Symposium

Contact: Jackie Reau Game Day (513) 708-5822 jreau@gamedaypr.com Sports ETA Wraps Up Successful Symposium 700+ Sports Events and Tourism Leaders Gather in Birmingham BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA (October 28, 2021) – Sports ETA, the only trade association for the sports events and tourism industry, held its annual Symposium here from October 25-28, 2021 with more than 700 sports events and tourism industry leaders in attendance. Keynote presentations were made by Civil Rights Activists Dr. Martha Bouyer and Lisa McNair, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and Erik Moses, President of Nashville Superspeedway. “Sports events and tourism industry leaders convened from around the country in Birmingham for the Symposium designed to connect destinations to event rights holders for new business opportunities,” said Al Kidd, President and CEO of Sports ETA. “Birmingham was the perfect host for our largest annual event for our membership.” Numerous education prog...

Sports ETA Attendees: Sports ETA would like to announce the following health and safety protocols for our upcoming Symposium in Birmingham, AL October 25 - 28, 2021: All attendees must provide proof of vaccination showing the final dose received on or before October 10th or a negative PCR/Rapid-Antigen or home test taken between October 22nd and prior to your arrival in Birmingham.   Sports ETA is partnering with Fern Health Check for a digital portal to upload required documentation. You will receive an invitation to this portal, as well as additional details, in mid-October.  Please note that admittance to Symposium, as well as ancillary Summit events, will only be allowed with this documentation.   Daily temperature checks will be required for entry into the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.   Sports ETA is implementing touchless check-in for registration, which limits contact for all attendees.   Masks will be ...

The appointment portal for the 2021 Sports ETA Symposium is open now through October 7. Only the first registered attendee for your organization has access to the portal.  Enter Appointment Portal IMPORTANT APPOINTMENT PORTAL INFO The portal will be open from September 6  – October 7 at 11:59 p.m. ET During this time, you may request/accept/decline/rank appointments   Your organization’s Symposium registration(s) and 2021 membership dues must be paid in full before you can access the appointment portal. Click here to check the status of your organization’s registration. If you are unable to log into your membership account, your membership has lapsed. Please contact info@SportsETA.org to renew your membership.    Make the most of every appointment. If your organization’s membership profile is not up-to-date, your organ...

Build relationships with hundreds of sports events and tourism professionals at the 29th Sports ETA Symposium in Birmingham, AL, October 25-28, 2021. We’re on the move and can't wait to see you there! Online registration is now open, lock in the best rate by registering with early bird pricing today! Important Information Registration Rates Schedule Make Hotel Reservation FAQs Need Help Convincing Your Boss? Don't worry, we've got you covered! We've put together a justification toolkit to arm you with information to share with your supervisor on the benefits of attending the Symposium, how it will make you a better employee, and help advance your organization.   Health and Safety Sports ETA is committed to the health and safety of all Symposium attendees. Our Symposium Duty of Care will follow CDC guidelines, as well as all requirements in place for Birmingham. Currently there are no mask or social distancing re...

Women’s Summit: March 31 - April 2, 2021 hosted in San Antonio, Texas Sports Facilities Summit: April 26-27, 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama  Symposium: April 26-29, 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama 4S Summit: October 19-21, 2021 in El Paso, Texas The Sports Events & Tourism Association (Sports ETA) announced today its 2021 slate of programs, which includes four signature events designed to bring the national membership and sports events and tourism industry leaders together for educational and networking opportunities. The Women’s Summit, planned for March 31-April 2 hosted in San Antonio, Texas, is developed by top female leaders in the sports events and tourism industry to help women achieve their career goals. Attendees will take away tools and resources to elevate their personal brand and become more valuable to their organization. Registration is open now: https://www.sportseta.org/events/womens-summit The Sports ETA Symposium, which will be...

Sports ETA to move its Annual Symposium to 2021 CINCINNATI (June 4, 2020) – Sports ETA, the trade association for the sport events and tourism industry, announced today that it will postpone its 2020 in-person Annual Symposium to April 26-29, 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama. The largest annual gathering of sports events and tourism professionals was originally scheduled to be hosted in Kansas City for August 2-5, 2020. Kansas City will host a future Annual Symposium to be announced at a later date. As a supplement and significant member benefit enhancement to its on-going robust programming, Sports ETA will offer SportsBiz XChange, a month-long schedule of industry networking opportunities for its members and sports events rights holders. Virtual attendees will have numerous appointments with key decision-makers in sports tourism events and access to dozens of new and updated RFPs throughout the month of August. Registration will open later this month at SportsETA.org. &ldqu...

We are aware that Sports ETA Symposium attendees may be the target of unauthorized hotel providers who claim to be partners or providing services on behalf of Sports ETA.  Please be aware that these companies are not authorized to provide services on Sports ETA’s behalf.  Visit KC is the only official housing provider for the 2020 Sports ETA Symposium.  As a reminder, your April hotel reservations have already been canceled for you if you made them through our official reservations link. If you contacted a hotel directly to make reservations, you must cancel those on your own. A new housing link to make reservations for August will open in early April. You will receive an email notification once it opens and you will need to make new reservations. For additional questions or assistance, please contact Sports ETA staff at info@sportseta.org. Sincerely,       Janis Ross Vice President of Events & Exper...

CINCINNATI (March 20, 2020) – Sports ETA,  the association for the sport tourism industry, announced its revised schedule of 2020-21 programs to bring the national membership and sports events leaders in the industry together for educational and networking opportunities.   The Annual Symposium has been moved to August 2-5, 2020, remaining in Kansas City, Missouri, and 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 discussions, all to help Sports ETA members elevate their sports events and improve their work in their destinations. Registration for 2020 is open. The 2021 Annual Symposium will be held April 26-29 in Birmingham, Alabama.   Attendees can focus on the four S’s of sports events and tourism: strategy, service, sales, and sponsorship at this year&rsqu...

The Sports ETA Symposium Appointment Portal opens on Friday, March 13.  In preparation, it is vitally important that you make sure to update your profile and your company information.  For destinations/sports commissions this means updating the sports you can host and the venues you have for groups to use.  For rights holders, this would be updating where you host events, specific community needs (bid fees, GOC/LOC, etc.), events open for bid, and important information destinations should know about your event. For vendors, this could mean including a short description of all the products/services you provide, and even listing any special offers or promotions. Why is this important? When you enter the portal, you will see the list of potential organizations to request an appointment.  For destinations, knowing where rights holders meet, what they are looking for and what their key needs are, you can determine which appointments are approp...

There may still be time left in 2019, but here at Sports ETA, we are working hard on the 2020 Symposium. We’ll be headed to Kansas City, Missouri April 20-23 for our 28th annual meeting. Registration is now open, so start planning your trip! It doesn’t matter if this will be your first Symposium or your 28th, we are planning an all-new event with more deep-dive education sessions and breakouts divided by skill level. Plus, the 2020 Sports Marketplace is back and it is sure to be more interactive and provide informal learning opportunities to hundreds of people. You will be able to start making those one-on-one marketplace appointments in March. If that hasn’t sold you yet, then listen to those who went last year. The 2019 Symposium received a 4 or 5-star rating from 72% of respondents, who enjoyed marketplace appointments, education sessions, and all of the networking opportunities to catch up with colleagues and to meet new ones. Take a look at how much fu...