As I mentioned in my previous article, my time studying Sport Management led me to my current position with Elite Sports Tours. This is a company that has been pioneering and capitalizing on the growth of sport travel for over the past 12 years.
Aspiring sport pros, we need to talk about sport travel. Seriously! There may be a future in it for you.
Definition of Sport Travel
Sport travel is a general term to describe people or groups that drive or fly to another city to support their favourite sport team. For instance, if someone is planning a trip to Boston, they may schedule the timing when the Blue Jays are in town.
READ MORE: Road Team Fans Traveling More
The term is general, but there are layers and levels to sport travel. One could go to a visiting city specifically to root for their home team. On the other hand, they could go to a destination and realize that their favourite team is playing. So they buy tickets to the game.
What’s more to consider is who is traveling and who they are traveling with. Is it a family trip? Perhaps it’s a trip with random, like-minded fans. Or maybe it’s a couple’s getaway.
Advice to Aspiring Sport Pros
In my opinion, more Sport Management students should look at sport travel more seriously as a potential field to build a career in.
Sport travel is big business. In the global tourism industry, sport is the fastest growing sector. In fact, sport-related travel brings in as much as $800 billion USD annually around the globe, with youth sports bringing in over $7 billion USD alone.
The world is connected more today than ever! And with this globalization, travel and communication are becoming much easier. Thus, fans can connect easier with their teams in other cities or even countries.
How uncommon is it now to find a Golden State Warriors fan living in another country? Not at all folks.
Better yet, how common is it to see signs at sporting events showing how far fans have traveled to see their team play? VERY!
Having a deep connection to your team is nothing new, but the ease at which you can now travel to see them play is fairly new.
Where I work, we use stats. One glaring stat: 2/5 of Americans are considered sports travelers. This means that they have traveled for sport whether it be to watch their own favourite team play or to participate in their own sporting event. Our analytics tell us that number will grow in the coming years. Since Canada is neighbor to the United States, we have to image these numbers will seep their way in.
The Verdict
With sports, as a whole, spanning the entire year, there is no off-season for this industry and sports travel services are always in high demand.
With the continued growth in travel and communications globally, what is going to stop more fans from traveling to see their favourite teams play? What is going stop youth teams from traveling to play in more tournaments?
Perhaps most importantly, what is going to stop you from becoming a part of this industry and being able to capitalize on this growth!