Your membership with Sports ETA gets you a lot, including one benefit that will be used by your organization for years to come - Safe Sport Training. With the alliance between Sports ETA and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, members have the opportunity to get SafeSport Trained at a discounted rate.
The training will benefit countless athletes, coaches, volunteers, referees, staff, and others attending events hosted by Sports ETA members across all 50 states, as the organizations join forces with a shared goal — to make safety and well-being top priorities in sport.
Sports ETA members can register for training at a discounted rate. Information on how Sports ETA members and affiliates can access the Center’s online resources and arrange in-person training is now available at www.sportseta.org/education/safe-sport.
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 ...
A small town in Indiana finds their focus after the construction of Grand Park: youth sports.
According to an article published by the ABC 10 news, the population in Westfield doubles with families traveling in from across the country to play competitive sports at Grand Park. The facilities were built in June 2014 and have dozens of soccer fields and baseball diamonds.
This massive multi-use sporting arena required an investment of $85 million, but now, only a few years later, it has seen over a $700 million impact in the surrounding areas. Local businesses are springing up all around due to the massive amount of traffic in Grand Park.
Other towns may host one major league event and bring in a lot of tourism once. Many towns are considering shifting their focus to youth tournaments for a more steady stream of tourism due to the lead of Westfield, IN.
Congratulations to the Hamilton County Sports Authority and all your success in Grand Park.
View the original article from...
Thanks to our video booth sponsor, Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge for capturing what sports mean to our president and CEO, Al Kidd.
"Sports are a way to unite a community..." Kidd said, "In most communities, sports become the fiber of the community."
Have you heard? Sports ETA is teaming up with the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending all forms of abuse in sport. The critical resources on abuse prevention training the Center provides are now being offered to Sports ETA members. It’s another great benefit we are excited to pass along to you.
As a Sports ETA member, you have access to the awareness and prevention SafeSport Trained online course at a 10% discount. The 90-minute training covers mandatory reporting, sexual misconduct awareness, and emotional and physical misconduct. The Center’s SafeSport Trained course is a small investment that will set your leadership and organization apart from your competition.
“We’re grateful for the U.S. Center for SafeSport and this new partnership,” said Al Kidd, President and CEO of the Sports Events and Tourism Association. “Bringing these tools to our members is crucial to help end abuse in the sports world. It’s...
There are a plethora of news-worthy happenings in sport lately. The NBA draft, Women's World Cup, the announcement of the 2026 Olympic Games locations in Italy, and most importantly, the Sandlot-style adults and kiddo baseball game that's about to go down at Casa de Stoll tomorrow night with good friends, ribs, and, of course, s'mores.
But chances are, in the clutter of happenings, you may have also picked up this viral video that emerged last week from a little league game right here in Colorado:
As a sports nerd, this behavior is absolutely maddening. It runs in direct contrast to all the reasons sport is good. The work ethic, teamwork, sportsmanship, humility, perseverance, practice, dedication and so, so much more.
On the flip side of the less-than-shining Colorado video, you may have seen this clip from an interview with University of Michigan Head Baseball Coach, Erik Bakich, when asked about the makeup of his College World Series appear...
How much are events worth to your destination?
Knowledge is power. This applies to sports commissions seeking to understand the economic importance of events to their destinations. By knowing the value of sporting events sold by a sports commission, industry stakeholders are empowered to make a strong case for continued destination marketing. Indeed, the case for destination marketing can hinge on an appreciation of the economic value of key events sold by sports commissions.
In partnership with Destinations International, the Event Impact Calculator measures the economic value of a sporting event and calculates its return on investment to local taxes. Armed with this information, sports commissions are better prepared to make the case to policymakers for the ongoing development and growth of the events sector.
The Sports Module and platform have been developed by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company, and includes several Sport Event Types: Youth, Adult Amateur,...
The Sports ETA Sports Legacy Fund raised more than $20,000 to benefit Knoxville non-profit, DreamBikes, which strategically places used bicycle stores in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods to provide hands-on, paid job training to teens. Working in conjunction with local youth organizations, DreamBikes employs teens from the area to work in the store; teaching them how to refurbish bicycles, use the POS software, and to deliver great customer service. DreamBikes provides lifelong skills to our teen employees, helping them to shift gears and find a bright future.
Sports tourism is a booming industry that continually brings in astounding revenue. Harford County, in Maryland, is a prime example of this revenue impact. In Harford County, sports tourism brought in nearly $50 million and supported 650 jobs, each year over the past three years. According to The Baltimore Sun, this revenue came in from three sports- youth baseball, lacrosse, and soccer tournaments- at three different venues.
Due to this steep incline in revenue, the Maryland Office of Tourism, did a study to see the true impact of tourism on the county overall. The study showed that Harford County gained $374 million in total or more than $1 million a day. With sports tourism bringing in $50 million, the county owes a lot to the sports industry for the more revenue.
According to the study, baseball averaged the most events per year with 39, and the most participants, 20,600. That brought nearly 55,000 spectators to the county’s Ripken Stadium. Lacrosse made a big imp...
We can all agree that visiting potential sites is an integral part of the site selection process for events. However, not all site visits are created equal. Rights Holders are looking for a quick trip to look at the venue to make sure it will work for their needs. Looking at facility specs on paper, or online, is helpful; but, we really need to see the space in person to identify any potential issues, planning the layout, and identifying branding opportunities. While not all Rights Holders are looking for the same experience, there are some common themes we look for to make the most of the visit.
Do Your Homework
Just as we ask for destinations to do their homework before our appointments at Symposium, we want you to do your homework before our site visits as well. Byron Hicks, the Manager of Events for USA Ultimate says, “Know my needs before I come and show me what I need. Don’t show me ball fields when I need linear field space.”...