Got Sports? Regional Tourism Office Attends TEAMS Marketplace in New Orleans This Week
Green Bay, Wis.
November 6, 2003

GREEN BAY, Wis. (Nov. 6, 2003) – Got Sports? The Packer Country Regional Tourism Organization (RTO) does. Tourism officials have kicked off a new initiative aimed at attracting more sporting tournaments and events to the Green Bay area. The Got Sports? campaign is a cooperative effort among several Wisconsin Convention and Visitor Bureaus, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism and the Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation.

“Obviously sports activities are a way of life in Green Bay, and we are world-renown for the Packers. The legendary Packers and the special relationship that binds the community to its beloved team would inspire any athlete in any sport. There are literally thousands of athletic events that Green Bay could host, and we want to tell them our story. We feel confident they’ll be drawn to the city’s beauty, its friendly fans and its competitive spirit,” said Kari Sliva, President of the Packer Country RTO.

The Packer Country RTO has created a sports brochure featuring the Green Bay area as a national sports destination. The colorful, action packed brochure has been mailed to hundreds of regional and national sports event planners. It touts past successful events such as the WIAA Girls State Volleyball Tournament, the USHL All-Star Game, the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, and the RCL Walleye Tournament. For the first time, Green Bay will also host Division I NCAA Men’s Hockey regional playoffs in 2006.

In April, the RTO attended the National Association of Sports Commissions annual conference and marketplace. The conference schools industry professionals and volunteers on best practices, and serves as a resource for “Who’s Who in the Sports Event Industry.” The conference also explained the bidding process for all types of sporting events.

The RTO will be attending Travel, Events and Management in Sports 2003 (TEAMS) in New Orleans Nov. 5-8, meeting with sports event organizers and event rights holders. Packer Country joins other Wisconsin cities in promoting the Got Sports? campaign at TEAMS 2003. Partially funded by a $25,000 allocation from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, the campaign brings together several Wisconsin sports destinations and the WSDC. The promotion includes action-packed banners, Got Sports? pennants, and a web site featuring sports venues across the state.

For the past four months, the RTO has been uploading a wide variety of sporting facilities in the Packer Country region to www.sportsinwisconsin.com. The site has reciprocal links to the Packer Country RTO official tourism site www.packercountry.com.

Detailed specifications, or “specs” have been entered for about 45 sites including arenas, softball diamonds, basketball courts, soccer fields, ice centers, and others. Anyone planning a sports event or tournament can do some comparison shopping on the site to see which city or facility best suits their needs.

“This inventory is a big step towards attracting more events to Packer Country. Sports event planners know exactly how many courts or fields they need, usually down to the square inch. This system allows them to one-stop-shop for every venue in Wisconsin.” Sliva said. “This is a tremendous partnership among several organizations. The quality of sports venues in Wisconsin is far superior to many states, and we should be shouting it from the rooftops. We want to let sports event rights holders to know we are open for sports business in Wisconsin, especially in the Green Bay region.”