Sports Events and Tourism Association

7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 11 the success of 2019. “We are the only vertical outside of leisure, which the CVBs don’t really do much in, that is going to exceed their numbers, says Kidd. “What does that mean? It doesn’t mean that we’re leading, but we are a catalyst to the re-entry into the tourism industry, and our portion of that is sports. Sports are a major consistent provider in good times and bad times for economic impact in communities.” Moving forward, Kidd asserts, “We are going to give rise to a whole area of research and production that’s going to make things technologically more efficient to produce the work in our space.” Evidence of this is a new product called Play Easy, described by Kidd as “the leading event RFP generator in America.” With a database of 16,000 facilities, 800 destinations, and over 2000 requests for proposals (RFPs) to produce a sporting event available to clients instantly, this technology is significant for the industry, especially during a time when many organizations are still short staffed. Kidd explains, “We’ve written the algorithms to do the analytical work. If the World Lacrosse Association wants to conduct a tournament, and they give us the parameters of the tournament, it goes into our software, and within about an hour, it gets sent to every single destination and facility that can meet their qualifications.” Noting that the trends around sports events and travel are changing, Kidd shares that Sports ETA is in the final stage of producing what they are calling the ‘balanced scorecard’. “It is a series of tools and a measurement toolbox that can tell you the earned media, the social and digital impact, the community residents’ sentiment, the economic impact, and the hotel impact in a community, in kind of a one lump sum product. People are really excited to learn that, and my personal belief is that once they learn the impacts that are different than just the economic one through hotel room generation, it’ll lead rise to some creative thinking.” As for what comes next for the Sports Events and Tourism Association, Kidd emphasizes, “We want to help improve the quality of life in destinations across America through sports. It’s wider than just the economic impact. It is also the psychological and community impact and resident sentiment around sports.” As a final thought he offers, “We need to find a way to help replace and augment the lack of physical fitness we have in our schools, and it’s going to be done through some form of sports here in America.”