Why doesn't Seattle host more major events? (Spokane, Bellevue: 2014, hotels)

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by sean98125

Most events don't require tens of millions of visitors, but they do require that the people who are interested in attending and participating can get there at reasonable expense and convenience. E3 would work in Seattle because we have a lot of game companies here and there aren't many other events like it.

What I'm saying is that we are whole day's journey away from the majority of people in the US. Places like Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, or Kansas City are only a half day or less of a trip for most people, and places like Philadelphia or New York or Boston are within a few hours drive for even more. LA draws big events because it has a great climate, it is the center of a lot of industries, and it has a massive manufacturing base.

Seattle is small, our region is lightly populated, and most travelers would be adding a full day if not two to their travel itinerary to get here.

Flying across the country with non-stop flights isn't that long though(if you have non-stop flights). And most people are going to fly anywhere that's longer than 4-5 hours away. Likewise Vancouver BC is in the same location as Seattle geographically and had no trouble attracting tons of people to the Winter Olympics. New Orleans manages to hold major events and is a much smaller city--and doesn't have a huge airport either.

Considering Seattle sells out regular season Seahawks games--it's not like filling up a stadium for the Super Bowl is hard.

More so the problems are that:

-It's seen as too cold and doesn't have a domed stadium for the Super Bowl. Though the stadium is large enough according to NFL policy and since New York hosted it attitudes towards colder locations might be changing.

-It's probably not really seen as a big enough city with enough venues to host the Summer Olympics. It doesn't have a ski venue fit to really hold an Olympic downhill nearby or other winter venues already to host a Winter Olympics(and Vancouver just hosted one)

-It's not seen as a big convention city compared to warmer weather destinations that sort of thrive off that industry(not good strip clubs either).

A big music festival? There's already Bumbershoot, which is sort of similar to Chicago's Lollapalooza(though a slightly different model). The Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge is the closest thing the Northwest to Coachella or Bonaroo.

Something like E3 could happen, and would be a natural fit.

[Garethe]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

This has been touched on many times before... but as a long time resident, surely you've heard of the "Seattle Process"? Seattle will sabotage itself on even deciding whether to take on those tasks. It's actually wise that the city doesn't take on the project... most of the success of the events planning come from private parties (like for example, the Seahawks parade/celebration).

Seattle process - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This times 500. It took a good 15 years (source: seattle times, 2007) to get a 3rd runway at Seatac, about average for the Seattle Process, but we're the laughing stock in other states. I worked for a company years back that couldn't renovate because of 2 trees on the property. I'm not taking sides on that, only pointing out how that looks to the decision makers in new york city, "are those the last 2 trees in washington state?" was their astonished reply, we appear like some backwater to them.

[509]

It is not fair to compare Seattle to Spokane.

Spokane has a great downtown, a fantastic urban park, a waterfall, plus great lodging and shopping. Everything is downtown in Spokane making the events walkable. You never need to get into your car!!

Spokane has always had a problem getting an event for the first time. After that, the events come back on their own since most of the people attending the event talk up Spokane. That happened with the NCAA and Ice tournaments.

Seattle is just NOT a pleasant place to visit.

[sll3454]

The Democratic Party invited Seattle to try to get its convention, but Seattle declined. To host the DNC a city must meet certain requirements, such as number of hotel rooms of a certain quality, and Seattle did not meet the requirements.

The 2015 U.S. Open (golf) will be here.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by 509

It is not fair to compare Seattle to Spokane.

Spokane has a great downtown, a fantastic urban park, a waterfall, plus great lodging and shopping. Everything is downtown in Spokane making the events walkable. You never need to get into your car!!

Spokane has always had a problem getting an event for the first time. After that, the events come back on their own since most of the people attending the event talk up Spokane. That happened with the NCAA and Ice tournaments.

Seattle is just NOT a pleasant place to visit.

That's a load of crap. Both cities are great places to visit. If Seattle wasn't great, it would never have hosted 5 Final Fours and numerous other events like the recent NCAA volleyball Final Four.

What Seattle needs is for the SODO arena to be built.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by sll3454

The 2015 U.S. Open (golf) will be here.

No, it will be in the Tacoma area.

[BATCAT]

It's not like Seattle doesn't have a convention center that's very active with all different sorts of events, year-round.

Plus Bumbershoot, which has grown to be huge, and all the other events hosted at the Seattle Center.

[Brookdale46]

Distance from wherever is a phony issue. LA/San Diego, Miami and Boston are also at the far corners [of the country] and they don't have any problems drawing huge events. They are larger, but the Miami and Boston areas are not THAT much larger than greater Seattle-Tacoma-Everett. And where to locate some of these events isn't necessarily decided by the local population base. How I wish we'd host a national political convention. The NW is the only area of the country never to have held one. Without a large enough arena, it can't happen. And we won't get an arena until we get an NBA or NHL team. But even more than that, I think we just don't have the want or desire to go through the hoops. We of course were stung by the WTO debacle. But I can just hear the groans and nasty letters to the editor as to why we'd need to hold a political convention, what with all the protesters it would bring to the city and the rioting that would ensue. When there are so many other issues to deal with. We very nearly lost the Mariners because there was so much opposition to building a new ball park. I remember many saying we had better things to do than help pay for a new ML ballpark. Exactly half voted for a new stadium, half against. We don't think outside the box. Olympic Games? LOL. We'd be the last city to want to host. We did have the Goodwill games, as mentioned, but that was a long time ago. Seattle is schizo. We're an odd city. Both left wing and right wing cities, rich and poor cities, go for these events, but not us. It seems half of the city wants these mega events, the other half doesn't. Which translates to not having them at all.

[DevanXL]

Originally Posted by sll3454

The Democratic Party invited Seattle to try to get its convention, but Seattle declined. To host the DNC a city must meet certain requirements, such as number of hotel rooms of a certain quality, and Seattle did not meet the requirements.

The 2015 U.S. Open (golf) will be here.

Seattle has enough hotel rooms for the dnc but just not an arena tohold the event. And yeah the is open will be here but tickets will be so expensive few people will actually have a chance to enjoy it. There is also alot of people who don't like to watch golf.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by DevanXL

Seattle has enough hotel rooms for the dnc but just not an arena tohold the event. And yeah the is open will be here but tickets will be so expensive few people will actually have a chance to enjoy it. There is also alot of people who don't like to watch golf.

You'd be surprised.

My mother lives in Bellevue where we have the perfect view of Mt. Rainer and the Newcastle golf club. I can still remember when it was all trees (where the club is located). When it officially opened and held a tournament, my youthful ignorance led me to believe that hardly anyone would show up. Well, maybe some old folks. Psssh, the amount of people that showed up and the variety in ages really surprised me.

It is the US Open... which is a very big deal. The popularity has never waned and its actually getting more popular. People will show up for that. The price of those tickets won't be a big deal. It's professional sports... seriously, tell me which professional sports league doesn't rape their fans and is actually affordable for the common man?