SportsTravel Road Trip Focuses on Top Issues in Sports Industry

For the 10th consecutive year, the SportsTravel Road Trip brought high-level education and networking to Colorado Springs for Olympic and Paralympic leaders, as well as executives with sports organizations in the area. Education topics focused on the true impact of events, including new ways to calculate and quantify economic impact, the role sports diplomacy can play around major events and how events can navigate challenging issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion and access.

The event organized by the Northstar Meetings Group in partnership with Louisville Tourism and the Louisville Sports Commission, is geared toward chief executives and event directors of sports governing bodies. Attendees on hand at USA Cycling’s National Headquarters were welcomed by Jason Gewirtz of Northstar Meetings Group, Greg Fante of the Louisville Sports Commission and Katie Grunik of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee with an update on planning for TEAMS ’24 in Anaheim, California.

Along with the programming, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade spoke to attendees promoting the relationship between the U.S. Olympic Movement and the city. Mobolade was sworn in as the 42nd mayor of Colorado Springs in June 2023 and is the first Black man and immigrant to be elected mayor of “Olympic City USA.”

The True Power of Events

For destinations looking to host events, hotel room night generation will always be a key metric to gauge success. But new technology is allowing destinations to take an even deeper dive into the true impact an event can have on their city, region or venue beyond just room nights. And for event organizers, an awareness of the potential power of their events may help yield even more productive conversations with potential hosts in the future.

Jay Kinghorn at Zartico, a company that is using new technology to calculate a broader metric of an event’s worth and impact, showed how new data points can paint a bigger picture of the value and impact of events. One of his examples was tracking activity during the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City; Zartico was able to use licensed data sets of credit card spending and cell phone locations to evaluate opportunities in advance of Salt Lake City preparing its bid, assess community readiness and share its impact with stakeholders beyond room nights and media value after the event.

The company also prepared data for the Eugene, Cascades and Coast Sports Commission ahead of the 2022 World Athletics Championship to show the majority of attendees would be coming from outside the area and would be staying downtown. During the time of the event, the region saw big spending increases in transportation and retail, plus restaurant spending.

Sports as Diplomacy

The coming years will see some of the biggest events in international sports headed to the United States, from the Olympic and Paralympic Games to the FIFA World Cup and more. Along with that comes more than economic opportunity. For challenges related to international diplomacy such as visa requirements and immigration rules for athletes, this may be a chance for the United States to move the needle on issues that impact the ability of athletes to compete.

Travis Murphy of Jetr Global Sports + Entertainment, a former U.S. State Department official and NBA government affairs executive, discussed the implications of these issues, including potential challenges ahead for the World Cup as visitors from around the world begin making plans to come to the United States. In some cases, wait times for visas can be as long as two years.

“A regular World Cup brings in 3 million fans to a place like Qatar,” he said. “Think about how many people will be applying and overburdening an already overburdened system just to get into this country.”

He urged attendees to be active with their Congressional delegations to stress the importance of sports events coming and called for the industry to be more active in lobbying the halls of Congress in years to come on the issue.

Creating Inclusive Events

Issues of diversity, equity and inclusion have never been more crucial for organizations of all kinds, especially those in the sports industry. But the issue goes beyond just doing the right thing. Event organizers are faced with unique challenges in making their events and competitions welcoming for all, especially when it comes to navigating an ever-changing legislative landscape.

A workshop at the event was led by Suzy Sanchez, USA Cycling senior manager for DEI and community programs; Megan Zablock, USA Triathlon DEI and access manager; and Connor Shane, chief operating officer of Compete Sports Diversity. Shane stressed that DEIA is a business strategy, not a moral imperative.

To showcase that position, the event was broken into multiple groups to discuss ways that events can improve their inclusivity. Workshop leaders led discussions surrounding scenarios when an organization’s membership is pressuring leadership to ensure events are inclusive when they are scheduled to be in regions where legislation restricts or bans liberties for LGBTQ+ and other disenfranchised communities.

Some of the responses each group were able to formulate included advocacy and prioritizing athlete safety to make sure participants feel safe to participate in a location; developing plans in which ticket buyers understand a code of conduct at events to make sure they are held in supportive and inclusive environments; making sure emergency plans are developed ahead of the event should worst-case scenarios occur; and ensuring effective messaging within the participant community as to why an event is in a given location and advocating with local organizations that promote inclusivity even if the broader region may have restrictive laws.