TEAMS Conference Tackles Hotel Trends, NCAA Bids

The TEAMS Conference & Expo began in earnest October 14 with education sessions on hot topics in the sports industry, including hotel trends and the upcoming NCAA bid cycle. It also included a general session with professional, Olympic and Paralympic athletes as a preview to the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and a welcome ceremony at Ohio Stadium, home to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The annual  TEAMS Conference & Expo, organized by the Northstar Meetings Group, is being staged this week at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio. The conference of sports event organizers, destinations and suppliers consists for four days of networking, education sessions and all things sports tourism.

Game On: How Hotels Are Adapting in the Sports Market

One of the first education sessions was a panel on how hotels are adapting in the sports market, featuring Melany Hugo, director of sports and entertainment for IHG Hotels and Resorts; Jeremy Leifel, managing director of sports and Entertainment at Hilton Worldwide; Kelsey McLean, senior manager of sports for BWH Hotels; and Hank Pivarnik, global accounts director of sports at Sonesta International Hotels; moderated by Suzanne Cecil, executive sales director of HBC Event Services.

A key takeaway is that youth sports continues to be resilient in the face of economic challenges.

“Sports has really proven three times over now — the current political climate, Covid and the economic downturn before that — that it doesn’t matter what’s happening, people are going to have their kids travel for sports,” McLean said. “Sports keep a lot of lights on at a lot of our hotels.”

However, the amount of family members who travel to games has decreased.

“Sports is still the catalyst in the overall group space in hotels. With the economy in a state of flux, sports has been the solid,” said Pivarnik. “The events are still happening, the numbers of participants are still robust, but the traveling party with that particular family may change.”

Hoteliers are also seeing an increase in demand in terms of not only volume, but also days of the week.

“There used to be a time when sports was just Friday, Saturday night — corporate during the week, sports on the weekend,” Hugo said. “But now you have sports travelers during the week as well.”

As Cecil pointed out, securing rooms blocks early is critical to an event’s success, no matter the segment.

“As far as contracting, especially with legacy events that have a robust history, booking three, four, five years in advance from a holistic standpoint I believe is beneficial,” added Pivarnik.

When asked about requests from groups that used to be considered nice to have but are now standard, Leifel said, “one thing that comes to mind is people wanting things immediately.”

Hugo cited speed to market as a huge obstacle that they navigate on a daily basis.

“We know if you don’t respond within 48 hours, you lose the business sometimes,” she said. “When you look at how much the business has grown, these teams on-property have not grown at the same proportion at all; it’s a lot leaner than it once was.”

Despite all of this, there is still a lot of optimism in the industry.

“After the World Cup and Olympics are here, you’re going to see more sports from around the world coming to the United States,” said Leifel. “The future is bright for sports tourism.”

NCAA Update: Winning the Next Bid Cycle

Later in the morning, Anthony Holman, the NCAA’s vice president of championships and strategic alliances, shared an update on the next bid cycle.

After being shortened from four years to two, the bid cycle going forward will be three years. During the next cycle, they will award championships for the academic years 2028–2020, 2029–2030 and 2030–2031.

Holman also added that all NCAA championships provide guarantees to cover hosting-related expenses.

“Don’t let finances hold you back from hosting or submitting a bid if you have a venue or a facility or an area that makes sense for one of our championships,” Holman said.

Holman highlighted the economic benefits to hosting lesser-known tournaments, like Division III Track and Field or Swimming and Diving.

“Track and Field has 600 kids. Swimming and diving, 700 kids. They’re there for a week directly spending in your community,” he noted. “It’s not as sexy as men’s and women’s Final Four … but at the time of the year where there’s not a lot of other things going on in your space and in your city, this can be a huge driver.”

Plus, if a national governing board want to bring a high-profile NCAA event to their destination, it helps their bid chances to host a lower caliber championship.

Finally, a destination must adhere to NCAA’s core values and principles, and create a safe and inclusive atmosphere for the student athletes.

“If you have a local law or city or regional ordinance that restrict those freedoms, that could be a problem,” Holman said. “That’s going to be a challenge for us to have a championship.”

TEAMS/SportsLink Opening General Session

The opening general session served as the welcome to TEAMS as well as the Olympic & Paralympic SportsLink program organized but the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The session began with much fanfare (and patriotism) as Leo Welsh, anthem signer for the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets, gave an acapella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

After a pizza delivery on stage from Columbus institution Mikey’s Late Night Slice, Jason Gewirtz, vice president/managing director for the sports division of Northstar Meetings Group and publisher of SportsTravel, was joined on stage by Zach Werenski, defenseman for the Columbus Blue Jackets; Olympic bobsledder Kaillie Humphries; and Paralympic sled hockey player Rico Roman.

The athletes discussed how they got their start in their respective sports, as well as where to see them compete in the future.

The fourth quarter of the day was spent at Ohio Stadium, where Visit Charlotte hosted a welcome reception for NGBs before joining the rest of the attendees for the opening celebration on the field. Attendees were treated to football on the field, cornhole, a demonstration of korfball, access to Ohio State’s locker room and premium hospitality at the stadium that can seat more than 100,000 fans.