If it's Tuesdsay, this must be Fenway Park

By Dan Dickson

If you love baseball, really love baseball, and have a lot of spare time, you may harbor a secret dream. Call it the ultimate baseball road trip — visiting all 30 major league parks.
But instead of making the complicated arrangements yourself, others can arrange the scheduling, buy the game tickets, book the hotels and do the driving. In this sports-crazy country of ours, there are niche sports travel agencies ready to do just that.

Fans of University of California and other college sports teams often travel together to away games. Some tour operators offer special group trips for these fans. Courtesy UC Berkley

“What drives this is that they play every day in the majors, and it’s conducive to travel,” said Jay Buckley, a former educator who started Jay Buckley’s Baseball Tours in La Crosse, Wis., as a hobby in the 1980s.

One interesting trend Buckley sees among baseball fans is their desire to tour the ballparks.
 “Baseball fans want to see all the ballparks,” he said. “You won’t find that with other sports to that degree. They like the history and that they’re all a little different.

 “They’re curious about them. There are so many new ones,” he said. “Some people are stadium-counters. I hear them say, ‘I’ve only got three left.’ The stadiums built in the last 15 to 20 years are really attractive. PNC Park in Pittsburgh is gorgeous.”

Fans of the University of California football program often follow the Golden Bears on the road for Pacific 10 and nonconference action. A travel company that is helping hundreds of them follow their passion is WorldPass Travel Group.

WorldPass offers a variety of travel, including a menu of collegiate sports. “We do a lot of affinity group travel with people of like-mindedness,” said Rip Hunter, CEO of WorldPass Travel, based in El Dorado Hills, Calif.

“The affinity group for university football includes alumni and fans of the schools’ sports programs, folks we invite to go with us to away games. They’re very passionate about their teams, good or bad. If it’s a Cal-USC game or Cal-Tennessee game, fans will travel.”

Tour operators service fans who crave NASCAR You don’t usually see snow at a NASCAR race, but it happened a few years ago when tour operator Debby Manny hosted a group at the UAW-Daimler-Chrysler 400 in Las Vegas. “That was unusual. I remember fans signing up for credit cards on site just to get the free NASCAR blankets,” said Manny, a manager at World Class Motorsports Racing Tours in Seattle. “I have good clients from Hawaii who come every year, and their lips were blue.” Such is the life of a tour operator. You learn to take it as it comes, like the current economy. “It’s a difficult year, but we’re working through it. NASCAR fans are pretty dedicated,” said Manny. World Class Motorsports was founded in 1992, creating a niche and a new revenue source for its parent travel agency. The company specializes in NASCAR Sprint Cup Races. “With my travel background and knowledge, 30-plus years, we started packaging hotels, motorcoaches and race tickets,” said Manny. “We’re capable of selling all races. I will host five of them.” Fans from around the country arrive in the race city in time for a Friday-night meet-and-greet reception, then the motorcoaches take them to the track on Saturday and Sunday, explained Manny. Some packages include passes to pit and hospitality areas or fan zones. What makes World Class Motorsports different than other NASCAR tour operators is size, Manny believes. “We work with a smaller group number, so it creates a family-and-friends atmosphere and builds camaraderie,” she said. “But it’s really about customer service. People may want a rolling tailgate party and to have a good time, but they also want convenience.”

Hunter knows competition is stiff, with a lot of companies offering sports travel. “We try to add more value at a lower cost,” he said. “About 50 [percent] to 70 percent of our fans are repeat customers.”
That added value includes perks before and after games, staying at good hotels at reasonable rates because of volume purchasing and making sure transportation is flawless.

“We create inside events like a V.I.P. welcome reception, where the athletic director speaks,” said Hunter. “Or it might include a special host, like former Cal and NFL quarterback Joe Kapp, who enhances the university profile.”


School Spirit
Everything WorldPass does is in the spirit of the game. In California’s case, it’s the team colors: blue and gold. If it’s Cal versus Minnesota, the trip logo will include “the image of the two team helmets clashing, and we’ll use that throughout the weekend,” said Hunter.

After the game, WorldPass can help fans enjoy the best of the host city. “We call it ‘The Taste of…’; fill in the city. Stay an extra day and we have private tour buses give fans a sample of the region’s culture, like a boat ride up the Mississippi,” said Hunter.

A trend Hunter notes is the proliferation of online sports-travel booking, even among senior fans. “Older fans are feeling more comfortable doing that. All of our documentation is electronic, which means quicker turnaround of information for them.”

Sports Travel and Tours, headquartered in Hatfield, Mass., likes to brag “Any Game ... Any Place ... Any Time.”

“We’re a national tour operator providing groups and individuals with the means to attend sporting events around the country,” said Teresa Weybrew, director of sales.

In business since 1996, Sports Travel and Tours has discovered a special area of demand in sports travel: visits to various sports halls of fame.

“We have been chosen as the tour operator for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.; the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. We also work closely with the Basketball Hall of Fame, which is in our back yard in Springfield, Mass.,” said Weybrew.

Weybrew said hall-of-fame trips are especially popular when players are enshrined, which encompass an entire weekend. “Take the baseball hall-of-fame induction of Jim Rice last year. Fans waited years to see him inducted and told their kids that when the time came, they were going,” Weybrew said.

“We also took 2,000 to Canton last year [to the Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies]. This is a huge market, a big niche and something we’re proud of.”


Flexible and independent
Sports Travel and Tours’ forte is F.I.T., or flexible independent travel. Agents match fans with trips that fit their budgets and schedules. Travelers get the best trip with exactly what they want and nothing else.

“Consumers choose the sport [and] dates of stay, and have three options for hotels: deluxe, moderate or budget,” said Weybrew. “For baseball, they can choose budget tickets in the bleachers, moderate tickets in an upper level or premier seats low and between the bases.”

World Class Travel Racing Tours hosted groups at a NASCAR race in Talladega, Ala., this spring. Photos courtesy World Class Travel Racing Tours

Weybrew said a group of men may not care where they stay, so they’ll choose moderately priced accommodations and get field box seats. But a family may go to a game just to be in the ballpark, and use a Westin hotel and fill seats in the outfield.

Weybrew has also spotted a baby-boomer sports travel trend. “Boomers won’t necessarily get on a bus to be told what to do and when,” she said. “We work hard to give them flexible time. They want some structure and don’t want stress because it’s their vacation, but they want to have it their way.”
For fans who think a game should be “for the whole enchilada,” a sports tour company that books only elite sports events is what’s needed.

“Our largest events are college bowl games, NASCAR and the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl, Final Four, Masters, Kentucky Derby, the Olympics and the World Cup. Those are our top eight events,” said Brian Wilder, executive vice president of Premiere Global Sports in Cary, N.C. 

The company has three branches: retail, college and corporate. Corporate clients include Coca Cola, Pepsi, Hershey, AT&T and Microsoft.

Wilder said Premiere Global Sports understands that there’s no substitute for experiencing the world’s leading sporting events in person. But has the economic downturn altered that view of sports?

“The corporate side has been slow for months, but we see things picking up. Corporate spending is loosening,” said Wilder. “On the retail side, we’ve done great. Consumer spending is somewhat down, but overall, we think we’re in a good position because of the size of our company.”

Across the United States, sports travel companies strive to provide the ultimate fan experience, creating sports travel packages that are full of memories, carefree and fun.

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