| | | Rising Costs, More Travel Have Some Parents Reconsidering Youth Sports Back in 2019, SDM covered the issue of parents taking out loans, acquiring second jobs and going into debt in order to finance their children's sports. One pandemic and a reset of the economy later, a survey shows that while parents still want to keep their children in sports, many are considering pulling them out due to steeply rising costs. ....read more | |
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In other news and commentary... | | Economic Forecast is Looking Up as Dark Sky Tourism Rises | When, this past fall, the Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, became visible to destinations that had never even heard of it before, it made headlines. Accordingly, people raced to places that had less ambient light and, cell phones, in hand, tried to capture the moment. Dark Sky Tourism just keeps growing. Here is the latest. ....read more |
| Tired of Airline Fees, ‘Seat Squatters' Take Placement Into Their Own Hands | While it doesn't come close to scammers who set up fake airport Wi-Fi networks to capture and sell the personal information of travelers, it's pretty irritating. Seat squatters, defined as airline passengers who intentionally plunk themselves down in (better) seats assigned to others, then refuse to move, are raising hackles in the travel industry. ....read more |
| | | New Women's Professional Baseball League to Launch in 2026 | When Michael Che of Saturday Night Live's “Weekend Update” made a joke about the Women's Pro Baseball League set to debut in 2026, it might have been news to many viewers. But league officials are taking the WPBL quite seriously. The truth is, says the National Baseball Hall of Fame, women have been playing baseball almost as long as men have. ....read more |
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Inside Events | | Senior Softball-USA Senior Softball-USA, the world's largest organization of senior softball players, was founded in 1988. Since then, the organization has grown by an average of 500 players a quarter. Today, Senior Softball-USA players are on 1,500 teams in every state and in Canada. Player ages are 40+ for men and women. Learn more about this organization right here. ....read more | |
Instagram Photo of the Week | The USA's Nate Hodges claimed his first STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Individual World Championship in front of more than 5,000 fans after a dramatic Hot Saw finale in the South of France | Instagram | X | Facebook | YouTube Send us your photos! Send them directly to us or use #sportsdestinations in your posts. Select photos will be presented on sportsdestinations.com, SDM Blitz and in the latest issues of Sports Destination Management magazine. Use #sportsdestinations via X or Instagram | |
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| January/February 2025 And just like that, 2024 winds up and 2025 begins. And wow, what a year this is shaping up to be. In fact, this just might be one of the hottest years for international sports in the USA, with the Winter X Games this month in Aspen, Colorado, the World Police and Fire Games this summer in Birmingham, Alabama and of course, a whole lot more, all designed to draw eyeballs to destinations. Whether you're new to this industry (and if you are, welcome!) or whether you've been here for years, this issue can help you make the most of the new year. ....read more | Read the entire issue | View the digital version | Issue archive |
Last word... | "If my uniform doesn't get dirty, I haven't done anything in the baseball game." ~ Rickey Henderson, Hall of Fame baseball player who was widely considered the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time. Henderson died just before the close of the year. |
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