Winners of the 2018 SportsTravel Awards Announced at TEAMS '18 in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SportsTravel announced the winners of the 2018 SportsTravel Awards during the TEAMS '18 Conference & Expo in Louisville Wednesday afternoon. TEAMS: Travel, Events And Management in Sports, is the world's largest gathering of event organizers and travel planners from the sports industry. Held at the Kentucky International Convention Center, the awards ceremony was emceed by Rebecca Lowe, who hosts NBC's Premier League and Olympics coverage. The National Congress of State Games also announced the winners of its Athlete of the Year awards during the awards ceremony.

The 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four in Columbus, Ohio, was named Sports Event of the Year, as well as Best Collegiate Sports Event Series or Circuit. Other winners were the 2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, California; the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea; the 2017 National Youth Baseball Championships in Yaphank, New York; the 2018 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas; the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon; the 2018 NFL Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Minnesota; the 2017 CrossFit Games in Madison, Wisconsin; the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Washington, DC; and the 2018 MLB/ USA Baseball Girls Breakthrough Series in Vero Beach, Florida.

"The SportsTravel Awards recognize the stars of the sports-event industry," said Timothy Schneider, founder and chairman of the Sports Division of Northstar Travel Group, which publishes SportsTravel magazine and organizes the TEAMS Conference & Expo. "We are pleased to honor these outstanding sporting events for providing an incredible experience for participants and spectators, as well as the event organizers who create them and the cities that host them."

The SportsTravel Awards program bestows honors at the amateur, collegiate and professional levels in three categories each. To be eligible, events had to occur between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018. Criteria for nomination and voting included:

• Superior organization of and attendance at the event
• The event provided a superior experience for competitors and/or spectators
• The event's host city or venue served to enhance the event

The 2018 SportsTravel Award winners are:

Sports Event of the Year 
2018 NCAA Women's Final Four, Columbus, Ohio

Best New Sports Event 2018 
MLB/USA Baseball Girls Breakthrough Series, Vero Beach, Florida

Best Professional Sports Event Series or Circuit 
2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final, Las Vegas, Nevada; Washington, DC

Best Professional Multi-Sport or Multi-Discipline Event 2017 
CrossFit Games, Madison, Wisconsin

Best Professional Single-Sport Event 
2018 NFL Super Bowl LII, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Best Collegiate Sports Event Series or Circuit 
2018 NCAA Women's Final Four, Columbus, Ohio

Best Collegiate Multi-Sport or Multi-Discipline Event 
2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Eugene, Oregon

Best Collegiate Single-Sport Event 
2018 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, Hutchinson, Kansas

Best Amateur Sports Event Series or Circuit 
2017 National Youth Baseball Championships, Yaphank, New York

Best Amateur Multi-Sport or Multi-Discipline Event 
2018 Olympic Winter Games, Pyeongchang, South Korea

Best Amateur Single-Sport Event 
2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships, Anaheim, California

Hosted by Louisville Tourism, TEAMS '18 was held October 1–4, 2018, in Louisville. For more information, please visit TEAMSconference.com or call (877) 577-3700.

ABOUT NORTHSTAR MEETINGS GROUP: 
Northstar Meetings Group is the leading B-to-B information and marketing solutions company serving all segments of the business meetings, events, sports and incentives market, including full-time and part-time meeting planners, as well as corporate, association, sports and not-for-profit decision-makers, and incentive professionals, facilitating their professional development and achievement of business goals. Its influential brands --- Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Meeting News, Incentive and SportsTravel --- currently serve over 350,000 active meeting and event planners and incentive professionals, across an integrated suite of data, digital, events and print products. For more information, please visit northstarmeetingsgroup.com.

ABOUT NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP: 
Northstar Travel Group is the owner of well-known brands including Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, Business Travel News, Successful Meetings, Meetings & Conventions, Travel Weekly China, Incentive, M&C China, and Web in Travel. The company produces more than 75 face-to-face events in 13 countries in retail travel, hospitality, corporate travel, travel technology, and the meetings industry. In addition, Northstar owns Phocuswright, the leading research, business intelligence, and event producer serving the fastest growing segment of the travel industry, online travel distribution. Northstar is also the majority shareholder in Inntopia, the leading SaaS e-commerce software, CRM database marketing and predictive analytics business serving the mountain destination, activities, and specialty destination travel markets.

Based in Secaucus, NJ, the company also has offices in New York, NY; Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; Winston Salem, NC; Stowe, VT; Lombard, IL, and global offices in Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai.

Northstar Travel Group is owned by funds managed by EagleTree Capital.

CONTACT:

Northstar Meetings Group
Jason Gewirtz
(720) 420-9391
Email: jgewirtz@ntmllc.com

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SOURCE Northstar Meetings Group