TEAMS Conference & Expo Announces Hosts for 2030, 2031
The Northstar Meetings Group event will head to Knoxville and Des Moines — both first-time hosts
Posted On: September 26, 2024 By :Northstar Meetings Group has announced two future sites for the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers, taking the annual event to a pair of markets that reflect the vitality of the sports-related travel market. Along with previously announced host cities, the conference has now announced its host locations through 2031.
Attendees at TEAMS, which include the gatekeepers to the 73.5 million room nights and $52.2 billion in direct spending generated by sports-related travel annually, will gather in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2030, and Des Moines, Iowa, in 2031 — both first-time hosts of the conference.
“Knoxville and Des Moines are tremendous examples of destinations that deliver outstanding experiences in sports-related travel and we are excited to shine the spotlight on these wonderful cities to the attendees of TEAMS,” said Jason Gewirtz, vice president of the Sports Division of Northstar Meetings Group, which organizes the event that is presented by SportsTravel. “Event organizers, destination representatives and industry suppliers will be as impressed as we are with these destinations and what they offer the sports-event industry.”
Launched in 1998, TEAMS — Travel, Events and Management in Sports — is the world’s largest gathering of CEOs, executive directors and event managers from sports organizations as well as representatives from sports commissions and convention bureaus, corporate sponsors, event suppliers and other hospitality industry opinion leaders. For more than 25 years, TEAMS has helped define the sports-event and appointment-based trade show industries.
The announcement was made during the TEAMS ’24 Conference in Anaheim, California. Previously announced sites for the TEAMS Conference are TEAMS ’25: October 13–16, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio; TEAMS ’26: October 26–29, 2026, in Birmingham, Alabama; TEAMS ’27, October 18–21, 2027, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; TEAMS ’28, November 13–16, 2028, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; TEAMS ’29, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
TEAMS ’30 Lands in Tennessee
The TEAMS ’30 Conference & Expo will be held October 14–17, 2030, at the Knoxville Convention Center and will mark the first time the city has hosted the event. Knoxville is recognized as a premier city for hosting a variety of sporting events. Located alongside the Tennessee River, a spectacular sporting venue in its own right, Knoxville provides athletes and fans alike with outstanding visitor experience. Many sporting venues are located within walking distance of the city’s vibrant downtown as well as the University of Tennessee campus.
“Visit Knoxville is thrilled to host the TEAMS ’30 Conference and Expo,” said Kim Bumpas, president of Visit Knoxville. “Over the past several years, our Visit Knoxville Sports Commission has put Knoxville on the map as a premier destination for sporting events, earning numerous awards along the way. This selection as host city for TEAMS in partnership with the Northstar Meetings Group highlights this success as we look forward to welcoming attendees for one of the world’s leading conferences and expos for the sports-event industry.”
The Knoxville Convention Center serves as the cornerstone of Knoxville’s meeting facilities. Located alongside World’s Fair Park, minutes from the University of Tennessee and a short drive from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the convention center is 500,000-square-foot gathering space was the first convention center in Tennessee to be Green Certified through the TN Green Hospitality Certification program and is LEED Silver certified by the US Green Building Council. The Knoxville Convention Center is located just minutes from Market Square, the heart of Knoxville’s vibrant and walkable downtown.
“Knoxville is a destination that TEAMS attendees will love exploring,” Gewirtz said. “It’s long-standing reputation as a leading destination for sports events positions it perfectly as a home for the TEAMS Conference. The leadership in Knoxville has exceeded the bar when it comes to producing some of the world’s largest and most significant sports events and attendees will be impressed with everything the region has to offer.”
Visit Knoxville and the Visit Knoxville Sports Commission hosted the 2023 Bassmaster Classic, which won a 2023 SportsTravel Award for Best Professional Sports Event. The Visit Knoxville Sports Commission, established under Visit Knoxville in 2016, has hosted top-tier events including the Bassmaster Classic and USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships and recently hosted the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials — Diving.
“We’re honored to continue an excellent relationship with our partners at the Northstar Meetings Group to host the TEAMS ’30 Conference and Expo in Knoxville,” said Chad Culver, senior director of the Visit Knoxville Sports Commission and Convention Sales. “Sporting-related travel is an ever-growing component of tourism, and Northstar plays a major role in supporting the industry through valuable events such as TEAMS. Knoxville is excited and looking forward to hosting TEAMS in 2030.”
TEAMS ’31 Heads to Iowa’s Heartland
The TEAMS ’31 Conference & Expo will be held October 20–23, 2031, at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines and also marks the first time the city has hosted the event. Nearly a quarter of a million people live in Des Moines, Iowa’s state capital and most-populous city, which is packed with shopping, live entertainment, visual arts and much more.
“Catch Des Moines has taken some big swings to help solidify our resume as a sports hub of the Midwest,” said Catch Des Moines and Des Moines Area Sports and Tourism Commission President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Edwards. “New state-of-the-art facilities have opened, alongside our other iconic venues to enable us to host marquee events like several NCAA tournaments, The Dew Tour (USA Skateboarding Olympic Qualifier), PGA Champions Tour Principal Charity Classic, and the AAU Junior Olympic Games. As we look ahead to 2031, we could not be more excited to play host to the TEAMS Conference & Expo. We are honored and pumped up to showcase Greater Des Moines to the sports groups and attendees of this great organization.”
As an unexpected sports mecca in the heart of the Midwest, Greater Des Moines has worked hard to create a home field advantage. The city is home to the largest skate park in the nation, the iconic Drake Blue Oval, a 17,000-seat downtown arena, and multiple brand-new multi-use sports complexes in the suburbs. Des Moines has been ranked as the top Minor League sports market in the country and has hosted large sporting events ranging from the NCAA Basketball Tournament to AAU Junior Olympics.
The Iowa Events Center is a combination of three venues: Wells Fargo Arena, Hy-Vee Hall and Community Choice Convention Center. All told, the state-of-the-art facilities provide 236,500 square feet of total space, 150,000 square feet of exhibit space, 40 meeting rooms and an arena that seats over 17,000.
“We love taking the TEAMS Conference & Expo to destinations that have not previously hosted and we are thrilled to bring our event to Des Moines,” Gewirtz said. “As I’ve seen first-hand in recent years, Des Moines is a vibrant and welcoming destination with world-class sports venues that will impress our attendees from across the sports-event industry. Des Moines has so much to offer sports-event organizers. Hosting TEAMS there will be the perfect opportunity to showcase everything the city has accomplished.”
About Northstar Travel Group
Northstar Travel Group is the owner of well-known brands including SportsTravel, Travel Weekly, TravelPulse, TravelAge West, Business Travel News, Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Associations Meetings International, Incentive, Travel Weekly China, and M&C Asia. The company produces the annual TEAMS Conference & Expo, the EsportsTravel Summit and scores of face-to-face and virtual events worldwide in retail travel, corporate travel, travel technology and the meetings industry. For more information, visit NorthstarTravelGroup.com
About Visit Knoxville Sports Commission
The Visit Knoxville Sports Commission (VKSC), established under Visit Knoxville in 2016, is responsible for bringing tournaments and sporting events to Knoxville and Knox County. The VKSC has hosted top-tier events including the Bassmaster Classic, the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships, and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Diving. The VKSC was recognized as Sports ETA’s 2019 Sport Tourism Organization of the Year and was awarded SportsTravel’s Best Professional Event and HospitalityTN’s Purple Iris Award Special Event of the Year for the 2023 Bassmaster Classic. For more information, visit sports.visitknoxville.com and follow on Facebook and Instagram.
About Catch Des Moines
The Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Des Moines Area Sports Commission, collectively known as Catch Des Moines, is the official destination marketing organization promoting and representing Greater Des Moines to leisure travelers and meeting/sports planners. Our focus is to increase visitors to the metro and elevate the visitor experience to drive economic success and enhance the quality of life in the 14 local Greater Des Moines communities we represent. For more information, visit catchdesmoines.com.
Posted in: TEAMS Conference