What Huddle Up Group does

Huddle Up Group (HUG) is a privately held Arizona LLC headquartered in Phoenix that provides strategic planning, facility feasibility studies, and event coordination services to destinations, sports commissions, DMOs, CVBs, and National Governing Bodies in the U.S. sports tourism market. Founded in 2020 as an LLC by industry veteran Jon Schmieder (25+ years of experience, including senior leadership roles at the Phoenix, Tulsa, and Denver sports commissions), the firm operates with a small core team of approximately four professionals and positions itself as an operator-led consultancy rather than a generalist advisory practice.

The company's technology foundation is the proprietary Sports Tourism Index platform — launched in 2017 and integrated with ESRI geographic analytics — which benchmarks destinations on Market Potential Index scoring and drive-time participation (60, 120, 300 minutes). Scout, added in 2019, is a subscription-based matchmaking module that pairs destinations seeking events with event rights holders (e.g., NGBs, Ripken Baseball) seeking host venues. The Sports Tourism Index is offered free as a top-of-funnel acquisition tool, while Scout and Champions Circle — an ongoing professional support program — generate recurring subscription revenue. Consultative engagements (strategic planning via a documented 6-step process, facility feasibility, speaking engagements, and sports service training) are quoted per engagement and represent a second revenue stream.

HUG distributes primarily through the founder's personal network, the Monday Huddle Up newsletter (13+ years), annual Sports Planning Guide publications (11 years), SportsETA Mentoring Community involvement, and speaking engagements at industry events. The firm has accumulated 60+ destination partner relationships, visible as logos on its website, and operates a strategic partnership with Synergy Sports (Jason Boudrie) to provide an alternative financing pathway for facility development. No external funding, M&A activity, or institutional investment is disclosed.

Name

Huddle Up Group

Legal name

Huddle Up Group, LLC

Website

https://huddleupgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Huddle Up Group is a Phoenix-based sports tourism consultancy serving U.S. DMOs, CVBs, sports commissions, and event rights holders with strategic planning, facility feasibility studies, and the proprietary Sports Tourism Index benchmarking and Scout matchmaking platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Phoenix

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Services (Sports Tourism Index & Scout): Annual subscription-based access to the Sports Tourism Index platform and Scout matchmaking tool. The Sports Tourism Index is free while Scout requires paid subscription. No refunds provided for subscriptions cancelled mid-term.
2. Professional Services: Consulting engagements including strategic planning, facility feasibility studies, facility audits, event coordination, and speaking engagements. Refunds and cancellations reviewed on case-by-case basis.
3. Champions Circle Program: Ongoing professional support program providing continued ROI enhancement for destinations and sports organizations.
4. Speaking Engagements: Revenue from breakouts, board retreats, panelist roles, keynote speeches, and session moderation at client events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Huddle Up Group provides sports tourism, venue, and event consulting services to destinations, sports commissions, DMOs, CVBs, and event rights holders. Its core deliverables include a proprietary Sports Tourism Index benchmarking platform (with the Scout matchmaking add-on), strategic planning engagements, facility feasibility studies, organizational capacity-building, and ongoing advisory support through the Champions Circle program. Revenue is generated from paid annual subscriptions to Scout and from per-engagement consulting and speaking fees.

Product overview

Huddle Up Group operates as a sports tourism, venue, and event consulting company offering a suite of services and tools. The core platform is the Sports Tourism Index, a digital benchmarking tool that helps destinations evaluate their position in the sports tourism market. Scout is a complementary matchmaking feature within this platform that connects destinations with event owners. Beyond the technology platform, the company provides consulting services including Speaking Engagements, Strategic Planning (using a 6-step process), Sports Service (event hosting best practices with a published book and training program), Facility Feasibility studies, and the Champions Circle ongoing professional support program. The company is led by Founder/CEO Jon Schmieder along with a team of experienced professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sports Tourism Index: A platform developed to help destinations evaluate their position in the sports tourism market, empowering organizations to identify events or facilities that align with their destination and organization's assets using the Scout tool for efficient match-making
• Scout
• Champions Circle
• Monday Huddle Up

Products and services

• Sports Tourism Index A proprietary digital benchmarking platform that helps destinations evaluate their position in the sports tourism market. It provides benchmarking tools and data insights so DMOs, CVBs, sports commissions, and event rights holders can identify events or facilities that align with their assets and strategic goals. Free to access.
• Scout A subscription-based matchmaking tool integrated with the Sports Tourism Index that functions as a digital marketplace connecting destinations with event owners to efficiently identify compatible partners for future business relationships. Available via annual subscription.
• Strategic Planning A consulting engagement using a proven 6-step strategic planning process to develop sports organization game plans, including market analysis, SWOT assessment, and post-delivery implementation support for DMOs, CVBs, sports commissions, cities, counties, states, and National Governing Bodies.
• Facility Feasibility New venue feasibility studies, strategic plans for facility enhancement, regional venue inventories, and ROI analysis for sports facilities, incorporating sports marketing, programming, and human capital considerations.
• Sports Service Training Best-practice consulting for hosting and producing sporting events, delivered through a published book and accompanying training program that codifies operational standards for sports commissions and event hosts.
• Champions Circle An ongoing professional support program offering destinations and sports organizations continued enhancement of return on investment to their stakeholders, delivered as a multi-year advisory engagement.
• Speaking Engagements Professional speaking services including breakout sessions, board retreats, panel discussions, keynote speeches, and session moderation for sports-related events and conferences.

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Jason Boudrie / Synergy SportscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner for innovative sports facility funding. Synergy Sports offers an innovative funding model that operates at lower rates than traditional bond markets, avoids municipal bond constraints, and leverages tourism-based revenue sources for efficient financial management and rapid project development.
• 60+ Destination Partners (DMOs, CVBs, Sports Commissions)flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerExtensive network of destination marketing organizations, convention & visitors bureaus, and sports commissions across the United States. Partners include Hampton Roads Soccer Complex, West Michigan Sports Commission, Visit Lake Charles, Asheville Sports Commission, Visit Baton Rouge, Erie Sports Commission, and 55+ others. These partnerships form the core of Huddle Up Group's service delivery and client base for sports tourism consulting.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Simpleview: Simpleview is a CRM, website, and digital marketing platform purpose-built for DMOs and CVBs, the exact buyer segment Huddle Up Group serves. Both compete for the same destination marketing budget and increasingly overlap in sports tourism functionality.
• EventConnect: EventConnect is a sports tournament and event management platform that already appears as a partner on HUG's website. Both serve the destination-event matching workflow, with EventConnect competing on the tournament/registration side of the same marketplace HUG's Scout tool targets.
• Connect Sports: Connect Sports is a media and events business focused on the sports tourism industry, including the Connect Sports Trade Show. Both serve the same DMO/CVB/event rights-holder buyer community and compete for influence over sports tourism decision-makers.

Broad incumbents

• SportsEngine (NBC Sports Next): SportsEngine is a comprehensive sports management platform covering registration, websites, and tournaments for sports organizations and events. Its tournament and event modules compete with Scout's matchmaking angle, and its tour/host-operator workflows overlap with HUG's facility feasibility work.
• Cvent: Cvent is a leading enterprise event management platform serving meeting planners, venues, and CVBs - the same buyer set HUG targets via its MICE-adjacent sports tourism work. It represents the broad incumbent threat if it deepens sports-specific functionality.
• Active Network / Community Brands: Active Network provides registration, league, and event management software used by sports commissions, parks & rec departments, and event organizers - the same stakeholder categories HUG serves. Its scale and incumbency make it a key platform substitute risk.
• Bizzabo: Bizzabo is a broader event experience platform targeting enterprise event organizers. While not sports-specific, it competes for the same sponsorship, exhibitor, and partnership management budgets that HUG addresses for sports tourism stakeholders.

Emerging players

• TeamSnap: TeamSnap is a sports team and league management platform with a large grassroots user base. Its tournament and travel features make it an emerging competitor in the destination-event connection workflow that HUG's Scout tool addresses.

Others

• Sports ETA (formerly NASC): Sports ETA is the trade association for the sports events and tourism industry, of which HUG's CEO is a former two-time chairman. It is a peer in the sense that both shape the sports tourism ecosystem, but it is an industry body, not a commercial competitor.
• Northstar Meetings Group: Northstar Meetings Group is a media and events company covering the meetings, incentives, and sports tourism industry. It is adjacent to HUG's world through shared MICE/sports tourism customers (DMOs, CVBs) and overlapping event-driven demand generation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HuddleUpGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/huddle-up-group-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Huddle Up Group