The 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Columbus were a successful event by nearly every measure - scoring high on attendance, economic impact, TV ratings, community engagement and more. This week, Sports ETA awarded the Greater Columbus Sports Commission with the Event Marketing Campaign of the Year (population: 500,000 or more).
The Criteria
This award is given to a destination member with the most outstanding comprehensive marketing campaign for a single event hosted by its organization between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. This can include a variety of types of marketing: print ads, newsletters, email blasts, digital marketing (including websites, social media components, etc.), press releases, media coverage, or any other promotional program.
The Submission
An excerpt from the submission that shared highlights from the campaign...
The Greater Columbus Sports Commission (GCSC) in Ohio’s capital city has a mission to rally Columbus to compete and win sporting events, provide a singular athlete and fan experience and positively impact image, economy and lifestyle. Since 2002, GCSC has hosted more than 1,100 sporting events, generating an estimated $1.5 billion in direct visitor spending. Hosting the U.S. Figure Skating (USFS) Championships was a long-time goal for GCSC. In late 2022, we learned that we secured the Championships and began planning the integrated marketing communications campaign for the event’s debut in Columbus.
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships determine the national champions across several skating disciplines and help determine which skaters represent the U.S. in international competitions like the Winter Olympics, World Championships and Four Continents Championships. Since 1914, it has been held in 46 cities, most often in the Midwest and Northeast. Until this year, Columbus was the largest city in those regions that had yet to host the event.
From Jan. 22-28, Columbus hosted the Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Nationwide Arena, in the heart of our Arena District neighborhood. The marketing campaign's purpose was to promote the championships being held in Columbus and secure a high attendance for the event.
We had two primary goals for the marketing campaign:
- Position Columbus as a premier destination for high-profile sporting events
- Showcase the city’s vibrant culture, making a lasting impression on athletes, fans and media audiences alike.
Our measurable objectives for the marketing campaign included:
- Surpass 50,000 in attendance combined across all sessions.
- Sell out the lower bowl of Nationwide Arena for at least one weekend session
- Achieve an earned media value of $2.5 million
- Partner with at least five community organizations to creatively market the championships to their audiences and drive ticket sales and grow the sport in Columbus
Throughout the campaign, each of these goals and objectives were met. Other key efforts included launching a robust microsite, driving significant traffic through blog and other content, and deploying targeted social media and email campaigns. We also partnered with USFS’s marketing and communications team to ensure consistent Columbus messaging in national media coverage.
Read More
Head to the event recap to learn more about the historic event that kicked off an amazing year of sports events in Columbus.
