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Louisville
to Host TEAMS ’18
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The World’s Largest
Gathering of Sports-Event Organizers Will be the
First Travel-Industry
Event Held in Newly Expanded Convention Center
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Los
Angeles, CA – December 2016 / Newsmaker Alert / The
TEAMS
’18 Conference & Expo, the world’s leading conference and expo
for the sports-event industry, will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. The
announcement was made Friday (December 9) at the Louisville Visitor Center
during a press conference organized by the Louisville
Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Louisville
Sports Commission. Presented by SportsTravel,
TEAMS ’18 will be held October 1–4, 2018, at the Kentucky
International Convention Center, which will reopen in 2018 following
a multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation project.
“We
are pleased to be the first travel-industry show that will be held at the
newly expanded Kentucky International Convention Center,” said Timothy
Schneider, president and CEO of Schneider Publishing Company, which publishes
SportsTravel
magazine and organizes the TEAMS Conference. “We have had a longstanding
relationship with Louisville, which proved to be an outstanding host destination
when TEAMS was held there in 2007. We are proud to bring the world’s largest
gathering of sports-event organizers to Louisville and highlight all of
the exciting developments in the destination that have occurred there in
recent years.”
TEAMS
’18 will be headquartered at the Omni Louisville, which is currently under
construction and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2018. The Omni Louisville
will feature 612 guest rooms and 70,000 square feet of meeting space. TEAMS
attendees will also be housed at the Louisville Marriott Downtown and Hyatt
Regency Louisville.
“We
are thrilled to have the opportunity to once again showcase the city of
Louisville to such an important audience,” said Karen Williams, president
and CEO of the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Hosting TEAMS
’18 will support our mission to continue attracting top-flight sporting
events to Louisville, which is our second biggest room night–producing
market. This will be the second time TEAMS has been to Louisville and we
plan to take every opportunity to show off the best our city has to offer.”
The
expansion of the Kentucky International Convention Center will add 200,000
square feet of exhibit space and a 40,000-square-foot ballroom to the facility.
The project is estimated to bring up to 25 percent more business to the
convention center and $53 million in annual economic impact to the downtown
area.
“The
new Kentucky International Convention Center is the perfect venue for the
TEAMS ’18 Conference & Expo,” said Jason Rittenberry, president and
CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board, which manages the convention center.
“Hosting this industry show will enable both Louisville and KICC to showcase
our destination to the decision-makers in the sports industry.”
“We
would like to thank the team from Schneider Publishing for selecting Louisville
as the site for the TEAMS ’18 Conference & Expo,” said Karl Schmitt
Jr., president and CEO of the Louisville Sports Commission. “Louisville
has shown a long commitment to supporting the sports-event industry, and
this conference provides a great opportunity to provide these decision-makers
a front-row seat to the nearly $1 billion in tourism-based infrastructure
improvements the city has made.”
In
addition to the Kentucky International Convention Center and the forthcoming
Omni hotel, Louisville is also home to major event venues including the
Kentucky Exposition Center, which offers more than 1.2 million square feet
of indoor exhibition space, and KFC Yum! Center, which serves as home court
for the University of Louisville men’s and women’s basketball programs.
Louisville attractions include retail, art and culinary hubs such as East
Market Street and Museum Row.
For
more information, please visit TEAMSconference.com
or call 877-577-3700.
Tweet:
Louisville to Host TEAMS ’18 @gotolouisville @sportsinlou @kyconvention
@TEAMSconference bit.ly/2gA9gbl
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TEAMS: Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram
About
TEAMS Conference & Expo
The
TEAMS
Conference & Expo is organized by Los Angeles–based Schneider
Publishing, which publishes SportsTravel,
the sports world’s event magazine, and Association
News, America’s most-read magazine for association executives.
TEAMS ’17 will be held October 30–November 2, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.
In addition to TEAMS, Schneider Publishing organizes Meetings
Quest, North America’s longest-running series of trade shows for meeting
planners. The group travel markets served by Schneider Publishing generate
156 million hotel room nights annually.
About
the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau
Since
1968, the Louisville Convention
& Visitors Bureau’s primary goal has been to enhance the city and
county’s economy through tourism development—to promote and sell Louisville
as a destination for conventions, trade shows, corporate meetings and pleasure
and business travel on a worldwide basis. Louisville hosts more than 24
million visits annually for an estimated economic impact of $1.6 billion
which supports 36,000 local tourism-related jobs.
About
the Louisville Sports Commission
The
Louisville
Sports Commission is an organization whose mission is to create a legacy
of economic and social vitality through sports. The Louisville Sports Commission
attracts and hosts sporting events and activities that have a positive
economic impact on Louisville, enhance the area’s image as a premier sports
destination, promote healthy lifestyles and improve the quality of life
for community members of all ages.
About
the Kentucky International Convention Center
Located
in the heart of downtown, the Kentucky
International Convention Center draws 250,000 people to a wide variety
of events each year. The facility is adjacent to the entertainment and
arena districts. The venue is closed for expansion and renovation and will
reopen summer of 2018. For updates on the construction project, visit kyconvention.org.
Media
Contact:
Ann
Shepphird
Schneider
Publishing
310-577-3700
SportsTravel,
TEAMS, Association News and Meetings Quest are registered trademarks
of Schneider Publishing.
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