2020 SPG Preview

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A STAR IS BORN . NEW BRAND . NEW DAY .

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SPG

Vol. 11, No. 1, 2020 Edition

FEATURES 10

Making the Pivot

With its brand transition firmly in place, Sports ETA’s Al Kidd looks to grow the organization’s impact in the sports tourism industry by building upon NASC’s legacy with a 21st century mindset.

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BY JEFF GAYDUK

Undeniable Growth Nontraditional sporting favorites expand their reach across the country, aided by the digital world.

BY DAN CAMPANA

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7 Unique Safety Concerns Around Hosting International Events Regardless of the size of the event, large and small event organizers have the same basic legal duties.

BY JOHN WOLOHAN

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Technology's Role in Sports New and innovative technology drives the sporting world, for athletes, administrators and fans alike.

BY DEREK WOLFF

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CEO Ju’Riese Colon’s experience has served her well as SafeSport rapidly expands its role in preventing abuse in athletics across the U.S.

One-On-One With SafeSport

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Sports Industry Exchange

US Sports Congress organizer expands educational platform with a new show.

BY JEFF GAYDUK

SPECIAL SECTION 29

THE FUTURE OF SPORTS TOURISM

COLUMNS 8

Welcome to the 2020 Sports Planning Guide

BY DAN MALONEY

389 11 Sports Industry Trends for 2020

BY JON SCHMIEDER

COVER PHOTO:

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Sports Planning Guide

(Photo by Timothy Park Photography)

@SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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SITE INSPECTIONS BY REGION

Here are hundreds of facilities and fun things to do at America’s leading sports-friendly destinations, to help event planners organize their next tournament or meet.

39 75

EAST

WEST

181 266

MIDWEST SOUTH

STATE GUIDES

Spotlighting both on-the-field and off-the-field activities, SPG state guides help tournament planners get a complete perspective of top state sports organizations and destinations.

43 Hard Rock Stadium

61 83 109 127 155 187 227 267 297

Photo courtesy of Hard Rock Stadium

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SportsPlanningGuide.com

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NEW ENGLAND PENNSYLVANIA OREGON WASHINGTON CALIFORNIA TEXAS ILLINOIS INDIANA VIRGINIA FLORIDA NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA

ALWAYS ONLINE

Visit SportsPlanningGuide.com for updated stories and event ideas, sign up for our bi-weekly InSite on Sports e-newsletter.

Sports Planning Guide

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SPG

Vol. 11, No. 1, 2020 Edition Editorial & Advertising Office

DAN DAVIS MALONEY

621 Plainfield Road, Suite 406 Willowbrook, IL 60527 P 630.794.0696 • F 630.794.0652 info@ptmgroups.com

Publisher – Jeffrey Gayduk

Welcome to the 2020 Sports Planning Guide‌ This Is Where Relationships Begin

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his year's name transformation for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee exemplifies the changes that have broadened sports across the globe in an effort to include all types of athletes.

At Sports Planning Guide, we are fortunate to see up-close the advances in both designing facilities and creating events that allow athletes of all ages, races, genders, cultures and physical abilities to participate in sport.

One could even argue that e-sports is the ultimate in inclusiveness, as it significantly shifts the definition of athlete to include those outside the realm of traditional physical endeavor. There still is, however, work to be done regarding economic disparity and access for the less fortunate. The issue is clear, and organizations like Project Play are spearheading solutions.

This inclusion philosophy generates an enhanced spirit of sport that is shared by athletes and spectators alike. Inclusive sports raise the bar for all cultures and represent a worthy goal for all of life’s other endeavors.

SPG salutes all of you who work each day to present sport opportunities for anyone seeking them. We’re proud to be your partner!

As you can see from this print guide, SPG continues to set the bar for the sports tournament industry. At the same time, SportsPlanningGuide.com is growing exponentially online. Our destination videos are a big hit, and a new website design allows for intuitive navigation to help you find the

venues and destinations that are perfect for your event. Our goal is singular: to help you, the tournament planner, rights holder and governing body find solutions to your planning needs. Not content to rest on our laurels, we’re already developing new products and services for 2020.

This year’s guide features 11 special state sections, plus a New England regional guide that includes new venues and attractions from our beautiful Northeast. Also inside is a debut piece from the SFM Network, the highflying facility operator that’s building 21st century facilities for 21st century athletes.

Finally, 39 destinations new to the guide are promoting hundreds of venues for you to choose from.

We value collaboration and always appreciate your feedback. We encourage you to call or email us with any ideas for improvements to both our print publication and website.

Contact me directly at 630-794-0696, ext. 508, or email Dan@ptmgroups.com.

As you lean back and read SPG, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride. You work in a unique industry that centers around the joys of performance and competition. Every year you are creating lasting memories for millions of people, shaping lives with events.

Where else would you get to do anything even close to that?

Dan Davis Maloney Director of Business Development

jeff@ptmgroups.com

Managing Editor – Jason Paha jason@ptmgroups.com

Associate Editor – Miles Dobis miles@ptmgroups.com

Associate Editor – Derek Wolff derek@ptmgroups.com

Production Coordinator – Annie Gavin annie@ptmgroups.com

Chief Development Officer – Lance Harrell lance@ptmgroups.com

Contributing Writers Dave Bodle Vanessa Day Devika Kholsa Jon Schmieder Bill Stampfl Dan Campana Cairo Lewis Harry Peck Jaylyn Fahey Nabiha Asim Liam Dwyer Michael Rankin Lauren Wong Fabio De Simone

Director, Design & Production – Robert A. Wyszkowski raw@robertgraphics.com

Director of Business Development – Dan Davis Maloney dan@ptmgroups.com

Business Development Manager – Eric Moore eric@ptmgroups.com

The publisher accepts unsolicited editorial matter, as well as advertising, but assumes no responsibility for statements made by advertisers or contributors. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information published, but the publisher makes no warranty that listings are free of error. The publisher is not responsible for the return of unsolicited photos or manuscripts.

Sports Planning Guide (ISSN 2153-4179) is published annually by Premier Travel Media, 621 Plainfield Rd., Suite 406, Willowbrook, IL 60527. Postage paid at Willowbrook, IL and Lebanon Junction, KY. The magazine is distributed free to sports events organizers. Single copies for all others is $9.95

Send Address Change to:

A 8

Sports Planning Guide

Premier Travel Media 621 Plainfield Rd., Suite 406 Willowbrook, IL 60527

publication

All rights reserved. Materials may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.

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Interview: Al Kidd

Making the Pivot

With its brand transition firmly in place, Sports ETA’s Al Kidd looks to grow the organization’s impact in the sports tourism industry by building upon NASC’s legacy with a 21st century mindset.

Sports Planning Guide: Lots of news coming out of Sports ETA! AK: This is a very active time period with travel and getting out and seeing people. The good news is the hard work we’ve done in the last couple of years laying a bunch of sod is finally taking hold. The outcome from our symposium this year with the by-law changes and rebranding really opens the door for all the things that have been in our strategy since I started here.

The narrative now has shifted from trying to coalesce support and align it around those topics to “okay guys, hitch them up. We’re getting ready to go.”

SPG: What was the main motivator behind the change from NASC? AK: We had significant amounts of research prior to embarking on the branding process. We looked at the membership construct and the shift in the last five years and we were able to determine that the amount of sports commissions had shrunk, it was down to fewer than 50. Then we have almost 400 CVBs and then we have about 200 rights holders and about 100 industry partners.

When you add all that up within the constitution of the membership there has been a significant shift in terms of the types of people that are becoming members and the type of needs they had in terms of what we as an association should do which is help a professional development in resources, networking and events.

SPG: How have members reacted to the changes?

AK: Change comes in two forms; it can be revolutionary or evolutionary. Two years ago, we attempted to move things at a pace that wasn’t comfortable for the general membership. When you have a lack of

understanding or not enough information to make an informed decision, people pause. What happened is that we as an organization learned what was important and so we weren’t about to make a mistake the second time around; this wasn’t a sprint.

When you’re making these kinds of changes that becomes the evolutionary part. It took that much time for us to get around talking to people.

We’re trying to evolve over a couple of years to better understand some of the reasoning, rational, of where it’s going so that the constituencies can make better decisions.

Under Kendra Fry’s guidance, she was going to make sure that the members had a voice in these things and they did. It’s a widely discussed position and there are different opinions, but at the end of the day, the members voted and we are here to serve the members.

SPG: What skill, or historical perspective did you lean on throughout this process, understanding it was more than just a name change the organization is going through?

AK: I’ve done a lot of name changes with corporations throughout my marketing career, and none of them, I would say, have full support or full denial and it’s a process you have to work your way through.

This year, we wanted to make sure the members had informed decision-making capabilities. We had town hall forums and webinars in advance of our meeting so that people had the opportunity to ask questions and hear from the people who were producing the work.

I can tell you in my entire life there has never been an organization that I’ve worked with that did a name change that was a popularity voting

“Everything that we do now will have a familiar look and it will be part of our four pillars of excellence: education, advocacy, resources, networking.”

— Al Kidd, Sports ETA

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@SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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contest between two and three different choices. You hire professionals who are experts in that field and they discount their personal preferences around color choice, word choice and layout.

We have gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback about the name, both inside our industry and outside every tourism group outside the industry from Destinations International to International Association of Vendor Managers to PCMA. All the leaders are excited about the name change because it represents the broader view of the sports money chain around events in tourism. It had better represent a national standard around us representing the industry.

SPG: What other rifts did you find?

AK: One of the shifts was the continuing expansion of facilities around the country. At this year’s symposium, we did a pilot program specifically for facilities because we had 28 facilities that had joined as members, almost as many as we have sports commissions. Our trial event goal was modest, we were hoping for 35 attendees and we had 75 plus a waiting list. So that’s a good sign you are onto something.

The other petri-dish that we had was the first-ever state’s sports tourism group meeting where we had had 25 of the 28 known state organized groups involved. They each brought two people so we had 50 people in the meeting and it was outstanding. We formed a small governing group to help us organize a significant research project that is being funded co-operatively with all the state groups and our research department.

The anticipation in both of these groups is that they will then have their own secondary meeting during the course of the year. In case of the facilities, they are putting together the next meeting in October of this year which will be at one of the facilities. We are anticipating a large crowd of people coming and they will be focused on educational opportunities and networking.

SPG: How are you trying to engage rights holders?

AK: At symposium, we had our second right holders’ town hall. They have needs like every other constituent group of our association and we SportsPlanningGuide.com

are forming a rights holders sub-association.

They’re anticipating their first meeting in December or January so we’re organizing that meeting and it’s going to be focused on education.

All these sub-groups are part of our membership and we have to observe all of them. We had a bit of an “ah-ha” moment, we now have three to four new sections of that sports events and tourism value chain, all of it tied together with our new name.

Everything that we do now will have a familiar look and it will be part of our four pillars of excellence: education, advocacy, resources, networking.

SPG: What’s your involvement around SafeSport?

AK: It’s something we didn’t have before and we started with a fairly easy putt because this is federally mandated that anything associated with new sports will have to go through the SafeSport program. We are a significant distributer of their programs and we are an advocate of the SafeSport educational process and programming. We’ve had over 60 people already take the course.

The beauty is this organization has the network and the built-in distribution to make safety in sports really happen because their reach has expanded significantly. Martha Van Gelder over at SafeSport is very pleased with the partnership, we’re excited about it and our members will be more excited as they’re presented opportunities to do this simply through our website.

SPG: CVBs might argue that they go to Sports ETA Symposium for the purpose of promoting their facilities because ultimately that’s where the games are played. With the separate track for facilities how do you put fences around those two or are fences needed?

AK: That was naturally going to happen whether we were involved or not, and here’s the logic behind it. Facilities come in all shapes and sizes.

They could be public-private partnership, they can be public which is typically city served rec-departments and they could be private. In each of those cases they are trying to fill their buildings.

In the case of the public facilities, they tend to focus first on community Sports Planning Guide

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recreation, and they ascribe a certain portion to revenue generating outside tournaments or events, so they have a different focus. They also Oliver Luck with Jeff Mielke and Al Kidd. have a different service space and all too often, those facilities don’t actively go out to recruit events coming to their building because their community-based and community served. A lot of them don’t have sales people running around trying to bring in tournaments. Some are beginning to do that but that isn’t the core business.

Facilities that are run privately are developed and built by organizations, and those owners have an expectation to produce some profit. In that case, they will use every resource possible to help them fill the building. They will play nice with sports commissions or CVBs who have sports sales to try and help them fill their building but the sports commission or CVB job is not just to fill that building. In many cases right now you’re seeing those facilities hire their own sales people because they have to fill that building.

So, our thought around it was let’s bring these people together and get them in the same room and we’re going to understand the differences, those differences will manifest themselves in the next couple of years.

— Al Kidd, We can’t control it but what we care about is getting everybody together to professionally develop that industry by creating standards for making the management of facilities better. That way we can have better people managing facilities that know how to fill a facility, understand profit and to continue to work as a partner bridge with the sports commissions and CVBs. SPG: Where do you want to see that group go in the future?

AK: We’ve done a significant amount of research and we have some resources coming out after the first of the year. There are over 1,100 of those buildings and there are more facilities than we have destinations.

Some of the leadership working on this project believe that the facility side of this can be as big or bigger as the association that used to be called NASC. SPG: Are you getting any lift on your webinar? How does that fit into your education portfolio?

AK: Webinars are one tactic within a massive overhaul of our educational delivery. We right now are putting touches on a 2020 vision which is our longer-term strategy. Webinars are one of the topics that will serve within our new cadre of distribution for educational products.

It’s a wide-ranging collective certification program with a number of distribution sources, a number of partnerships with other tourism organizations to deliver content to their people, so this is a very aggressive part.

We’re trying to find a higher level of content and make it more interactive instead of just a power point presentation and we’re going to be adding podcasts to our mix. We have the ‘Pulse’ which is a weekly

short-form research that we are gathering to enhance our demographic and psychographic database around our membership and what their wants, needs, and desires are. That’s getting good lift and it’s growing in population in term of use.

We are going to be launching the ‘vault’ which is a significant offering around new resources both aggregated in the industry as well as specific research and partnerships that we will be announcing after the first of the year. It’s a five-part program that has resources, research, analytical tools, white papers, and metric programs. It’s a pretty aggressive program and we’ve identified individuals who we are contracting out to help us build all of these things we’ve talked about.

SPG: What’s the biggest roadblock facing industry expansion?

AK: There are a lot of factors around that so let me start with the core. Not just us but a number of organizations are looking at trying to solve the problem of involvement and how do we attract young people to stay active in sports.

At the same time, we have a crumbling physical education structure in America. So, you have less interest of required physical education Sports ETA and it’s well documented about the obesity epidemic and what is going on and around with Project Fit. Some of these things are Band-Aids to try and deal with the issue, but the decline of exposure to kids on a broad basis around a variety of sports ultimately will affect participation rates in those sports.

Baseball spends a lot of money trying to get the attention of inner city kids with some of their Junior RBI programs and others like that.

Basketball does the same thing football does as well, and so the kids that don’t have outlets to those sports get an introduction.

The “pay to play” I’m not going to judge whether it’s good or bad because there are two sides to that coin. It has taken out those that are without financial resources the ability for early entry into the sport. On the other hand, those that are looking at job creation and the economy can point out that the millions of jobs that have been created. Building these facilities, administrators of the “pay to play” leagues, trainers, tourism build and staffing - it has created a micro economy around youth sports and particular sports activities.

It’s a tough one to figure out, but the core that’s still not been addressed is the lack of mass exposure to a wide variety of sports, and the dwindling participation rates with kids.

SPG: What does the next year hold?

AK: I’ll say this right now, our leadership is fully aligned with trying to create these new channels of opportunity. It took some time to get here and it wasn’t always easy. We didn’t always agree. But the leadership and the board got behind this vision and stayed vigilant. SPG

“I’ll say this right now, our leadership is fully aligned with trying to create these new channels of opportunity.”

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Sports Planning Guide

@SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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UNDENIABLE

GROWTH

Unheralded sports like cornhole (above) have flourished with strong social media promotion.

American Cornhole

Nontraditional sporting favorites expand their reach across the country, aided by the digital world SportsPlanningGuide.com

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By Dan Campana

nce considered too small or too obscure, the world of nontraditional sports has continued to rise into mainstream public opinion and thought.

Passionate participants and growing and dedicated fan bases have led the charge in that rise in activity by making both big and small investments. These actions have expanded the universe of nontraditional favorites such as esports, pickleball, cornhole and rugby. Add to the mix the exposure explosion made possible by digital and social media platforms, and the growth is even more undeniable for sports once relegated to the neighborhood park or tailgating festivities.

Cornhole finds strength in numbers

“Anyone can play and anyone can win.”

That’s the slogan of the American Cornhole League, which touts itself as promoting the sport as suitable for players of any age and skill level. The organization offers multiple competitive levels, from the Pro Series that features prize money and exposure on ESPN to the Juniors Series in which players can earn college scholarship money.

With 2019 forecasted as the biggest year for esports revenue ever – Newzoo’s fifth-annual Global Esports Market Report estimates it will top $1 billion – it’s easy to understand why competitive video gaming leagues and tournaments might no longer fit the mold of a nontraditional sport.

With a prominent TV and online presence and arena-packing events putting fans in seats around the United States and the world, Newzoo pegged the esports audience at 454 million consumers in 2019. The research firm projects that number swelling by another 200 million by 2022.

“Esports’ impressive audience and viewership growth is a direct result of an engaging viewership experience untethered to traditional media,” Newzoo CEO Peter Warman stated in a preview of the report.

To accommodate those audiences, investments in esports-dedicated facilities continue to pour in, highlighting another sign of the sport’s staying power. Fusion Arena, a $50 million, 3,500-seat esports and entertainment venue in Philadelphia, is slated to open in 2021 as the home to the city’s Overwatch League franchise. Once complete, Fusion Arena will join the likes of Esports Arena Orange County, Esports Arena Oakland and the Esports Arena Las Vegas inside the Luxor among the crop of dynamic stadiums dedicated to the competitive gaming experience.

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Sports Planning Guide

American Cornhole

‘E’ is for everywhere with esports

With a Facebook following that tops 70,000 and approximately 2,000 YouTube subscribers, the ACL is keeping fans engaged digitally as it tours the country for various tournaments with cash prizes.

The ACL is also affiliated with the World Cornhole Organization, which is working to make cornhole an Olympic sport. In partnership with Vimeo, the ACL recently relaunched its digital network, which gives subscribers access to an archive of full matches and premium coverage of national and world-championship tournament action.

The ACL season included national competitions in Arizona, Connecticut and Missouri and culminated in a prize pool featuring $180,000 up for grabs during the 2019 World Championships, which were held at the Valley Forge Casino in Pennsylvania.

Equally, American Cornhole Organization is experiencing its 15th consecutive year of growth. Certified Officials, individuals accredited with running regional cornhole tournaments, saw two new states enter the fold this year, with 96 different groups and 33 states now represented, plus international chapters in Canada, Brazil, Australia and Germany.

At this year’s World Championships in Las Vegas, ACO partnered with Top Golf for a unique center court final, while regionals events have seen a spike in participation up to 50% due to non-traditional venues that attract an audience.

ACO continues to flourish with a digital network (wearecornhole.com), a podcast series of its own and a social media footprint that includes 1,400 YouTube subscribers and 41,000 Facebook followers. The ACO has also launched its own fantasy league with a mobile-first platform and growing user base, and plans are underway for a made-for-TV series.

With fired-up tournament crowds, strong prize money potential and no shortage of notable sponsors, the cornhole scene has certainly come a long way from its roots as a game for tailgaters and backyard cookout crowds. @SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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From viewers to players, rugby on the radar of many

As the official national program, USA Rugby oversees America’s competitive standing on the world rugby stage while also keeping the sport thriving at all levels domestically.

USA Rugby counted a membership of nearly 125,000 in 2018, a figure that includes players from the youth level to beyond college, as well as coaches and referees. In its mission to continually grow the sport, the organization engaged with 22,000 youth throughout the year.

Those figures fall within the context of World Rugby statistics, which in recent years suggested there were approximately one million participants in the United States.

As with other trending nontraditional sports, a solid indicator of a sport’s popularity comes from its social media presence. More than 400,000 followers use Facebook or Twitter to keep tabs on USA Rugby, while its YouTube channel is filled with games and highlights of teams ranging from the Women’s Premier League to the men’s national squad. The aggregate from these teams draw thousands of viewers each month.

The national team was scheduled to compete in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan in October and has qualified for the 2020 Olympics – two more opportunities for a burgeoning community of rugby players and fans to see how far America has come on the international pitch and doubling as a way to spur interest back home.

Spurred by an aging American population and easy accessibility to public courts, pickleball participation has skyrocketed in the United States, and tournaments are growing across the nation.

Pickleball popularity plain to see

The quirky tennis-like game with the funny name appeals to the masses in a bevy of ways. Checking out the USA Pickleball Association website to search for courts around the country gives you a glimpse at how the sports has found its way into many community centers, park district facilities and even private clubs.

Thousands of courts are listed, with dozens of new ones added each month. The dynamic map feature goes beyond simply providing a location by detailing the price to play (if any), schedule availability and even comments about the playing conditions.

In total, the 2019 USAPA fact sheet notes that every U.S. state and all Canadian provinces now have at least one pickleball court, with nearly 20,000 in the United States alone.

USAPA’s membership numbers approached 31,000 in 2018 – a jump of 8,700 compared to the prior year. Combine all of that with the fact that there were 3.1 million players in the United States in 2018, and you’ll see how far the game has come since three Seattle-area friends created it in 1965.

Played indoors or outside, on temporary courts or established ones that look like a smaller version of a tennis court, pickleball’s popularity originated among active older adults in warm weather areas of the country. Today, beyond the casual participant, USAPA boasts a strong competitive tournament circuit that wraps up on the big stage of the Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships in November on 49 courts set up at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California. SPG

ProPickleball/Carl Schmits

ProPickleball/Carl Schmits

SportsPlanningGuide.com

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John Wolohan • Syracuse University

ext year the city of Tokyo will host the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, or as more commonly known, the 2020 Summer Olympics. In bidding for the Games, the Tokyo Olympic organizers initially budgeted more than $12 billion. However, a year out from the games, the budget has ballooned to more than $25 billion, a figure that is still growing. Excluded from the official budget, however, are items like security, athletes’ transport, anti-doping measures and stadium communications systems that appear pivotal to the successful staging of the event, which are expected to run about 650 billion yen ($5.6 billion).

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If past Summer Olympic are any guide, security alone should cost Tokyo around $1.3 billion. For example, the London Olympics wound up costing about $800 million in the security budget alone. The budget for security at the Rio 2016 Olympics was estimated at $1 billion. Included in the budget was the cost of an estimated 88,000 security professionals.

With the United States set to host the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, and the FIFA World Cup, which the United States, Canada and Mexico will host in 2026, the purpose of this article is to examine some of the unique safety concerns around hosting large international events. However, with more international delegates participating in U.S.

7 Unique Safety Concerns around Hosting International Events 16

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@SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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based competitions, it should be noted that this list applies to events of all sizes. It’s also not intended to be seen as an all-inclusive as every event and every location is going to have their own set of unique safety concerns, but this article tries to identify some of the most important safety concerns.

What are the unique safety concerns in hosting an international event?

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Terrorist Actions

Since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, organizers of large-scale sporting events have been forced to take extraordinary measures to protect athletes and the public from terrorists. The reason such extraordinary measures are needed are simple.

The bombings at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and 2013 Boston Marathon illustrated that large sporting events are prime terrorist targets because of the higher number of people the events attract. As a result, a small, wellplaced bomb can result in maximum damage. In both the Atlanta and Boston bombings, the homemade bombs were left in knapsacks and exploded in the crowd of spectators killing five and injuring hundreds. Though only three people were killed during the Boston Marathon bombing, and two in the 1996 Atlanta bombing, the attacks resulted in hundreds of injuries requiring medical attention.

In addition to large crowds, large international sporting events provide would-be terrorists something even more important: a worldwide audience. Both FIFA and the IOC estimated that around 3.6 billion people, or roughly half of the world's total population, watched at least one minute of their events on television. This type of audience is exactly the type of platform terrorist groups are seeking to get their message to the world press.

For example, when the Palestinian terrorist group Black September killed 11 Israelis at the 1972 Munich Olympics, almost the entire ordeal was covered by the world press.

In order to protect both athletes and spectators from possible terrorist attacks, large event organizers must work hand-in-hand with local police, as well as national security organizations and the military. With so many police and security forces needed to protect the visitors and athletes, it is easy to see how the security cost can be a major concern for any organization hosting a large international event.

2

Security of Dignitaries and VIPs

3

Violent Actions Committed During Protests

Another security concern when hosting an international sporting event is the security of dignitaries and other VIPs. Because they are fans, or just want to be in the public eye, politicians and celebrities often attend major sporting events. Since these individuals will be traveling with either their own police protection or a private security team, it is important that these external groups work with the official security teams to ensure the protection of everyone.

In addition to combating international and domestic terrorism, another unique safety concern around hosting large international events are protests. For example, 10 days before the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, a student protest turned into a massacre when the police and military fired into a crowd of unarmed students. To this day, the number of students killed during the attack is still unknown. The government claimed that only four students were killed, with an additional 20 wounded Eyewitnesses, however, claimed that hundreds of students died, and thousands were beaten and jailed.

While the actions of the Mexican police and military may seem like an isolated occurrence, the truth is that organizers of large sporting events have always relied on local police and military to jail protesters at many events. In 2016, police in Rio de Janeiro used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades on a group of anti-Olympic protesters shortly before the opening ceremony. The event, which happened about a half-mile from the MaracanĂŁ Stadium where the opening ceremony was to take place, was broadcast around the world via the Internet.

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4

Risks to Public Health

5

Venue Security

When Rio won the rights to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, they probably were not expecting the impact the Zika virus would have on the events. While the biggest impact was on people staying home, the Brazilian government spent around $600 million to combat the disease.

Perhaps the biggest area of safety concern around hosting large international events is venue security. Once again, since tens of thousands of people will be visiting the venues, organizers need to develop preventive, response and inspection activities designed to protect both the venues and the people in them. Security should include activities related to pre-event security sweeps for bombs and explosives; metal detector, pat-downs and bag searches should be mandatory for spectators entering the venue. Security also needs to provide and monitor video surveillance of the venue when people are present.

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Cybersecurity

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Natural Phenomena and Disasters

Another area of growing concern for the hosts of international events is cybersecurity. At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, local officials acknowledged they had been the victim of a cyberattack. With so much sensitive financial and personal information being stored on network computers, it is essential that event organizers employ professionals to monitor and investigate suspicious activities.

Finally, organizers of large-scale events need to remember that it is impossible to plan for everything. As a result, it is always important to leave a little contingency in the budget for the unexpected.

For example, a warmer globe has forced event organizers to plan for bad weather and excess heat. While planning for the 2020 Olympics and 2022 FIFA World Cup, Tokyo and Qatar and have developed a wide range of likely scenarios and circumstances involving both spectators and athletes. By reviewing the effects of the heat and humidity that regularly prevail in these countries during the events, the event organizers hope to provide an environment in and around the venues that will allow everyone to remain as cool and hydrated as possible.

Conclusion

Hosting large international events clearly present a number of unique safety and security concerns. Regardless of the size of the event, large and small event organizers have the same basic legal duties. They have a duty to provide athletes a facility that is safe and suited for the activity intended and to provide spectators a safe environment to watch the event. To satisfy that duty, it is essential that international events organizers work with local, national and international security forces to identify all the foreseeable risks and dangers associated with hosting such an event. Once the dangers and risks are identified, the organization can proceed with developing plans to eliminate or minimize the risks.

Finally, it is important to remember that no plan can foresee all possible events or occurrences. Therefore, in such cases it is important that there is a clear chain of authority and that everyone knows what roles they play in protecting the athletes and spectators from harm. SPG ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Attorney John Wolohan is a professor of Sports Law in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and Adjunct Professor in the College of Law at Syracuse University. Professor Wolohan has published extensively in the areas of athlete’s rights, antitrust and doping in sport. eddtoro/Bigstock.com

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New Technologies a Winning Formula for Sports With new innovations springing up each year, the influential sphere of technological advancements continues to dominate the sporting landscape 20

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By Derek Wolff

@SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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IKE THE ATHLETES AND THE RULES THAT govern the games, the world of sport is in a constant state of evolution. Presently, the impenetrable arm of technology has integrated itself into sport at every level, to the degree where the balance of the games is now impacted in some cases. Naturally, for all the innovative improvements technology can and has made within the sports realm, so too has it created problems and generated criticism and controversy. It is undeniable, however, that technology will continue to play a major role in the ever-shifting sands strewn across the sporting landscape.

The technological advancements and improvements to

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sports can be best reflected by looking at the innovative tech through multiple prisms. The growth rates in esports viewership and participation have skyrocketed in this decade, creating new fans among previously underserved demographics.

Interactive immersion through phone applications and stadium enhancements has slowly been implemented at stadiums around the world, maximizing the fan experience. Wearable devices provide new tracking data and metrics to measure and enhance an athlete’s performance. And the ever-present advancements in augmented and virtual reality are merging the worlds of video gaming with actual sporting contests, yielding fascinating new opportunities—for developers and fans alike.

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ESPORTS Competitive gaming is nothing new.

Back in the stone age of video game development, circa 1980, the popular game “Space Invaders” held a competition that drew a crowd of 10,000, a crowning achievement for that time. By 2020, most conservative projections value esports revenue around $1.5 billion, with no signs of the industry losing steam soon. In 2017 the industry awarded prize money that totaled $110.6 million derived from 3,765 tournaments, according to the esportsearnings.com website. Its largest tournament, The International 2017—a showcase for the world’s best “Dota 2” players—brought in $24.6 million on its own.

If those numbers seem impressive, consider the explosion that occurred in 2018, when esports viewership expanded 13.8 percent to reach 380 million people worldwide. What started as a fringe movement among hardcore gamers has reached the masses, and now the wallets, of some of the largest companies around the world. In the United States, companies like Geico, Tinder, and Monster Energy have sponsored major esports events or have become major advertisers, while established non-endemic brands like McDonalds and Volkswagen have sponsored major events held through Tencent’s King Pro League in China as well as in Korea.

The ease of access to viewing esports content has unsurprisingly played a major role in its continued rise in popularity. As viewing options continue to advance, millions of people can watch all over the world via Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform, YouTube Gaming, Mixer, Facebook Gaming, Steam TV, Caffeine, Huya, and NetEase CC. With so much money, influence and opportunity on the line, it isn’t surprising that destinations around the U.S. have started to cash in on the widespread popularity and camaraderie found through esports, mainly by building arenas specifically designed to house tournaments and competitive matches. The best of these arenas, like the Esports Stadium Arlington, have built fan-friendly amenities into the venues.

As the largest dedicated esports facility in North America, the Arlington, Texas-based facility is a 100,000-square-foot venue which focuses just as much on the fans as it does providing an outstanding atmosphere for top-of-the-line competitions. Open to the public seven days per week is the stadium’s Gaming Center, which features the latest and greatest games like “APEX Legends”, “Fortnite” and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” on NVIDIA-powered gaming PCs or on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. The center also allots time for weekly meet-ups, tournaments and other events that focus on connecting gamers from many different walks of life.

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INTERACTIVE IMMERSION AND AUGMENTED REALITY The next time you’re at a sporting event, take a break from watching the action and look around you for a minute. How many people sitting near you are staring down at their phones, seemingly immersed in the digital device and completely oblivious to the action on the field, pitch, court or rink that they’ve gathered at?

These days, no matter the quality of the matchup or the star power of the athletes on display, the mere spectacle of the sporting event isn’t enough to sustain the average human attention span for the entirety of the event. Rather than capitulate, professional franchises around the United States have begun implementing tools of interactive immersion into their fan experiences, either via smartphone applications or interactive exhibits and activities spread throughout the venues.

In Dallas, Texas, AT&T Stadium brought in a new fan-favorite attraction for the 2019 Dallas Cowboys season. The 5G-enabled stadium launched its “Pose with the Pros” augmented reality experience before the team’s season-opener against the New York Giants. Centrally located in the lobby of the 80,000-seat stadium, a touch-screen interface allows fans to cycle through a litany of recognizable Cowboys players and—after choosing five players out of the list of vying candidates—pose with them side-by-side in a photo. Once the players are selected, the screen goes into selfie-mode, where the chosen players will walk into the frame as if they had been waiting for the camera to count down from the get-go. The digital renditions then strike a pose, leaving enough room for the subjects, and appear alongside the fans.

The photo is then instantly available to the guests, who may receive it via email or text message. Guests can also enjoy the additional augmented reality offerings found throughout the stadium, including game data presented in AR available through Samsung S10 5G devices located throughout the building.

The Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, was built for the future and is an active leader in embracing digital infrastructure.

First opened in September of 2016, the arena includes a 6,000-squarefoot data center with two 100 gigabit-per-second pipes, enabling fans to upload 500,000 Instagram photo uploads or Snapchat snaps each second. The Kings have always been at the forefront of embracing new technology, be it by hosting an “Ask me anything” session on Reddit with players, enabling fans to ask their favorites questions via the social platform, using Facebook Live to livestream player interviews, streaming games in virtual reality—something that both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have invested in— or by embracing Cryptocurrency by accepting Bitcoin purchases. @SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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But the hyper connectivity on display expands further out than merely behind-the-scenes offerings and is directly transmitted into the hands of the fans sitting in seats during live games with the organization’s embrace of augmented reality. Beginning in 2020, Kings fans will be able to interact with AR through the Sacramento Kings + Golden 1 Center app, which will feature AR scavenger hunts, in-arena photo opportunities with digital players (like in Dallas), sweepstakes, giveaways, interactive sponsorship campaigns and more. The franchise already debuted its “Call the Shot” predictive gaming application in 2019, then enhanced the application by adding a blockchain-backed rewards program before the 2019-2020 season, giving fans all the more incentive to interact with the innovative tech.

Through a partnership with Zippin, the Kings became the world’s first sports arena to feature a checkout-free convenience store, enabling fans to purchase food and beverage items without the hassle of checkout lines or self-scanners. Guests can visit the store, grab items off the shelves and exit without waiting or scanning anything, and will just receive a receipt directly through their phones.

WEARABLE TECH AND VIRTUAL REALITY Wearable technology has become a dominant factor within the sporting realm on and off the field, whether you know it or not. The same chip technology used to ensure the safety of your credit cards has brought major changes to the National Football League for the past five years. Now the NFL is extending its partnership with Zebra Technologies Corporation through the 2021 season.

Captured using radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags in player equipment—which use electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects—Zebra has been able to revolutionize the player and ball-tracking systems within the NFL. These continuing developments led to the creation of Next Gen Stats, which has given league officials and employees, players, owners and fans unprecedented access to the data and analytics that power the game behind closed doors. Data is captured through tags implanted into the shoulder pads worn by the players, as well as in the football itself, then transmitted to receivers installed in NFL stadiums, giving the league valuable data on every player for each game.

The results have yielded fascinating insights into significant metrics like player speed, acceleration and deceleration, distance traveled, orientation and proximity, which teams in turn use to calculate and research information that can immediately be helpful during every

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practice rep. The league brought this technology to each of the six international NFL games it featured in 2019 as well, including the Mexico City Monday Night Football battle between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs in November.

Soccer organizations like Seattle Sounders FC have embraced wearable technology as well, investing heavily into sports science to maximize performance. During practice the Sounders players are outfitted with GPS and heart rate monitors, which track how they’re running and how hard their hearts are working. The data is then fed into a relational database, enabling the team’s analytics department to interpret the data and make suggested adjustments in real-time. Seattle became champions of Major League Soccer by capturing the MLS Cup for the second time in four years in November of 2019.

Unsurprisingly, professional sports organizations have invested heavily in virtual reality as well, both to improve the performance of athletes on the field and to enhance the role and experience for fans in the stands as well as home on the couch. The Los Angeles Dodgers experimented with a virtual reality batting practice headset in 2019 after partnering with WIN Reality, the brainchild of former minor league catcher Chris O’Dowd. The VR batting practice system allows hitters to step up to the plate against the pitchers they would likely see that day or that week in any given matchup, then experience what it’s like to face those opponents—all without having to step foot outside the team’s clubhouse.

The VR batting system combines data-driven models—which measure things like spin rate, horizontal and vertical movement, and velocity—actual video and computer-generated imagery to create a lifelike simulation within the goggles the players try on. This practice was particularly useful for some Dodgers hitters who might have been unfamiliar with the opposing pitchers they were slated to face. While the system wasn’t the only reason for his success, Dodgers first baseman and outfielder Cody Bellinger had a career year in 2019, in only his third season in the big leagues. Bellinger won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and was ultimately named National League MVP in November of 2019, becoming the first Dodger in history to be awarded the best player in the NL as well as the best defensive player and hitter at his position.

While the faces that play the games will come and go throughout the years, technological advancements within the sporting world are here to stay—and they’ll only continue to improve the lives of players and fans alike for generations to come. SPG Sports Planning Guide

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ONE- ON- ONE WITH

SAFESPORT Ju’Riese Colon had a successful 20-year career guiding mission-critical youth organizations before taking the leadership role at SafeSport in the summer of 2019. Her experience has served her well as SafeSport rapidly expands its role in preventing abuse in athletics across the U.S. Sports Planning Guide: What attracted you to SafeSport in the first place?

Ju’Riese Colon: I was with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for about 15 years. There I focused on some of the tougher issues like abduction, exploitation, online derogation and extortion.

Spending that much time specifically on those issues, particularly how to educate the public, I think was a good foundation for this new role. When I was with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, I had the opportunity to lead risk and safety management in our entire movement, which included 1,100 independent 501(c) (3) safety organizations in 300 locations and about four million kids.

SPG: What skills did you learn along the way?

JC: I learned I had to monitor everything related to safety. Not just abuse prevention and education but also emergency preparedness, accidents and how you communicate to the public. It was a very complex environment. We had 1,100 CEOs and their independent boards, and every one of them had their own idea of what would work for them.

I thought SafeSport was a perfect combination of what I’d been doing for the last 20 years, rolling my experience into the organization’s

movement. I had watched SafeSport for some time because of the line of work I was in. To see this organizational opportunity open up was a real privilege for me.

SPG: SafeSport is a much smaller organization internally than some of your prior work experiences, correct?

JC: Yes, absolutely! I had a lot more support services in my other organizations because we were around a long time. Coming into SafeSport, having been opened for only three years, there were some things that simply didn’t exist, and so the internal structure really had to be addressed.

When we first opened, we only had four employees, and now we have 40. We’re expecting to have up to 85 next year. So for me it was about putting in the infrastructure to support the growth. I think the other piece that has been very surprising is how few resources the organization has to help support this movement. You’re talking about 13 to 18 million people who have served in this movement, and we’ve got 40 people, half of them doing investigations, so that certainly has been challenging.

One of my big goals is not just how we sustain, but how do we hire enough people to meet that demand, because the demand is certainly

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The education piece for us is really critical because it’s going to be the only way that we are going to reduce incidents.

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growing. When we opened, we were getting 139 calls a month, which was significant for that time, but today we are up to 239 a month.

SPG: Regarding correlations between the reported cases of abuse, in an ideal world you would hope those reported cases would increase but also correlate with a decrease in the frequency abuse. Have you noticed any frequencies like those?

JC: Right now we are seeing steady increases month-over-month, year-over-year, and I think that can be attributed to the fact that we are more well-known. There was never a place for people to report, and there also wasn’t a concerted effort to educate the community around what is acceptable and what is not. At some point we do anticipate those numbers to actually go down, but it might take some time.

If you look at a bell curve versus the investigation and the amount of people that we are educating, we start to see it leveling it off. Hopefully in the next three to five years, and that’s aggressive, but I will say we are already starting to see some reports trending that way.

When we have people who understand what abuse looks like and what good behavior looks like, we are going to start to see more of those types of reports. That isn’t to say we aren’t getting some of the most egregious allegations of abuse, because we certainly are, but I think the reporting is starting to change.

SPG: Have you noticed in your research thus far one particular kind of abuse, be it physical, sexual or emotional?

JC: Yes, the majority of reports that we receive are sexual abuse.

We are starting to see increases in emotional abuse reports and some physical, but sexual abuse remains the top reported allegation.

I think that is attributed to a number of things. We’re starting to talk more about this as a community and as a nation. You can turn on the TV and see where high- profile people been accused of some form of abuse and even go to jail. People are starting to recognize abuse when you have these high-profile occurrences that play out in the media.

SPG: Talk about your partnership with the USOC. How did that first come about? Are there any other organizations or model that you have used with them that you are planning on implementing elsewhere?

JC: The USOC and the governing bodies were integral in the

SafeSport Training in Florida

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establishment of the center for SafeSport. They provide a significant amount of funding for us to be able to operate, and we work really closely with them, particularly when it comes to helping NGBs and USOC improve on athlete safety in general.

We are one of two organizations that fit into this model. The other is United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and they’ve been around far longer than the center has. For us, we try to work as closely as we can while still having jurisdictional authority over them, which is a little bit complicated. We are still working on some of those bumps that have come up over the years, but I think we have a pretty good working relationship with them to identify what needs to be done, particularly when it comes to holding organizations accountable.

I certainly think as we look to the future in what SafeSport is able to do, a lot of folks have asked us, “Can you take on reporting for other organizations like AAU or local parks & recs?” That’s certainly on the table.

I think it’s something for us to consider, but right now our focus is really getting one big movement in order.

SPG: Your website states that you send trainers out to organizations to meet with coaches. How do you find those people in the first place?

JC: We have an in-house training and outreach team that works specifically with our NGBs, whether it’s going to be how to investigate investigations, how to report allegations of abuse or prevention.

Our education outreach team has decades of experience in communicating information to the public, training law enforcement and educators, but we also work inside the military as well as really complicated systems like the Olympics, so we take that part of our job really seriously.

The education piece for us is really critical because it’s going to be the only way that we are going to reduce incidents, and those folks are thoroughly vetted by us.

We also do a lot of training online because there are so many people we cannot simply get to, so we rely on our online training at SafeSport.org.

To learn more, or report a case of abuse, visit SafeSport.org or call 720-531-0340. SPG

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US Sports Congress Organizer Expands Educational Platform with

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illing a void in the sports tourism marketplace has been a hallmark of Lou Mengsol’s career. Recognizing the need for a relationship-oriented annual conference that brought together CVB’s, sports commissions, industry suppliers and rights holders in an intimate, one-on-one atmosphere, Mengsol launched the United States Sports Congress over a decade ago.

Mengsol saw a similar rift when he created Sports Industry eXchange (SIX), an event now entering its third year. “We created SIX in very much the Congress model in that it’s a smaller group setting,” said Mengsol.

“We’re not looking to have hundreds of people at the event, and that’s by design. Being in a smaller group setting allows us to accomplish things that a big show cannot.”

Colorado Springs will be host to the 2020 Sports Industry eXchange.

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For example, one of the early success stories opportunity consisting of quality presenters.” of the event is a case study/workshop. Facilitators Dissimilar to industry buyer-seller events, the divide the audience into small groups with specific focus of SIX is specifically towards professional topics for a deep-dive discussion. “We don’t allow development. Under this umbrella, all sectors of the people to pick their own groups. We deliberately put industry are able to speak freely amongst their them in situations they may be uncomfortable with,” peers. “The Sports Industry eXchange is a great says Mengsol. “We do this because working with place to share ideas and dive into the issues of those you don’t know in the industry is a great way our industry in an intimate environment. Discussion to hear from people from different backgrounds was lively and typically solutions-driven. If you are a who’ve had unique experiences.” serious sports & events tourism professional, this The two-day event is programmed, but not so conference is for you,” said Josh Dill from Visit Frisco. programmed to the point that it feels regimented. It’s Jarrett Downling from Experience Columbia a format where people can have a discussion – South Carolina is also a big fan of the format. “I where sports tourism professionals have honest would highly recommend the Sports Industry and candid conversations, where there’s a give and eXchange to anyone in the sports and event industry. take. That’s the heart of Sports Industry eXchange.

The education sessions were relevant and engaging “We have had roundtables where people say for all sized destinations while allowing room for pos— Brian Graham itive conversation and collaboration.” they can go on a particular topic for hours,” continCEO of the Augusta Sports Council ued Mengsol. “They can have a conversation, talk While the event deliberately does not do a trade about different ideas and put something on the table show, through a partnership with the Association of and ask ‘what do you think about this?’ You get all different types of Chief Executives in Sports (ACES), they find unique ways to integrate perspectives to this thought process.” rights holders and governing bodies with attendees.

“SIX offers some of the most informative and valuable educational “We’ve been in Colorado Springs for the last few years and that will sessions I have experienced in the industry,” said industry veteran Brian continue in 2020,” states Mengsol. “We hold SIX immediately preceding the annual ACES meeting; ours is during the early part of the week with Graham, CEO of the Augusta Sports Council.

Bonny Bernat, CSEE, from Visit Winston-Salem agrees. “The Sports our closing reception doubling as the ACES opening reception.” The Industry eXchange has provided an incredible platform for learning and comingling of events is another example of the ingenuity put forth by networking. SIX offers a unique case study component where participants Mengsol and his team. Networking events like this – plus individual break into small groups and work through a scenario that is relevant to opportunities for CVBs and sports commission to build their own sales our industry. Each group then presents their recommendations to a missions around the event – all help them to connect on a deeper level with many of the Colorado Springs NGBs. panel of industry professionals; it’s one of the most dynamic learning environments we’re provided across the board! SIX isn’t about selling, For sports destination representatives looking to up their game on but more importantly, it’s all about professional development!” the professional development side, Sports Industry eXchange is the That really makes for two impactful days. way to do it. And because of the alliance with ACES, there are plenty of To ensure that all discussions are topical – not warmed-over topics opportunities meet with the nation’s top governing bodies and rights from years past – the discussion starts during the registration process holders as well. SPG where attendees are asked what subjects are of utmost concern to them and their models. This allows presenters to focus on those agendas that Dates for the 2020 are hot in the industry.

Sports Industry eXchange "Attending SIX was an extremely valuable experience as a sports are April 7-8. Register at destination marketer,” states Audrey Vargason from Visit Hagerstown. www.ussportscongress.com/six.

“The program is designed to help you elevate the profile of your destination through engagement, networking as well as a great educational

“SIX offers some of the most informative and valuable educational sessions I have experienced in the industry.”

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Sponsored by

The Sports Industry eXchange (SIX) is an event developed for you by the same team that created the US Sports Congress. SIX examines our dynamic and changing industry.

We’ll discuss where it’s headed and how to position yourself and your organization ahead of the curve. It’s a place where people share a diversity of visions and opinions.

For over a decade, the US Sports Congress has attracted top level decision-makers from the world of amateurs sport and sports events.

Attendees of this unique conference are senior-level executives who represent sports rights holders and Olympic NGBs, the destinations who desire to host their events as well as many suppliers to this industry.

April 7-8, 2020

December 7-9th, 2020

Colorado Springs, CO

Location Announced on December 11, 2019

REGISTER

REGISTER

www.ussportscongress.com/six

www.ussportscongress.com

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SFMNETWORK.COM

THE FUTURE OF SPORTS TOURISM

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THE FUTURE OF SPORTS TOURISM INDUSTRY-LEADING FIRMS FORECAST FACILITY TRENDS IN 2020 AND BEYOND s the sport tourism industry continues its historic boom, there are hundreds of construction projects underway across the country.

Communities large and small have witnessed the power and draw of youth sports tournament destinations in other places and are clamoring to get in the game. For some, these developments are the Hail Mary play for stimulating their local economy, and for others – it’s an additive element to a more comprehensive economic development growth plan in establishing themselves as a major player in the tourism market.

Having worked in more than 2,000 communities, the leadership team at the Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA) and the Sports Facilities Management (SFM) are often asked about the outlook of the industry. As their firms continue to lead the way in facility planning, development, and management, here are several of their top predictions for the future of youth sports tourism.

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Cover Photo: ixstudio/Bigstock.com Map Marker: Aanav/Bigstock.com

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@SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG Opening Photo: iStock.com/efks

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FACILITY MODELS

“We are witnessing a shift in the way the next generation of sports facilities are being planning and designed. As more communities look to invest in these types of facilities, they aren’t just building for tourism – they will be building a hybrid complex serving non-sport events and incorporating local recreation programming as well,” says SFM CEO Jason Clement. “Multi-use, multi-sport, multi-function – designed for flexibility in events, programming, and usage is key to the long-term success of these projects.”

The firms note that collaboration is the key strategy to developing these facilities, both from a project development and client relationship perspective. “We strive to understand what the client’s goals are first so that we can build a business and operating model around what they are trying to achieve,” said Eric Sullivan, SFM’s executive vice president of business development. “In many cases there are multiple stakeholders with different goals, so it’s important we bring those groups together and cast a vision for how the balance is going to work. We can operate and build a business model however those stakeholders want, so what is important to us is understanding all of the objectives, gaining buy-in and achieving alignment. From there it’s really about building a business and operating model for achieving those objectives and goals.”

Several facilities in the SFM Network represent this shift. The Hoover Met Complex in Hoover, AL (outside Birmingham) is producing $50 million in economic impact and hosting more than 30,000 resident visits into the complex. The facility is achieving three priority objectives in 1) anchoring

the SEC baseball tournament, 2) capitalizing on the commercial development opportunities associated with sports tourism, and 3) serving the local community through features like tennis courts, walking track, a splash pad, and recreational programming on the courts and fields.

In the City of Wheeling, WV construction of the Highlands Sports Complex is currently underway opening in the Spring of 2020. Features like the 6 indoor hardwood basketball courts and a full-sized indoor turf field are designed to attract event owners to the facility, while amenities such as a fitness center and splash pad are designed to delight local residents. What makes the complex state-of-the-art are the family entertainment center and third-story zip-line launch pad to the outdoor aerial adventure course exploring the terrain on one side of the site while the other side boasts shopping, lodging and restaurants and an entertainment district.

“ We are focused right now on investing in our infrastructure, including R&D into new technologies, and it’s all based around how we can serve our clients’ needs best. Our next generation of venues are going to have similar playing spaces but a different level of tech-engagement.” —SFM CEO Jason Clement MEASURING ROI

“Currently, a majority of sports tourism venues are primarily measured by their economic impact numbers with some emphasis on their bottom line,” said Clement. “This is really only measuring a portion of the total impact of a facility. A shift in measuring total impact is important because it is directly related to the amount of funding a project can justify, including the continued investment into these assets.”

New tools are emerging to do just that. There is an increased need to quantify the effects of sports, parks, and green space, particularly in the parks and recreation market. Early this year, the Florida Recreation and Park Association, in partnership with SFA, launched the first ever park impact calculator which measures the impact of park and recreation properties in six categories: property values, health savings, environmental impact, tourism, public safety, and jobs creation. As facility designs shift into a hybrid of community recreation and sports tourism, tools like these will help justify the initial capital investment and take a more wholistic view of the benefits of these assets.

In addition to single-event based impact calculators like those supplied by Sports ETA, there is an emerging desire for state-level reporting on sports tourism. The firms recently lead a state-wide initiative for Pure Michigan Sports to assess the economic impact of sports tourism events throughout the state. The goal of this work was to create a holistic view of the impact of sports tourism specific to each DMO SportsPlanningGuide.com

across the state with the intent of strengthening requests for funding.

“Tools like these custom calculators and state-level assessment projects will shape the future of sports tourism. Venues will be reporting on their impact on multiple levels, not just economic impact, to give community leaders, sports commissions and CVB directors the opportunity to make the very best decisions on where to invest public funds,” said Clement.

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ACCESS FOR ALL Sports tourism relies on the spending of thousands of parents willing to invest in their children through private lessons, club team fees, airline tickets, hotel rooms, and countless weekends on the road. Whether for hopes of college scholarships or just for the exceptional experience and life lessons learned through sports, these parents utilize their expendable dollars on this type of recreation. The data and trends suggest sports tourism will continue to expand with more families making the investment. Unfortunately not everyone can pay to play, a major contributing factor to the obesity and physical inactivity pandemic.

“We believe in closing the income gap for sports participation,” says Clement. “We became a founding member of the Aspen Institute’s Project Play 2020 and have invested our own resources to create the SFM Access program. This initiative pairs community sponsors and underprivileged families in order to increase access to sport on a local level. We believe in the impact sport makes in the development for kids, and we are demonstrating the private and public sector can partner in making a difference.” To date, SFM has launched pilot programs in their facilities in Hoover, AL, and Rocky Mount, NC. Funds from early sponsors are used to create free or reduced meeting space for organizations like the Boys and Girls Club as well as ‘sponsor’ kids for sports-centric camps and programs families could not otherwise afford.

TECHNOLOGY

Smart court surfaces, livestreaming, game apps and management tools are helping facilities, event owners, and coaches create a better experience for visitors and the community. “The technology is progressing rapidly, and it’s going to provide a better way to serve the player and spectator,” said Clement.

SFM’s been keeping a close eye on E-sports and gaming, seeking a positive way that it can impact venues. They are designing an E-sports café in several new venues, while adding ancillary activities like high ropes courses to engage family members who aren’t on the field. It’s all about ways for families to interact while attending events. From venuespecific aps, facility-wide WiFi, to online concessions ordering, an equal amount of attention is placed on the experience of the non-athlete guests.

“We are focused right now on investing in our infrastructure, including R&D into new technologies, and it’s all based around how we can serve our client’s needs best,” said Clement. “Our next generation of venues are going to have similar playing spaces but a different level of tech-engagement.”

Much of the new technology integration is led by the firms’ in-house Venue Planning & Procurement department. The team, composed of experienced operators, project managers, and engineers is dedicated to creating facilities that are operationally efficient, are maximizing the client’s FF&E budget, and leading the way for the ‘venue of the future’.

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Sports Planning Guide

NEED FOR THE NETWORK

“We think there is no shortage of growth in the participatory sports environment,” Clement added. “If there is an economic downturn, the previous cycle demonstrated that most families are not going to cut out their kids sport experience because there is so much value in providing that opportunity.”

With a proven history and the predictions of the youth and amateur sports industry hitting the $28 billion mark, Clement is bullish on the future of the growth of the industry, with the caveat that things will become increasingly more competitive. “There is more inventory on the market than ever before in terms of both facilities and event owners. We believe in strength in numbers, which is why we created and launched the SFM Network. Together our venues and teams are stronger than they could ever be if operated singularly.”

The concept behind the national network is centered around pairing the best venues and destinations with the best event service providers, vendors and staffing. That is what sets SFM Network apart, the ability to build a platform of the largest and fastest growing sports tourism venues in the country, understanding their unique draws to compliment one another, and designed with unequaled on-the-ground services while still gaining the benefit of shared operational efficiencies.

“The network has allowed us to build really strong relationships with the very best providers in the country,” Clement said. “They are able to give us better pricing which has been very advantageous. As we continue to grow, there are other efficiencies that come along from staffing, shared resources, procurement and purchasing.”

Most of the firm’s Network growth has revolved around the Southeast but with new facilities opening in 2020 residing in the Midwest and Northeast, Clement sees an opportunity even further afield. “We are finding the West Coast, Northwest and into the Rocky Mountain region with the least amount of mega sports tourism facilities. These are areas poised for the next boom in construction. With SFA, we’ve done work across the country in all regions and in the Caribbean, (including the) Bahamian Islands, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well.”

As the SFM Network expands, so does its need for great team members to operate, lead, and support these high-performing venues.

“At SFM, we believe in the strength of its people as the pathway to prosperity,” COO Dave Pritchett, said. “We win with people. The one interview question we ask any potential employee is ‘What has sport meant to you?’ That translates to every single person in our firm being able to articulate and live out our mission. We believe in the impact our destinations make on families and our employees are passionate about ‘Improving the health and economic vitality of the communities we serve.’” SPG @SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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CEDAR POINT SPORTS CENTER pening in 2020, Cedar Point Sports Center will become the Midwest’s ultimate sports, events and entertainment destination.

Located along Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio, this state-of-the-art facility will pair incredible events with Cedar Point Amusement Park.

O

Facility Specs: • 145,000-square-foot sports complex • 10 full-size basketball courts which convert to 20 full-size volleyball courts • Championship arena with retractable seating • Sports-medicine facility • Family entertainment center • Second-level walking track

Jessica Kuhl 919-699-8348 jkuhl@sportadvisory.com Cpssports.com

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SPORTS PARK

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ur state-of-the-art tournament facility is a true destination for events of all sizes. Come play on our three baseball and softball quads, two championship-style turf fields or three event pavilions.

Experience a place where athlete play like the pros and everyone becomes a champion, just 45 minutes south of Louisville, KY.

Facility Specs: • • • • • •

150 acre campus 12 lit diamonds for baseball/softball/fast pitch 12 soccer/lacrosse/field hockey natural turf fields 2 championship fields with synthetic turf 4 playgrounds with misting stations and ample shade 3 miles of multi-model trails

Todd Yancey

270-982-1371 tyancey@sportadvisory.com Etownsports.com

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HOOVER MET COMPLEX A

s Alabama's premier community recreation and sports tourism destination, the Hoover Met Complex is one of the country's best amateur baseball venues. A short drive from Birmingham, the home of the SEC baseball tournament also features a massive indoor sports facility, RV park, climbing area and 10 outdoor fields, ready for your next event.

Facility Specs: • 155,000 square feet on 120 acres • 11 basketball hardwood courts or 17 volleyball courts • Five soccer/lacrosse/football fields • Five baseball or softball fields • Met Baseball Stadium with seating for 10,800 • 2-mile indoor walking track • Walltopia climbing walls • Splash pad and playground

John Sparks 205-739-7355 jsparks@sportadvisory.com Hoovermetcomplex.com

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The value of the SFM Network is in our experience, relationships, and results. Our collaborative and service-oriented team finds solutions where others may fail and exceeds the results our clients are counting on. Our experience is rooted in a diverse portfolio of projects, including top sports tourism destinations, Ninja Warrior courses, aquatic centers and community recreation facilities.

COMMUNITY FIRST CHAMPION CENTER

PANAMA CITY BEACH SPORTS COMPLEX

GRAND CHUTE, WISCONSIN

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA

Modern, yet inviting multipurpose sports tourism facility in the Fox Cities, offering local programming with something for everyone.

Enjoy superior facilities, premium, flexible space, warm weather and sugar-white sand along Florida’s panhandle.

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164,000 square feet Fieldhouse with 4 basketball hardwood courts or 8 volleyball courts Year-round ice rink with seating for 1,000 Season ice arena that converts to 4 basketball or 6 volleyball courts Elevated seating n 10 locker rooms

Ken Weinaug kweinaug@sportadvisory.com 920-664-7212 ChampionCenterWi.com

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160 acre campus 13 configurable rectangle fields, 9 of which with Astroturf Z-Cap cooling & 4 natural grass fields 2 championship stadium fields with seating for up to 1,500 2 operations spaces Umpire or referee lounge 1,000 parking spaces

Set on 150 acres, is one of the country’s preeminent amateur baseball venues and a premier community recreation and sports tourism destination.

Central New Jersey’s new epicenter for sports competitions, special events and entertainment.

n n n

Jamie Cox jcox@hoovermetcomplex.com 205-739-7368 HooverMetComplex.com

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Downtown location 75,000 square feet of uninterrupted playing space (175,000 total) 8 basketball hardwood courts or 16 volleyball courts 15,000-square foot family entertainment center Championship court with seating for over 4,000 4 locker rooms, 5 team/meeting rooms and 2-sided observation deck with 135 seats

HORIZONS EDGE SPORTS COMPLEX

APEX SPORTS & EVENTS HILLSBOROUGH, NEW JERSEY

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Art Thomason athomason@sportadvisory.com 252-366-8522 RockyMountEvents.com

HOOVER MET COMPLEX

155,000 square feet indoor center 11 basketball hardwood courts or 16 volleyball courts 5 soccer/lacrosse/football fields Met Baseball Stadium with seating for 10,000+ Walking track, climbing walls, splash pad and playground

North Carolina’s newest destination for regional and national sports tournaments, competitions and special events.

J.D. Wood jdwood@sportadvisory.com 979-229-3724 PlayPanamaCityBeach.com

HOOVER, ALABAMA

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ROCKY MOUNT EVENT CENTER ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA

n n n n n n

150,000 square feet 4 basketball hardwood courts or 8 volleyball courts Indoor dome turf field 3 outdoor configurable turf fields Family entertainment areas Indoor spectator seating including mezzanine

Sandra Weingart sweingart@sportadvisory.com 347-899-6988 ApexSportsEvents.com

HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA Home for many of Shenandoah Valley’s sports clubs while hosting the best in regional sports tournaments. n n n n n

Set on 50 acres 90,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility 4 basketball maplewood courts or 6 volleyball courts Indoor turf field Family entertainment center

Jeff Flammang 540-896-9947 Jeff.Flammang@horizonsedgeva.com HorizonsEdgeVA.com

(727) 474-3845 // INFO@SFMNETWORK.COM // SFMNETWORK.COM

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SAND MOUNTAIN PARK & AMPHITHEATER ALBERTVILLE, ALABAMA Opening in 2020, this 130-acre park will serve all of Sand Mountain with public play spaces, live entertainment and elite-level athletic facilities. n n n n n n

100,000-square-foot indoor facility 4 hardwood basketball and 4 volleyball courts Indoor competition pool, outdoor leisure pool, splash pad and lazy river 4 baseball fields, 5 softball fields Patrick O'Brien 5 multipurpose fields pobrien@sportadvisory.com, 717-371-0680 Amphitheater with 7,500 seat capacity SandMountaiPark.com

ROCKY TOP SPORTS WORLD GATLINBURG, TENNESSEE

CEDAR POINT SPORTS CENTER

ELIZABETHTOWN SPORTS PARK

State-of-the-art sports campus in the heart of the Smoky Mountains, offering majestic views and easy access to family-friendly attractions and activities.

SANDUSKY, OHIO

ELIZABETHTOWN, KENTUCKY

An exciting tournament destination where state-of-the-art facilities pair excellently with the thrill of Cedar Point Amusement Park.

A destination for events of all sizes, specializing in creating experiences for people who yearn to be in the big leagues.

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86,000-square-foot complex on 80 acres 6 basketball hardwood courts or 12 volleyball courts 4 additional on-site courts 6 synthetic turf fields plus 1 natural surface field Walking trail Trolley service to shopping & dining

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Andrew Capps andrew@rockytopsportsworld.com 865-325-0044 RockyTopSportsWorld.com

Jessica Kuhl jkuhl@sportadvisory.com 919-699-8348 CpSports.com

MYRTLE BEACH SPORTS CENTER MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA Close to the beach, shopping and dining, this facility features 100,000 square feet devoted to a myriad of indoor sports, trade shows and special events. n n n n n

8 high school basketball or 16 volleyball courts 4 collegiate basketball courts 4 multipurpose rooms Spectator seating for over 1,500 12-screen video wall

Daniel Lyon dlyon@sportadvisory.com 843-918-1508 MyrtleBeachSportsCenter.com

155,000 square feet 10 basketball hardwood courts or 20 volleyball courts Championship court arena and second-story mezzanine Play climb area, Ninja course & arcade Access & ticketing to Cedar Point & Cedar Point Shores Waterpark

n n n n n n

Over 150 acre campus 12 baseball diamonds 1 ADA-accessible baseball complex 12 multipurpose fields Natural grass and synthetic surfaces 4 playgrounds with cool water misting stations 5k walking or running trails

Todd Yancey yancey@etownsports.com 270-982-1371 EtownSports.com

BRIDGEPORT SPORTS FACILITY

MIDWAY CENTRAL STATION

BRIDGEPORT, WEST VIRGINIA

BEDFORD PARK, ILLINOIS

West Virginia’s newest place to play, featuring flexible indoor space for basketball and volleyball, plus a competition swimming facility and fitness center.

In 2020 a premier indoor competition facility debuts just minutes from Chicago's Midway Airport.

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1 indoor turf field 6 hardwood basketball courts or 6 volleyball courts Competition pool and warmup pool Fitness center and training rooms Elevated running track and indoor climbing area

Gregg Wisecarver gwisecarver@sportadvisory.com 864-680-1499 SFMNetwork.com

n n

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100,000+ square feet of indoor space 8 hardwood basketball courts or 16 volleyball courts Indoor family entertainment center Arcade & lazer tag E-Sports

Jessica Kuhl jkuhl@sportadvisory.com 919-699-8348 SFMNetwork.com

(727) 474-3845 // INFO@SFMNETWORK.COM // SFMNETWORK.COM

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jjoin jo ooiin in the th th

network ne The value of the SFM Network is in our experience, relationships, and results. Our collaborative and service-oriented team finds solutions where others may fail and exceeds the results our clients are counting on. Our experience is rooted in a diverse portfolio of projects including top sports tourism destinations, ninja warrior courses, aquatic centers, and community recreation facilities.

jpkirakun/Bigstock.com

If you’d like to learn more about the SFM Network, please give us a call, send us an email, or visit our website.

(727) 474-3845 // INFO@SFMNETWORK.COM // SFMNETWORK.COM

2020 SPG INTROS.qxp_Layout 1 11/22/19 1:23 PM Page 39

SI

T

he East Coast of the United States is the most populated of our country’s regions. It is also the locale of numerous sports-friendly communities that cater to all types of events.

Not only do these destinations feature impressive sports facilities, they have an abundance of amenities and attractions off the field that will keep the entire family entertained. With experienced staff members offering the dedication and expertise to make your tournament prosper, these destinations are ready to host you.

NORTHEAST REGION 40 48 49 50 54 55 56 58 60 66 67 67

Long Island, NY Mohegan Sun, CT Connecticut Convention Center, CT Rhode Island Central Massachusetts, MA Greater Merrimack Valley, MA MetroWest, MA Western Massachusetts, MA North Central Massachusetts, MA Butler County, PA Chester County, PA Erie, PA

SportsPlanningGuide.com

68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 74

Greater Johnstown, PA Happy Valley, PA Hershey Harrisburg, PA Lehigh Valley, PA Luzerne County, PA Monroeville, PA Philadelphia, PA Pittsburgh, PA Valley Forge, PA York, PA Cumberland Valley, PA Sports Planning Guide

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Long Island, NY BRIMMING WITH ACTIVITY, HOSTING A TOURNAMENT MERELY SCRATCHES THE SURFACE ON LONG ISLAND’S AVAILABILITY AND POTENTIAL

NYCB Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

American, Frontier and Southwest offer domestic and international flights into Long Island MacArthur Airport. Just over the Nassau border you can fly into other New York City airports in JFK International and LaGuardia Airport. The natural beauty of Long Island is accessible by car or bus along I-495 and the Long Island Rail Road connects NYC to Long Island as well.

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Sports Planning Guide

FACILITY SPOTLIGHT

NYCB Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Basketball, tennis, MMA & boxing, hockey Sitting on 77 acres of land, this coliseum offers 14,500 seats for basketball, MMA and boxing, 13,900 seats for hockey and 16,000 for shows and events. Recent renovations include a new exterior glass storef ront to help infuse natural light into the building, a redesigned main entrance, all new seating, improved bowl circulation, a new high-

definition LED scoreboard and revamped bathrooms and concessions. Upcoming tournaments include the ATP New York Tennis Expo in 2020 and the Longines Masters of New York in April 2020.

Nassau County Aquatic Center Swimming This 80,000-square-foot center includes a “stretch” 50-meter pool that’s 68 meters long with three moveable bulkheads. The center is widely recognized as one of the finest swimming facilities in the U.S. Additionally, @SportsPlanGuide #SportsPG

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there is a diving well with a 10-meter competition diving tower and three-meter spring boards. The pool set up varies day to day, ranging from 50-meter, 25-yard, to 25-meter lap lanes and regularly hosts major swimming and diving competitions as well as local high school events and swim clubs such as the 2019 Summer Fun Invite that took place June 8-9. The Nassau County Aquatic Center is also equipped with a shallow section for recreational/free swimming and a health club with exercise equipment overlooking the pool.

Bethpage State Park Golf Courses Golf, tennis One of the five featured 18-hole regulation golf courses at Bethpage State Park is the world-renowned Black Course. This course was home to the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open and the 2012 and 2016 Barclays. Bethpage hosted the PGA Championships in 2019 and will be hosting the 2024 Ryder Cup. The park also features a restaurant and catering facilities, a golf pro shop, driving range, tennis courts, grills, nature trails for biking and hiking, playgrounds, pavilions and picnic tables.

POPULAR ACTIVITIES

St. Joseph’s College Swimming, basketball, volleyball, track & field, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, softball, baseball Home to the Long Island Golden Eagles, St. Joseph’s College features many state-of-theart facilities, including the 48,250-square-foot Danzi Athletic Center. This center is equipped with a 25-yard heated swimming pool, a strength training room, aerobic/dance room, basketball courts, volleyball courts and an elevated one-twelfth of a mile track.

The college’s 24.8-acre Outdoor Field Complex, home of the Danzi Stadium, holds up to 1,500 spectators around the 400-meter all-weather track. The track is equipped with six turn lanes, long jump and pole vault areas and a synthetic turf field for soccer and lacrosse.

DISCOVER LONG ISLAND

▶ Get great savings on designer and name-brand merchandise when you shop at the Tanger Outlet Centers, located in Deer Park and Riverhead.

▶ Zap around the race track at 45 mph when you strap into a gokart at Pole Position Raceway.

▶ Spend an entire day at Splish Splash, Long Island’s 96 acres of waterpark fun.

▶ Challenge yourself on any of the 10 zip line courses available at The Adventure Park.

▶ The Long Island Aquarium presents more than 100 exhibits

Jennifer Rothman, International,

and offers the chance to snorkel

Domestic & Sports Sales Manager

with tropical fish from around

631-951-3900

the world.

jrothman@discoverlongisland.com www.discoverlongisland.com/sports

St. Joseph’s College

Bethpage State Park Golf Courses

SportsPlanningGuide.com

Nassau County Aquatic Center

Sports Planning Guide

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