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Education

2026 Education

Sponsored By:

Placer Valley
What Symposium Attendees Have To Say About Education...

"I truly appreciate and enjoy the variety of education sessions offered throughout the Symposium!" - 2025 Symposium Attendee

"You are doing a phenomenal job providing education that touches all segments and sizes of our industry!" - 2025 Symposium Attendee

"Sports ETA is leading the way on high-level education for sports tourism. This year's Symposium had the best content of any show I've attended in several years. The association is clearly firing on all cylinders!" - 2024 Symposium Attendee

"Love this show! Incredibly organized and well put together. Staff is great to work with. The education is awesome. It was very well attended with both destinations and rights holders." - 2024 Symposium Attendee

"Found the content to be diverse and relevant. Enjoyed the sessions and found them to be interactive with ample time to ask questions and engage with the room." - 2024 Symposium Attendee
 

Tuesday - Apr 21, 2026

  10:40 AMCREATE Stage Session: Stay to Play: Misconceptions and a Better Way Forward
April 21, 2026, 10:40 AM - 11:00 AM
Stay to Play tournaments often spark strong opinions — seen by some as restrictive or burdensome. But when structured thoughtfully and powered by...
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  1:40 PMCREATE Stage Session: What If Your Sports Complexes Were the Most Powerful Economic Development Tool in Your City?
April 21, 2026, 1:40 PM - 2:00 PM
It's one of the most persistent myths in community development: that sports complexes are amenities, not economic engines. William Knox and J.D. Wood are...
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  2:00 PMAdvocating the Outdoors: The Economic Oasis
April 21, 2026, 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Use of outdoor recreation to your destination's benefit is not reserved for only the few. Rather, destinations typically unthought of as outdoor recreation...
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  2:00 PMGlobal Gateway: Unlocking the Potential of International Sports Tourism
April 21, 2026, 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
As sports tourism continues to expand beyond domestic borders, destinations, rights holders, and industry partners are increasingly looking to international...
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  2:00 PMIndustry Partner Exchange: Identifying Gaps & Shaping the Future with Sports ETA
April 21, 2026, 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
This interactive roundtable is designed exclusively for industry partners to connect with peers, share perspectives, and explore where the greatest...
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  2:00 PMMake the Most Out of Marketing an Event
April 21, 2026, 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Pro tips and tools, actionable ways to market a sports event. For rights holders - a list of questions and topics to ask for your host venue or destination....
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  2:00 PMRights Holder Session: Funding Trends, Bid Fees & Monetization Strategies Every Rights Holder Should Know
April 21, 2026, 2:00 PM - 3:45 PM
As the economics of sports events continue to evolve, rights holders must stay ahead of shifting funding models, rising bid fees, and new revenue opportunities....
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  3:00 PMBuilding Community Legacy Through Collegiate Sporting Events
April 21, 2026, 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Collegiate sporting events offer more than economic impact and can serve as a platform for lasting community benefit. This breakout session explores how...
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  3:00 PMChild Protection Safe by Design: Strengthening Child Safeguarding in Sport and Events
April 21, 2026, 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Sporting can amplify risks to children, and they also present powerful opportunities to strengthen child safeguarding systems that endure long after the...
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  3:00 PMRoundtable Discussions: Solutions Not Problems
April 21, 2026, 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Designed exclusively for the Small to Mid-Market Destinations Community Group, this interactive roundtable creates space for open dialogue, idea sharing,...
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  3:00 PMThe Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Sponsorship
April 21, 2026, 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Jerry Maguire had a moment. He sat down at midnight and wrote a manifesto about everything his industry knew but refused to say out loud — and it...
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Wednesday - Apr 22, 2026

  11:00 AMBeyond the Bid Fee: How Destinations Are Leveraging More Than Money to Win Over Rights Holders
April 22, 2026, 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
How Destinations are leveraging more than money to win over rights holders. For CVBs with smaller to mid-size budgets, it can sometimes feel challenging...
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  11:00 AMRights Holder Session: Doing More with Less: How Rights Holders Can Navigate Rising Costs & Labor Shortages
April 22, 2026, 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
As rising costs and workforce shortages continue to impact the sports events and tourism industry, collaboration...
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  11:00 AMRoundtable Discussions: Large Event Markets Pt. 1
April 22, 2026, 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Invite Only! Large event markets bring scale, complexity, and competing priorities. This roundtable explores how professionals align stakeholders, prioritize...
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  11:00 AMWhat Mega-Events Really Mean for a Destination?
April 22, 2026, 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
2026 is a year of mega-events in the United States, with the FIFA World Cup taking center stage. Host cities and adjacent destinations are all asking the...
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  11:00 AMYour City Has Won the Bid - Now What? Enhancing the Collegiate Event Experience
April 22, 2026, 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Securing a collegiate championship or tournament is a major win—but what comes next? While organizations like the NCAA, NAIA, HBCU, and athletic...
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  2:00 PMCREATE Stage Session: Beyond Banners: What Today’s Sponsors Really Want
April 22, 2026, 2:00 PM - 2:20 PM
This presentation by BASE Sports Group, explores how youth sports organizations and destination partners can evolve their approach to sponsorships. It...
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  2:20 PMCREATE Stage Session: Meetings Outlook: Practical Business Insights on the Future of Meetings
April 22, 2026, 2:20 PM - 2:40 PM
Meeting professionals today face a complex landscape shaped by inflation, rising costs, supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty....
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  2:45 PMFrom Data to Dialogue: Crafting Your Elevator Pitch with the State of the Industry
April 22, 2026, 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Learn how to turn the latest Sports ETA State of the Industry data into clear, compelling elevator pitches that resonate with key stakeholders....
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  2:45 PMHow to Create Personal LinkedIn Content That Actually Drives Business Outcomes
April 22, 2026, 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Less than 10% of DMO professionals actively create content on LinkedIn. You get 8x more engagement from a personal post on LinkedIn then from a company...
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  2:45 PMMore Than Membership: How to Use an Industry Association to Build Careers, Connections, and Impact
April 22, 2026, 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Many Sports ETA members join early in their careers or through their organizations, often without a clear roadmap for how to fully leverage the association...
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  2:45 PMRights Holder Session: Lowering the Temperature: Managing Parent & Crowd Behavior at Today's Sporting Events
April 22, 2026, 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Sideline tensions and unruly spectator behavior are increasingly impacting the athlete experience, event operations, and brand reputation of youth and...
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  2:45 PMRoundtable Discussions: Large Event Markets Pt. 2
April 22, 2026, 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Invite Only! This roundtable focuses on execution, how large event markets successfully deliver events at scale. Discuss real-world challenges and solutions...
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Thursday - Apr 23, 2026

  10:00 AMCREATE Stage Session: From Room Nights to Remarkable Experiences: How Technology Drives Revenue & Participant Satisfaction
April 23, 2026, 10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Sports tourism continues to drive significant room night demand, yet many destinations and event organizers still rely on fragmented tools and manual processes...
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  1:00 PMConcert & Event Pop-Ups: Increasing Value, Revenues and Quality of Life
April 23, 2026, 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
A brief presentation outlining the needs from concert promoters to produce festivals, concerts, and events using existing facilities, venues, and public...
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  1:00 PMEngaging Master Athletes: Events & Community Initiatives for Aging Populations
April 23, 2026, 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
This panel brings together destinations and event organizers to discuss how they are engaging master athletes through targeted events and community initiatives....
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  1:00 PMFrom Politics to Partnership: Building Unity Through Sports
April 23, 2026, 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
In today’s polarized climate, even community initiatives can be impacted by political divides. This interactive workshop explores how sports can...
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  1:00 PMRights Holder Town Hall & Roundtables
April 23, 2026, 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Designed exclusively for rights holders, this session combines a town hall conversation with interactive roundtables to foster peer exchange, surface common...
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  1:00 PMStories Over Stadiums: The New Engine of Global Sports Travel
April 23, 2026, 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Facilities matter, but for international growth they’re increasingly table stakes. What differentiates destinations now is meaning: the stories people...
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  2:50 PMCREATE Stage Session: Sustainability: The Best Bet in Sports & Events Tourism
April 23, 2026, 2:50 PM - 3:10 PM
Sustainability is no longer a side bet—it’s a winning strategy. This session explores how destinations and event organizers are leveraging...
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