Sports Backers Named Best Sports Commission in the Country

The Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers have again been recognized as the leader in its industry, receiving the National Association of Sports Commissions’ (NASC) 2015 Member of the Year award. NASC made the announcement today during its annual Sports Event Symposium in Grand Rapids, MI. Sports Backers becomes the first four-time winner of the Member of the Year Award, having also earned the honor in 2006, 2009, and 2011.

“It is an honor to become the first four-time winner of this award and a testament to the quality of the organization, its events, and its programs,” said Sports Backers president Tyler Hutchens. “We’ve been able to build an incredible staff that is committed to excellence in everything we do, from our annual events to our initiatives aimed at building an active community. It’s especially exciting to win this award as the organization celebrates our 25th anniversary.”

The Member of the Year award recognizes the NASC member that has had the most outstanding impact on its local community through sporting events, community events and/or economic impact based on the following criteria:

• Examples that set the standard for the quality of events that were produced or hosted, including attendance, branding, sustainability, and positive references
• Events and activities that have a direct impact on the local community, including economic impact and community engagement and support
• Evidence that these activities benefited the community by promoting the destination regionally, nationally, and internationally

A panel of association members reviewed all nominations. More than 350 cities are members of NASC – the sports event industry’s leading networking organization. Past winners of the award include the sports commissions from Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Cleveland.

“It’s always a challenge to select the Member of the Year Award because so many cities are producing such outstanding events,” said Don Schumacher, Executive Director of the National Association of Sports Commissions. “But in the course of judging, it became clear again that Sports Backers continues to be a national leader in the sports event and sports tourism industry. Their list of accomplishments for 2015 was very impressive, and they are a deserving winner of the Member of the Year Award.”

In 2015, Sports Backers played an active role in the planning and operations of the successful UCI Road World Cycling Championships that were hosted in Richmond and managed the first-ever ‘Conquer the Cobbles’ amateur ride that took place in conjunction with the UCI event. The organization was also involved with more than 40 different events throughout the year with 387,000 attendees, generating over $60 million in economic impact. Sports Backers owns and manages 14 events including the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k, the Anthem Richmond Marathon, and Dominion Riverrock.

Among the organization’s other major programs are:

• Active Lifestyle Opportunities – Programs and initiatives such as Active RVA, Fitness Warriors, Keep It Moving, and Kids Run RVA facilitate fitness opportunities for residents in all areas of the Richmond region, creating more equity for residents and communities.
• Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure – Bike Walk RVA is a grassroots initiative that advocates for increased bike and pedestrian infrastructure throughout the region and spurs residents to become champions for improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. These improvements will be a lasting legacy of Richmond’s hosting of the 2015 UCI Road World Cycling Championships.
• Sports Tourism and Active Living – Sports Backers drives sports tourism and celebrates active living in the Richmond region by supporting locally-owned events, bid-on events, and events owned by the organization.

In addition to celebrating active living and growing sports tourism, the organization partners with the Richmond Times-Dispatch on the Times-Dispatch/Sports Backers Scholar Athlete program that annually provides $66,000 in college scholarships to area student athletes. Scholarships of $856,000 have been awarded to 456 student athletes over the life of the program to date. Sports Backers last year helped motivate more than 12,000 area youth to be more active on a regular basis through our Kids Run RVA youth running program.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Sports Backers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in October 1991 and seeks to motivate and inspire residents and visitors to live an active lifestyle and create fitness opportunities for residents of all corners of the Richmond region.

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