Category: Main Feature

Main Feature — SportsTravel — News, Insight and Analysis for the Sports-Event Industry

Infinity Park
Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado, was the first rugby-specific venue built in the United States. (Photos by Jason Gewirtz)

For One Small City, Rugby as Economic Development

Glendale, Colorado, is the kind of city that you’d never know you were in unless someone pointed it out. At 369 acres, the enclave that is home to about 5,000 mostly apartment-dwelling residents is surrounded on all sides by the city of Denver. For years, if you knew anything about Glendale, it might be as […]

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Dew Tour Momiji Nishiya

Letter From Iowa: The State Games, the Dew Tour and the Power of Sports

Sports play a vital economic role for destinations looking to attracting visitors. They also, in their finest moments, provide inspiring examples of humanity at its best. Over the weekend of July 29–30 in Ames and Des Moines, Iowa, two events — one amateur, one professional — spoke to each of those aspects. They also served […]

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2022-RIPKEN-EXPERIENCE
Cal Ripken Jr. throws the ceremonial first pitch before the beginning of a game between two youth teams at the Ripken Experience in Aberdeen, Maryland. Photo courtesy of Ripken Baseball

Ripken Baseball Returns Home to Aberdeen,
While Eyeing Further Expansion

When Cal Ripken Jr. and Bill Ripken started organizing youth baseball camps and clinics two decades ago, the mission was simple: Pass on the teachings of how to play baseball that their father, Cal Sr., instilled in them. The two Major League Baseball veterans are baseball lifers. Cal Jr. became the Ironman, playing 2,632 games […]

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SLC2030HousingB
The Residences at Utah Olympic Park is one of the "in house" properties that would be utilized for a future Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Photo courtesy Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games.

How to Book 24,000 Rooms for the Olympic Games: An Innovative Formula That Works for Hotels and Organizers

For the thousands of things an Olympic Games bid group must put together for the International Olympic Committee to take notice, there may be one key factor that is less high-profile than others. The IOC will never bring the Games to a site that lacks the venues, especially with its recent emphasis on venue sustainability. […]

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1909 Buick racer attacks the California hills
The Great Race features cars from several decades, including this 1909 Buick, competing against each other and the clock.

The Great Race: Old Cars, New Cities and Good Times

The Daytona 500. The Indianapolis 500. 24 Hours of Le Mans. Great races all, but none are the Great Race. The Great Race is an event that spans multiple states over the course of nine days. It features cars built in 1909 competing against 1965 Mustangs that move from city to city with the goal […]

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LSU Alabama Football
Alabama fans cheer before a game against LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium, in Tuscaloosa. The SEC is set to get two new teams when Oklahoma and Texas join the mix. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Why College Conference Realignment
Reshapes the Sports Tourism Landscape

College sports is amid revolutionary change that may not be surpassed in its long and sometimes controversial history. The ability of athletes — sorry, student-athletes — to earn money off name, image and likeness has turned the traditional college sponsorship model upside down. The NCAA recently adopted a new constitution that may see further changes […]

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EliteTournamentsBoys

Youth Sports in the COVID-19 Era: Why the Multi-Billion Dollar Industry Feels Positive About the Future

Over the past two-plus decades, the youth sports business has perhaps grown like no other segment not only in the sports-event industry but like few industries throughout the world. What was a collection of mostly community groups that would stage Saturday morning soccer programs in the parks, or intramural basketball before or after elementary school, […]

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eileen krause
Eileen Krause cleans condiment dispensers on the main concourse of Ball Arena before an NHL game between the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche on March 11, 2020, in Denver. Cleaning and sanitization within sports venues, especially indoors, has become a key component in making fans feels comfortable attending events during the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Future of Sports Venues After COVID: Contactless Technology, Deep Cleaning Among Top Priorities

From the growth of professional venues that can become as much about entertainment as the game itself, to collegiate venues that are professional in everything but name, and even youth and recreation complexes that promote themselves as giving a professional experience to pre-teen athletes, there are few things in the sports industry that have changed […]

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Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony
Silver medalist Jessie Diggins, of the United States, reacts on the podium for the women's 30km mass start free cross-country skiing ceremony during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics on February 20 in Beijing. Diggins is in a sport that historically has not been a commercial success for athletes but her results over the past two Winter Games has heightened her commercial viability. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Marketing the Olympics During Pandemic
a Commercial Challenge for Brands and Athletes

Through controversies and debates over the host country, drug testing of teenagers and an apathetic television viewing public, it was not a marketing dream for sponsors and athletes alike in Beijing. The Winter Games are not yet over — the Paralympics start March 4 in China. But the sprint of a Summer and Winter Games […]

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