Guest post written by Cameron Connelly, Content Marketing Intern, The Sports Facilities Companies.
A sports facility without events is just a public basketball court with a fancy roof. A big reason that so many cities and communities go through all the effort required to build a nice sports facility (aside from the amazing health benefits for a community) is the economic impact that the facility provides to the surrounding area. Much of that economic impact comes from the increased spending brought on by people visiting the area from out of town. But if your facility isn’t hosting events that people from out of town can attend then the only economic impact will be from the money spent to build the facility itself. This is why it is so important to seek out event owners to bring to your facility and to build relationships with them so that they will come back every year. Here are a few ways for you to build those relationships and bring more people to your facility.
Reach Out, Build a Relationship
There are hundred of youth sports facilities spread across the country that event owners can chose from to host their event. Having a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility doesn’t mean that event owners will know you or contact you to host their event. It is important that you reach out to them or network with them at events in order to get that relationship started. The best way to meet event owners would be attending conferences that event owners go to such as TEAMS or Sports ETA. First impressions are important, but event owners meet with a lot of people during a conference so it is vital for you to follow up with them after the conference to keep your name fresh in their heads.
Highlight the Benefits You Provide
Hosting an event is a collaborative effort that can be easy or difficult depending on how the teams interact with each other. Since it can be difficult to prove that your team works well with others it is usually more effective to show prospective event owners some data to exhibit your success with hosting other events. For this reason, it is important to track the attendance numbers, revenue, and other important data from previous events so that you can provide that information to prospective event partners. If your data builds enough credibility then it is time to start the process of building and maintaining the relationship. Additionally, it is crucial that you show off aspects of your facility that go beyond the data and the physical structure such as the team that runs it and the community around it. What can you provide that no other venue can?
Keep in Contact
Much like any relationship, just because you have gained their trust doesn’t mean you can afford to be complacent. Once you have gained their trust, it is time to prove to them how great you are at hosting events, how easy it is to work with you, and your work ethic and level of preparation. There are other sports facilities that want to partner with the event owner that you just won over, so you need to continue to prove to that owner that your partnership is beneficial to their event. Once their event has been held and all of the athletes have gone home, make sure to keep the event owner updated about any new articles that may have been written for the event and thank them for their partnership and support. Hopefully the success of the event and the relationship that you have formed with them will keep them coming back to you to host their event every year after.
The team working a facility has a huge impact on the success of a facility and the events that it hosts. If you are having trouble putting a good team together or if you are worried about assembling a team for a future facility, we can help. Here at the Sports Facilities Companies, we have a group of experts ready to help at any stage of a sports facility’s process from planning to development to management. If you require our assistance, feel free to contact us or give us a call at (727) 474-3845.