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SportsTravel Magazine
'Press Box' Presented by SportsTravel (May 2016)
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Los Angeles, CA – May 2016 / Newsmaker Alert / Each monthly issue of SportsTravel contains information from the Press Box. SportsTravel is the sports world’s event magazine.

Sports Organizations
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'Press Box' Presented by SportsTravel (May 2016)Jay Parry has been named chief operating officer of the Women’s National Basketball Association. Parry most recently served as president and CEO of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, overseeing planning for Super Bowl XLIX in 2015. Before the Super Bowl, she served as senior vice-president of brand and business development for the Phoenix Suns.

Phil Andrews has been named CEO of USA Weightlifting after serving as interim CEO since January. Andrews previously served as the national governing body’s director of events and programs, a position he had held since 2013. 

The Atlanta Braves have announced several organizational changes. Executive Vice-President Mike Plant has been named president of development; the team’s longtime president, John Schuerholz, has become vice-chairman; and Executive Vice-President Derek Schiller has been appointed president of business. The moves come as the team begins its final season at Turner Field. The Braves will move into SunTrust Park in 2017.

Pete Bevacqua has been granted a three-year extension as CEO of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. Bevacqua will serve through 2021. Before joining the PGA in 2012, he worked at the United States Golf Association for 11 years and served as the managing director of the U.S. Open Championship.

The North American Soccer League has expanded with the formation of the San Francisco Deltas, the league’s first West Coast team. The Deltas will take the field in 2017, playing their home games at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park.

Christina Alejandre has been appointed vice-president and general manager of ELeague, and Min-Sik Ko has been hired as commissioner to lead the development and strategy of the league’s inaugural season. ELeague, a competitive e-sports gaming league created through a partnership between Turner and WME|IMG, is expected to debut in May. Alejandre most recently served as a consultant for Electronic Sports League. Ko previously was in charge of the gaming and e-sports department at WME|IMG following the acquisition of Global eSports Management, a company he co-founded.

Hosts & Suppliers

Tom Noonan has been named president and CEO of the Austin (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau. Noonan most recently served as president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, and also spent nearly two decades working at the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Alex Shelton has been appointed vice-president of convention sales, services and sports at the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Convention & Visitors Bureau. Shelton most recently served as the vice-president of sales and marketing at Innovative Expo in Las Vegas. 

The Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau has announced the creation of a new entity within the bureau, to be called Fort Worth Sports Marketing. Leading the new initiative is Josh Dill, who serves as the director of sports marketing at the Fort Worth CVB.

Alexandra Collins has been named national sales manager of Visit Winston-Salem (North Carolina). Collins more recently served as group association sales manager at the city’s Twin City Quarter. Prior to that, she worked at the Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Jim Kissinger has retired as vice-president of sales at Visit Anaheim (California). Kissinger began working at the bureau in 1984 as a convention sales director. 

Ashlee Kirk has been hired as coordinator of the Greater Raleigh (North Carolina) Sports Alliance. She most recently served as industry relations manager for Visit North Carolina.

René Zondag has been appointed president of Peter Burwash International. Zondag most recently served as the tennis management company’s vice-president for the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Sites & Venues

Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine, will host the MEMIC Peak2Peak Challenge on September 10. The competition is the first event to be organized by the Maine Sports Commission. Racers will summit each of Sunday River’s eight peaks, choosing their own courses.

The 2017 and 2018 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It will mark the fourth and fifth times the championships will be held at Gillette Stadium. The Division I, II, and III Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be played May 27–29 in 2017 and May 26–28 in 2018.

Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows has been selected as a proposed host site of the 2017 FIS Alpine World Cup, which is scheduled for March 10–11, 2017. The International Ski Federation Congress is expected to make its final decision in June at the FIS congress meeting in Cancun. 

The Tiger Woods Foundation will become the new host organization of the PGA Tour’s historic tournament at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles starting in 2017. Woods, who grew up in the Los Angeles area and whose foundation is headquartered in nearby Irvine, will be actively involved in the tournament. 

Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, will host WrestleMania 33 on April 2, 2017. In addition, the Orange County Convention Center will host the interactive fan festival WrestleMania Axxess. The 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Monday Night Raw will both take place at the Amway Center.

USA Triathlon has announced that Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will host the 2017 Collegiate Club National Championships, the most competitive collegiate triathlon event in the country. The championships will be centered at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, with the swim in the Black Warrior River. 

The Breeders’ Cup will return to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2018. The prestigious thoroughbred championships will be held November 2–3, 2018, and will be televised live by NBC Sports Group.

Sponsors & Licensing

The National Women’s Soccer League has announced a national broadcast deal with Fox Sports. Under the one-year agreement, three regular-season matches and all three games of the NWSL Playoffs will air on Fox Sports 1. In addition, all six games will be streamed live on Fox Soccer 2Go, Fox Sports GO and FoxSportsGO.com. 

The NCAA has reached an eight-year, $8.8 billion extension of its multimedia rights agreement with CBS Sports and Turner to broadcast the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship through 2032. The new deal is an extension of a 14-year, $10.8 billion agreement signed in 2011 that had been set to expire in 2024. 

Major League Baseball has signed a multiyear agreement with Papa John’s, a pizza delivery company. Papa John’s will serve as the official pizza of MLB and will activate an integrated marketing and experiential campaign across MLB’s platforms, signature events and the Play Ball initiative. 

IndyCar has reached a multiyear partnership agreement with MillerCoors, making the brewer’s products the official beer and cider of IndyCar. Coors Light will serve as the lead brand of the partnership.

The Arena Football League has entered a partnership with auto insurer Geico through the 2018 season. The agreement gives Geico ownership of the newly branded Geico Blue Zones, and the Geico logo will be featured across the Geico Goal Line and throughout all AFL venues. 

The U.S. Olympic Committee has announced that Deloitte has renewed its sponsorship through 2020. Deloitte will continue to serve as the official services sponsor for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams through the Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 Games. 

NASCAR and Allegiant Air have entered a multiyear agreement, making the travel company the first official passenger airline of NASCAR. The airline will become the presenting sponsor of the NASCAR Goes West online campaign, and it will join the NASCAR Fuel for Business council. 

The North American Soccer League has announced a national broadcast television partnership with beIN Sports, making it the first North American professional league to team up with the global sports network. In the 2016 NASL season, a minimum of 34 matches will air on beIN Sports in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Additionally, each NASL match will be available online to authenticated viewers via beIN Sports Connect.

And Finally…

The University of California, Irvine, in Orange County, California, has announced the launch of an official e-sports initiative this fall, the first of its kind at a public research university. Plans include the construction of a state-of-the-art arena equipped with high-end gaming PCs, a stage for League of Legends competitions and a live webcasting studio at the campus’ student center. As many as 10 academic scholarships will be offered to students on the e-sports team.

This current issue of SportsTravel can be viewed in digital format online by clicking here.

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SportsTravel, the sports world’s event magazine, is published by Los Angeles-based Schneider Publishing Company, which also publishes Association News. Founded in 1997, SportsTravel was the first magazine to identify and serve the sports-related travel and event industry. Schneider Publishing organizes the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers. TEAMS ’16 will be held September 26–29, 2016, in Atlantic City. In addition, Schneider Publishing organizes the Meetings Quest trade-show series for corporate and association meeting planners. The travel markets served by Schneider Publishing generate 106 million hotel room nights annually. For more information, visit SchneiderPublishing.com or call toll-free 877-577-3700 or 310-577-3700 if dialing from outside the United States.
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Media Contact:
Timothy Schneider
310-577-3700
Schneider Publishing Company, Inc.

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Association News, Meetings Quest, SportsTravel and TEAMS are registered trademarks of Schneider Publishing.
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Publishing Dates: 05/17/16 – 07/17/16
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