multiple celebrations to attract tourists from outside of the state of Alabama.
We have more detailed information thanks to an article released by the Tuscaloosa News last week.
According to the article, there was a free Bicentennial Bash in March that was held in the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, including bands like The 400 Unit, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Broken Bones, along with others.
The biggest day of celebration will be on Dec. 13th, since that was the day the town was founded back in 1819. There will be a statue unveiling and more celebrations to be revealed later.
Congratulations to Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports.