Al,
Your pin is from around 1910-20. It has a wonderful history This was the era when civic and fraternal groups (as the Elks) would hold national conventions attended by thousands of their members. They weren't just your usual convention, but involved big-time staging and promotions. Cities would engage in heavy competition to host these conventions, given all the revenue they would bring in. The most prominent host cities were not New York or Chicago as we might imagine. The hotel rates were typically deemed too high for most conventioneers. So the conventions were held in cities large enough to accomodate throngs of attendees, but small enough not to gouge people financially. The great convention cities of the era were Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Cleveland. The city that hosted the most conventions was (of all places) Buffalo. Buffalo made its mark by having hosted a world expo in 1901, and became a favorite location for fraternal groups having their annual bash. These pins that state "_____ Next" were given out at the end of one year's convention, priming the attendees as to the location of the following year's affair. They were not intentionally sports related, but some sporting events would be scheduled by the host city to capitalize on all the people who would be visiting the city. For example, the National Boxing Association staged four fights in one day at the site of the 1925 Shriners conference. These "Next" pins also have a connection to major railroad lines of the day, as many convention attendees would arrive by train. The railroads would sometimes add extra cars to accomodate the many travelers.
Paul
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