Playeasy Event Organization Spotlight: Prospect Wire Baseball
Get to Know Prospect Wire Baseball:
How many tourism producing events will you host in 2025? (generate 20+ hotel rooms per night)
Approximately 20
What is your biggest event? How many hotel room nights are generated on peak night(s)?
San Diego Invitational (1500+ room nights overall), Southeast Championships in Palm Beach had roughly 1700+ room nights over 4.5 days.
Have you grown geographically in 2024 or project geographic growth in future years?
Yes, we ran our first event in Utah this year, are working towards a first time event in North Carolina and Minnesota as well. We have new events in Florida & California now, on top of our annual events. We expect continued growth, especially in the Rocky Mountains and Northern California areas.
What makes a Destination stand out when selecting a host?
Facilities are important; things to do outside of baseball if you are trying to host a tourism event; the city you are hosting in plays an important role as well. While it’s not a major factor, having the support of the local CVB or Sports Commissions always helps make an event the best it can be.
What are your “nice to haves” vs. your “non-negotiables”?
Complexes with multiple fields are always nice to haves. Lights are another. Turf fields always help with rain. Stadiums and high end college/HS fields make an event that much more appealing. For non-negotiables, we must have either grass or turf fields (no skin infields), fences must be at least 350′ to center field and bases/mound is 60/90.
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, are you looking for new locations to host events? What geographic areas are you most interested in, or are you open to opportunities across the United States? Are you interested in going international (if so, where?).
Yes, we are always looking for new places to host our events and grow them in that region.
When can Destinations expect to see a new RFPs/Opportunities from your Organization? If you have an RFP currently listed, are you still looking for interest? When are the best times for Destinations to reach out to you if they are interested?
We do not have a basic RFP we put out. If a Destination is interested in hosting an event of ours, an email gets the conversation going. I am generally available Monday – Friday all day. Much of our summer and fall schedule is full, but we are always open to new opportunities, especially if we have local assistance with staffing. But we generally look to fill up our summer schedule for the following year by no later than November 1st. Fall events can usually get locked down closer to the end of Spring in April/May.
Does anyone from your team attend Sports Tourism Conferences? (If yes, which ones)
Yes, it’s almost always myself. Some conferences, our CEO Rob Sitz might attend as well on behalf of the parent company. But it’s usually just me representing PW.
Have you had any successful partnerships with Destinations in the past, and if so, could you list those?
Yes, we have been working with Visit Central Florida (Alex Dry) for years. Our partnership with Treasure Coast Sports (Rick, Ryan and Kevin) has been solid for over a decade. We work well with Punta Gorda/Englewood (Sean Walter) as well as Visit Sarasota (Pete Harvey, Casey Doyle). This year we partnered with Visit Ogden (Millie Osguthorpe) and it was an outstanding collaboration for a first-year event. They are one of the best in the business in making rights holders feel welcome. Visit Charlotte (Amanda Morgan) has been another that’s been amazing to work with building our first event in that state.
Check out Prospect Wire Baseball’s profile on Playeasy here or reach out to Brian Werner at brian@prospectwire.com.
