When Baltimore becomes horse country. When people are sucking down drinks euphemistically called the Black-Eyed Susan (but actually taste like cough syrup). And when everyone is eying Always Dreaming for the next Triple Crown ... it must be Preakness. Here are your watch party statistics.

Get ready for the red, white and blue-themed promotions. Memorial Day is around the corner, bringing cookouts, mattress sales and, of course, patriotic tie-ins with sports events. Smart planners have been working to harness some of that energy. Here are some examples.

Much coverage is given to sports venue safety, but a separate issue entirely could cause significant upheaval in the industry. Problems with a visa program that helps foreign nationals to fill jobs Americans don't want could mean a shortage of workers to maintain venues.

With game attendance and TV ratings starting to slide, not to mention players choosing to sit out games so as not to compromise their chances at a pro career, the challenge facing the Football Bowl Association's executive committee is "Make Bowls Great Again."

It might be the one problem that didn't surround the Rio Olympics. In the U.S., a shortage of yellow fever vaccine has the potential to interfere with international travel for sports. Planners should warn athletes and families to get immunizations while supplies last, or be prepared to change locations.

Event owners worried the crumb rubber infill in synthetic turf fields is carcinogenic can rest easy, and so can parents of athletes. According to a new study conducted on fields in five cities, the cancer risk for children playing on the fields was "at or below one in a million."