The Playeasy Warmup is back with a new format, kicking off each episode with a quick roundup of what’s happening across Playeasy and the sports tourism industry.

In this episode, Kerri sits down with Matt Jeschelnik, Founder of Boulder Creek International, to talk about what makes a destination stand out to an event organizer – and why the opportunity around an event can extend far beyond the venue.

From launching the World Darts Masters in Las Vegas to building media and distribution into events from day one, Matt shares what he looks for in a host destination, why relationships matter, and how storytelling, fan experience and media can help create lasting value.

They also look at the growth of unconventional sports, the power of multi-year partnerships and what’s next for the events Matt is building around the world.

Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to the new Playeasy Warmup
03:02 Meet your co-hosts
04:03 How the weekly roundup works
04:31 Weekly wins: Compass Advisor's first customers
05:53 Weekly wins: Decatur Morgan County and Rock the South
07:33 Weekly wins: Biltmore Championship in Asheville
09:28 Event organizers: new organizers join Playeasy
10:10 Event organizers: national bids from USA Track and Field, Triton and NJCAA
10:56 Unique events on the platform and the first shoutout
12:26 Shoutouts: Visit Salt Lake and World Climbing
13:10 Shoutouts: Snohomish County and the new SS2 complex
14:19 On your radar: NJCAA's 18 championship RFPs
14:59 On your radar: Advisor playbooks
16:26 On your radar: Innovators Summit 2027 and TEAMS
18:24 Co-host takeaways from the conversation
19:52 Introducing Matt Jeschelnik
20:33 Today's episode is presented by Compass Advisor and AI Playbooks
22:33 Conversation with Matt Jeschelnik of Boulder Creek International
22:50 From law to National Geographic to sports rights
24:48 What Boulder Creek International does
26:19 What makes an event opportunity worth building
27:30 What he looks for in a host destination
29:27 What translates across every sport
32:21 Launching the World Darts Masters in Las Vegas
34:03 Lessons from the first event
37:10 What great destination partners do differently
40:32 Using Playeasy to grow events
42:17 Where events, media and tourism meet
44:22 Telling a destination's story beyond the sport
47:26 Building media and distribution into an event from day one
49:01 Where sports still thinks too traditionally
51:37 What the US can learn from other markets
54:03 What he's most excited about next
55:51 A year from now
57:46 How to connect with Matt