$port$ $upport$

Anyone in the hospitality industry will tell you that January is pretty grim.  Not too many vacationers, home games, or even socializing when the days are short and nights are cold. 

So it was indeed encouraging to pass some visitors stepping off the light rail, headed for the Hilton, as I was leaving work last night.  Even more gratifying when they stopped to admire our display of purple passion shining from the clock tower over Camden Station.  These out of towners knew immediately they were in a sports-loving town.

As it turns out, that's one reason why they're here.  Terry reminded me that the National Field Hockey Coaches Association was holding their annual convention at the Hilton, bringing 500 coaches and officials from all over the country for three days of meetings.  And that is just the first of three national sports conventions this month, representing nearly 13,000 room nights in Baltimore hotels and over six million dollars in direct spending.

In addition to the conferences and lectures, the nfhca is also staging a SNEAK PEEK  Sunday at the Baltimore Convention Center.  SNEAK PEEK is for aspiring scholastic athletes,  an opportunity to participate in game play, skill stations and clinics with and in front of Division I, II and III coaches from across the nation. With all the coaching power in attendance, SNEAK PEEK offers the opportunity to learn from clinicians while providing significant exposure to college coaches.

From January 11-13, Major League Soccer will be in town for their annual draft.  This event is held in conjunction with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

The actual convention begins on the 13th, although there is overlap between the two.  This compound event is the soccer summit of the year, and will attract about 8,000 attendees over the course of the week.  Because Maryland is such a hotbed of soccer players and programs, there will be many people who come just for the day, so the actual attendance could be much higher.

The following weekend, Baltimore-based US Lacrosse, governing body of the sport, will host their annual convention here.  This event, which includes the popular, open to the public Fan Fest, is considered the official opening of the lacrosse season.  The trade show alone has 300 vendors, so every new innovation in the sport is represented.

As exciting as all this is, I can't help but wonder (and I know all you Marylanders are with me on this) how truly grand it would be if our Ravens beat the Chiefs and Steelers and the Jets bump off Indy and New England.  (Work with me on this.) 

With that scenario, Baltimore would host the AFC Championships right here in Camden Yards.  Wouldn't that make a heck of a January for our hospitality industry? 

Wouldn't hurt the Stadium Authority, either. That would keep us in purple gels for the Camden Station clock tower for at least another year.