Halloween comes on a Tuesday this year. Count on the celebrations to start the Friday before, at least for those who want to make money. How much money? Well, Halloween is a $9 billion-plus industry and a good chunk of that will be spent at sports events.

Once renowned for hosting the Pro Bowl (the National Football League's annual all-star game at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu for more than 30 years) Hawai'i has fast become a go-to destination for a variety of sports event planners from Mainland USA and Asian and Australian countries, too. And it's not just surfing and water sports that Hawai'i is offering; there's basketball, volleyball, futsal and golf as well as myriad other athletic events. In fact, the local CVB is "open to whatever that makes sense." From the NBA to the high school level, planners of events are discovering (or rediscovering) the islands that have it all. Meet the destination with extraordinary venues, wonderful weather and great scenery to back it up. Meet Hawai'i.

If you dread planning an event around the weather, let us to introduce you to the city that holds the Guinness World Record for the sunniest place on Earth: Yuma, Arizona. With an assortment of terrific sports facilities and a range of modern accommodations suited to all budgets, Yuma is more than ready to host your sports event and send your athletes home happy.

It's the time of year for Halloween-themed sports events. To keep its readers in the spirit (see what we did there?), SDM is presenting an overview of Panic in the Dark, a night-time zombie obstacle run that was listed among the top-10 scariest races in the U.S. And if mud, blood and guts is not everyone's cup of gore, there's the non-obstacle Family Fear 5K. Meet New England's spookiest event.

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

~ Wayne Gretzky