David Broughton

Charlotte

Research Director at Sports Business Journal

My 24th season at SBJ; sports biz geek; stadium enthusiast; frequent visitor to ballparks, operas, Highland Games, places you've never been and the closest pub

Featured in: Favicon

sportsbusinessjournal.com Favicon

bandcamp.com Favicon

bizjournals.com Favicon

baltimoresun.com Favicon

stripes.com Favicon

capitalgazette.com Favicon

downthetubes.net Favicon

hastingsindependentpress.co.uk Favicon

abc15.com

ourcommunitynow.com + 2 more

Articles

Fans spent $47.1B traveling to pro and college sporting events in 2024

6 days ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton

Total direct spending associated with the U.S. sports travel sector was $47.1B, and Americans took a record 204.9 million sports event-related trips within the U.S. in 2024, according to the State of the Industry Report that the Sports Events and Tourism Association (Sports ETA) is sharing with its more than 700 members today in Tulsa, Okla. at the organization’s annual conference.
Starch Madness: Levy led all concessionaires in fans served during NCAA hoops tourneys

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton

Concessionaire Levy served up to 315,000 basketball fans during March Madness over the past month, according to an analysis done by SBJ’s David Broughton. Chicago-based Levy was in an industry-leading nine host venues during the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tourneys, including at three major-league arenas: State Farm Arena (Atlanta), Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee) and Prudential Center (Newark).
NBA has second-highest season attendance mark ever

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton |Tom Friend

The NBA averaged 18,147 in attendance this past season, its second-best ever following a 2023-24 season that set benchmarks in every attendance category. For the second time in league history, total regular-season attendance exceeded 22.3 million fans and regular-season average attendance exceeded 18,100 (the other instances were both during the 2023-24 regular season), NBA arenas filled to a 97% capacity for the third time ever.
St. Louis City SC earns LEED Gold for zero-waste efforts at Energizer Park

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton

St. Louis City SC has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council for its operations and maintenance protocols of Energizer Park.
Sustainability: Can sports’ efforts to protect the environment weather the political storm?

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton |Bret McCormick

From politics to the economy to still trying to figure out how to get fans to sort their trash, uncertainty hovers over the environmental sustainability industry like a 1980s Los Angeles smog.
Holiday Inn breaks ground inside Overland Park youth sports mixed-use development

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton

Ground has broken for a 99-room Holiday Inn Express at Bluhawk, the mixed-use development in Overland Park, Kan., that is anchored by the $125M, 420,000-square-foot AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk youth sports complex that opened last fall.
NCAA March Madness social accounts see engagement decline from ‘24

1 week ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton

Activity on the NCAA’s official men’s basketball March Madness X, Instagram and Facebook accounts from last month’s Selection Sunday through the championship game compared to the same period in 2023 combined for a 16% decline in the number of engagements (22.7 million) despite a 41% increase in the number of posts (3,161), according to data from Zoomph.
The interconnected world of the NCAA Final Four’s ADs

2 weeks ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton |Emma Jimenez

As both the men’s and women’s Final Fours prepare for a big weekend, it’s worth pointing out the interconnected nature of the careers of each school’s AD. Scott Stricklin has been the AD at Florida (where Houston AD Eddie Nuñez played basketball) since 2016, after serving in that role at Mississippi State before being succeeded by John Cohen, who is AD at Auburn -- which is where David Benedict served as COO before being named UConn’s AD that same year.
MiLB signs Circle K as official convenience store

2 weeks ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton

Minor League Baseball today announced Circle K is now the league’s official convenience store. Circle K’s presence will be integrated through in-game video board assets at most MiLB ballparks and signage behind home plate at the 37 ballparks that MiLB has inventory rights to. Circle K will also serve as the presenting partner of “The Baseball Traveler,” the longtime content series from MiLB.com reporter Ben Hill as he makes his way around the country visiting ballparks throughout the 2025 season.
Goodyear Blimp turns 100 with a new (old) look

3 weeks ago | sportsbusinessjournal.com | David Broughton

In celebration of the Goodyear Blimp’s 100th anniversary this year, the company announced that its Akron-based blimp Wingfoot One will be wrapped with a black and silver color scheme, including a vintage Goodyear logo on the sides and a reappearance of the blue and yellow Goodyear “house flag” that donned the side of the company’s earliest blimps. The design is inspired by Goodyear’s first branded blimp Pilgrim.