Sportstravel Podcast

If you went back to 1997, you would find a sports-event industry that was truly in its infancy. The National Association of Sports Commissions, now known as Sports ETA, was only a few years old itself at the time. It was a few years prior to that when Tim Schneider started to identify something interesting in the other magazine that he published called Association News. Why were so many sports organizations reading a magazine about association management, he wondered? The answer was that they were on the hunt for destinations and venues to host their events, and no other publication seemed to have information about those available locations and venues. Like the true entrepreneur he is, Schneider decided to come up with a product to fix that. While the magazine took a few years to materialize, that innovative thinking eventually led to issue one of SportsTravel, published 25 years ago in January 1997. In the years since, the magazine has grown with new departments and features, and has successfully made the l

The Women’s Final Four in Minneapolis was the biggest gathering in women’s college basketball since the pandemic began more than two years ago. And in the light of last year’s NCAA gender equity report, all eyes were on the destination to make sure that women’s sports were celebrated not only on the court and in the Target Center, but that the experience extended beyond the arena to every detail including how the city and NCAA partners treated the event — including where people stayed during the weekend. Julius Robinson, the senior vice president and global brand leader for Marriott Hotels, joined SportsTravel managing editor MattTraub on location in Minneapolis to discuss how Marriott plans for big events like the Women’s Final Four, what it’s like working with the NCAA as its official hotel partner, how important sports-related travel has been to Marriott's business the past two years, sports tourism trends the hotel chain has seen lately and what the one big sports event he still would like to check off h

There is nothing quite as valuable to sports organizations and destinations that host their events than data. And one of the leading organizations that has been diving into data analysis for years is the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. The association, whose members include sporting goods and fitness brands, manufacturers, retailers and maerkters, has one of the deepest data pools in the country, annually surveying Americans 6 years old and up about their levels of participation in a list of sports that now tops 120 different activities. Every year, the association issues a Topline Report detailing which of those sports and activities are on the upswing and which are headed down. Toss in a worldwide pandemic that has fundamentally shifted the way everyone participates in the activities they love and you’ve got a data set that is ripe for analysis and contemplation for all who organize sports events at all levels. Tom Cove has been the assocaition’s longtime president and CEO and his take on why some s

When the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced that it was moving its annual men's and women's conference basketball tournament to Baltimore after 13 years in Charlotte, North Carolina, it sent shockwaves shockwaves through the collegiate landscape. The event, which attracts about 100,000 people with an estimated economic impact of $50 million has become about much more than basketball or even economic development. The ancillary events surrounding the tournament that crowns champions from 12 Historically Black Colleges and Universities is a career expo, a party, a reunion, a cultural exploration, an experience. At the helm of the conference is someone who has seen her own success on the court and off — Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams. When she was hired nine years ago, she was the first Black women to lead a major collegiate conference. Today, she is one of four, progress that she says is not satisfying enough. [article_sidebar]Before joining the CIAA, McWilliams spent nearly a decade at the

The Sports and Fitness Industry Association has made it official in its latest trends report: pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country. Over the past two years, participation is up 39 percent, including an increase of more than 20 percent from 2019 to 2020 when the pandemic helped drive the sport’s appeal. Leading the charge on the sport’s growth is USA Pickleball, which boasts 50,000 members and a robust events series that is also gaining momentum. Stu Upson, a veteran of the sports-events industry has been CEO since December 2020 and is leading the organization into the future with new sponsorship deals, broadcast deals for its largest events and a steady hand as the sport navigates questions of a gap in venues and a rapid rise of manufacturers and others wanting in on the action. In addition, professional leagues are sprouting, including some that are inking impressive hosting deals in some of the largest sports venues in the country. In this conversation with SportsTravel Executive Editor a

Skiing and snowboarding have always been among the spotlight sports at the Olympic Winter Games and the 2022 Games in Beijing will be no different with MikaelaShiffrin and ChloeKim being among the biggest names for Team USA. But getting to Beijing and passing strict COVID protocols has been a hot topic in the Olympic world, among many others as China hosts another major sporting event. Named as the president and chief executive officer for U.S. Ski and Snowboard in September, SophieGoldschmidt joined the national governing body off a stint as CEO of the World Surf League, with international experience ranging from the NBA to the WTA Tour and the Rugby Football Union. Goldschmidt joined SportsTravel Senior Editor MattTraub recently for a conversation about the logistical hurdles that athletes will face to get to Beijing, health and safety protocols the organization has implemented this winter ahead of the Olympics, being the first female president and CEO of the national governing body, balancing the needs of

The Ironman Group has been a leader in mass participation events for years. The company’s portfolio now extends well beyond the Ironman triathlon series itself and includes the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series, the multi-day road cycling event series Haute Route and a strategic partnership with UTMB Group, which organizes ultra-trail running events. The company has also been expanding its virtual events during the pandemic and recently acquired the indoor virtual cycling app, FulGaz, to further push into the ever-growing world of connected fitness. After Ironman's in-person races dropped off the calendar at the start of the pandemic in 2020, they began coming back in 2021 and expectations are high for the 2022 calendar. In this conversation between Ironman Group CEO Andrew Messick and SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, Messick discusses how the race series brought back its events, the outlook for the coming year and how the organization uses its own proprietary CRM system to help determine future h

Indianapolis has hosted eight NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Fours and is known as one of the best college sports cities in the country. On Monday, January 10, it will for the first time host the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, becoming the first cold-weather city to host the event and the first city that does not have a regular bowl game to host the CFP. SusanBaughman has extensive experience in making big events special in Indianapolis as the senior vice president of the Indiana Sports Corp for more than two decades before taking the role as president for the CFP’s local host committee in Indianapolis. SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub talked with Baughman about planning for the CFP title game, what goes into the local leadup for such an event, how the CFP differs from the NCAA’s Final Four and much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As chief operating officer of Chicago Event Management, which organizes the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Mike Nishi has been the logistics lead for the race since 1990. What started out with 6,000 runners has grown to the one of the largest marathons in the world. In 2019, more than 45,000 people finished the race. After the 2020 race was forced to go virtual, the 2021 race on October 10 proved to be one of the most challenging in the event’s history as COVID regulations forced event organizers to operate differently than they had in the past. In doing so, the Chicago Marathon became the first of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors to be run in person since the pandemic began. In this episode, learn what it took to produce the race, how organizers handled COVID protocols, how organizers communicated with participants and what major takeaways Nishi has for event organizers and host cities staging their own events in a post-COVID world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Danny Martin has known esports for years even before the industry was calling itself esports. In college, he was the one who would fix video game consoles for his classmates when things broke down. That led to him organizing what were essentially esports tournaments from his dorm room or apartment, allowing him to assess all ends of what would be soon become an industry in itself. Martin sees the long-term play now for the esports industry in developing not only elite athletes that can play in the professional leagues, but all the behind-the-scenes professionals that make live events possible: broadcasters, videographers, graphic designers, coders, event organizers and more. Through his company, Esposure, he has built a technology platform and lab where each of these aspects of the industry can live under one roof. Esposure is a company based near Dallas that offers a curriculum designed for high school students wanting to dive into all these different specialities. And now they can do it in an actual venue,

Nashville Superspeedway reopened in June 2021 and was on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule for the first time this past season. Leading the track’s renaissance both within the Nashville and NASCAR communities is ErikMoses, a longtime leader in mid-Atlantic sports and entertainment circles with an extensive background in sports tourism as senior vice president at Events DC for more than a decade, He also worked as CEO of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission and as president of the XFL's DC Defenders. SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub talked with Moses during the Sports ETA Annual Symposium about building back Nashville Superspeedway’s reputation, planning a NASCAR weekend in the midst of the ongoing pandemic and the sport’s diversity efforts with Moses being the first Black executive of a track. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg Sankey has been the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference since 2015 and is generally regarded as one of the more powerful people in collegiate athletics, given the SEC’s dominance over college football. But Sankey’s career spans multiple regions and divisions across the NCAA, from working in Central New York as the director of intramural sports at Division III Utica College to the Southland Conference, where he was named commissioner in 1996 before joining the SEC in 2002. Though college athletics has experienced changes throughout the decades, this current period may rank among the most volatile ever. Between the debate about name, image and likeness, and the NCAA’s future, expansion of the college football playoff and more, Sankey and the SEC are at the center of it all — including the earth-shaking news in college sports this summer when it invited powerhouse programs Oklahoma and Texas to join the SEC, making it a future 16-team superleague. SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub talked with Sa

The San Francisco 49ers were one of the few NFL teams that did not have fans at a single home game last season because of the pandemic, finishing the season with its last two scheduled home games being played in Arizona. This year the 49ers have been able to play to capacity crowds at Levi’s Stadium while also opening a new club space and unveiling an innovative food and beverage program for season-ticket holders. As general manager of the stadium, Jim Mercurio has seen and just about done it all for the 49ers in his three decades with the organization, dating to the days of Candlestick Park and now the past several years at Levi’s Stadium, which has hosted not only the 49ers but a Super Bowl, CFP National Championship Game and WWE WrestleMania among other major events. SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub talked with Mercurio about health and safety at Levi’s Stadium this season, making sure event workers are up to speed on the latest protocols, preparing the stadium for an enhanced and updated fan experien

Greg Cruse is no stranger to surfing. He’s been participating in the sport since he was middle school-aged and was on one of the original high school surf teams in Huntington Beach, California, that was part of the genesis of the National Scholastic Surfing Association. He later became active in the administration of the sport for years, reorganizing Surfing America into USA Surfing when the organization earned national governing body in stats in 2017 in the lead up to the Tokyo Games. Surfing was one of several sports to make its Olympics debut in Tokyo but it’s of course not new to the sporting world. The question for surfing, though, like other new entrants to the program such as skateboarding and climbing that have their own unique cultures, is how the sports would adapt to the international requirements that the Olympics demand. The answer is that is adapted very well. Carissa Moore earned gold for the U.S. women, becoming the first athlete to win gold the sport at the Games. And while there were early c

In only a few months, it will be the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, one of only three destinations in the United States to have hosted the Winter Games. The 2002 Games was Utah’s introduction to the world and was held under high security with 9/11 having happened less than six months before the Opening Ceremony. The Games ended up turning a huge profit that led to the creation of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, which continues to this day, and every venue that was used in the 2002 Games remains operational. With that in mind, Salt Lake City will be bidding to host the Olympics again, either in 2030 or 2034. In this episode, SportsTravelSenior Editor MattTraub sat down with FraserBullock, the chief operating officer for the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and current president and chief executive officer of the Salt Lake City–Utah Committee for The Games that is bidding again to discuss the legacy of the 2002 event and Bullock'

USA Rugby has gone through a lot during the past year-plus. Not only was it dramatically affected by the pandemic like every other national governing body in the Olympic movement, it had to file for bankruptcy protection last year. Having come through the process with a streamlined operation, USA Rugby now looks ahead to the Olympic Summer Games, where it has men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams competing in Tokyo. USA Rugby has also announced it will move forward with proposals to host either the 2027 or 2031 men’s World Cup, along with the 2029 women’s World Cup. SportsTravel Senior Editor MattTraub talked with USA Rugby’s Chief Executive Officer RossYoung, about the state of rugby throughout the United States, the planning process toward bidding for a World Cup and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There have been many books written about sports. But not many books have focused on the fans themselves. In his new book “Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Understanding,” author Larry Olmsted details scientific studies that are proving the benefits of following sports not just on the health of the fans themselves, but on the communities that host those events. In this episode of the SportsTravel Podcast, SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz sits down with Olmsted to discuss the findings of these recent studies, learn why it is that sports fans in general are more happy, and what destinations and venues can take away to make the case for why the events they host are so important to the health of the community at large. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cal Ripken, Jr. is baseball's all-time Iron Man. He retired from the game in 2001 after a career that spanned 21 seasons. While he's best known for his incredible streak of 2,632 consecutive games played, he also redefined the position of shortstop before being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. In his post-playing career, one of his passions has been growing Ripken Baseball, a youth baseball organization that manages a group of sports complexes in Maryland, South Carolina and Tennessee, hosting a series of Ripken Experience events. Ripken Baseball will bring its Ripken Experience tournament play to The Legends Showdown in Round Rock, Texas, in partnership with Ryan Sanders Sports & Entertainment. Charged with leading Ripken Baseball’s growth is MikeKenney, a seasoned industry professional with experience with the Harlem Globetrotters and Comcast Spectator. SportsTravel Senior Editor MattTraub talked with Cal and Mike recently about expanding the Ripken brand into Texas, how Ripken Base

Scott O’Neil spent eight years working as the chief executive officer at Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, best known as the owners of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Under O’Neil’s leadership, HBSE grew into a sports and entertainment franchise that spans two professional teams, an esports business, the owner and operator of the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, along with the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex, the Sixers Innovation Lab and becoming one of the partners in Elevate Sports Ventures, a sports and entertainment agency. After nearly a decade of growth and innovation and almost more awards than one could list, O’Neil also released his first book, "Be Where Your Feet Are," in June. Those successes made it all the more surprising when at the end of June, O’Neil announced that he would be leaving HBSE. Two days after that announcement was made, he joined SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub on the SportsTravel Podcast to discuss what went into the decision, h

Jimmy Johnson coached the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories and the University of Miami to a national championship. In August, he’ll be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But he knows more than football. His pro fishing tournaments have become some of the biggest purses in the sport and are now expanding to new locations. This year, the Jimmy Johnson Quest for the Ring fishing tournament in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will mark the first of his events to be held outside the state of Florida. In this conversation with SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, Johnson discusses his love of both fishing and football. We also discuss some of the issues facing the league today and his upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame. Also, learn what it’s really like behind the scenes each week on “Fox NFL Sunday.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.