Northstar and Playeasy Announce Marketing, Advertising and Content Sharing Partnership

Northstar Meetings Group, the world’s largest media, marketing and information services platform for meeting and event organizers and suppliers, and Playeasy, the leading digital platform supporting sports event organizers, destinations, facilities and events in the United States, have announced an extensive, exclusive marketing, advertising and content sharing partnership.

The partnership designates Northstar, through its Sports Division and its leading SportsTravel brand, as Playeasy’s exclusive advertising sales representative. Effective immediately, destinations and other sports event service providers will be able to reach and influence the most extensive network of event organizers of all types through joint advertising and marketing programs featured simultaneously on both the SportsTravel and Playeasy platforms, including custom content, email and social media marketing.

The partnership allows for participating organizations to package Playeasy memberships and software licensing arrangements with their marketing programs. In addition to reaching and influencing the broadest and most diverse audience of event organizers, the Northstar/Playeasy suite of products is designed to raise awareness, increase engagement and generate measurable new business for sports destinations, facilities and hoteliers vying to support them.

“Having demonstrated its resiliency during the pandemic, the sports-related travel industry is not only a hedge during a downturn, at nearly $40 billion and growing rapidly it’s the fastest-growing segment in the events industry today,” said Jason Gewirtz, vice president of the sports division for the Northstar Meetings Group. “Partnered now with Playeasy, we’ll be able to help event organizers and their partners with their RFP and site selection processes seven days a week, 365 days a year. It’s a perfect complement to our mission to grow awareness for our partners and help facilitate productive business relationships for them, through our SportsTravel brand and our events — the TEAMS Conference & Expo, TEAMS Europe and the EsportsTravel Summit.”

“All players in the sports tourism industry will benefit from the integration of Playeasy with SportsTravel and the Northstar Sports Division brands,” said Sean Flaherty, co-founder and CEO of Playeasy. “Playeasy users now have extended reach to SportsTravel’s vast network of sports tourism professionals, as well as the ability to receive the latest information on all that’s happening in the sports-related travel market, while SportsTravel users can stay up to date on the latest events out for bid and facilitate RFP engagement through the Playeasy platform.”

In addition to the advertising and content sharing aspects of the partnership, Northstar will designate Playeasy as its exclusive RFP tool on-site for its events. Attendees to the TEAMS ’23 Conference & Expo, to be held October 2–5 in the Palm Beaches, will be able to research attending organizations and submit RFPs directly to participating destinations and venues prior to the event, as well as directly from the show floor.

“With so much new investment in the sports market, and so much competition, it’s critical for destinations and their venue partners to get the word out, and to tell their stories in new and exciting ways,” said Shalise DeMott, vice president of sales for the Northstar Meetings Group, including its Sports Division. “Northstar’s partnership with Playeasy is an extension of what we already do best – help tell our clients’ stories dynamically so they reach targeted audiences and provide a measurable, positive return on investment. It helps event organizers stay current, and it helps destinations reach event organizers perfectly suited to their capabilities. Everybody benefits.”