Sports events are big business for destinations, from competitions such as youth baseball and cheerleading all the way up to the plum event of them all, the Super Bowl.
The U.S. professional sports market is projected to rake in nearly $16.5 billion in 2024, with a projected market volume of nearly $19 billion by 2028, according Statistica Market Insights.
Those types of numbers certainly attract attention, and Phoenix, a perennial favorite for amateur events and also the former host city for Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours and more, is all ears.
In order to keep up its momentum, on June 26 the Phoenix City Council unanimously approved the formation of the Phoenix Sports and Events Commission. The commission will soon appoint an executive director who will lead a team that will set targets and goals and build relationships with event organizers that run everything from professional and amateur sports to arts events, festivals and more.
[Podcast: How Phoenix Is Going Big on Sports Meetings and More!]
“We want to make sure that the commission is focused proactively on establishing the great relationships across the board, across that ecosystem of events, to get those events here that are meaningful to our communities,” said Lorne Edwards, chief sales officer for Visit Phoenix. “Whether it's Super Bowls or the Final Fours, it really came down to understanding how we need a proactive entity that goes after not only just sports, but also cultural events, music events that celebrate the richness of the community, and at the same time create an economic opportunity to elevate and create a narrative around the destination’s event hosting attributes beyond just the world of sports.”
Tech and Biosciences on the Upswing
Beyond sports, Phoenix is also enjoying a surge in technology and biosciences, with its downtown transformed into a hub for both of those industries, which are plum meetings and conventions candidates.
“The Phoenix Biosciences Core is really the hub,” Edwards said. “Research and health sciences and new innovations are being researched and tested right there, right downtown. Within that campus there's a whole slew of collaborations taking place, with the University of Arizona, ASU [Arizona State University] and NAU [Northern Arizona University], which will be starting its medical school, residing on that campus.
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“And the key to all of this is that the campus borders the Phoenix Convention Center,” Edwards added. “What that means to various [medical] societies that are seeking unique venues in a city environment that is safe and clean and walkable to over 4,000 hotel rooms, is it really lends itself well to creating a confluence of great ideas and exchanges and business activations all within downtown Phoenix. So, the Phoenix Bioscience Core has been a big windfall and continues to be with different phases of build-out yet to come.”
A Year-Round Destination
With sports, tech and biosciences leading the charge, Phoenix has risen to become a year-round destination for meetings and events. And while summer in the Valley of the Sun used to mean cut-rate room rates even at the most luxe resorts, Edwards said the city now enjoys meetings demand in all seasons.
The city even launched the groundbreaking Heat Response & Mitigation Office in 2021, headed by Arizona State University Associate Professor David Hondula. Strategies include engineering rooftops, pavements and corridors to prevent heat-trapping and the use of a water-based reflective seal to reduce the heat-island effect of asphalt and dark roofs. The result is a reduction by up to 12° F in some instances, according to Hondula in a recent article in Meetings Today.
[Related: How Phoenix Is Beating the Heat—and How Your Event Can Help]
“We're a year-round destination,” Edwards said. “There was a time when you had the hotels and resorts offering crazy low rates [in the summer]. I can tell you that that is long gone—the demand that we're seeing across the market is year-round. And not only downtown, but in our resort community. We have an enviable collection of fantastic, secure, world-class resorts that we’re also stewards of, and they're all renovating and renewing their facilities.
“Wellness, culinary, mindfulness; all of those experiences are being curated right here, with the backdrop of the Sonoran Desert,” Edwards added. “This market is operating at such a high level. It’s a place that's going to be a great, highly sought-after destination for years to come.”
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This story is sponsored by Visit Phoenix.
