The Pacific Northwest is a winning choice for adding some team spirit to any function, from attending a game with your group or hosting an event at a sports facility.
Washington Sports Venues
The Seattle Metropolitan area is home to six professional sports teams and soon to be seven as the National Hockey League recently approved an expansion team in the city.
The National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks play at CenturyLink Field and are often thought as the top dog—err, bird—in the region. Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners, Major Soccer League’s Sounders FC and the Women’s National Basketball Association Seattle Storm team also bring the crowds when playing at home.
“A suite box at any of the professional teams’ home games are great as an off-site group event or for entertaining clients,” said Kelly Saling, vice president, convention sales and services for Visit Seattle.
T-Mobile Park home to the Seattle Mariners, also hosts functions such as meetings, tradeshows, concerts, picnics, auctions and parties. The field can accommodate 47,000 in the existing seating and 10,000 on the field for receptions. The First Base Terrace Club and Third Base Terrace Club can be used on their own or together, connected by the terrace hallway. Conference rooms, group suites, the Visitors’ Clubhouse and the Main Concourse also are available for private rental. For outdoor events, the Lookout Landing and Outside Corner offer city views.
T-Mobile Park, Seattle
Big sports news for Seattle is the KeyArena renovation project. The historic arena is closed during the $700 million renovation. Currently referred to as the Seattle Center Arena until a deal for naming rights is reached, it is expected to host the Seattle Storm, provide a home for the NBA if a team returns to Seattle, host professional hockey and increase the number of top-tier arena concerts and entertainment events in the city.
North of Seattle, the Tulalip Resort Casino is a destination itself with 370 guest rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting facilities. The resort and casino hosted the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Supreme Showdown in the beginning of 2018 and is set to showcase the event again with the MMA Supreme Showdown 4. The COGA Combat Games event will be held in the 15,000-square-foot Orca Ballroom. Groups can watch all major athletic events from across the world at the property’s The Draft bar and grill. The sports bar serves up classic American food and drink while large-screen HDTVs show the current sports games and events.
In Eastern Washington, from September through March, the Spokane Arena is often filled with hockey fans cheering on the Spokane Chiefs, a junior ice-hockey team that is part of the Western Hockey League. The rest of the year, or when the Chiefs are away, the area hosts an array of events from Monster Jam and major concerts to big- name comedians. The facility includes two meeting rooms: the 2,700-square-foot Integra Telecom Meeting Room and the 2,510-square-foot Champions Meeting Room.
For outdoor sports entertainment, there is Avista Stadium, home to the Spokane Indians, the Minor League Baseball team of the Northwest League and the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
The stadium offers several unique spaces for groups to take in a ballgame. The Clubhouse is a two-tiered, open-air skybox while the Bud Bullpen gives attendees front-row views on the first base line. The Grotto is tucked in the right field corner, the perfect spot to catch home runs.
Oregon Sports Venues
“Portland is home to our beloved Portland Trail Blazers NBA team as well as the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC MLS teams, so there are great sporty group activities seasonally,” said Cathy Kretz, national account director at Travel Portland. “Both the Moda Center, where the Trail Blazers play, and Providence Park’s soccer facilities are available for special events.
Providence Park, home of the championship-winning Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC professional soccer teams, is also a great place to host a corporate event, with options such as booking the private Keybank Club or reserving a block of seats just off the field.
The Moda Center, a convenient five-minute walk from the Oregon Convention Center, is the host of the Portland Trail Blazers, where groups can catch a basketball game in a private box, in their own private section of seating, or rent out the Daimler 3House, which offers interactive seating that keeps tabs on stats throughout the game.
Portland Trail Blazers, Moda Center
“We also have numerous other offerings, including World of Speed, a motorsport museum that can accommodate up to 800 people in its largest space,” Kretz said. “Portland’s proximity to the coast and mountains, as well as the region’s booming athletic and outdoor industry led by Nike, Adidas and Columbia Sportswear, have transformed the city into a mecca for outdoor recreation enthusiasts.”
You can’t talk about Eugene without talking about the University of Oregon and the beloved Oregon Ducks football team. The Pac-12 Conference team plays at 54,000-seat Autzen Stadium, which also has a private club room for banquets up to 500 people or theater seating for 600. The floor-to-ceiling windows offer scenic views across Eugene to Spencer Butte.
The Moshofsky Center is adjacent to the stadium and this full-scale indoor practice facility has a capacity for 6,000 people. Other sports facilities for groups on the University of Oregon’s campus include the 12,000-seat, LEED Gold-certified Matthew Knight Arena and PK Park, home to the university’s baseball team as well as the Minor League Eugene Emeralds team. The covered pavilion along the right field line can accommodate 100 for a reception or banquet in the warmer months.
In Central Oregon just north of Bend is the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond. The 320-acre event site includes the Sisters Conference Center and the First Interstate Bank Center that when combined offer a total of 200,000 square feet of indoor meeting and function space. There are also four livestock arenas, five barns, an off-road track for motor sports and 75 acres of landscaped lawns.
The facility can also host sporting events such as basketball games and tournaments, wrestling, CrossFit, boxing and MMA, gymnastics and volleyball.
Idaho Sports Venues
Boise is home to the largest meeting and event venue in Idaho, the Boise Centre, with 80,000 square feet of space. The venue recently underwent a renovation and expansion and hosts over 200 events annually including, international and national conventions, business meetings, fundraisers, banquets and tradeshows.
Downtown Boise, Idaho
The other standout venue in the city is Albertsons Stadium, with its signature blue Astro Turf, where the Boise State University football team plays. Each December the stadium, which has a total seating capacity of 36,387, also hosts the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Boise State University’s campus is also home to the Taco Bell Arena, which can seat nearly 12,400 people, has 17,500 square feet of exhibition space on the street-level and 9,600 square feet of exhibition, staging or meeting space in the gymnasium, as well as a green and dressing rooms and a VIP room. The 10,000-square-foot Arguinchona Basketball Complex is located outside the lobby of the arena and features two separate floors—one for the men’s team and one for the women’s team—and also includes theater-style film rooms, locker rooms, kitchen areas and lounges. There are also tennis, soccer and aquatic facilities on campus.
Pacific Northwest CVB Contact Information
IDAHO
Boise CVB
208.344.7777
Coeur d’Alene CVB
208.664.3194
Idaho Falls CVB
208.523.1010
Visit Pocatello
208.479.7659
Visit Sun Valley
208.726.3423
OREGON
Ashland COC
541.482.3486
Central Oregon Visitors Assn.
541.389.8799
Lincoln City VCB
541.996.1274
Travel Lane County
541.484.5307
Travel Portland
503.275.9750
Travel Salem
503.581.4325
Visit Corvallis
541.757.1544
Washington County Visitors Assn.
503.644.5555
WASHINGTON
Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism
360.671.3990
Experience Olympia & Beyond
360.704.7544
San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau
360.378.9551
Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority
206.575.2489
Snohomish County Tourism Bureau
425.348.5802
Travel Tacoma and Pierce County
253.284.3254
Visit Bellevue Washington
425.450.3777
Visit Seattle
206.461.5800
Visit Spokane
509.624.1341
Visit Tri-Cities
509.735.8486
Visit Vancouver USA
360.750.1553
Yakima Valley Tourism
509.575.3010
Click over to page 2 for a list of new and renovated in hotels and event venues in the Pacific Northwest.
PageBreakHotel and Event Venue Openings and Renovations in the Pacific Northwest
Washington
In summer 2018, the Washington State Convention Center broke ground on an additional facility, the Summit building, one-and-a-half blocks away from the current Arch building. The new facility will add 248,450 square feet of exhibit space to the convention center, including 59 meeting rooms and a 58,000-square-foot ballroom.
The Hyatt Regency Seattle opened in December 2018. The 1,256-key hotel boasts 103,000 square feet of meeting and event space across 52 venues.
The 282-room Embassy Suites Seattle Downtown–Pioneer Square opened in 2018 and has the King St. Ballroom, which can accommodate 545 people, and the Perch, a rooftop deck.
The Hotel @ The Mark is expected to open in 2019 with 189 guest rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space, including The Sanctuary. The historic space was once the First United Methodist Church, and after a restoration will be an events venue for the property.
Oregon
The Oregon Convention Center is undergoing a major renovation that will update its concourses, ballrooms and entries as well as the plaza between the under-construction Hyatt Regency Portland and the convention center’s northeast entrance. Updates being considered include surface finishes, lighting, furniture, entries and floors. Renovations are expected to be completed by October 2019. The 600-room Hyatt Regency Portland is expected to open in late 2019.
Radisson RED unveiled the Radisson RED Portland Downtown in the first eight floors of the new 19-story Broadway Tower. Throughout the 180-room hotel are curated pieces by local artists; OUIBar + KTCHN; and 4,100 square feet of function space, including a Game Room that can accommodate nearly 300 people.
In 2019, the Hilton Eugene will undergo a comprehensive renovation to convert it to Graduate Eugene, which will touch all guest rooms, common areas, the restaurant and the hotel’s 30,000 square feet of meeting and events space.
Idaho
The JUMP Park at Jack’s Urban Meeting Place is nearing completion. There are several components still under construction, but two multi-story slides, Celebration Circle, and The Climber are all open for public use. The amphitheater, Pioneer Plaza, Front Lawn, Blue Top and The Mister are currently under construction and should open within the next year.
In addition to a new restaurant, The Grove Hotel completed a renovation of the lobby and is adding a glass-enclosed lobby library room to host meetings. The hotel features 250 guest rooms and 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space overall.
