By Ben Boldt
Sports marketing is getting some attention from the state department of tourism, Explore Minnesota. In a few weeks a new segment to the www.exploreminnesota.com Website will launch. It will be all about sports.
The goal of this new initiative is to present Minnesota as an amateur sports destination. It will list many of the venues from across the state in an easy-to-navigate way for any organization interested in hosting an event in Minnesota. The listings will include venue details, contact information, photos and videos. The site will integrate some of Minnesota’s most popular attractions to the page so the viewer can get a more complete idea of what Minnesota has to offer. The Rochester Amateur Sports Commission has already done the legwork of gathering venue data from our area of the state and submitting it to this project.
Along with the new presence on the Website, sports will also gain some marketing power in other areas. Minnesota cities will have an opportunity to co-op with the state in their sales and marketing efforts. The agency is also looking to have a presence at sports event conferences that the RASC already attends like the National Association of Sports Commissions Symposium and the TEAMS Conference. This will hopefully lead to more exposure and interaction with the national governing bodies and their staff members who select host cities for their events.
We have seen this type of unified state marketing for a few years at the conferences we attend. Other states have achieved this objective in a wide array of ways such as giving cities access to marketing resources and awarding monetary grants to cities that bring in new events to the state. Minnesota is planning to use some of these ideas to help cities in their pursuit of sports travel business.
The Sports Commission is excited to see how this new initiative can help us be more successful. After all, the bottom line is that when the cities of Minnesota are successful the state economy will feel the positive effects.
Upcoming events:
MN Youth Soccer Fall State Tournament: October 14-16
Exchange Club Volleyball Tournament: October 21-22
Intermat JJ Wrestling Classic: October 21-23
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