Do you Love Sports?

I'm a student at the University of West Florida, I love all type of sports and even watch ESPN. Sport tourism refers to the experience of travel to engage in or view sport-related activities.

[mk4ever96]

Leader in Pensacola sports tourism

The leaders that help boast our local economy, here in Pensacola, is the Pensacola Sports Association (PSA). According to PSA, it organizes and assists 50+ event that bring millions of dollars into the local economy. The biggest event that the Association has organized was in 2014, when they hosted the first NCAA D-I baseball games in Pensacola.

As doing this blog, I ran across this quote by Bill Geist of Zeitgeist Consulting, he said that “you do not build destinations for visitors, you build them for yourselves.Tourism isn’t just ‘heads in beds.’ It’s also ‘cheeks in seats,’ ‘torsos through turnstiles,’ ‘feet on our streets’ and ‘fans in the stands.’”

[mk4ever96]

How can sports tourism help boast Pensacola’s economy.

What is needed in Pensacola or Escambia County? Is a multi-million, a multi-purpose indoor sportsplex, built to Olympic and NCAA Division I athletic standards? Maybe we already have one at the University of West Florida? Or maybe the problem is that we don’t have enough venues to cover all sports leagues. The Florida Sports Association conduct a study on Pensacola’s sports structure. The study determined that the University of West Florida is the only venue in Pensacola that can host several different sporting events and they are often booked. Headed by the executive director of the Pensacola Sports Association, Ray Palmer, are determined that a unique indoor/outdoor sportsplex is the grow Pensacola sports tourism. Palmer had said that “One centralized facility could relieve a lot of pressure on Friday nights. It could attract an Olympic-type training center. We need to find out, if you’re going to do it this is, how.”

[mk4ever96]

Sports tourism is big business, especially in Florida. Florida has a lot of sports team.

In the professional and minor leagues , Florida have three professional football teams (MIA Dolphins, JAX Jaguars, and TB Buccaneers), two professional basketball teams (Orlando Magic and Miami Heat), two professional Hockey teams ( TB Lightning and the FL Panthers), and one professional Soccer team (Orlando City), and many minor league teams in various sports. In college sports, thirteen schools compete in NCAA Division I, and various others compete in other organizations including the NAIA and NCAA Division II.

But, the biggest city that has the most impact in the sports tourism is TAMPA, FL. In early 2015, the Tampa Bay Times stated that “sports tourism -- whether it's hosting Super Bowls or Final Fours or youth tournaments -- is big business.” Tampa has hosted a variety of college athletic events in recent years. In 2007, Tampa hosted the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. In 2008, it hosted the NCAA Women's Final Four. The NCAA reported that the 2008 Women’s Final Four generated an estimated of $ 19.1 million for the Tampa area. It hosted its second NCAA Women's Final Four in April of 2015, with a third NCAA Women’s Final Four coming in 2019.

Additionally, Tampa has been a significant spring training destination for Major League Baseball teams and their minor league affiliates.  

Tampa’s Future events include:

2017: College Football National Championship

2018: NCAA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Regionals

2019: NCAA Women's Final Four

2022: SEC Men's Basketball Tournament

[mk4ever96]

Getting the Most Out of Your Sports Venue

More and more sports venues are getting more and more use out of their facilities by opening them up to new ideas and new sports. Yes, sometimes it’s a just ploy, but it’s another way to expose what may be a niche sport to more people. One of the ways many stadiums use is to have a stadium is that quickly be converted into the stadium/arena, you need for the sports or entertainment. For example, the Amway Center is home to three different type of sports teams, the Orlando Magic of the NBA, The Orlando Predator of the Arena Football League (semi-pro), and the Orlando Solar Bears of the East Coast Hockey League.

[mk4ever96]

Environmental Impacts

The impact of sport tourism on natural resources and the environment is becoming more relevant. Most of the environment impacts on sports tourism are negative, the biggest one is the impact that sports have on themselves. For example, a bike tour can damage plants and the soil or that campers and hikers can dump rubbish in parks and streams.  The second impact is that the necessary tools for practicing a sport. This impact includes construction and the maintenance of the tool, such as the stadium, which can cause inconvenience and damages to the city’s residents. In addition, sports tourism increase the pollution of vehicles that are transported to and from activities. Another examples are car parking, drinking and eating during (even before and after) the main activities, signigicantly add to the pressure of the environment. These example results in the need for extra organization, such as transport facilities and services.

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[mk4ever96]

Without doubt, sports and even tourism is going to affect the economy, good or bad, but what most tourists don’t know is that their presence impact the host city and it population.

The trend  is to increase sport touristic experiences. 

The potential positive and the negative sociocultural impacts of sport tourism includes:

Potential Positive Culture Impacts of Sport Tourism

·         Strengthen the community spirit as local residents join together

·         Visitors come to learn about foreign people and their culture.

Potential Negative Culture Impacts of Sport Tourism

·         Sport tourism can lead to crowd disorder at events.

·         Contribute to tensions between hosts and visitors.

o    Excessive violence

As stated in the second to last post, sports tourism can increase the built-up of tension between the host and visitors. One of the example is the tension the University of Miami and the Florida State University rivalry. This rivalry is circled on every fans’ calendars. Most rivalries are because bragging rights in the state. This rivalry has a deeper meaning, its former high school teammates squaring off against each other. And it’s time to show what team is the best!

Yes, students really can’t be fans of both teams. It, like, against the law or something!!! 💁🙌

Michelle

P.S- if you are a FSU fan, we can’t be friends! LOL! Go CANES!!!

[mk4ever96]

ECONOMIC OF SPORTS

Most of the research on the different types of impacts focuses on the economic impact, it has on a host city. Even though the economy is the most researched, it is the least understood areas of tourism. As say in my second post, both sports and tourism contribute to the economy. Therefore sports tourism can have a significant impact on the economy, which can either be positive or negative impacts.

Potential Positive Economic Impacts of Sport Tourism

 Increases the standard of living, which increase the cost of living

 Increases the profile of the host cities

Attracts new businesses

Brings in tax money

Makes jobs

Potential Negative Economic Impact of Sports Tourism

Decreases the standard of living, which decrease the cost of living

 Increases rent on housing

 Increase taxation

A good example of the negative impact is 2000 Olympic in Sydney, Australia where the cost of living soured immediately after Australia announced it was going to host the 2000 Olympics.

[mk4ever96]

What are the general impacts of sport tourism??

Sports tourism has few areas that it affects. Sports tourism mainly affects three areas: economic, environmental, and cultural areas. All of these areas have both positive and negative impacts. I going to explain in detailed in later posts, but one way it impacts the economy is increased in sales, which brings taxes into the city that can be used in the community. One way that sports tourism impact the cultural/ society of the community is that it increase the built-up tension between the host and visitors if tourists are going a rivalry games. One big example of tension in a rivalry games is MIAMI Hurricanes vs. Florida State Seminoles. Another example of rivalry game is THE OHIO STATE vs. That Team up North (I like to call it Ichigan, we don’t say the “M” word in my household). The last area that sports tourism affects is the environment. The ways it affect the environment is that tourist can leave trash all around the city/community.

[mk4ever96]

WHY IS SPORTS TOURISM GOOD FOR YOUR COMMUNITY?

As in the last post, sports tourism is a growing sector of economy. It is common to find sports tourism facilities already in cities that as a regular visits from tourists. There are three questions that you should ask if you think sports tourism are a good fit for your community:

1.    Can the funds, you are using, be use for a different purpose? If so, does its benefits outweigh the benefits of a sports tourism fund? Or visa versus?

2.    Does your city/community have land that available, and is it needed for a different purposes, now or in the near future?

3.    What are the benefits for your own city/community?

For example, Chicago, IL has a commission dedicated to bring sports to Chicago. The Chicago Sports Commission’s mission states recruits and supports high-profile, major sporting events that generate economic impact and positive exposure for the city of Chicago. The commission hopes to have Chicago as one of best destination for sports event.

Later,

Michelle 

[mk4ever96]

Welcome back, guys!! I hope you like the first ever blog entry. Now, sport is a major industry, and is a reason people travel. Whether it is the high performance athletes competing in the Olympics, sports championships, or a family traveling with their son or daughter to a weekend regional event. Sports are a part almost every culture in the world. Sometimes the sports world is view as a separate activity and industry; but it is inextricably linked to tourism one way or another. Major tourist destinations are developing around the pleasure of sports. These destinations have an edge that their competitors don’t have. The cities are interested in tourists who have a strong eager to get in touch with nature and who would love an interactive weekend/ holiday. Sports tourism is a multi-billion dollar ($$$$$) business, most cities’ economies relies on the visit of sports tourists to help benefits its economies.   See you later, 

Michelle

[mk4ever96]

Hey Guys and Gals! My name is Michelle and my major is Sports Management. Well as you can see this is my first ever blog, and I really didn’t know what to write about. So I guess I’ll just wing it!! There is some many aspect of sports management field, such as the communication aspect, the marketing aspect, the business aspect, and-the biggest- the hospitality aspect. But I decide to bunch the aspects together and write them. This brought me to sport tourism. So my first entry is going to be about what sports tourism is and how it interrelates to hospitality. So what actually is sport tourism, the basic definition is tourism that involves sports. Basic right?? But is much more that, it’s a unique culture that only people at the specific destination can have. There are many example of sports tourism, like The Olympics’ Games and games (in the NBA, NFL, MLS, or MLB). Who knew when you are going to watch your favorite team play, you’re actually a tourist. How does sports and hospitality click together? It seems weird, right? But it does works, there many benefits of hospitality due to sports tourism. An example of the benefits is the high spending of sports tourists that they bring to their destination. Well guys, that’s it. See you guys next time!!