SportsTravel magazine announced the winners of the 2022 SportsTravel Awards during the TEAMS ’22 Conference & Expo in Oklahoma City, Okla., last week honoring the best events, venue and host city in the sports-event industry.

Raleigh, N.C., was selected as Best Sports Host City. GRCVB, the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) and destination partners hosted the NCAA Men’s College Cup, NCAA Women’s Basketball First Four and First/Second Rounds, an NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regional, the NCAA Division II Baseball World Series, the BODYARMOR State Games of North Carolina, Spikeball College Nationals, the 2022 Apex Legends Global Series Championship, 12 NCHSAA state championships and dozens of regional youth tournaments in the past year. GRCVB's president and CEO Dennis Edwards was on-site to receive the Best Sports Host City award on behalf of Raleigh/Wake County.

TEAMS: Travel, Events And Management in Sports is the world’s largest gathering of event organizers and travel planners from the sports industry and was held at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. The National Congress of State Games also announced the winners of its Athlete of the Year awards during the awards ceremony, and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Compete Sports Diversity recognized individuals and organizations for their diversity efforts.

“We are honored to accept this award on behalf of our destination at this year’s TEAMS Conference,” said Scott Dupree, executive director of GRSA. “Our greatest strength is our local host partners and our people. They are the absolute best, second to none. The work we do would not be possible without the passion and commitment from our talented partners. The sports tourism industry in Wake County is stronger than ever, and this award reflects that.”

“The SportsTravel Awards recognize the stars of the sports-event industry,” said Jason Gewirtz, vice president of the Sports Division of Northstar Travel Group, which publishes SportsTravel magazine and organizes the TEAMS Conference & Expo. “As events began to come back in 2022, we were thrilled to see hundreds of worthy events nominated for this year’s awards. The winners in each category exemplify everything that we love about the sports-event industry and underscore the resiliency and power of the sports-related travel market.”

The SportsTravel Awards are nominated and voted on by the readers of SportsTravel. Criteria for nomination and voting for the 2022 SportsTravel Awards program included events that occurred or venues that opened between Aug. 1, 2021, and July 31, 2022.

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Pictured above (l-r): Dennis Edwards, president and CEO of GRCVB; Tori Collins, director of GRSA; Jason Philbeck, STS, associate director of GRSA; and Jocelyn O'Sullivan, sports sales manager.