Category: Sports Business

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Axe Throwing Baseball Basketball Clubs Curling Figure Skating Hockey Lacrosse Small Business Soccer Softball Sports Business Tournaments Volleyball Youth Sports

New Survey Pinpoints the True Cost of Youth Travel Sports Participation

Families with children who participate in one or more travel sports leagues spend, on average, $8,500 per player per year, according to an online survey conducted by Travelsports.com, a leading provider of information for the youth and adult sports industries.

Survey respondents were asked to include all travel sports-related costs into their answers. The data shows that nearly 20% of respondents reported spending “$20,000 or more” per player per year on youth travel sports, ranging from ice hockey and baseball/softball to golf and soccer.

Equipment Costs & More

Out-of-pocket costs incurred by families involved in youth travel leagues include more than just equipment purchases and registration fees. Travelsports.com’s survey also captures other expenses – such as transportation, hotel/lodging, dining, and entertainment – that help portray a more accurate summation of the overall financial impact on family budgets.

“Our respondents are parents, team managers, and tournament directors across the U.S. and Canada, so these results paint a clear picture of the true costs that families incur when participating in travel sports,” explained Travelsports.com founder Christopher Pauly.

“This information is useful in highlighting the financial barriers many families face when considering competitive youth sports for their athletes,” he added. “More importantly, it presents opportunities to find ways to level the playing field and expand access for more young athletes to get involved in the sports they love.”

Explore Options, Compare Costs

Travelsports.com is doing its part to address the issue of rising costs by creating a single platform where parents, managers, and other audiences can navigate the world of travel sports. As an informational clearinghouse, Travelsports helps users explore their options on everything from tournament & facility locations, local/regional clubs, hotel and dining accommodations and more. “The sheer volume of tournaments, clubs, and facilities listed on Travelsports, over 150,000 and growing, reduces the time needed to research and compare tournaments to attend, clubs to join, etc. while also allowing parents and managers to discover tournaments and clubs whose costs are a better fit for their needs.”

Moreover, Travelsports.com’s partnership with InstaRaise offers a complete, end-to-end platform with donation or product-based fundraising options to help teams reduce families’ personal financial burden and expand their team’s experiences.

About Travelsports.com

Travelsports is the leading aggregator of information for the youth and adult sports industry. We strive to connect, inform, and inspire the sports community by providing a one-stop destination for tournaments, clubs, facilities, insights, and resources.  Our goal is to support the success and well-being of individual athletes and the vibrant sports ecosystem.

Categories
Hotels Sports Business

Travelsports Business Newsletter – Location Expansion vs. Sports Diversification

In this month’s newsletter, we’ve included some things to think about when deciding on whether to expand your business into new geographic locations or diversify into other sports. We are currently working on a new analytics tool created specifically for businesses and event operators that may help with this decision – stay tuned! You may have noticed that we have added additional categories to our facilities page including Fieldhouses/Gyms, Golf Courses, Dance Studios, Indoor Training Facilities and more. Be sure to check them out. 

 

Event Expansion

Regional Expansion vs Sports Diversification

Whether you are satisfied with the size of your business or looking to grow, staying on top of trends: Demographics, Economics, Participation Rates, etc., will undoubtably influence whether to stay the course, expand regionally or diversify into to other sports. In addition, securing facilities to host your events is another critical component in your decision to expand or not. The good news is that there are sources of information accessible to businesses wrestling* with these decisions.

Demographics

City and region growth rates are driven by a number of factors including immigration, migration, technology mobility, weather, etc. These factors and others contribute to certain states and regions growing faster or slower than others. When looking to expand your existing business, demographic trends can be an important data point to consider but may not be the only factor to consider. The Census Bureau is a good place to start when looking to better understand demographic growth trends.

               


Economics

While there are articles written about the idea that the youth sports industry is “recession” proof, your customers, parents and players, will change their behavior based on economic uncertainty which can impact your growth plans. “During a recession, however, families may opt for a regional travel team instead of a national team to reduce travel expenses”. Forbes. Staying on top of economic signals can help guide you as to whether to look to expand or stay the course.

Participation Rates

The trends for youth sports participation accelerated after covid, with certain sports growing and others shrinking. The Aspen Institute through their “Project Play” does an amazing job at analyzing the factors that influence participation rates in youth sports. Growth rates in sports may mean you should double down in your existing sport or possibly extend into another sport. Be sure to check out participation rates for youth sports at Project Play. 

               

Facilities

Demographics, economics and participation rates all factor into deciding whether you should expand or not, but they are not the only things to consider. Access to facilities and employees are two additional critical factors that will undoubtably influence your decision. While Travelsports hasn’t yet fully tackled the “employee” issue, we have gone on to create the largest list of facilities on one site. From rinks to fields, gymnastics facilities to fitness centers, Travelsports has over 38,000 facilities listed on our platform that you can use when deciding on adding your next event. 

*“We like to throw in some sport motifs when possible!”

 



Attention Sports Tournament Managers

Are you tired of spending countless hours manually building a schedule? Does it feel nearly impossible to juggle requests and make every team happy?

Throowave is your solution! 

Our automated scheduling tool makes scheduling a breeze by taking into account a variety of factors, such as:
  • Location availability & preferences
  • Rest times between games
  • Preferred match-ups
Say goodbye to the hassle and say hello to a stress-free tournament planning experience! Join the many satisfied tournament managers who have already chosen Throowave as their go-to scheduling solution. 

Don’t wait! Visit throowave.com today to sign up for a demo and discover the benefits of our scheduling tool for yourself. 

Sponsored Ad
 
 
 
 

Travelsports is in the process of building a way for you to highlight events, let teams/managers know that you need an extra team for an upcoming tournament, general announcements, etc. through “Posts”. Similar to the content that you post on your website, emails and social media, “Posts” will allow you to amplify your message to a hyperfocused customer base. Stay tuned! 
 
 
Hotels

Every month we will highlight a hotel that has joined Travelsports. Tournament & Clinic operators, be sure to check out our hotel section on Travelsports to view hotels that are interested in working with you. 




Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University

Enjoy a comfortable stay and multiple amenities in a place that feels like home. Located in the heart of Nashville, the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University offers free 2-mile shuttle and is walking distance from Vanderbilt’s campus and the historic Centennial Park. If you’re traveling for an upcoming tournament, be sure to bring your sports teams here for a winning stay.
Categories
Sports Business

Travelsports Business Newsletter – 2023 Marketing Trends & Hotel Partner Tips

Travelsports Business Newsletter – 2023 Marketing Trends & Evaluating Hotel Partners 

Welcome to our second Travelsports Business Newsletter! If you just subscribed, welcome!

In this month’s newsletter, we’ve included some marketing trends in 2023 and tips on evaluating future hotel partners. You may have noticed that we launched Softball as our newest sport on Travelsports. We’ve added over 1,500 tournaments and will be adding thousands more over the next few weeks along with clubs, clinics and showcases. Is there a sport that you are interested in us adding? Send us a note. We are working on additional tools and features that we think will be useful to grow your business. Stay tuned!

If you’ve missed a newsletter, no worries! Each business newsletter will be posted on our WordPress blog. 

 

 

Social Media Trends 2023 

It’s a new year and the question on every small business’ mind is, “What social media trends should I expect?” HubSpot Blog surveyed 1,283 marketers to discover trends B2B and B2C businesses will leverage in 2023 and which ones they’ve left in 2022. 
  1. Brands with an engaged social media community will win in 2023.
  2. Social media is the future of e-commerce.
  3. Consumers slide into brands’ DMs (Direct Messaging) for customer service.
  4. Search engines lose steam as consumers turn to social search.
  5. Influencer marketers ditch celebrities for micro-influencers.
  6. Short-form video is the highest ROI format and will see the most growth of any trend in 2023.
  7. Funny, trendy, and relatable content will stand out all 2023.
  8. Instagram is the highest ROI platform and will see the most growth of any social app in 2023.
  9. Social budgets will be put under the microscope, but marketers are staying optimistic.
  10. Re-sharing the same content across platforms won’t fly in 2023.

 

 

Attention Sports Tournament Managers

Are you tired of spending countless hours manually building a schedule? Does it feel nearly impossible to juggle requests and make every team happy?

Throowave is your solution! 

Our automated scheduling tool makes scheduling a breeze by taking into account a variety of factors, such as:
  • Location availability & preferences
  • Rest times between games
  • Preferred match-ups
Say goodbye to the hassle and say hello to a stress-free tournament planning experience! Join the many satisfied tournament managers who have already chosen Throowave as their go-to scheduling solution. 

Don’t wait! Visit throowave.com today to sign up for a demo and discover the benefits of our scheduling tool for yourself. 

Sponsored Ad
 
 
 
 
Finding the Right Hotel Partner
Looking for a new hotel partner for your clinic, showcase or tournament? We have some useful tips on how to evaluate a potential hotel partner. 
  1. Location: Choose a hotel that is conveniently located near the facilities that your event operates out of, and with good transportation links.
  2. Amenities: Make sure the hotel offers the amenities and services your customers need, such as fitness facilities, restaurant/bar, Wi-Fi, pool and meeting rooms.
  3. Reputation: Research the hotel’s reputation by reading reviews and feedback from previous guests, which is especially important for your customers participating in your event(s). 
  4. Room quality: Consider the quality and comfort of the rooms, as well as the room sizes and layouts that work best for sports teams and parents. 
  5. Cost: Compare prices and packages to ensure parents and managers are getting good value for their budget.
  6. Contract terms: Review the contract terms, including cancellation policies for your customers and rebates that come back to you. 
  7. Brand alignment: Choose a hotel brand that aligns with your brand image and values.
  8. Relationship building: Consider building a strong, long-term relationship with the hotel to benefit from future opportunities and benefits.
  9. Personal experience: If possible, consider visiting the hotel to get a sense of the facilities and services first hand.

 

Did You Know?

In our “Did You Know” section, we highlight different features, functionality, trends, etc. on Travelsports that we feel are important to our business users.

We know there are a number of ways that our business users try and reach existing and new customers: Email, Social, Search Advertising, Print, etc. We think there are benefits to advertising on Travelsports.

Travelsports received 1.8 Million page views in 2021, 3.5 Million page views in 2022 and we expect to double our page views to 7 Million in 2023. We have not only grown users in sports we previously added in 2021/2022 (hockey/lacrosse), but as we have added new sports (baseball/softball), we’ve seen increased traffic across all of our sports. 

For our current advertisers, we have been able drive hundreds of thousands of banner impressions which has resulted in thousands of banner clicks and follow on website clicks, which has ultimately led to new customers. We are biased, but we think advertising on Travelsports is an effective and targeted way to acquire new customers. To learn more, send us a note. 
      
 
Hotels

Every month we will highlight a hotel that has joined Travelsports. Tournament & Clinic operators, be sure to check out our hotel section on Travelsports to view hotels that are interested in working with you. 



Hilton Garden Inn Lake Forest Mettawa

Enjoy a comfortable stay in a place that feels like home. Our top priority is ensuring the best possible guest experience at our Lake Forest hotel! Bring your sports teams here for a winning stay.
 
 
 
Categories
Baseball Hockey Lacrosse Sports Business Tournaments Youth Sports

Travelsports Newsletter – Tenth Edition

 

Hey Travelsporters! 

Spring is upon us. The baseball and lacrosse season(s) are happening! There are many upcoming tournaments and showcases listed daily, so be sure to check them out! 

Hard to believe this is our tenth newsletter. Thank you for being a part of the Travelsports community. Be sure to spread the word about Travelsports to those looking for information related to youth and adult sports!

We are always looking for way to improve our newsletter. Have any tips or recommendations or want something featured in the newsletter, please send us a note to info@travelsports.com. Your feedback is greatly appreciated! 

– Team Travelsports
 
 

The Role of Parents and Coaches in Youth Sports – Ways to Provide Support

Parents play an important role in the development of their kid’s athletic career. Parents are kids’ main mentors on and off the playing field. Their influence helps with an athlete’s skill development, emotional support and helping them cope with winning and losing. There are a number of strategies parents can use to help their kids have a successful athletic career. 

According to Believe Perform, parents can help encourage their kids to develop self-awareness of the skills they’ve learned. This can be done by supporting them and showing support throughout practice and competitions and asking them how it went afterwards. As a parent, it’s important to give coaches autonomy and put trust in their methods. As long as the coaches’ and parents’ messages are aligned,  it will lead to less confusion for the athlete. Additionally, it’s important to provide emotional support whenever your child has a tough match or loss.

Though providing support is essential, it can sometimes be too much. Becoming over-involved could cause stress and increase burnout rates at a young age. To prevent burnout, it’s important to not put too much pressure on winning and success, but encouraging the athlete to do their very best. The importance is that they should always enjoy their sport and additional pressure could cause a decrease in their performance. If you disagree with a coach, it’s important to prevent giving conflicting advice, but to talk with the coach another time so it does not come across as being disrespectful. 

DID YOU KNOW??
 
With the hockey season winding down, be sure to use Travelsports to keep up to date on end-of-the-season tournaments and state/provincial playoffs. Interested in following the national USA Hockey tournaments … Click Here
 
 
 
 

Tournament weekends make for lifelong memories. Looking to make your team stand out at your next tournament? Check out Tourney Experience for customized team swag packages. Whether you’re a team manager or a parent, we know your time is valuable. We can help to simplify your tournament experience. Available for all sports!
 
 
Upcoming Events 

Interested in upcoming clinics, showcases and tournaments for baseball, lacrosse or hockey? Check out our list of trending upcoming tournaments and showcases below.

Hockey 

Lacrosse

Baseball 

 

Help Heroes of Ukraine
 

Help Heroes of Ukraine is a charity organization that seeks to provide resources for the people of Ukraine during and after the war with Russia. Their long term mission is to help individuals, families, and communities in Ukraine with food banks, clean water, shelter, access to medical care, clothing and education for those displaced by the war. 

Help Heroes of Ukraine is hosting upcoming tournaments in the Chicago suburbs and Florida. All proceeds from the event will be used for renewal of sport infrastructure and recreation centers in Ukraine. 

There is still time to sign up and they are still accepting donations! 
 
Categories
Hotels Small Business Sports Business Youth Sports

Travelsports Business Newsletter – First Edition!

Read the latest from Travelsports

 

Welcome to our first Travelsports Business Newsletter! This newsletter is being sent to all of the business’s that have joined Travelsports. Our business newsletter will be sent out on a monthly basis and will cover business practices on our site and highlight marketing and other trends within sports. Our goal is to provide insights into the youth and adults sports world that you will find useful for your business. Missed a newsletter or signed up recently? No worries! Similar to our bi-weekly consumer newsletter, each business newsletter will be posted on our WordPress blog. Cheers and here’s to many more. 

– Team Travelsports

P.S. Be sure to share this newsletter with other business focused in the sports industry and encourage them to sign up to Travelsports!

 

Spotlights and Trends in Sports Business


If you work in the sports industry, you’re probably aware of the recent trends in sports business including athlete influencer marketing (NIL) in collegiate sports, artificial intelligence, increased technology enhancement, sports betting and the professionalization of youth sports.

According to Deloitte, the growth and transformation of the sports industry is forcing organizations to take a more sophisticated approach—one that makes the industry more attractive for investors, more immersive for fans, and more supportive of athletes. To make sure this happens, it’s important for sports organizations to look ahead for possible events and actions that can change how the future unfolds. 

In this global golden age of sports, 2023 is expected to bring organizations and athletes more chances than ever to deeply connect with their fans. Technology will continue to infuse every aspect of sports, empowering athletes and creating a more immersive experience for fans at live events and at home. In general, 2023 will be about making the most of these near-term opportunities while managing associated risks with the longer term in mind. Read/Download the full report here. 
 

Are you tired of spending countless hours manually building a schedule? Does it feel nearly impossible to juggle requests and make every team happy?

Throowave is your solution! 

Our automated scheduling tool makes scheduling a breeze by taking into account a variety of factors, such as:
  • Location availability & preferences
  • Rest times between games
  • Preferred match-ups
Say goodbye to the hassle and say hello to a stress-free tournament planning experience! Join the many satisfied tournament managers who have already chosen Throowave as their go-to scheduling solution. 

Don’t wait! Visit throowave.com today to sign up for a demo and discover the benefits of our scheduling tool for yourself. 

Sponsored Ad
 
Looking to advertise in any of our newsletters or on our website? Send us a note: info@travesports.com
 
 

In our “Did You Know” section, we will be highlighting different features and functionality on Travelsports that we feel are important to our business users.

      

In this issue, we are highlighting the business dashboard. On your dashboard, you can view, in real time, the number of page views, website/signup clicks, leads (inquiries from prospective customers) and, if you are advertising on Travelsports, banner ad clicks.  
 
 
 
Every month we will highlight a hotel that has joined Travelsports. Tournament & Clinic operators, be sure to check out our hotel section on Travelsports to view hotels that are interested in working with you. 

Enjoy a comfortable stay in a place that feels like home. Our top priority is ensuring the best possible guest experience at our Naperville hotel! Bring your sports teams here for a winning stay.