Sportstravel Podcast

Rob Stull was elected president of the International Modern Pentathlon Union in November 2024, a four-year tenure that includes the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. Stull was an alternate to the 1984 U.S. Olympic modern pentathlon team, competed in both fencing and modern pentathlon at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, then competed in modern pentathlon at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Starting at the LA28 Games, modern pentathlon will replace equestrian riding with obstacle racing after a long process that took several years. Modern pentathlon is a five-sport event that, for 2028, will include fencing, freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, laser pistol shooting and cross-country running. We discussed the lead-up to LA28, Stull’s work at the international federation since being elected president and much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Kemp may be the perfect person to be at the helm at the Lakeshore Foundation. As you’ll hear in this episode, his passion for the adaptive sports community isn’t just professional. It’s personal. Born without arms and legs, Kemp had to adjust at an early age to his surroundings, and managed to play baseball even if his career may not have been worthy of the Hall of Fame as he’ll discuss. He has, however, gone on to a Hall of Fame career when it comes to advocacy for the disability movement. His previous leadership roles include serving as the national executive director of United Cerebral Palsy Associations, president and CEO of VSA Arts and VSA Arts International, and as general counsel and vice president of development for the National Easter Seal Society, among others. In 1995, he co-founded the American Association of People with Disabilities. He recently served as president and CEO of the Viscardi Center and Henry Viscardi School in New York. But in 2021, he was named preside

Major League Cricket returned to Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, over the Fourth of July weekend for a series of T20 cricket matches featuring the league’s six franchises from New York, Texas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington. The stadium in Lauderhill was one of the sites that was used for the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup, of which Johnny Grave was the chief executive officer. Grave took over the position of CEO at Major League Cricket in the league’s offseason and joins the podcast to talk about the sport’s growth in the United States and plans to further that growth, being part of the LA28 Olympic program and much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under the direction of Bob Kendrick, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City has become a must-see venue for fans of baseball and American history. It chronicles the journey of black baseball players and coaches, highlighting the elite-level competition the Negro Leagues provided. The museum is currently 10,000 square feet, but Kendrick has started the “Pitch for the Future Campaign” to raise $35 million to build a new, larger museum. Kendrick has also become somewhat of a celebrity in recent years thanks to his appearances on the video game MLB The Show, in which he narrates a special Negro Leagues storyline.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ray Allen played 18 seasons in the NBA and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018. Allen was a 10-time NBA All-Star and won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States men's basketball team. In 2021, he was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, having won two NBA championships, one with the Boston Celtics and one with the Miami Heat. Leroy Arrington is General Manager at ESPN Wide World Of Sports In Disney World and leads the operations, strategy and guest experience at one of the largest and most prestigious multi-sport venues in the world. They joined the Podcast for a recording over Memorial Day Weekend about being a sports dad, the youth sports scene, organizing events at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ed McCaffrey has long known success on the football field. From his college days in Stanford, where he met his wife who was an accomplished soccer player for the university as well, to his playing days with the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos from 1991 through 2003, his career found him as teammates with other legends of the sport and in rare company. His Super Bowl win with the 49ers and two victories with the Broncos put him in the game’s elite — plus a fourth ring from the Broncos as a team broadcaster during their most recent victory at Super Bowl 50. But it was Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego when the Broncos upset the favored Green Bay Packers — think John Elway helicoptering his way into the end zone — that put the Colorado franchise over the hump after several tough Super Bowl losses years earlier. After his playing days, McCaffrey stayed involved in the sport, coaching at the high school and college level in Colorado and raising four sons who played colle

SportsTravel’s coverage of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, which will be the biggest ever with 48 teams and 16 host cities spread across three countries, has been extensive. Throughout the process from FIFA’s visiting host city candidates, to the day of the announcement in July 2022 of which cities will host games and an inside view of what it was like, SportsTravel has detailed the saga ahead of the schedule announcement in early February. [article_sidebar]To say that soccer and enterprise are in Dan Hunt’s blood would be putting it lightly. Son of late American sports icon Lamar Hunt, whose legacy includes founding the American Football League, the Kansas City Chiefs, Major League Soccer and World Championship Tennis, Dan Hunt brought FC Dallas to Frisco, Texas, and made Toyota Stadium a reality. Hunt not only is president of FC Dallas, but he was also chair of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Dallas Bid Committee. In this episode, he discusses the Hunt family legacy, what the World Cup will m

For decades, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association has been polling Americans about their participation levels in more than 100 sports and activities. The data, released annually in their Topline Participation Report, breaks those numbers down by individual sports and activities, types of sports like water sports, winter sports or racquet sports, and also by gender, age and income levels. The result is an incredibly comprehensive look at who is playing what and what the barriers might be for others based on their gender, age and income levels among other factors. Their latest report, whose research was led by senior director and head of research Alex Kerman — our guest on this episode — is filled with interesting data. [article_sidebar]As far as the headlines go, the great news is that people are moving more. For the first time, the report concluded that over 80 percent of Americans are active in something, which means they participate in one of those sports or activities at least once las

Laura Gainor’s background in pickleball is significant, as she was around the sport in some of its earlier days before it became a national phenomenon. During her time in marketing at USA Pickleball, she witnessed first-hand how the sport was taking off. Today, of course, the numbers speak for themselves. In last year’s Topline Participation Report produced by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, the group’s researchers reported that pickleball grew 58 percent in participation in the previous year. And over the past three years, that participation has grown by some 223 percent. As a result, brands are looking to get involved with the sport any way they can and event organizers are searching for ways to activate a pickleball experience around their events as well. And development is coming in, too. Entire communities around the country are being planned with pickleball courts in mind to allow people more access to play. Gainor saw the writing on the wall for all these trends and lau

Travis Murphy’s work background is a fascinating one, and one that you may not realize is a key component of the sports industry behind the scenes. Before starting his company Jetr Global Sport + Entertainment, he previously served as the senior director of international government affairs for the National Basketball Association. In that role, he helped thousands of NBA, WNBA, 2K, G League, and Basketball Africa League teams, players, staff and their families navigate the complicated world of global travel. He also managed the NBA’s relationships with the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and other government institutions, working with those government partners to create sustainable basketball initiatives both domestically and abroad. In that regard, he also played a key role in the release of Brittney Griner from her detainment in Russia in 2022. Murphy has extensive international experience, having served as a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, working at embassie

The team at SportsTravel has racked up thousands of miles this past year in the name of sports-related travel, attending sporting events at all levels from youth tournaments to the Olympic Games and the Super Bowl. Along the way, we’ve assembled some observations of those events and the logistics behind them. In this conversation, Executive Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, Managing Editor Matt Traub and Associate Editor Justin Shaw recap some of what stood out to them and stories in the industry that resonated as well. And they’ll take out the crystal ball for some thoughts on trends they’re watching in 2025, events they’re looking forward to as well as some bold predictions for the industry and some teams they think might win it all in the year ahead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At this year’s TEAMS Conference, Indianapolis was announced as the winner of Best Host City at the SportsTravel Awards. Since July of 2023, Indianapolis has hosted events that total an estimated $500 million in economic impact, including the 2023 Big Ten Football Championship, the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, the 2024 NFL Combine, 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds, and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming. And there’s plenty more still to come the rest of this year and in the future. Leonard Hoops and Patrick Talty join the podcast to discuss the Big Ten Conference, look back at some of 2023’s biggest events and look ahead to 2025 while also talking about how Visit Indy and the Indiana Sports Corp work together on events. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After serving as chief executive officer of USA Weightlifting for nearly 10 years, Phil Andrews was appointed USA Fencing CEO in August 2022 to oversee the national governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of fencing in the United States. This past summer, USA Fencing won four medals overall at the Olympic Summer Games in Paris, including its first ever team Olympic gold in women’s foil and Lee Kiefer repeating as women’s foil gold medalist in an all-American gold medal match against Lauren Scruggs. With the LA28 Games four years away, it’s a big time in the U.S. Olympic sports movement and Phil discusses what USA Fencing has planned to capitalize on its Paris success, how it puts together an events calendar and what it looks for in partners and much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The NCAA is in a transformative era and that includes its championship landscape. Acrobatics and tumbling, equestrian, rugby, stunt, triathlon and women's wrestling are working their way through the NCAA’s Emerging Sports for Women program with the hopes of gaining enough university participation to become NCAA championships — with some on the cusp of joining the ranks. In this recording from the TEAMS Conference & Expo held recently in Anaheim, the leaders of these efforts discuss where they are in the process and what destinations can do now to help build out other events leading up to a championship, including camps, clinics and combines.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, Geoff Freeman is the leading advocate for the more than $1 trillion U.S. travel and hospitality industry. In this role, he is charged with positioning the industry to seize emerging opportunities and further establishing travel as a vital economic force in the United States. Before taking over at U.S. Travel, Freeman was president and CEO of the Consumer Brands Association, the trade association for America’s $2.1 trillion food, beverage and consumer products industry. And before that, he served five years as president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. So his background in lobbying for interests of various industries is substantial, including, of course, the travel industry. He’s also a father of three who has made the circuit of amateur sports travel, so he knows what he speaks when he discusses the sports-related travel market. Now, with some of the world’s most high-profile events headed to the United States over the next decade, including the

Ezra Frech was born a congenital amputee but started off his athletic career mostly competing against non-disabled athletes. It was when he was 8 years old that his father took him to his first para competition, and given that support, he was able to perform at his highest level. After that day, Ezra and his father made a promise to each other that they would bring para events to Southern California, and with that, Angel City Sports was born. Angel City Sports is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that provides year-round adaptive sports opportunities for kids, adults and veterans with physical disabilities or visual impairments. And now, Frech is a Paralympic gold medalist, having won the 100 meters and the high jump T63 at the Paris Games. This interview, recorded before the Games through the P&G Athletes for Good Fund, discusses his preparations ahead of his trip and competition in Paris, his work in the Paralympic space, his hopes for the 2028 Paralympic Summer Games in Los Angeles and much more.See omnyst

Like many Olympians and Paralympians, Susannah Scaroni has had to overcome her share of challenges. In her case, a car accident at the age of 5 caused her to need a wheelchair for mobility, a journey that led her to adaptive sports. Her initial experience was not positive. But when she discovered a welcoming adaptive sports program in Spokane, Washington, her interest grew. As her training grew, so did her accomplishments. And eventually that led to a spot on the Paralympic team at the 2012 London Games in the marathon, which has become something of a specialty. She competed again in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020 and in Paris will compete in her fourth Paralympic Games, having qualified for the marathon, the 800 meter, the 1500 meter and the 5000 meter races. While she has traveled the world competing in some of the biggest events around, the process has not been easy, and still poses challenges. Not all event organizers are doing the best they can to accommodate adaptive sports athletes, even at events as la

You may not immediately recognize the name Danny Boy O’Connor. But if you’ve turned on a radio or attended an in-person sports event in the last 30 years you certainly know his music. As a co-founder of the group House of Pain, he was on the ground floor of the group’s biggest crossover hit, “Jump Around.” As you’ll hear in this conversation, he was a connoisseur of music growing up in New York and then Los Angeles. He also was immersed in hip hop culture, including the breaking scene. So when the sports version of break dancing takes center stage in Paris, he’ll be watching with keen interest. In this episode we’ll talk a bit about what breaking has meant to him and what it continues to mean to participants around the world. But we’re also going to talk a surprising amount about tourism, specifically what O'Connor has accomplished in an effort to preserve the legacy of the book and movie version of “The Outsiders.” Years after House Pain, he found himself on tour through Tulsa where the book was based, and f

Dan Butterly has been the commissioner of the Big West Conference since July 1, 2020. He took the job at a time when Covid was wreaking havoc on the sports landscape and led the conference through uncertain times. Butterly has negotiated a large streaming contract with ESPN-plus and has ambitious designs for the future of the conference and its athletics. He is a member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Competition and Oversight Committees, and the NCAA Council Working Group on NIL. In this episode, Butterly discusses the ever-changing worlds of NIL and conference realignment, how the Big West can capitalize from the demise of the Pac-12, getting his conference more exposure, and what went into the decision to move the men's and women's basketball championship tournaments from California to Henderson, Nevada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lionel Messi effect in his second season with Inter Miami is well underway in Major League Soccer, which has had five matches this season with an attendance of more than 60,000 or higher. MLS’ total attendance is up 13 percent compared to the same date last season and with the Copa America ongoing, the international club competition will segway into one of Major League Soccer’s main in-season points of emphasis, the Leagues Cup matching up each team from MLS and Liga MX in Mexico. Executive Vice President Camilo Durana joined the podcast recently to discuss the state of the league, the upcoming second annual Leagues Cup, MLS’ developing relationship with Liga MX, broadening the league’s reach through Soccer United Marketing, and upcoming FIFA events in the U.S. highlighted by the 2026 World Cup and of course the effect of Messi within the league’s international reputation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.