Tournament Series & Team Travel Management Services

The Carolina Premier Soccer League (“CPSL” or the “League”) is a competitive youth soccer league operating across North Carolina, organizing league play and a series of championship and playoff tournaments for boys and girls teams ranging from U13 through U19. CPSL is seeking proposals from qualified companies (“Proposers”) to serve as the League’s official Tournament Operations and Team Travel Management Partner (the “Partner”).

CPSL’s tournament series draws teams from across North Carolina and neighboring states, with a significant percentage of participating teams traveling from outside a 90-mile radius of each host venue. This creates substantial demand for hotel accommodations, group travel logistics, and on-site tournament support at each event.

Through this Request for Proposal (“RFP”), CPSL intends to identify a partner (or partners) to manage (a) the operational execution of CPSL’s annual tournament series, and/or (b) the official travel and housing program for visiting teams, families, and staff. CPSL’s preference is to engage a single company, or a lead company with subcontracted partners, capable of providing both components as a turnkey solution; however, CPSL will also accept and evaluate proposals from companies that wish to bid on only one component — either Tournament Operations Management or Team Travel & Housing Management — as described in Section 2.1. CPSL’s goal is to establish a long-term partnership that improves the participant and family experience, protects host-venue and hotel relationships, and provides CPSL with reliable reporting and financial accountability.

CPSL is issuing this RFP to select a Partner that can provide comprehensive, turnkey management of the following:

• Tournament operations for all CPSL-hosted events listed in Section 4, including scheduling support, check-in/credentialing, field and venue-day operations coordination, officials and staffing coordination (in partnership with CPSL and host venues), and on-site tournament management.
• Official housing and travel management for all CPSL tournaments, including hotel sourcing and contracting, an official “stay-to-play” or preferred-hotel program (if applicable), booking platform/website for team and family reservations, rooming list management, and on-site travel support.
• Reporting, compliance, and account management throughout the term of the agreement, including performance metrics, financial reconciliation, and post-event recaps.

CPSL’s key objectives for this partnership are to:

• Provide a seamless, professional booking and travel experience for the 300+ traveling teams across CPSL’s 2026–27 event calendar.
• Secure competitive hotel rates and concessions (comp rooms, meeting space, hospitality) in each host market.
• Reduce the administrative burden on CPSL staff and volunteers for on-site tournament-day logistics.
• Protect CPSL’s relationships with host venues, municipalities, and sports commissions/CVBs in each market.
• Establish clear, measurable performance metrics that support a multi-year renewal relationship.

2.1 Proposal Options — Full-Service or Single-Component

CPSL recognizes that not every qualified company provides both tournament operations and travel/housing services. Proposers may respond to this RFP under any one of the following three options:

• Option A – Full-Service Proposal: covers both Tournament Operations Management (Section 5.1) and Team Travel & Housing Management (Section 5.2), plus the shared Technology and Reporting requirements in Sections 5.3–5.4.
• Option B – Tournament Operations Only: covers Tournament Operations Management (Section 5.1) only, addressing the pre-event planning and on-site operational needs for all five events in Section 4.
• Option C – Team Travel & Housing Only: covers Official Travel & Housing Management (Section 5.2) only, addressing hotel sourcing, the booking platform, and rooming list management for all five events in Section 4.

Proposers responding under Option B or Option C should address only the Technology and Reporting items in Sections 5.3–5.4 that are relevant to their proposed scope. CPSL may, at its sole discretion, award this engagement to a single full-service Partner, or to two separate Partners — one for tournament operations and one for travel/housing — depending on which combination of proposals best serves CPSL’s needs. Proposers must clearly state which option (A, B, or C) they are responding to on the cover page and in the cover letter of their proposal (see Section 7).

The initial term of the agreement resulting from this RFP will run from September 2026 through June 2027, encompassing pre-event planning for the 2026–27 season and all events listed in Section 4. CPSL anticipates the opportunity to renew the agreement for successive one-year (or multi-year) terms, contingent upon the Partner meeting the performance metrics and service standards defined in the resulting agreement and evaluated in the annual review described in Section 8.

The Partner will be responsible for tournament operations and travel/housing management for each of the following five (5) CPSL events during the contract term. Team counts and out-of-market percentages are estimates based on prior-season participation and are subject to change.

Note: The May 1–2 and May 15–16 weekends each involve two simultaneous events in different host cities. Proposers should describe their capacity and staffing model for supporting concurrent, geographically separate events on the same weekend.

This section describes the full scope of services CPSL is seeking. Section 5.1 (Tournament Operations Management) applies to Proposers responding under Option A (Full-Service) or Option B (Tournament Operations Only). Section 5.2 (Official Travel & Housing Management) applies to Proposers responding under Option A or Option C (Team Travel & Housing Only). Sections 5.3 (Technology & Communications) and 5.4 (Reporting & Account Management) apply to whichever component(s) a Proposer is proposing.

5.1 Tournament Operations Management

The Partner will support CPSL staff in the planning and on-site execution of each event listed in Section 4, including but not limited to:

• Pre-event operational planning in coordination with CPSL and each host venue (Matthews Sportsplex, OrthoCarolina Sportsplex, WRAL Soccer Park, nCino Sports Park, and J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex).
• Team check-in, credentialing, and roster/pass verification support.
• On-site event-day operations staffing (information tent/HQ, way-finding/signage support, medical and weather-contingency coordination in partnership with venue and CPSL medical staff).
• Coordination of officials’ logistics (hotel, transportation, and check-in) where applicable, in partnership with CPSL’s assignor(s).
• Communication support for schedule changes, weather delays, and bracket updates to coaches, teams, and families.
• Post-event operational recap and after-action report for each event.

5.2 Official Travel & Housing Management

The Partner will serve as CPSL’s official housing and travel partner, responsible for:

• Sourcing, negotiating, and contracting hotel room blocks in each host market sufficient to accommodate the estimated out-of-market team counts in Section 4, plus family/spectator demand.
• Negotiating rates, concessions (comp rooms, staff rooms, meeting/hospitality space, attrition and cancellation terms), and cutoff dates favorable to CPSL, teams, and families.
• Providing a branded, mobile-friendly online booking platform allowing teams and families to reserve rooms directly within CPSL’s official hotel program.
• Where CPSL adopts a “stay-to-play” or verified-housing policy, administering booking verification and compliance monitoring, and reporting non-compliant bookings to CPSL.
• Managing team rooming lists and transmitting final rooming lists to host hotels ahead of each event.
• Providing a dedicated travel/housing support contact for teams and families before and during each event, including on-site support for check-in issues, overflow, and last-minute changes.
• Monitoring and reporting room-block pickup, attrition risk, and any hotel-relationship issues to CPSL in advance of each cutoff date.
• Managing commission, rebate, or revenue-share arrangements with contracted hotels, and disclosing all such arrangements to CPSL in the Partner’s proposal and ongoing reporting.

5.3 Technology & Communications

• A team/family-facing booking website or app reflecting current CPSL branding for each event.
• Reporting dashboard accessible to CPSL staff showing real-time booking pickup, room-block status, and compliance (if a stay-to-play policy is used).
• Integration or coordination with CPSL’s existing tournament scheduling and registration systems (Proposers should describe current integration capabilities, e.g., GotSport, TourneyMachine, or similar platforms used by CPSL).

5.4 Reporting & Account Management

• A dedicated account manager serving as CPSL’s single point of contact for the duration of the agreement.
• Pre-event planning calls/meetings for each of the five events in Section 4.
• Post-event reporting including: total room nights booked and picked up, out-of-market team compliance (if applicable), financial reconciliation of any commission/rebate revenue owed to CPSL, and a summary of any operational or hotel-relationship issues.
• An annual season-end report summarizing performance against the metrics defined in Section 8, to inform CPSL’s renewal decision.

At minimum, Proposers should demonstrate:

Proposers responding to a single component (Option B or Option C, as described in Section 2.1) should demonstrate the qualifications below only as they relate to their proposed component.

• A minimum of three (3) years of experience providing tournament operations and/or official housing management services for youth or amateur sports events of comparable or larger scale.
• Demonstrated experience managing hotel room blocks and “stay-to-play” style housing programs for multi-day, multi-team tournaments.
• Existing hotel relationships and/or sourcing capability in the Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Wilson/eastern North Carolina markets.
• Financial stability and sufficient staffing capacity to support concurrent events in different cities on the same weekend (see Section 4).
• References from at least three (3) comparable youth or amateur sports clients, ideally including soccer leagues, clubs, or associations of similar scope.
• Appropriate insurance coverage (general liability, and any additional coverage required for on-site event operations).

Proposals should be organized as follows and should not exceed 20 pages, excluding appendices. Proposers responding to Option B or Option C may omit or mark “Not Applicable” for any item below that does not pertain to their proposed component (e.g., a Tournament Operations Only Proposer may omit the Hotel Sourcing Approach section):

• Cover Letter — summarizing the Proposer’s interest and qualifications, and clearly stating which proposal option the Proposer is submitting: Option A (Full-Service), Option B (Tournament Operations Only), or Option C (Team Travel & Housing Only), as described in Section 2.1.
• Company Overview — history, ownership structure, relevant experience, and organizational chart for the proposed CPSL account team.
• Scope of Services Response — a narrative response to each item in Section 5 applicable to the Proposer’s selected option, including the Proposer’s proposed approach to tournament operations and/or housing/travel management for each of the five events in Section 4.
• Hotel Sourcing Approach — methodology for identifying and contracting hotels in each host market, including sample rate/concession terms the Proposer would expect to secure.
• Technology Overview — description of the booking platform, reporting dashboard, and any integrations with CPSL’s existing systems.
• Staffing Plan — including the proposed account management team and on-site event staffing plan, with specific attention to the concurrent-event weekends identified in Section 4.
• Fee Structure — a complete and transparent fee proposal, including any commission, rebate, or revenue-share arrangement with hotels, management/service fees to CPSL, and any pass-through costs to teams or families.
• References — at least three (3) client references, including contact information and event scope.
• Sample Reporting — an example of a post-event report or dashboard output from a comparable client engagement.
• Insurance & Compliance — certificates of insurance or a summary of current coverage.

CPSL will evaluate proposals based on the following weighted criteria:

For Proposers submitting a single-component proposal (Option B or Option C, per Section 2.1), CPSL will apply the criteria above only to the extent they are relevant to the proposed scope (for example, hotel sourcing strength will not be scored for a Tournament Operations Only proposal), with weights adjusted proportionally among the applicable criteria.

Following contract award, the Partner’s performance will be evaluated against metrics that will be defined in the resulting agreement, which are expected to include: room-block pickup rates, stay-to-play compliance rates (if applicable), on-time delivery of pre- and post-event reporting, responsiveness to CPSL and team/family inquiries, and absence of material hotel-relationship or venue complaints. These metrics will form the basis for CPSL’s decision to renew the agreement beyond the initial term.

Questions regarding this RFP should be submitted in writing to Neil Orridge at neil@carolinapremiersoccerleague.com. Proposals should be submitted electronically no later than 5pm EST on September 11, 2026. Late or incomplete proposals may not be considered.

• This RFP does not commit CPSL to award a contract, pay any costs incurred in preparing a proposal, or procure or contract for services.
• CPSL reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to negotiate with any Proposer, and to waive minor irregularities in proposals received.
• CPSL may, at its sole discretion, award this engagement to a single full-service Partner (Option A) or to two separate Partners under Options B and C, and reserves the right to negotiate scope, staffing, and terms accordingly with each awarded Partner.
• CPSL reserves the right to request additional information, clarification, or a finalist presentation from any Proposer prior to final award.
• All proposals become the property of CPSL and may be subject to internal review by CPSL’s Board and event committee.
• The selected Partner will be required to execute a formal services agreement incorporating the scope of services, fee structure, performance metrics, and terms described in this RFP and the Partner’s proposal.
• The Partner will be required to maintain insurance coverage as specified in the final agreement and to comply with all applicable host-venue, municipal, and state requirements at each event location.

For questions regarding this RFP, please contact: