We continue our featured benefit for the month of August with a blog post on NASC Best Practices Webinars.
As the sport tourism industry's only association, the NASC emphasizes educational and professional development opportunities year-round that help make our members more effective in the business of bidding on, booking, and managing sporting events. The NASC uses a variety of platforms, including webinars, to share information with serious-minded sport tourism executives.
Best Practices Webinars focus on a trend or topic that is relevant and timely. Led by industry experts, the webinars are an educational tool that present solutions for sport tourism professionals with a common theme of industry best practices for a specific issue. After 15-20 minute presentations, participants engage in Q&A sessions to get answers to tough questions and are able to take away ideas that they can execute immediately.
Registration is free for all NASC members and $25 for non-members.
W...
You might remember the plans for a new high school football stadium for McKinney that called for a $62.8 million price tag for the facility. Well, the cost now is close to $69.9 million, because of construction overruns, according to a story published last week by Nanette Light, a staff writer for the Dallas News.
In her article, she indicated that school board trustees learned last week that the costs are estimated to be $7.1 million more than what voters approved in May. The differences are attributed to higher concrete prices and additional road construction at the site, according to district officials. Originally the roads were to be built in phases but officials now have decided to build them all at the same time.
McKinney is not alone in the higher pricing: The bill for the new stadium in Katy, Texas, has gone up around $4.5 million from the $58 million price tag the voters approved, and upgrades to Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, are being scaled back because construction...
Check out our line-up of best practices and event webinars below and reserve your spot today!
The Sport of Politics
Best Practices Webinar
Thursday, August 25, 2016
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Presented by Kathy Nelson and Marc Schreiber
Register Now!
Join Kathy Nelson, President/CEO, Kansas City Sports Commission, and Marc Schreiber, Vice President of Marketing & Development, St. Louis Sports Commission, as they discuss how you can be an advocate for your local and state legislation. They will share their story of navigating the political waters, and tips for what works and what does not. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 25th, remember, you can download the webinar recording from our Webinar Archives (login required).
USA Boxing
Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International
Thursday, September 8, 2016
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Presented by Brandon Dyett
Register Now!
Join Bran...
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.
The challenge venue owners often face is what to do with all that space when your primary sport is no longer in season. In particular, a space as big as a racing oval has to find an activity as big as the space to bring in revenue in the off season. That’s why you’ll see, for example, multi-day concerts at race tracks.
The growth of extreme sport challenges, like Tough Mudder, Spartan Race and similar obstacle events has given these race tracks and other large venues, something to host on off weekends. And Michigan International Speedway has taken that idea one step further.
The Childrenz Challenge at MIS is in its third year and is in record territory. The muddy obstacle course for 4 to 13 year olds at Michigan International Speedway is looking at a record 2,200 participants on Aug. 13.
After having about 1,300 kids last year, the 1,500-kid limit for the Childrenz Challenge already was reached by Feb. 29 this year, Scott Vitale, founder and p...
An economic impact second only to college football? That’s a pretty significant impact. And that’s what is going on this week in South Bend.
Baton twirlers, yes, that staple of halftime band performances everywhere, are on the University of Notre Dame campus this week from around the country for the 47th annual America’s Youth on Parade baton twirling competition.
The South Bend Tribune reports that the National Baton Twirling Association’s competition — often dubbed the Super Bowl of baton twirling — draws contestants from all 50 states and many other countries. Age categories range from tots to the collegiate level in the diverse competition, which will include majorette contests, parade corps, flag corps, drill teams and cheerleading. By the way, the competition’s sessions are free and open to the public.
It's estimated that about 5,000 visitors come into the South Bend-Mishawaka area for the competition, and Meghan Huff, sports...
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 ...