There are 136 FBS football teams and this year, there are almost as many incredible games.

College football is nothing if not pageantry. With tailgating scenes that go on for hours before — and sometimes after — games, there may be no scene like it in sports This year, SportsTravel has built the ultimate weekend road trip that can last a full season.

One rule: You can’t go to a site more than once. But you will see a blend of historic stadiums, atmospheres, rivalries and high-stakes matchups if you follow our list.

Week Zero

Saturday, August 23: Kansas State vs. Iowa State (in Dublin, Ireland)
This Big 12 rivalry has one of the best names in sports — Farmageddon. The game has occurred every year since 1917, making it one of the longest continuous series in college football history. However, this year’s edition will be far from the farms of Iowa or Kansas, as these two ranked teams take their conflict to Dublin and Aviva Stadium that will have the full attention of the college football world. —Justin Shaw

Week 1

Saturday, August 30: No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State
Texas and Ohio State is not only a rematch of the 2025 Cotton Bowl, which was a College Football Playoff Semifinal, but it features two of the most storied teams in the sport battling in the Horseshoe. This clash of top 3 teams will be Arch Manning’s debut as the full–time starter for the Longhorns, with the excited Texas fanbase traveling to Columbus to mix with Buckeye red–clad Ohio State fans still reveling in the team’s national title. —Justin Shaw

Sunday, August 31: No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami
In 1988, No. 1 Miami traveled to No. 4 Notre Dame for what became one of the best college football games of all time. The “Catholics vs. Convicts” narrative and a pre–game fight in the tunnel catapulted this rivalry to new levels, as it remains hostile today. This year, Notre Dame and its large fanbase will invade South Beach as the Fighting Irish scuffle with the Hurricanes in a top 10 clash to open the season. —Justin Shaw

Week 2

Saturday, September 6: No. 14 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma
Still getting used to the notion of Oklahoma (and Texas for that matter) in the SEC? Well, get over it. The fans at OU are certainly trying to, after finishing (gulp) 13th in the conference last year. In this one in Norman, they get the chance to get on the right track against a resurgent Michigan team that has had to battle off-field drama this offseason, resulting in recent penalties for their years-old sign-stealing scandal. Regardless of their recent histories, these are two storied programs facing off with two fan bases that will settle for nothing less than a national title. —Jason Gewirtz

Week 3

Saturday, September 13: No. 5 Georgia at No. 24 Tennessee
SEC stadiums tend to only do things big. And they don’t get as big as Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee. Of course, when the Volunteers are doing well, the stadium looms even larger. With Georgia — a perennial favorite to win it all — headed to town, expect heightened urgency and intensity for a battle that may well determine playoff positioning way down the road when the calendar hits December. —Jason Gewirtz

Week 4

Saturday, September 20: No. 14 Michigan at Nebraska
No matter the record (and don’t ask about some of the recent records), the stands in Lincoln Memorial Stadium are filled with red for every Cornhusker home game. Nebraska football is steeped in tradition and devotion and the fans live and die with every snap. On this day, the maize and blue of traveling Michigan fans may make the panorama look a bit different. And being unranked at the moment, this is a perfect chance for Nebraska to make an early statement in the Big Ten. —Matt Traub

Week 5

Saturday, September 27: No. 8 Alabama at No. 5 Georgia
The air will be thick with humidity no matter the time of kickoff and the air will also be full of anticipation as two of FBS’ most dynastic programs of this century face off. The past few years may have featured the greatest combined group of potential NFL talent in any college football game and whoever wins this game typically has its sights even closer on a national championship run. There are games that matter and stadiums that have tradition; few matter more than this one to the two fan bases and few stadiums are as revered as the one where the Dawgs play between the hedges. —Matt Traub

Saturday, September 27: No. 7 Oregon at No. 2 Penn State
That this is a conference game speaks to the depth of the top four leagues in college football and also its absurdity given it would take 41 hours to drive from Eugene to State College. There’s also the attraction of whatever outfit the Ducks will wear going against the decades-long tradition of plain blue jersey and white helmet (with some slight changes over the years) for the Nittany Lions. On gamedays in State College it becomes one of the biggest cities in the commonwealth and on this day, certainly the loudest. —Matt Traub

Week 6

Saturday, October 4: No. 4 Clemson at North Carolina
The Carolina Blue always feels and seems a bit calming, don’t you think? For basketball, the Tar Heels have fought the label of being the “wine and cheese” crowd and in football, even with some spurts of success, it hasn’t certainly had the reputation of being a feared place to play. But this isn’t Chapel Hill anymore, it’s Chapel Bill as in Belichick and the legendary NFL coach’s arrival on campus should juice up any matchup, particularly one with the highly ranked Tigers coming to town and a fan base that enjoys setting up shop in a rival’s stadium on Saturdays. —Matt Traub

Week 7

Saturday, October 11: No. 18 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Texas (in Dallas)
It’s always a party when these two teams come together — at least at the tailgate, which coincides with the Texas State Fair. After the fans consume plenty of fried food and beverages outside the stadium, the atmosphere inside the Cotton Bowl becomes electric. The venue is split right down the middle, with half painted crimson and the other half burnt orange. The Red River Rivalry is a must attend for any college football fan. —Justin Shaw

Week 8

Saturday, October 18: USC at No. 6 Notre Dame
Aside from a three–year period during World War II and during 2020, these two fierce rivals have played every year since 1926. The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh is scheduled to be played through 2026, but after that, one of the best cross–sectional rivalries in college football may cease to exist as USC has been hesitant to schedule future contests. Notre Dame Stadium celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025, as it welcomes the Trojans to South Bend for perhaps the final time. —Justin Shaw

Week 9

Saturday, October 25: No. 19 Texas A&M at No. 9 LSU
There’s been more than a few earthquakes caused in Baton Rouge by the explosion of fans screaming and jumping late into the night as the hometown Tigers try to maintain their status as a national powerhouse. The tailgating scene is famous and can be something to enjoy for a day … or two .. or maybe three or four? There’s also the chance that you could see a live Tiger prowling the sidelines, which is also something that only happens in college football and is also the potential stuff of nightmares. —Matt Traub

Week 10

Saturday, November 1: Army at Air Force
There is something special about football games involving the military academies. And with Air Force having one of the most stunning settings for football in the country at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, games in Colorado Springs feature not only the rivalry on the field but the beauty of the mountain setting to make it all feel just right. This year, the new Hotel Polaris is open at the entrance to the Air Force Academy for those lucky enough to get a room in the closest hotel to campus. And a new Air Force visitor center will also be open this fall, adding yet another reason to make the road trip to see if the Falcons can fly high. —Jason Gewirtz

Week 11

Saturday, November 8: Eastern Washington at Montana
Don’t think that this is some “normal” FBS program where you can show up and expect to find a ticket on gameday; the Grizzlies drew an average crowd of 26,978 in 2023 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where the home team has a .890 winning percentage. Instead, get your tickets in advance and enjoy one of the traditional powerhouses in college football, one that won more games in the 2000s than any other program and can hang with the big boys of FCS, having beating nationally ranked Washington in 2021. —Matt Traub

Week 12

Saturday, November 15: Ithaca at Cortland
The annual game between Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland in Upstate New York was famously nicknamed “the Biggest Little Game in the Nation” by Sports Illustrated. As the colors turn on the leaves throughout the mountains in the region, there is no way you can step on the Ithaca campus without first checking to make sure you’re not wearing red — and the same with blue on the Cortland campus. In 2019, the game was moved to MetLife Stadium and drew 45,161, the type of crowd a Jets or Giants late-season game would wish it could get nowadays. The next year at Yankee Stadium, more than 40,000 attended. —Matt Traub

Week 13

Saturday, November 22: No. 24 Tennessee at No. 15 Florida
Volunteers and Gators in The Swamp. This one may yet play a factor in the hard-fought SEC with two heavyweights preparing to face off. Tennessee may bring its fair share of orange-clad fans to Florida, but will it be the orange and blue that win the day? With a planned renovation to The Swamp nearing final approval — a move that might reduce seating — this is the time to get into one of the rowdiest experiences in college football while you can. —Jason Gewirtz

Week 14

Friday, November 28: No. 19 Texas A&M at No. 1 Texas
Last year was Year 1 for these longtime rivals to find themselves in the SEC together and Texas marched into Kyle Field for the victory. Can the Aggies play spoiler this time around at Texas? Make no mistake about the rivalry in this one. The Aggies faithful take pride in some of their most beloved cheers that are aimed at the Longhorns – something they shout at every game regardless of opponent, regardless of the fact they went years without playing. With Texas entering the season as an early favorite to win it all, this one will be full of drama as A&M tries to spoil the fun. —Jason Gewirtz

Saturday, November 29: No. 3 Ohio St. at No. 14 Michigan
A rivalry that burned hot especially in the 1970s has continued to burn at mercury’s temperature. With both teams claiming national titles the past two years and knowing the path to another goes right through each other, the fandom is rabid. Winning this game could even mean as much as a national title (especially if you beat your rival on the way to their title run). Watch out for planted flags, too, especially at the end of the game. They’ve been known to incite some additional action. —Matt Traub

Week 15

Saturday, December 13: Army vs. Navy (in Baltimore)
M&T Bank Stadium will be the site for a matchup that provides more prestige and pageantry than any other college football contest. The President of the United States has been known to attend the Army–Navy game, which includes flyovers and tens of thousands of cadets and midshipmen in the crowd. The Commander-in-Chief Trophy is sometimes on the line in this spectacle, which features those who will be fighting for their country after their football careers have ended. —Justin Shaw

Like a Joe Burrow two-minute drill in the fourth quarter, a last-second equalizer from FC Cincinnati or a game-tying Elly De la Cruz homer in the bottom of the ninth, Cincinnati is staging a comeback.

Cincy, as the natives affectionately call it, is scrappy. It’s old school. It’s a throwback.

The problem is in the past decade it’s become too much of a throwback. But now, with the creation of the Cincinnati Regional Sports Commission, a beautifully renovated tennis facility and an upcoming refurbished convention center, the city is on its way to a major comeback.

“We know how powerful sports can be for a city. They bring visitors, create energy and showcase our community to the world,” said Julie Calvert, CEO of Visit Cincy. “The sports commission gives us the focus and the tools to go after more events and make the most of them. It is about building momentum now and setting ourselves up for even bigger wins in the future.”

To share its vision of the large comeback, Visit Cincy hosted journalists from around the country to see firsthand what’s going on in the city, and SportsTravel was on the scene.

Sports Leading the Way Back

Three years ago, Visit Cincy began plotting how it could monetize its sports facilities better and catch up to other destinations when it came to sports tourism.

Ben Huffman was watching intently from the suburbs of Cincinnati. When Cincy Sports became a reality this year and the organization began the search for the person to run the new entity, Huffman — who spent 19 years with the nearby Warren County CVB — knew it was something he wanted.

“Over 10 years ago, I reached out to a variety of people and voiced my interest in a position like this,” Huffman said. “I knew if this was done correctly and funded correctly, it would be a dream job for me.”

Huffman began that dream job of executive director in late June when Cincy Sports officially came online.

“I think what really excited me through the process is the Visit Cincy Board having the understanding of what sports tourism is — from the high-profile NFL Draft-level events to the youth sports tournaments that drive hotel rooms and impact as well,” Huffman said.

“They’ve given me a lot of support, but also leeway because I’ve been in the field for 20 years and know the industry and I know what can be successful here. So we’re building what we believe will be a really strong sports commission.”

Geographically, Cincinnati is located in a competitive area when it comes to attracting major sports tournaments and events. Indianapolis and Columbus are northwest and northeast, respectively, and Louisville and Lexington aren’t too far south.

Huffman admits the city hasn’t recruited sporting events to the level that it should over the past 20 years. Now, Cincy needs to let people know they’re open for business.

“Because we haven’t been a visited destination for a lot of these events, I think it can be a huge positive. A lot of these events want to go to new and exciting locations, and many events haven’t been here for a long time,” Huffman said. “We’re also a wonderful family destination that hasn’t been the hub for sports tourism, but now we can be. So I look at it as a positive.”

Huffman says the playbook is wide open and the city will look to host every sporting event possible — from the bid it recently put in with the Bengals to host the NFL Draft to the Rugby World Cup in 2031 to youth sports tournaments.

“We’re going to attack those big events. However, the youth sports market is so big and such a great opportunity for us that we’re going to find the venues and the places to host those next,” Huffman said. “We have every division of college sports in Cincinnati — Division I, II and III, as well as junior college. So we can host all of the college conference championships, regional and national championships as well.”

Cincinnati Open Unveils Incredible New Facility

One major sporting event Cincinnati doesn’t have to chase is the Cincinnati Open, perhaps the most prestigious professional tennis tournament in the world outside of the four Grand Slams.

The 2025 edition is ongoing in Mason, Ohio — 30 minutes north of Cincinnati — as the tournament moves from a single-week event to a two-week happening for the first time in its 126-year history.

“This tournament is part of our identity,” Calvert said. “Our community has fully embraced the tournament for years and it is incredible to see the world’s best players competing at the Cincinnati Open. With the major upgrades to the facility, the experience is first class from every angle whether you are on the court, in the stands, or watching from halfway around the world.”

Another thing to know about the people of southern Ohio: They are fighters. When Charlotte made a strong run to poach the Cincinnati Open (previously called the Western and Southern Open) in the summer of 2023, residents battled back.

“Everyone in our county, led by County Commissioner Dave Young, said, ‘We’re not going down without a fight,’” Huffman recalled. “The state, city and county all ponied up money to save the tournament. But at the same time, it was an infrastructure bill that allows this space to do a lot more than it did before.”

Ohio taxpayers approved $130 million for renovations of the Lindner Family Tennis Center, prompting event rights holder Beemok Capital to match that number and keep the event in Mason for another 25 years.

The day after the 2024 Cincinnati Open ended, the $260 million renovation project began. And almost exactly one year later, the venue opened to the public on August 5, 2025, a week after construction was completed.

“We went from 20 to 40 acres in 11 months and the response and the result has been incredible,” said Elizabeth Desrosiers, director of marketing and communications at the Cincinnati Open. “A lot of it was prompted by the ATP and WTA Tours because our player fields doubled from 56 singles players to 96. So we knew that was coming and the expansion of the site was initially in direct response to that growth of the tournament. We needed to create the player amenities and facilities to accommodate that growth.”

One of the main noticeable differences is that the complex traded a lot of asphalt and concrete for grass, plants and trees. Instead of a corporate structure, the grounds now look like a tennis tournament is taking place inside a local park.

“Lots of shade, lots of green space. Just a softer, more welcoming and inviting campus,” Desrosiers said. “While we expanded, we wanted to be very intentional about retaining that intimacy that’s really distinct to the Cincinnati Open.

“We’ve heard from some players that they feel like they’re on vacation, like they’re at a resort. We’ve heard from fans and some of the staff who come in from all around the world that this rivals some of the Grand Slams, maybe even supersedes some of the Grand Slam venues in terms of the experience we’re offering.”

Both Center Court and Grandstand Court received a new façade wrap. Champions Court, a new 2,000-seat sunken stadium, headlines the 10 new courts added to help facilitate the event’s growth to feature 96-player brackets. The new 56,000-square-foot player Clubhouse includes lounge and restaurant space for the tournament’s players and their support teams, wellness and recovery rooms for the players and locker rooms for coaches.

There are also all-new hospitality areas around the facility, with several integrated around Center Court and Grandstand Court, including the 1899 Club, the Garden Club and the Fifth Third Club.

“What makes me really proud is we’ve elevated that experience,” Desrosiers said. “We’ve taken this to a new level, but we’ve still retained that accessibility and that opportunity for anyone and everyone to come experience this, which is really important to us.”

New Convention Center Adds to Cincy Infrastructure

The Visit Cincy staff is honest about the downturn in conventions and large business meetings in the city over the past decade. After conducting research, it became clear the lack of an updated convention center and adjoining quality hotel were the culprits for lack of bookings.

Big changes are on the way. The city is pouring more than $800 million into the downtown area, led by a reimagined Duke Energy Convention Center connected to a new Marriott Headquarters Hotel and new Elm Street Plaza.

Construction on the ASM Global–managed convention center began over a year ago, with the facility being gutted and redone from the floor to the ceiling. It will be ready for a grand opening in January 2026 with the Marriott due to be online in 2028.

“The convention center really is the centerpiece of our reinvention story,” Calvert said. “To compete with the best, we have invested in it and transformed it into a space that feels modern, welcoming and connected to everything happening around it in the district. It is a big win for the city and for the visitors we want to bring here.”

The new convention center and downtown development accents the existing three professional sports structures around the city.

Paycor Stadium, nestled along the Ohio River, is packed for Bengals games during NFL season. A short stroll down Barry Larkin Way leads to Great American Ball Park, home of the Reds. And across the city sits TQL Stadium, home of MLS’ FC Cincinnati, which was named Best Venue of 2022 at the World Football Summit.

All three venues create a rabid homefield advantage for the Cincinnati teams and once the renovated downtown area is finished, the city will look completely different.

In that city, there are some spots that a visitor can’t miss. Ghost Baby is one of the most unique speakeasys in the world, located in an underground lagering tunnel that’s 150 years old. The Mercantile Immersive is a 360-degree, multi-sensory event space with floor-to-ceiling LED panels, 105 speakers, IMAX quality cinematic content and dynamic lighting. It will be open in a few months for events.

And of course, there’s the food. The trip was highlighted by Chef Jose Salazar’s restaurant Mita’s, which has the best empanadas and tres leches cake anywhere. Alcove by MadTree in the Over the Rhine neighborhood was another can’t-miss spot as is the Lytle Park Hotel, which was named the best hotel in Ohio in 2025 by U.S. News & World Report.

Cincinnati may have experienced a period where the city was a down, but it was never out. And now, it’s ready for its grand reintroduction into sports tourism.

I grew up playing, following and loving baseball. The 15-year-old me could name just about any starting nine across Major League Baseball, especially my hometown New York Mets and Yankees. I was all in.

In many ways, I’m still all in. I still love the game. But as an adult living in Denver — and with a 15-year-old son myself now — the local Colorado Rockies have not given us much to cheer about this season. On pace to be one of the worst — if not the worst — team in modern baseball history (they will shatter the run differential record for true stats geeks, even if they miss out on the all-time loss record by a game or two … ) it’s been a miserable season. But the funny thing is that my son, who has never much been interested in baseball, has become an enormous fan as the Rockies chase history for all the wrong reasons.

As a result, we’ve been to more games at Coors Field this season than any other season. While we’re having fun (tickets are cheap!), it’s for the worst possible reason. Losses feel like wins in this upside-down season where we are pulling to be part of history. But somehow, maybe thanks to us, the Rockies are also in the top half of MLB attendance, despite their miserable season. That’s not so much a testament to the team as it is to their fantastic ballpark, where on a beautiful summer night it’s nice to take in the sunsets and watch other teams win. Nonetheless, while there have been surprisingly good crowds at Coors Field this year for such an awful team, it’s generally been a lifeless, joyless experience at the ballpark this season.

Which brings us to the Savannah Bananas.
Much has been written in sports media about the rise of this franchise that has tweaked the game in such a fun fashion that it’s hard to turn away. Are they goofy? They do seem that way. Do they play loose with the traditional rules of baseball? You bet. Do they have the best interest of baseball fans at heart? Absolutely, yes. I reached those conclusions after attending my first Bananas game, the front end of a two-day stand at Coors Field that sold out, more than 50,000 fans each — an attendance record for the team for any game held at an MLB stadium.

So, what’s going on here?

The Bananas brought joy to the joyless Coors Field and it was infectious. At a Rockies game, the concourses are full of wandering refugees looking for any kind of fulfillment through a beer or a hot dog or any of the ballpark’s specialty dishes. Since fans aren’t missing anything on the field, they fill the concourse. At the Bananas game, where the game itself has a two-hour time limit? It’s not that the concourses were completely empty, but let’s just say you never had to risk bumping into anyone ahead of you. That’s because people were by and large in their seats. The entire time.

The experience underscored some realities that event organizers of all kinds can learn from, and not just those in sports. After my night with the Bananas, here are five things I think they are getting absolutely right:

Know Your Brand, Stay Loyal to It

This is an enterprise that is relentlessly on brand. The whole evening was bathed in yellow and banana-themed imagery, starting with the kid who peeled and ate a banana on the pitcher’s mound before the game to determine if it tasted good, and thus the game would be good. To the baby brought forth in a banana costume and raised in the air “Lion King” style. To the bananas tossed from the crowd during the pregame festivities. To the fantastic banana mascot named Split. To the foam fingers shaped like a banana instead of an outstretched finger. All of it was on point.

And of course, this team’s other brand is joy. From my vantage point near the field, the players, the support staff, the auxiliary entertainment (a banana-themed princess anyone?), even the media handlers were all smiles. All night long. Yes, they are paid entertainers, but their fun came off as genuine and it showed in every aspect of their production.

Their other motto: “Fans First.” The team’s holding company is even named that. Every piece of the game itself was designed to give the fans the best experience. The rules of Banana Ball include no bunting. Because, as is stated in that rule: bunting sucks. Ask any baseball fan and they’d probably agree. This brand is all about stripping away the parts of their product — baseball — that most fans don’t like.

Build and Execute a Run of Show

A Savannah Bananas game is a tightly orchestrated affair, from the scene outside the stadium before the game, to the hours-long fun and antics on the field before the game, to the game itself, which contains a surprising amount of actual baseball interrupted on numerous occasions by tightly choreographed dance sequences by the players or even the umpires. Everyone is in on the act. And everything moves so fast and so tight.

Banana Ball has as two-hour time limit for games with the winner being whichever team is in the lead at that point. Was it a surprise that the game ended in the ninth inning at 1:59? Not really. Every minute felt deliberate. Every baby race, every fan contest, every piece of schtick throughout the experience was designed, thought out, and controlled even if the product itself was supposed to look chaotic. It was a brilliant use of time management and it came from what has to be an impeccable run of show. And somehow, the teams scored 31 runs on this night. Can you imagine how long an un-orchestrated MLB game would take with 31 runs?

And when it was over, the Bananas’ band was on stage outside the ballpark to keep the party going. All events can take a lesson from the thought put into the timing and flow of a Savannah Bananas game.

Incorporate Music Appropriately

If you are wanting quiet, come to a Colorado Rockies game. (Seriously, please come to a Rockies game. Tickets are on me!) But the Savannah Bananas experience was not that. Music is a constant presence during the entire show, often just in the background as play continues.

But the music never felt out of place. It never felt forced. It only felt additive.

And the music is such an important part of the experience that the home plate umpire is known as the “Dancing Ump.” I even saw one fan whose jersey was signed by the Dancing Ump, emphasizing the importance of music in the event and its stars — and how crucial it is to the brand.

Break the Rules if You Need To

From a baseball perspective, Banana Ball is completely bonkers and yet completely works. There are no walks. On ball four, the batter can start running and keep running until all nine players on the other team touch the ball. If a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out. And don’t even ask about what happens if the game is tied, but let’s just say the pitcher has to do a lot of running to get any ball that’s hit. As we’ve established, there’s no bunting, because bunting sucks. And no mound visits, because who other than the ones involved in that visit want to waste that time?

This is not an experience for pure baseball enthusiasts. But the Savannah Bananas leaned into the types of angst that drew people away from baseball for years. They juiced out all the interesting stuff, put it in a blender and served. And it’s delicious.

Did they break the rules? Yes, they did. And sometimes you need to break the rules to get people to think different, regardless of what event you’re producing.

Bring Some Joy

Business meetings can feel, well, business-y. Even sports events can feel like more of a business experience, especially at the professional level where millionaires are playing millionaires in stadiums built by billionaires. Or in the case of our Colorado Rockies, events feel lifeless when the on-field product yields no joy — an experience that unfortunately spills into the stands. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t add some youth sports events to this list of experiences that feel all business as well.

The Bananas? All joy, all the time.

Your event doesn’t need to be on hyper joy for two hours straight like a Bananas game, but can’t you have a little fun in there as well? It’s important to remember that attendees, and people in general, can use a little break here and there. Lean into the joy if you can.

Jason Gewirtz is vice president and managing director of the Northstar Meetings Group Sports Division and the publisher of SportsTravel. 

At sporting events, there can be noise … and there can be noise. You know the distinction. It’s when one player, or team, gets a special sound, the recognition that while in theory amongst equals, there is one that resonates just that bit more.

One of those moments came in Indianapolis ahead of the WNBA All-Star Game, as basketball fans roared for each of the All-Stars as they were announced, several of them modern legends of the game. But when Indiana Fever hometown star Caitlin Clark was introduced, even if she missed out on the game because of injury, the noise was just … different.

 Clark is one of most well-known athlete in the United States today — male or female — and her stardom transcends basketball. Since she was drafted by Indiana, the team’s home attendance has more than doubled. Visit Indy’s web page on the Fever has seen a 500% increase year over year and its digital marketing in Iowa has shown significant upticks.

“It’s as big as we thought it would be because we thought it would be big,” said Leonard Hoops, president and CEO of Visit Indy. “She was so popular coming out of college and we were just hoping we’d win that Ping-Pong ball — whether it was an envelope or Ping-Pong ball or whatever. The minute we got it, I knew this would turn into a big thing for us.”

Perhaps it’s also not surprising that the success of the Fever is in Indiana, the state of Hoosiers (the movie and the team), of Final Fours and NBA Finals appearances, where a citizenry is proud to boast of its basketball heritage.

After all, as Indiana Sports Corp President Patrick Talty said: “In our neighborhood HOA covenants, one of the things that you don’t have to get approval for is to install a basketball hoop. You have to get approval for everything, to plant trees and all this other stuff — except put in a basketball hoop.”

Basketball Means More in Indiana

The perception of basketball in Indiana has changed among national outlets with the arrival of Clark last season in many ways, large and small — small screen, that is.

“I’m so used after 14 years of being in Indianapolis to checking ESPN after a Pacers game, seeing that the Pacers beat the Knicks 108-96 and seeing four of the five highlights are Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns and one highlight of the Pacers,” Hoops said. “With Caitlin and the Fever, the Fever might lose to the (New York) Liberty and three of the highlights are Caitlin (assists) and Caitlin 3’s.”

Indianapolis has said it wants to be one of the women’s sports capitals of the world by 2050 and Clark’s presence in town, Talty said, has made leaders in the community try to accelerate that benchmark. Throughout the city on All-Star Weekend, there was plenty of basketball but notably it was entirely WNBA-related with barely any Pacers blue and gold noticed around downtown.

More than a dozen temporary art installations popped up across downtown, showcasing local female artists. Monument Square, Indy’s central gathering space, became a fan hub featuring “W” sculptures, floral displays, custom sneaker stations and more. As part of Indiana Black Expo, a “Court Vision” Exhibit inside the convention center featured over 30 artists spotlighting women and girls. There was also All-Star Bounce through downtown the morning of the All-Star Game, as 2,500 youths 18 and under dribbled along a half-mile, non-competitive route.

The Indianapolis area does not just turn out for women’s basketball for one weekend per summer. One of the city’s more beloved athletes who remains active in the community is Tamika Catchings, who played her entire 15-year WNBA career with the Fever and led the franchise to its only WNBA championship in 2012. Catchings was prominent throughout the weekend attending a breast tissue donation event and at a popular stop around town during All-Star Weekend, Tea’s Me Café, which has teas available for purchase at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The city’s love for basketball and special events extends to some of its historic landmarks. Since 1902, St. Elmo’s restaurant has had one appetizer on its menu — its famous shrimp cocktail, deemed one of the world’s spiciest dishes by Travel Channel. On All-Star Weekend, the waiters were in red and yellow bowties and even the menus had special Fever branding.

A State of Major Sporting Events

Indianapolis is known for basketball and many other things in the sports world — not just the NFL’s Colts, but best for Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500 on Memorial Day Weekend, an event first held in 1911 that this year drew nearly 350,000 fans.

The newly renovated $60.5 million museum at the track (a much shorter ride from downtown than one would expect) allows visitors to learn the history of the track and Indy’s racing lore, with cars all eras and areas representing the track’s ties to NASCAR and Formula 1. Those who book a “Kiss the Bricks” tour get a narrated, 30-minute bus tour that features one lap around the famous 2.5-mile oval with a stop at the start/finish line and the chance to kiss the historic yard of bricks (SportsTravel can attest that kissing the bricks tastes … like kissing a brick).

One of the other visible things throughout the city is not only its sporting heritage, but its building boom. Indianapolis has $1.6 billion invested in hotels over the next three years and within the next five years overall will have an additional 1,500 rooms, highlighted by a Shinola Hotel and a Signia by Hilton that, once it opens in 2026, will bring the total number of rooms connected via skywalks to 5,100, the most in the country.

The region is promoting the number of hotels with the goal of getting more international sports business. And one of the things that has given Indianapolis massive international sports exposure was when it hosted the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials — Swimming at Lucas Oil Stadium, the first time the Trials were held at an NFL stadium. Over 17 sessions, the stadium saw an average of 16,000 fans per session, maxing at 22,209 on June 19 for the largest swim meet ever held. USA Swimming recently announced it will return to Indianapolis for the Trials in 2028.

“I was in Paris for the Olympics and we came across someone from Team GB and someone from Team Canada who said, ‘Oh my God, we saw what you did, now that’s changed how we have to think about our swimming trials,’” Talty said. “We never set out to think that way. We wanted to have an impactful event and have media attention here in the States — and it definitely paid off in spades.”

Between the big attendance numbers and unique visuals — Hoops remembers walking into the stadium “and the way it was lit, it took my breath away” — it also assuredly made other cities with NFL domed stadiums think about how they could position themselves for four years down the road, leading Indianapolis executives to work fast to ensure its return.

“We definitely felt like we earned the right to host the event again,” Talty said. “When you do something so transformational to a sport, we learned so much, too. So we were like, we have to do this again to implement all these learnings and make it even more grand and better and more effective. We also wanted to be a part of the domestic Games. That was extremely important to Leonard and I that part of LA28 runs through Indy.”

There was one more thing to coordinate, however. Because swimming will be held at the back end of the 2028 Games instead of the front part of the schedule, the Trials will be held in a different time period in 2028 than in 2024. So while Visit Indy and the Sports Corp had held the convention center space in anticipation of getting the Trials back, it originally was not the dates that USA Swimming now needed. Adjustments were needed and Visit Indy worked to clear multiple groups that had reserved the dates, helping them find new host cities for that summer.

“Leonard’s team had to do a ton of work to get it done,” Talty said. “Without the partnership between the Sports Corp and Visit Indy, we wouldn’t be sitting here today having (the 2028 Trials) coming back here.”

USA Swimming was on hand during the WNBA All-Star Weekend to check out the scene, as were multiple other organizations and sports commissions. From the initial touchpoint at the airport with a full WNBA basketball court and gigantic signage around the entry way,  to the billboards all around downtown spotlighting Clark and other W stars, visitors saw an example of why Indianapolis continues to bring in so many sporting events.

“People expect to see something on the JW when it’s a big event,” Talty said, referring to giant signage on the side of one of the city’s tallest buildings. “Those things were done first at one point and then that learning continued. The advantage that we have here in Indy is two things. One, we have so many of these big events that come on a somewhat regular basis that you have continuity of people who have the experience and can share that experience and bring on new leadership and people into the system and learn. The other piece of that is we, as a sports commission, are lucky enough that we can have a standing staff that helps execute these events. We have full-time professionals that are event operators that help put on those events again and again and again.”

Swerve off I-85 and turn onto Bruton Smith Boulevard, because it’s race weekend and there’s things y’all gotta pick up first.

Take a quick spin onto Fireball Roberts Road and get some Cheerwine over at the gas station because the temperature says 78 but the sun laughs at you and says “nah man, that sunscreen ain’t gonna protect you one bit” and you need to hydrate.

Hunger can’t wait? Get it smothered, covered and chunked right near over at Waffle House. If it’s meat and three you’re looking for, head over to Jim ‘n’ Nicks for a plate and tea (it’s always sweet in the South). Need something stronger? The Michael Waltrip Tap Room is packed and it’s only 2 p.m. Whole family waiting in the RV lot? Get that Bo’ Box and get back on Bruton, past the dealerships with the Hendrick seal of approval, past the fans in the Chase Elliott gear leaving the hotel, the ones with Kyle Busch or even the ol’ timers with a black and white 3 or the rainbow 24.

It’s Saturday afternoon, the weekend is long and the time is slowin’ down outside the walls of the cathedral in Concord but the noise … that noise will ramp up off Darrell Waltrip Way, don’t you worry one bit.

This is what it feels like to be around the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend, where the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway may have a different city’s name on it but make no mistake, you are in Concord, North Carolina, and you are in Cabarrus County.

Home to NASCAR History

This spot has one of the longest ties to the old NASCAR, the one that granddaddy remembers fondly. The venue in Concord and Cabarrus County stands as one of those that anybody who’s anybody and anybody who’s wished to be somebody has to challenge, right next to Daytona and Darlington.

For legends to be driving on it, it helps to have a legendary backstory. In Concord, the venue was built in less than a year’s time, a dream sold by a local businessman, Curtis Turner, and a promoter named Bruton Smith who goes down in NASCAR lore.

Dynamite needed to bust open granite? Ka-boom, y’know. Hornets descending upon the site? Buzzworthy, one could say. Random snowstorm? It’ll melt eventually, keep on building.

Oh, and there’s this one; the man who busted up the granite, his name’s W. Owen Flowe. Well, one day as the venue was almost ready — at least as ready as ever gonna’ be — Owen decided he hadn’t been paid what he was owed and was fixin’ to do something ‘bout it. So he went to the track and told Turner and Smith that it was time to pay up.

Now, there are some that still dispute what happened next. Flowe would claim that Smith and Turner threatened to shoot him and others if the work wasn’t finished. Smith not entirely disputes it, admitting that Turner did have a shotgun but insists somebody grabbed the weapon before it became an active participant.

Anyways, the track was done and the inaugural race was run. Barely. And now, who could have imagined the history that would be held? The Coke 600 has been run for 65 years in this spot, where the locals pass down their fandom through generations and tens of thousands pay homage throughout the year.

Through the years the capacity has been like an elevator, as much as 170,000 in the late 1980s and now only 95,000. The venue itself is less a track and more a home to any type of racing you can think of with its clay short track, a dirt track, a drag strip outside the complex and an infield road course used later this year when NASCAR’s Cup Series comes by for the Bank of America “Roval” during the playoffs.

Where Drivers Become Legends

“You think anybody gonna get caught on the interstate with all these state troopers here?”

So says the Uber driver as she crawls toward the track, dozens of police cars with lights on, before you hop off and take a look around.

This is NASCAR in the South, where the air smells like a pit smoker goin’ slow and low, surrounded by people sitting in a lawn chair, drink in hand after a long, deep gulp because you don’t sip ‘round here. On Memorial Day weekend, the RV lot is filled with those who laugh at the idea of air conditioning and fandom means flying the flag with your favorite driver’s number even higher than the U.S. flag.

This is history and legacy and the end to the day known as Motorsports Christmas and there’s a weight in being able to sniff the gas, the BBQ and soak in an experience that only Cabarrus County on this day can deliver.

The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on NASCAR’s schedule, a test as much mentally as physically, which is saying something in the North Carolina heat even as the sun starts to set. Starting in the sun and ending in the dark of night until post-race fireworks re-illuminate the sky, NASCAR is the nighttime double shot of whiskey to chase the mimosa starter of F1’s Monaco GP and a beer at the Indianapolis 500.

This is where Dale Earnhardt made his debut in the Cup Series — Sr. and Jr., both. This is where David Pearson outlasted Richard Petty in a race shortened by the nation’s fuel crisis before Petty won years later. This is where Darrell Waltrip won five times (hence the street name). This is where drivers turn into legends; eight men have won this race three times or more in 600 history, all but one of them are Hall of Famers.

Here in the heart of Cabarrus County, this is where almost every Cup Series team still has a presence, the week of the 600 being one of the few chances that some of the workshops are open to the public. This is where the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and its Earnhardt-adjacent mustached baseball logo — the team from 2001 through 2019 was known as the Intimidators and it’s not hard to figure out why — sit just a short drive from the track with its prototypical Southern downtown walkability, a statue of Earnhardt proudly declaring it his hometown surrounded by immaculately tailored grass off the main stretch.

The Experience of Race Day

So what’s it like on race day? Crawl up Bruton Smith Boulevard on race afternoon and past the RV lots, where a guy waves a sign “You Honk — I Drink,” which he waves with a smile four hours before the green flag and makes you wonder if it sounds less like a boast and more like a very dangerous idea.

There’s plenty of time to kill before it goes racing and that means checking out the fan zone. There’s activations a plenty, some looking to make a buck and some looking to find some shade. NASCAR drivers, just a quick bit before going 200 miles per hour for hours at a time with cars just inches away from a competitor who’d rather wreck ‘ya than lose to ‘ya at the end, take the time to chat with fans whether it be the Ty Gibbs sponsor sit-down or Kyle Busch hanging out at the Explore Cabarrus spot surrounded by dozens of fans.

Inside smells a mix of exhaust and BBQ sauce, both mustard and vinegar, a generous heaping of cornbread and any other fixins’ you can conjure up with red cups as the drink carrier of choice. From the terrace at Turn 1 you see the entire track and the mass of humanity scattered through the infield, where some have rented spots with Winnebago’s, some with a pickup truck with a big ol’ piece of plywood covering the cab and a couple of lawn chairs set up for an elevated view. Fun fact: what you think is grass in the infield is more than just that, it’s a special surface developed to withstand the heat, gas and anything else that could come out the bottom of a car as it skids across without setting the area on fire.

There may be no sport where the experience is as auditory as NASCAR … and that’s even when you have ear plugs in. When that green flag drops, the ground shakes under your feet as the unmistakably primal sound of engines roaring blows your mind. Sit close enough to the track, as you can when with the folks over at Explore Cabarrus, and you get a bit of breeze during the races because that’s when the cars are whipping around, close enough that you can feel small pieces of tires flipping in the air, making one wonder what would happen if there’s a wreck in turn 1 and how the mix of brakes screeching, crowds cheering and metal twisting would feel like because this is NASCAR, where rubbin’ is racing’ and if you ain’t cheating then you ain’t tryin’.

For nearly four hours, fans hear the hypnotic rhythm of cars speeding by, too fast sometimes to see more than a number and the main sponsor (sorry, secondary sponsors). On this night, at a track where legends are made, you see history as Ross Chastain becomes the first person to win the Coke 600 having started at the absolute end of the line. As Chastain does the Polish Victory Lap (so named because of going the opposite direction) and the fireworks explode overhead, there’s a thought that getting back to the hotel will take time, with the near-100,000 people on hand.

But really, not so much. There are the RV lots, and the secondary lots, and people just wanting to hang out into the night and watch the seconds tick by and turn from p.m. to a.m. The racing’s done on the track in Cabarrus County but stay a while, the fans are saying, and relax, make yourself feel at home for a bit longer.

When most people think of women’s baseball, what comes to mind is the film A League of Their Own, the 1992 box office hit which tells an interpretative version of real-life events surrounding the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which existed from 1943–1954, with Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and others playing the parts of key players on the Rockford Peaches.

That movie put Rockford, Illinois, firmly on the map as the home of women’s baseball past. Now, the community is working toward making the destination the present and future of the sport.

Dr. Kat D. Williams, chief executive officer of the International Women’s Baseball Center, has a dream for Rockford. She wants it to be the Cooperstown of women’s and girls’ baseball.

“There’s a home for men’s professional baseball in Cooperstown,” said Williams. “There’s a home for Little League in Williamsport. And there is no home for girls and women’s baseball. We have established that in Rockford and we’re now attempting to build an actual physical facility.”

World Cup Action Coming to Rockford

Williams’ dream has three phases: renovate Beyer Stadium (home of the Peaches), build an activity/recreation center and erect the first museum dedicated to women’s and girls’ baseball.

The price tags for this vision aren’t cheap, but Williams has the passion and enthusiasm to push this agenda forward. And she has a little bit of timing on her side. The World Baseball Softball Confederation recently selected Rockford to host the 2026 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage.

“Internationally, girls’ and women’s baseball is extremely popular,” Williams said. “And the home for it is in Rockford, so we are trying to build on that. To have the World Cup stage come to the home of the Rockford Peaches is some of the most amazing symmetry I can even imagine.”

Rockford will host the Group Stage competition from July 22–26. Williams and GoRockford have bid to host the actual World Cup competition in 2027 and are awaiting word on that bid.

“This is the best pure baseball people are going to see,” Williams said. “We need to put people in the stands. We need to make sure people understand the significance of this. Most people don’t even know there is such a thing as a Women’s Baseball World Cup. But there is and it’s only been in the U.S. one other time. We need to show that we can do it better.”

John Groh, president and chief executive officer of GoRockford, has his focus on which events he can help bring to the city to further its reputation as a host.

“Our community has sports in our DNA, especially competitive amateur sports and what we’ve built over the last couple of decades with soccer and softball,” Groh said. “From a destination marketing perspective, we’re adding another pillar to our product lineup and really leaning into women’s baseball. That opens us up to a whole new multi–generational market.”

This first phase of Williams’ dream — to renovate and update Beyer Stadium, where the Peaches played for 11 years — is underway. The updates include new bathrooms, the installation of an outfield fence, lighting and an overhaul of the playing surface.

The World Cup Games will not be played at Beyer, but instead at Rivets Stadium, home of the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League collegiate circuit. Beyer Stadium will be used during the World Cup for ceremonial purposes, as well as practice and potentially exhibition games for some of the international teams that arrive in Rockford early.

“We are in good shape to get phase one finished and we will then turn our attention full force to phases two and three, which is the biggest haul,” Williams said.

A Museum of Their Own

Across the street from Beyer Stadium is where the International Women’s Baseball Center facility will be built. The venue is “first and foremost for the community in which Beyer resides, which is an underserved community,” Williams said. “So we are attempting to build a home for girls and women in baseball, but we’re also building a community center in a neighborhood that desperately needs it.”

“People already make a pilgrimage to Beyer Field where the Peaches played,” Groh added. “This larger vision for an international center, a hall of fame and an activity center for neighborhood youth, honors the legacy of the Rockford Peaches and the women who played in the 1940s and 50s.”

The overall project has a price tag of around $20 million, with the bulk of that going toward the community center and museum. The City of Rockford has committed $300,000 each year for the next five years and Illinois Senator Steven Stadelman has committed $400,000. Major League Baseball has contributed $250,000.

But fundraising efforts are still ongoing and needed.

“The IWBC is a non-profit that’s only 10 years old and until I was hired as CEO two years ago, everything we did was volunteer,” Williams said. “We have come a long way in our 10 years. And now we’re in a position where I think with the World Cup, getting Beyer renovated and the other things that we’re bringing in, that’s going to go a long way in fundraising.”

For the city of Rockford, the attention that women’s baseball continues to bring to the area is welcomed from a tourism standpoint.

“We see people who come here for soccer or volleyball or wrestling and they do come back,” Groh said. “And we think it will be the same way during the World Cup Group Stage and we hope to host the World Cup in 2027 and further build upon our commitment to women’s baseball. Sports tourism has been a way that we’re able to differentiate and improve our community in multiple ways.”

It would be hard to find anybody more dedicated to, or passionate about, women’s baseball than Williams. She is aware that hosting World Cup games is a full circle moment for the IWBC and Rockford and imagines what it will be like for Japan’s Ayami Sato — one of the best female baseball players ever — to step on the field at Beyer Stadium where the Peaches played.

But Williams makes sure the vision remains on the overall project, not just the play on the field.

“We are very careful not to focus only on the Peaches or the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, because women have been a part of baseball since baseball’s inception,” Williams explained. “But that league and the Rockford Peaches — if people know anything about women’s baseball, that’s what they know. And we are very aware of that. But we also don’t want to stop there because women did not start playing baseball in 1943 and we did not stop in 1954 when that league ended.

“With the help of GoRockford, the city government and Rockford University, we all have the opportunity to prove that we are up to this task of creating something special for women’s baseball.”

One side is known for black and yellow, the other a mix of orange, green and red. One side was built on a reputation of steel and the other on a reputation of grit.

More than 280 miles stretch from one end of the commonwealth (do NOT call it a state) to the other. Through its mix of metropolitan regions and small-town Americana of one-way roads and no-stop-light towns, all of Pennsylvania will be on display in a way it seldom has been in the coming year.

“Pennsylvania is quite quickly becoming the epicenter of the sports world,” said Anne Ryan, deputy secretary in the office of tourism for the commonwealth’s Department of Community and Economic Development. “There is no other state in 2026 offering this amount of events.”

The NFL Draft, PGA Championship, MLB All-Star Game, FIFA World Cup — it’s all in this part of the country in 2026. And yes, within the 250th anniversary celebrations of the United States next summer there will be more than a little Pennsylvania involved.

“We want to tell everyone about all the things we offer here in the commonwealth,” said VisitPA Executive Director Kaitie Burger, “and welcome them back in years to come.”

You could even say that this year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, part of a VisitPA trip SportsTravel took in June, was the opening course of a menu that started with a pepperoni roll in the Strip District and finished with a Primanti’s and an IC light.

Counting Down in Pittsburgh

The countdown clock sits in the middle of Pittsburgh’s stadium district, with the Steelers’ Acrisure Stadium within a half-mile walk of the Pirates’ PNC Park. Ticking down by the second, it’s a constant reminder of the time left before the North Shore hosts the NFL Draft.

“The number is still high enough that it’s exciting,” said Jim Britt, vice president of SportsPittsburgh. “I’m sure as maybe we get down to two digits on there, it will drive some anxiety, but we have a remarkable team that’s working on the project from the Steelers, Visit Pittsburgh and we’re in incredible hands with the NFL.”

The Steel City is set to bring between 500,000 and 700,000 fans to Pittsburgh between April 23–25, 2026. The main portion of the event is expected to incorporate Pittsburgh’s North Shore and Point State Park, as well as Acrisure Stadium.

“We’ve seen what they do at the Super Bowl,” said Britt of the NFL. “We’ve seen what they do at the draft every year. They are the best of the best, and it’s our role in this to make sure that they have the local resources to make this an authentically Pittsburgh event.”

The Sister Bridges-inspired steel beam holding up the countdown clock features 212 engraved notches. One side represents regional programs that make up the area’s football legacy and the other showcases Pittsburgh’s 90 neighborhoods. The draft marks a full circle moment for the city and the Steelers, as the beginnings of what would become the first draft took place in 1936 at the Fort Pitt Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh’s history may be of steel but the city is promoting its transformation into a tech and medical hub of the East Coast. That said, its history is part of its pride, from the stanchion of the old Three Rivers’ Stadium that still stands near the current home of the Steelers to the team’s Hall of Honor Museum. The museum, located within the stadium, stands not only as a telling of the team’s history but in many ways the history of the NFL with 30 Pro Football Hall of Famers born and raised in Western PA. In addition, 11 other NFL markets and 35 NCAA Division I football programs are within a half day’s drive.

“We are a year away from the largest event we’ve ever had,” Britt said. “And as you stand here right now, looking at this skyline, the river, you see the barges and the boats coming by, it’s impossible to not be excited about what this event will mean for the city.”

The World Comes to Philadelphia

Take one final sip of that coffee from Sheetz as you head east because once the draft is over and the calendar turns from April to May, it’s going to be One Big Hot Wawa Summer.

First up in May is the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, May 14–17, the second time the major has been at the course in Newtown Square. The club, which opened in 1928, will host the major one year after Valley Forge was the home for the PGA Tour Truist Championship at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the oldest country club in the United States.

“We’ll have 200,000 next year for this championship,” said Mike Lewers, general chairman for the 2026 PGA Championship. “We sold out our daily ticket (capacity). There’s a ton of pent-up demand in Philadelphia — we saw it for the Truist. We’re ready for a major championship at Aronimink.”

Ryan, while at the U.S. Open in Oakmont, said golf in Pennsylvania is a $6.3 billion industry.

“It’s variety, it’s quality — across the state, Pennsylvania plays second to no one when it comes to golf courses,” Lewers said.

“(Pennsylvania is) unapologetic and rough around the edges in the most endearing way and when it comes to golf, we bring the polish and prestige,” Ryan added. “That juxtaposition is one thing that I love about Pennsylvania.”

Golf fans can be rowdy at times, true. But there may be no greater juxtaposition than having the golf industry heading out of Philadelphia in time for the international soccer fan base that will descend upon the City of Brotherly Love for six matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Five will be in the group stage and one in the Round of 16 ever-so-conveniently scheduled for the Fourth of July.

“The international component of FIFA World Cup is where the opportunity lies,” said Meg Kane, host city executive for Philadelphia Soccer 2026. “We are sharing hosting (East Coast) duties with New York/New Jersey, Boston, Toronto. We are an incredibly attractive destination because of our accessibility.”

Kane also noted the region will host a Fan Festival for 25,000 people per day at East Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill and plans are being explored to set three additional fan zones across the commonwealth. The region could also could potentially have team base camps both in Philadelphia and nearby Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“Seventy percent of people who will travel for the FIFA World Cup don’t have tickets to a match,” Ryan said. “People are looking to be in the environment. Philadelphia, where we are located geographically, you don’t get another host city (to the West) until Atlanta or Kansas City. We have a really large part of people who might want to feel that World Cup energy and experience the environment. We’re going to be able to offer that.”

Once the World Cup carnival leaves town with the Round of 16 game on July 4, the 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be in Philadelphia in what marks yet another Midsummer Classic aligned with American history for the city, which hosted in 1976 on the nation’s bicentennial.

The game will mark the city’s fifth time hosting and the first time the event will be staged at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. Shibe Park staged the Midsummer Classic in 1943 and 1952 while Veteran Stadium held the honors in 1976 and 1996.

“We’ve been at the table with Welcome America, with the city, with the Phillies, on how is this going to look like and how are we going to create this incredible customer experience,” Kane said. “We might have somebody coming to Philadelphia who’s a die-hard history buff who wants to go to Independence Hall, visit the Liberty Bell. So how do we make them feel welcome? We want people coming to the All-Star Game to come a little early, people who come to the World Cup to stay a little longer. Our goal is to get as many visitors to use Philadelphia as their hub for activity in 2026.”

When Ford Dyke’s phone rang in November 2023, on the other end was the voice of a former teammate from the USA Handball national team.

That phone conversation would lead to a whirlwind year-and-a-half that saw Dyke — with plenty of help from the Alabama communities of Auburn and Opelika — create a team that would compete in a world championship event four months after inception.

Dyke played for the USA Handball national team from 2013–2020. During that time he also attended Auburn University as a graduate student, working as a strength coach and helping with the wheelchair basketball program. After finishing his PhD and becoming a professor at Auburn, Dyke continued his work with adaptive sports.

That’s where the phone call comes into play.

“My former teammate asked if I was familiar with wheelchair handball, and I told him I had no idea what he was talking about,” Dyke said. “He said, ‘you’re the only person we can think of in the country that has wheelchair specific experience as well as handball specific experience, and we want to merge those two worlds together and appoint you as the head coach.’”

Anybody who speaks for more than a few minutes with Dyke will realize that his competitiveness runs high. So yes, he accepted the challenge.

Assembling on the Fly

Wheelchair handball is co-ed sport that features an active roster of 10 players, with at least two of the players required to be women, and with one woman on the court at all times.

On May 16, 2024, Team USA received a wild card to compete in the third International Handball Federation Wheelchair Handball World Championship in Cairo.

“From May until September it was 14 hours a day, every day, building the program from A to Z,” Dyke said. “From not just athletes and staff, but partners, sponsors, support, getting the community involved, getting the right equipment and training facilities, all of the right resources necessary. But we weren’t just trying to get a team off the ground, we wanted to ensure we become the gold standard in the sport, pun intended.”

The task of identifying some of the top wheelchair athletes in the country, flying them to Auburn for tryouts, selecting a team and preparing for a world championship event in four months sounds impossible. But the community jumped into action, led by Anthony Terling, sports development director at Auburn–Opelika Tourism.

“We’ve got a laundry list of community members and officials that are behind us,” Dyke said. “We’re supported by Auburn–Opelika Tourism, and Anthony Terling has been incredible. His CEO Robyn Bridges is amazing. Karen Gilmore helps set us up with accommodations in town and makes sure our athletes are fed properly. Travis Harrison is doing PR stuff and shouting us out on the radio. Awbrey Mitchell is working behind the scenes on logistics for training sites. The City of Auburn Parks and Recs — Alison Hall and Sarah Cook — have been huge as well.”

Terling is passionate about helping those in need. He and his wife Lindsey are the creators of the Austin 1st Foundation, a nonprofit that raises awareness and research dollars for rare diseases. When Dyke called him to ask for help getting the team off the ground, Terling got to work.

“We made sure they were connected to the elected officials, the leaders in our community, the stakeholders — whether it’s Auburn Parks and Recreation making sure that we found the best venue that fit their needs from a training standpoint, down to what hotel or lodging accommodation would best fit the needs of athletes that have disabilities to make their experience great,” Terling said.

“We know these things are not easy to fund, but we told Ford we want to be your resource for that. And then let’s open up some doors and some conversations for him and really showcase this monumental opportunity to support amazing athletes, coaches, trainers — all the people involved with USA Wheelchair Handball.”

The saying “it takes a village” applies to the USA Wheelchair Handball movement in this Alabama community. Dyke is fortunate to have two Olympians as assistant coaches — Reita Clanton, a 1984 Olympian and 1996 Olympic coach in team handball and Lisa Eagen, a 1996 Olympian who was coached by Clanton.

The team also has goalkeeper coaches, physiotherapists, a technical director, athletic trainer and strength coaches.

“I’ve even got friends and family throwing in some help,” Dyke said. “We’re fully self-funded. I work as a volunteer and my entire staff works as volunteers. Is that sustainable? Definitely not. But that’s what it takes to start something meaningful.”

Silver Linings in Cairo

Once Dyke and his coaches narrowed the roster down to 14 and trained for months in Auburn, it was off to Cairo last September.

Team USA wasn’t expected to do much ahead of the tournament. That they were able to field a team in time for the event was a massive success in itself. However, Dyke’s competitiveness was on full display when the team arrived in Egypt.

“We show up in Egypt and as a wild card you’re perceived as the participant … just sit over there in the corner. Thanks for coming, let the rest of these teams do their job,” Dyke said. “So in the first interview in Egypt, I was asked by an IHF media official, ‘What are your plans for this tournament? What do you hope to get out of this tournament?’ And I said something like, ‘A lot of you think we came here to participate. You’re wrong. We’re going to play in the final match.’ And I saw the eyebrows of that individual raise up in pure shock.”

The makeshift squad — donning the Auburn–Opelika Tourism logo on its jerseys — stunned defending world champion Brazil in a sudden-death shootout in the semifinals to clinch a spot in the gold medal game against host Egypt.

Operation Gold — the name Dyke has given the team — was put on hold when the U.S. side fell to Egypt. But they had made a big statement to the rest of the world.

“In hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t win the gold,” Dyke said. “I think if we won gold, all the athletes would’ve said, ‘What else is there to do right now?’ There’s a carrot hanging in front of them and that’s what keeps a lot of athletes motivated.”

Raising Awareness (And Dollars)

Dyke has made his intentions clear with everybody in the wheelchair handball program — Operation Gold is the standard. That journey starts with an upcoming tournament in Europe, then attention turns back to world championships.

Team USA will head to the “Euro Hand 4 All” tournament June 19–22 in Lyon, France, against France, Hungary, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. Terling has organized a proper sendoff as Auburn–Opelika Tourism will host a Red, White and Blue exhibition match on June 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Lake Wilmore Recreation Center for the community to attend.

“Our state overall is a rich sports state from a history standpoint. There are a lot of Olympians that come out of Alabama,” Terling said. “We have people from the community coming out to watch any sport we host, whether it’s swim and dive, mountain biking, kickball. No matter what sport, our community will rally around it and support it. So what we can do very well as a destination marketing organization is get the word out.”

While Terling and his staff work to get the word out locally, Dyke encourages anybody who wants to support the program to go to the USA Wheelchair Handball website and reach out to him.

“Don’t be shy. I’ll take any call. I’m willing to talk to any business, any professional, anybody interested,” Dyke said. “We’re always open to opportunities to connect with anybody who can help provide resources, flights, room and board for our athletes. Anything is helpful at this stage of the game.”

After France, the team will continue preparations for the 2026 World Championships, but they also have an eye on future Paralympic competition. At the moment, wheelchair handball is not on the Paralympic program for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. But LA28 will feature a demonstration, or “showcase/test” event, that a sport must go through to be considered for inclusion into the full docket.

If that demonstration goes well, wheelchair handball could be on the Brisbane 2032 program.

“We are in conversation and in working groups with the International Handball Federation for the demonstration at LA28,” Dyke said. “So we’re continuing to make sure that what we’re doing is top-notch because everyone’s looking at us.”

As Dyke continues to juggle his full-time job as a professor with coach of the team, he knows what this opportunity means.

“I think they’ve already answered it just based on their actions, and seeing the level of growth from last year’s first tryout to this year,” Dyke said of his players. “We’re not in this for any sort of money or glory. We’re in this because I want to lower barriers. I want to open doors, and I want to set the tone to create a pathway for athletes to compete in a new Paralympic sport.”

There were signs early on that I might be destined to become publisher of SportsTravel. One of those signs was that I always had a thing for sports events, even if they were ones I organized in my room.

While I didn’t play golf growing up, I at least played mini golf. And somewhere along the line, our family had acquired a golf putter, which was the only club we had in the house. As a kid of about 10 years old, I would use that putter to create “golf tournaments” in the upper floor of my childhood home, carving out a course with that putter, a golf ball and a Dixie cup as the hole. And to make it seem real, I would assign each stroke to a player on the real PGA Tour, keeping a spreadsheet of everyone’s score as I went along the course to see who won. It was nerdy sports stuff but I enjoyed thinking that Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Fred Couples or Bernhard Langer were playing my home course, including the signature Hole No. 5 from down the hallway, to the door of my bedroom to the tricky hole placement between my bed and dresser, a tough par-2.

Those childhood tournaments were in the back of my mind as I recently had the chance to spend the opening round at the USGA’s U.S. Senior Open at the historic Broadmoor hotel and resort in Colorado Springs. It was the venerable venue’s third time hosting the championship, which is open to golfers age 50 and above. And what a treat to see the actual Bernhard Langer — winner of two Masters, as well as a few of my childhood tournaments — tee off and putt in real life at age 67.

It’s that nostalgia that feeds the Senior Open, the chance to see former favorites still at it and on the course. But the event — particularly in Colorado Springs — has proven more than a step back in time. It’s a step up in economic impact, a great case study on a destination leaning into big moments to make the case for the economy of major sports events and a larger sports culture.

Steeped in History

The Broadmoor is no stranger to big events. In its 107-year history, the resort at the base of the Rocky Mountains has hosted nine USGA championships, including the 1959 U.S. Amateur where a 19-year-old Nicklaus won his first tournament (and years before his other crowning glory winning one of my childhood hallway championships …). The Broadmoor was also the site where LPGA Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam won the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, her first LPGA victory.

But the U.S. Senior Open is also no stranger, having come to the mountainside resort in 2008 and 2018. In addition to the 2025 event, the USGA has announced it plans to return in 2031 and in 2037. That place in the rotation means a lot to the resort as Jack Damioli, the Broadmoor’s president and chief executive officer, told me during a chat in his office as the event teed off.

“Being in the rotation every six years is something that we would love to be able to continue and it’s just part of the golf history, the history of the Broadmoor and what makes the Broadmoor kind of special,” he said.

Hosting the event is no small feat for Damioli’s staff of more than 2,000 employees whose hospitality has become legendary in the travel industry. Combined with more than 1,700 volunteers on site for the events, the logistics of getting those people around was substantial.

“This takes a lot of coordination, a lot of behind-the-scenes efforts,” he said. “Three years ago, we started planning, selling sponsorships, getting the administrative pieces together with security and all those type of orchestrations that have to happen. That includes shuttling services, where volunteers park, where patrons park, how do we interface with a resort that has 784 guest rooms and all those type of things.”

Despite those logistics, the effort is worth it, even if the bottom-line impact is in the long term.

“Financially, this is kind of a break even for us,” Damioli said. “We may make a small profit, but this is not a windfall by any means. But it is something from a marketing perspective that’s priceless. If you think about 20 hours on television, Thursday and Friday on Golf Channel, and then 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. over the weekend on NBC — you can’t afford to buy that. As an independent hotel and resort, you can’t afford to buy that kind of TV time.”

While Damioli likes being in the rotation for the event, the USGA also likes returning for the built-in advantages the resort provides. As Julia Pine, the USGA’s director of championship communications and content, explained to me, while the USGA maintains “anchor sites” for the rotation of the regular U.S. Open, other championships like the Senior Open typically don’t work the same way.

“We don’t use that term officially for the Senior Open, but this is as close as we get,” she said of the Broadmoor. “Internally we will say the Broadmoor has turned into a bit of an anchor site for the Senior Open and we have this commitment to come back every five, six years.”

Driving that commitment are some efficiencies that a resort destination provides, including infrastructure the USGA doesn’t have to build anew as it would at other courses. Facilities are there to help with housing, food and beverage, even viewing areas.

“When we go to some typical country clubs or golf courses, we basically have to build a small city,” Pine said. “But at the Broadmoor, we’re able to utilize so many of their hardscape facilities that there are some cost savings from a build perspective for us, so that’s another benefit to being somewhere that has the sort of infrastructure that the Broadmoor has.”

And it doesn’t hurt that the venue has stunning views tucked alongside a mountain and provides a place that players and their families want to visit. Fans clearly want to visit, too. Of the 12,000 fans per day that came during the ticketed Wednesday through Sunday, less than half — 46 percent — came from Colorado Springs. Another 32 percent came from the Denver market with the remainder from outside of the region.

Overall, the tournament was expected to generate an estimated $24 million in economic impact.

An Event with Record Impact

Those numbers are music to the ears of the city’s hospitality community.

As players teed off on the opening Thursday, I got some time in the Broadmoor’s west lobby with Doug Price, the president and chief executive officer of Visit Colorado Springs. And one of the first facts he shared with me explains why a city wants this kind of business from sports: In 2018, the last time the U.S. Senior Open was in town, the week resulted in the largest sales tax generation the city of Colorado Springs has ever experienced for any event, sports or otherwise.

“Not only was the hotel occupancy up, but for a city that depends on sales tax, the amount of food and beverage and gasoline and all the things that get purchased that week, you couldn’t replace it,” he said. “For a city that’s not a tier one city — we’re not Denver who gets all these sporting events — for us, we see the spike in a big, big way. And then you factor in NBC and the Golf Channel and Peacock with 20 hours of live coverage, it just puts us in a different league for a week.”

Or put another way: “This is brand enhancement on steroids for us,” he said. “It’s terrific.”

In addition to the CVB, Colorado Springs has an active sports commission that was also involved in efforts during the week. Over breakfast in the Broadmoor’s main dining room — where the city’s power brokers have dined for generations — Davis Tutt, the senior director of sports tourism and Olympic engagement for the Colorado Springs Sports Corp, emphasized many of the same points.

“The USGA is an international brand and they are pushing out the Broadmoor to markets around the world,” he noted, “showing the landscape that’s here and the property that is the Broadmoor. They show our city very well.”

The announced return in upcoming years was also indicative of the trust the USGA has in the city’s approach to sports, he said.

“Obviously with it coming back in ’31 and ’37, the USGA recognized that ticket sales are good and solid,” Tutt said. “It’s a show that they want to keep bringing this back and putting it on.”

And with NBC being the broadcasters of the event as well as the broadcaster for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the United States, the chance was there as well to do some promotion for the upcoming 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games from the city that serves as headquarters of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Promoting Around a Brand

While Colorado Springs has its traditional hospitality community to support big events such as the U.S. Senior Open, other efforts at economic development are at play in town as well, drafting off the success and impact that sports event like these have.

Colorado Springs has been investing in sports for years. Its original founder, William Jackson Palmer, even put an emphasis on health and well-being when the city was launched in 1871. In more recent times, Colorado Springs made the game-changing play in 1978 to attract the U.S. Olympic Committee to move its headquarters there. That move has produced an entire economy for the Olympic and Paralympic movement, which has more than 25 national governing bodies located in town.

But “Olympic City USA” as they call themselves has been expanding in recent years beyond that podium pedigree. The 3,400-seat Ed Robson Arena opened in 2021 at Colorado College, as did the 8,000-seat Weidner Field, a soccer stadium south of downtown that is home to the USL Switchbacks. Plans are in the works for a potential new indoor/outdoor youth sports complex.

With all that economy at play, the city also has a new effort to unite business forces to draft off the success of events such as the U.S. Senior Open, as well as those new venues. Source Colorado Springs is a new effort from the city’s chamber of commerce to unite different forces in the city for purposes of economic development, based on a similar program that has proven successful in Cincinnati to elevate its national profile.

Over lunch at the Broadmoor’s Golden Bee (where waitresses fling bee-shaped stickers at patrons who wear them proudly during their meal and the rest of the day), Jayne Mhono Dickey, the group’s executive director, explained what’s happening. While “Olympic City USA” is one brand the city promotes, it also wants to position itself as friendly for the outdoors, as a place for business, as a destination that supports technology and more.

“We established Source Colorado Springs to help tell the Colorado Springs story nationally,” she said. “The program is structured in a way that collaborates with all organizations that are locally based be it Visit Colorado Springs, the Colorado Springs Sports Corp, the arts industry, key primary employers like aerospace and investment, manufacturing, cyber security — we’re trying to work as a link to all these entities. We want to harmonize all these brands, find a common brand that truly represents us as a region, so we can be able to sell ourselves nationally and globally. And the Senior Open is one of those elements.”

That kind of coordination and partnership may pay other dividends locally as well.

From his office in the Broadmoor, Damioli said groups such as the USGA take note when they see the local community support a bid and the execution of a sports event.

“As we think about what goes into a decision to return or to book a location, the city government, the state government is very important,” he said. “So, support from the Colorado Tourism Office, support from El Paso County, support from the city of Colorado Springs is very important and the USGA looks at that, and they want to make sure that they’re welcome into the city that they’re going into and that everybody’s aligned with the vision that this is something that’s going to be good for the community.”

The Master Plan

All of which brings us back to the golf.

When all was said and done, Irishman Padraig Harrington took home this year’s U.S. Senior Open crown, securing the win on the final hole on the final day over Stewart Cink. Asked at the end what he thought of the experience, Harrington put an exclamation point on what local leaders were hoping would be the case.

“I just really enjoyed the experience here at The Broadmoor,” said Harrington. “Right from the start, you’d be surprised … sometimes we stay in very average places because it’s near the [event]. Here we’re staying in a beautiful hotel. It just settles you down for the week. Everything about it, being on site, which made it very easy, it just was a very nice, comfortable week.

“Look, I’m here working this week. I think there’s nobody that wouldn’t come here on a holiday.”

For leaders like Price, that kind of sentiment put a cap on the reason sports events and sports tourism are so important to destinations like Colorado Springs.

“I just have to remind myself that when General Palmer founded this city, it was it was on health and wellness,” he said. “It was for people with tuberculosis to come here for the sunshine and to get healthy. So, before there was a term called medical tourism, General Palmer already knew that this would be a place that people would come to enjoy themselves and to get healthy. And so the way it’s worked out, you know, 154 years later, it’s kind of remarkable how the master planning for this city continues.”

For sports fans like me, the opportunity to see our childhood heroes was an added bonus as well. Seeing the impact an event like the U.S. Senior Open has on a city like Colorado Springs was as satisfying as sinking that par-2 putt in my hallway years ago.

And seeing the actual Bernhard Langer play in person? Even better.

Jason Gewirtz is vice president and managing director of the Northstar Meetings Group Sports Division and the publisher of SportsTravel. 

Las Vegas has many reputations. It’s known as the entertainment capital of the world, a gambling mecca and in recent years, a sports hub that’s seen several professional teams come to town and hosted events such as the Super Bowl and Formula 1.

However, Vegas veterans will tell you that before anything else, Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV Runnin’ Rebels teams of the 1980s and 1990s ignited a passion for basketball in the desert. The Rebs were the hottest ticket in town for many years, as they went to multiple Final Fours and won a national championship in 1990, crushing Duke by 30 points in the title game.

The Rebels still draw decent crowds these days but without an NBA team in the city, there was a basketball void that needed to be filled. Enter the Las Vegas Aces.

“I think Vegas is a basketball town and has been for a long time,” said Steve Hill, chief executive officer and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority. “The Aces crowds today are probably the families of those people who went to those UNLV games in the ’90s. They just love basketball.”

When the WNBA franchise moved to Las Vegas from Dallas after the 2017 season, it marked the first professional basketball in the city’s history. And since 2017, the team has made quite a bit of history.

The Aces won back-to-back WNBA championships in 2022–2023, have revolutionized what a WNBA team facility should look like and have packed Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay with loud crowds consistently.

Aces Set the Standard

SportsTravel got the chance to be a part of a Las Vegas experience centered around the Aces and the impact the team has on the community. The event included a tour of the Aces’ headquarters located next to the NFL Raiders’ home in Henderson, Nevada, and a VIP experience for the Aces’ 2025 home opener against the Washington Mystics on May 23.

“We are a city that supports excellence and we feel our presence has been able to bring visibility to women’s sports, while also helping drive economic activity within our community,” said Las Vegas Aces President Nikki Fargas. “Las Vegas isn’t just where we play, this is our home. And how this community has shown up game after game, parade after parade, means everything to us and it fuels our players.”

With the first pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, the Aces selected A’ja Wilson from South Carolina. Wilson has been the best player in the league since that moment, amassing three MVP awards and leading the team to an overall win percentage of nearly 70 percent since it moved to Las Vegas.

After winning Las Vegas’ first professional sports championship in 2022, the Aces moved into their new $40 million facility before the 2023 season — the first complex built solely for the use of a WNBA team.

The 60,000-square-foot venue houses the Aces’ practice facility — complete with two courts that can be separated — offices, training room, weight room, hydrotherapy space, physical therapy area, locker rooms, a lecture hall, player and alumni lounges and an on-site daycare center.

The facility set the standard for a WNBA home. Since its opening in April 2023, several other teams have copied the blueprint.

“Obviously we want this across the board in the WNBA,” Fargas said of the facilities. “We want these players to have a place that they can call home. I’m proud of the work that we’ve been able to do with our team, with our business ops team in maximizing that space, but also knowing that we don’t ever displace our players. We’ll have tours come through and we’ll host community events there. We hold camps and clinics there. So not only is that facility for the players, it’s also for our community.”

And the community shows up for the Aces. The opening night game had a sellout crowd of 10,509, which stayed with the team the entire way, even though the first three quarters were a bit rough. The Aces trailed by nine points with four minutes left, but boosted by the large crowd, they rallied with a 16–4 run to close to game and beat the Washington Mystics, including a Jewell Loyd 3-pointer in the final seconds that sent Michelob Ultra Arena into a frenzy.

“It’s great to see what we’ve been able to build in such a short period of time, having back-to-back season ticket member sellouts — that’s so exciting,” Fargas said. “But also to hear how loud the arena gets. I’ve had so many people talk about not just the game itself, but all of the activations that we have around the game and how interactive it is with our fans. People really enjoy coming to the games to see not just the action on the basketball court, but what other cool things we’re doing to make that game day experience for the fans special.”

LVCVA Continues to Raise the Bar

You’d be hard pressed to find a CVB anywhere that supports its local teams as diligently as LVCVA does with the Aces, Golden Knights and Raiders.

Before the 2024 season, LVCVA found a creative way to market its destination in a partnership with each individual Aces player on the roster. The premise is simple — LVCVA pays each Aces player $100,000 per season to essentially be social media influencers for the city. Players attend concerts, shows, nightclubs, etc., sharing their experiences with their millions of followers.

The idea, implemented a year ago, gave LVCVA more exposure and eyeballs on the city’s top tourist attractions, while the players benefitted from the monetary sum.

“We did it because we thought it was a smart and efficient marketing opportunity for us,” Hill said. “All of the players have a following. A’ja has a following that most athletes would envy. But everybody on the team was a star in college, was a star in high school and has a hometown fan base. We get them out in the community to experience everything that Las Vegas has to offer and then talk about it.

“We use influencers on a very regular basis and they’re basically influencers, and it’s worked out really well for us. I think it’s worked out really well for them, too. We’re thrilled with the partnership and I think it’s worked well for Las Vegas.”

The win-win situation for LVCVA and Aces players drew attention from the WNBA, as the league announced an investigation as to whether the sponsorship dollars circumvented the salary cap. That investigation is a year old now, with no new updates and no conclusion.

Hill and others were questioned by WNBA investigators in 2024 and LVCVA has gone forward with year two of the sponsorship in 2025.

“We’ve not heard anything,” Hill said. “We’ve made a two-year commitment and we think it’s a great deal for us and a great opportunity for the players. So yeah, we’re just moving forward.”

On the court and in the community, the Aces’ relationship with the city has never been stronger. When the team arrived in 2018, the crowds weren’t as large. However, led by Wilson, Caitlin Clark and others, the women’s basketball explosion has led to big crowds across the WNBA. That also means more economic impact for CVBs.

“It’s just generally beneficial to the community from a tourism and economic standpoint,” Hill said of the Aces. “But the energy around the Aces and their integration into the community is important to locals here. It’s now a part of our culture, part of the sports scene and a part of our brand.”

F1 the Newest Addition to Vegas’ Infrastructure

In the past decade, Las Vegas has added two of the top arenas and stadiums in the world (more on those below) but the city has truly gone international with the annual Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix each November.

As the Las Vegas Grand Prix heads into its third year, the completion of the Grand Prix Plaza is bringing the world’s premier race circuit to life year-round in Vegas.

The F1 Experience is something that everybody will enjoy, whether they’re race fans or not. The F1 Drive provides a high-level go-kart activation for visitors, who then can go upstairs and get an immersive F1 experience, including learning the history of the sport, how the tires and pit crews work, the media/control center, creating your own team and car, and more. The F1 simulators provide a taste of what the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit feels like to drive.

The Grand Prix Plaza is a signal of commitment between F1 and LVCVA and although their contract is up after 2025, all indicators point to their partnership going far into the future.

“We’re thrilled with Grand Prix Plaza and it’s a really fun offering for visitors,” Hill said. “Going karting is a fun thing to do, period. And to wrap it around Formula 1 elevates it. But it’s also something that I think helps fan development, and in the U.S. — and particularly around Las Vegas — we want to do that. The fan experience is a real opportunity to make that happen.”

One year before the Aces arrived in Las Vegas, the city welcomed its first professional sports team with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. To lure an NHL expansion team to the desert, the city built T-Mobile Arena, one of the nicest arenas you’ll find anywhere in the country.

In addition to the 2023 Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights, the arena hosts basketball games, boxing, UFC, concerts and more. The arena contributes an estimated $125 million per year in economic impact to the city.

It has all the top hospitality spots, including 46 suites and two “party suites” that can each host 120 people. The Hyde Lounge in the upper portion of the arena offers standing room only areas in a nightclub setting. The Bud Light Lounge and Ghost Lounge located in the two center sections of the arena bowl provide premium hospitality and the best views in the venue.

Speaking of building venues to lure professional sports teams, the city did it again in 2020 when it opened Allegiant Stadium. The 65,000-seat venue helped relocate the Raiders from Oakland to Las Vegas, but it also has hosted the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, college football, massive concerts and WrestleMania in 2025 (and potentially 2026). It will also be the site for the 2027 College Football Playoff Championship and the 2028 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

“The building of Allegiant Stadium was transformative for the state,” Hill said. “We wouldn’t have gotten Formula 1 if we hadn’t built Allegiant Stadium, because we didn’t have a venue where we could host the biggest events in the world. And now, with that stadium, we host events every few weeks and the world sees that we have this big capacity to do it over and over again.”

The Allegiant Stadium tour included a peek inside Raiders owner Mark Davis’ suite, a walk through the Raiders’ locker room — complete with a Charles Woodson hologram — and a chance to walk on the field for pictures. Standing at the 50-yard line, it’s easy to see why the venue is a favorite among sports fans, with its amazing natural light, giant Olympic-style torch in the end zone and views of the Vegas skyline looking out the northeast side of the stadium.

A trip to Las Vegas wouldn’t be complete without some top-shelf food and entertainment. LVCVA treated our group to some of the best dining in the city, including Mother Wolf, Gordon Ramsay Burger, Bourbon Steak at Four Seasons, Primrose at Park MGM and The Kitchen at Commons Club at the Virgin Hotel.

Virgin has emerged as a big-time player in the Las Vegas hospitality scene when it comes to sports, as the resort hosts NFL teams and is the headquarters for the NBA Summer League each July. Virgin also sponsors the Las Vegas Bowl, Formula 1 and the National Finals Rodeo.

For entertainment, some of the VIP experiences include Cirque du Soleil’s Mad Apple, a spin on the High Roller observation wheel, a trip to Atomic Golf, ziplining and live music at Caspians, the speakeasy inside Caesar’s Palace.

The old marketing slogan was, “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.” But what’s happening in modern day Vegas is an influx of new venues, teams and training facilities in the sports world that have added a new element to a city that continues to entertain at all levels.