For years, the Sports Events and Tourism Association (formerly the National Association of Sports Commissions) produced an annual state of the industry report in an effort to gauge the economic impact of the sports tourism industry. But association leaders were quick to note that the survey, while producing interesting results, was only as good as the number of member organizations willing to participate. Earlier this year, and before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the association set out to do something more ambitious with its research. Combining data from Tourism Economics, Longwoods International and U.S. government research, as well as valuable information culled from its members, Sports ETA, with the support of the Northstar Meetings Group, commissioned what is believed to be the most comprehensive research ever conducted about the sports tourism and sports-related travel industries. The end result: In 2019, sports-related travel accounted for more than $45 billion in direct spending, generating an estimated 69 million room nights across amateur sports and collegiate championship events.

In this podcast with SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, Sports ETA President and CEO Al Kidd and Jennifer Stoll, the lead researcher on the project, discuss the data in the new survey and how destinations and event organizers can take advantage of the numbers that will serve as a benchmark as the industry continues its recovery.

Among the topics discussed in this episode:

Details of the 2019 State of the Industry study
What future studies from Sports ETA will address
Growth over the last five years in sports-related travel
The rise of sports complexes across the United States
The impacts already measured from COVID-19 on sports-related travel in 2020
How many hotel room nights are generated from sports-related travel
The impact the industry has on local economies in terms of jobs and attracting job candidates
The industry’s impact on tax generation for local and state governments
The role sports-related travel is playing in the overall economic recovery
Industries affected by sports-related travel
The average number of events held per destination
The trend of destinations owning their own sports events
The need for destinations to diversify their funding sources
The rise of community health-based programs
How the rightsholder-destination relationship may be changing
Expectations for the sports tourism industry in 2021

To access the full 2019 State of the Industry report, click here.

For more coverage of the State of the Industry report, click here.

To listen to the SportsTravel Podcast, click here.

David Ax is an Event Manager for the Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis, Tennessee. David started his career in the venue management industry with the unique opportunity to manage multiple venues and contribute to the success of many different types of events. Since joining the Memphis Grizzlies, he has driven the growth of private and corporate event bookings as well as developing and serving as chair of the Safety Committee.

“Winning this award gave me the opportunity to pull away from the intense mindset I was in with the pandemic and be excited that I was now part of a group that was going to help lead us out of it.”

Join your Foundation in congratulating David on being honored as one of the 30|UNDER|30 Class of 2020 and come back each Thursday as we spotlight another honoree!

By R.V. Baugus

Venue Professional magazine will publish in a digital format only through the end of IAVM’s fiscal year of March 31, 2021. The decision comes as the Association — like most of its members — faces challenges in producing events, a key component in IAVM revenues. A decision will be made at that time as to when the magazine can resume publishing in print.

The magazine has published digitally for years as a companion to the print magazine. Several new columns have been added to the magazine since the July/August issue, in addition to the name change from Facility Manager to Venue Professional.

The publication remains dedicated to providing IAVM members the news, information, and entertainment they want to help guide them professionally and even personally.

Please know that the goal is to resume printing the magazine as soon as fiscally possible. Print is quite costly and as not only stewards of your membership dues but in an effort to help maintain a staff to be able to meet your needs, the decision is sensible and logical during these difficult and challenging time of COVID-19 and as our industry tries to move towards reopening.

We will continue to remain in communication with you should there be further developments to announced regarding Venue Professional and its publishing situation. In the meantime, please know we will NOT sacrifice any of the coverage of the people and news in our fantastic industry.

After several months of closely following key indicators including travel trends and consumer sentiment, the Let’s Go There campaign officially launches on Tuesday, September 8, when the collective travel industry will encourage Americans to do what is safe and productive: make plans to travel.

IAVM members are also encouraged to use your collective voices by using available toolkit resources from the U.S. Travel Association that can be accessed here.

By R.V. Baugus

On September 1, venues were awash in red to symbolically unite and raise public and media awareness in support of the live events sector that has suffered so greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Under #WeMakeEvents, a coalition of trade bodies, business, unions, and live events workers, venues, and even homes and cities took on a distinct red to raise awareness for many of the following daunting numbers:

Live events employ over 12 million people.
Live events contributes over $1 trillion annually to the US economy.
95% of live events have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
96% of companies have cut staff and/or wages.
77% of people in the live events industry have lost 100% of their income, including 97% of 1099 workers.

IAVM is a supporter of the initiative, and many member venues splashed on red on September 1.

In all, more than 5,000 buildings across North America were illuminated in red, or the “red alert” code for survival as well as extending Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).

From the top: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, ExtraMile Arena Bridgestone Arena, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Thomas & Mack Center