Tod Leiweke has been named COO of the National Football League. Leiweke had been CEO of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Following Leiweke’s resignation, Lightning President Steve Griggs was appointed CEO of the hockey team. Griggs has held leadership roles with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the Minnesota Wild and the Orlando Magic.

Derrick Walker has resigned as president of competition and operations at IndyCar. During his tenure, Walker assisted in securing Boston as a new event on the 2016 schedule and introduced the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2014. A search for his replacement is underway.

USA Field Hockey Executive Director Steve Locke has left the organization after five years. Locke was instrumental in establishing the “Home of Hockey” at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where the national team is based. A search is underway for his replacement.

The National Hockey League and Major League Baseball Advanced Media have entered a six-year partnership in digital media rights. The two organizations will collaborate on developing new digital products and platforms. Under the deal, MLBAM will provide digital infrastructure for the NHL website, including its seven international websites and 30 team sites.

Major League Lacrosse has announced the addition of the league’s ninth team, which will be called the Atlanta Blaze. The team, which will be based in Kennesaw, Georgia, will join league play for the 2016 season.

Tulsa Shock majority owner Bill Cameron has announced plans to relocate the WNBA team to the Dallas– Fort Worth area, stating that the Texas region “holds the greatest potential to achieve our long-term business objectives.”

In celebration of Major League Soccer’s 20th season, MLS Works, Adidas, the U.S. Soccer Foundation and Southern New Hampshire University have announced a partnership to build 20 mini-pitches in underserved communities in coordination with the 20 MLS clubs. The first such field was unvieled inconjunction with the Colorado Rapids at Richard Flores Magon Academy during the 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star game week.

The College Football Playoff has announced that it will expand its travel assistance program to offset costs for student-athletes’ parents or guardians to travel to the Playoff Semifinals this season, in addition to the National Championship. The $2,500 stipend per student-athlete is intended to help with expenses for hotel accommodations, travel and meals for up to 100 families from each participating institution.

The Pac-12 Conference has announced a yearlong celebration of the conference centennial, including marking the date of the official formation 100 years ago on December 2. The conference has released a commemorative logo and will offer special programming throughout the year.

Peter Burwash, the president of Peter Burwash International—the largest tennis instruction management company in the world—and SportsTravel’s “Leadership Coach” columnist, will become the 10th inductee into the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. As the sole 2015 inductee, Burwash will join earlier inductees Billie Jean King, Nick Bollettieri and Dennis Van der Meer.

Hosts & Suppliers

Johanne Bélanger has been named president and CEO of Tourism Toronto. For the past 10 years, Bélanger has served as president of Freeman Audio Visual Canada. Bélanger also served as chair of Tourism Toronto’s board of directors from 2012 to 2014 and has been a member of the board since 2009.

Chris O’Brien has been named director of sporting and special events at the Panama City Beach (Florida) Convention & Visitors Bureau. With more than 15 years of experience in the tourism industry, O’Brien has served as the senior sports marketing manager of the Naples, Marco Island & Everglades (Florida) Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Glen Allen has been named director of sports development at the Palm Beach County (Florida) Sports Commission. He previously worked at the Central Florida Sports Commission in Orlando where he spent five years overseeing event management, business development and presentations on behalf of Osceola County sports tourism.

VisitPittsburgh has extended its relationship with TSE Consulting. The international consulting firm will assist in the development of a sports commission.

MGM National Harbor in National Harbor, Maryland, has unveiled the design of its new guest rooms, which feature floor-to-ceiling windows as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology. The hotel is expected to open in 2016 and will offer 308 guest rooms, a casino with more than 125,000 square feet of space, 18,000 square feet of retail space and 27,000 square feet of meeting space.

Representatives of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism and the South Carolina Sports Alliance recently met with the leaders of the National Collegiate Athletic Association to thank them for lifting the nearly 15-year ban on the state bidding for championships following the removal of the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds. Cities in South Carolina are now eligible to host NCAA championship events.

Sites & Venues

The National Football League will return to Chicago for the 2016 NFL Draft, scheduled for April 28-30. The 2015 NFL Draft was held in Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, the first time an event was located outside of New York City in more than 50 years.

The U.S. men’s national soccer team will host five-time World Cup champion Brazil at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, September 8. The match will be televised on an ESPN network as well as on UniMas and the Univision Deportes network.

The United States Golf Association has awarded the 2022, 2023, and 2024 U.S. Open Championships to The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusettes, The Los Angeles Country Club in California and Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina, respectively. The 2022 event, to be held June 16–19, will be the fourth U.S. Open and 17th USGA championship hosted by The Country Club. The 2023 event will be played at The Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course June 15–18. The 2024 event, to be held June 13–16 on Pinehurst’s Course No. 2, will mark the fourth U.S. Open and 11th USGA championship at the venue.

The U.S. Figure Skating Eastern Sectional Synchronized Skating Championship will return to Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in January 2017. The venue also hosted the event in 2012 and 2014.

Las Vegas Events has reached an agreement with the Thomas & Mack Center to host the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for another 10 years. For 30 consecutive years, the Wrangler NFR has been held at the arena, which is undergoing a $72 million renovation. The event will take place December 3–12.

Sponsors & Licensing

Marriott International Inc. and the NBA have announced a partnership that will make the global lodging company the official hotel of several NBA events around the world, including NBA Global Games and NBA Canada Series 2015. The partnership tipped off in August at NBA Africa Game in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The National Hockey League has announced a five-year renewal of its North American partnership with Bridgestone, which will continue as the official tire of the NHL and title sponsor of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor game. The 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will mark Bridgestone’s seventh year as title sponsor.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority has become an official partner of the 35th America’s Cup. The agreement includes prominent branding at each America’s Cup venue in 2015, 2016 and 2017, as well as commercial airtime promoting Bermuda on U.S. television broadcasts on NBC Sports of the America’s Cup in 2017.

Sherwin-Williams will serve as the official paint and finishings partners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and the Verizon IndyCar Series.

DraftKings and Major League Soccer have announced a new multiyear partnership, making DraftKings the exclusive daily fantasy sports destination of MLS in the United States and Canada. DraftKings has also partnered with International Speedway Corp., making it the official daily fantasy sports provider of ISC motorsports entertainment facilities.

Under Armour has been named the official performance partner of USA Boxing and will provide athletes at all levels of competition with apparel and footwear for the next six years, including the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.

The Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati has renewed its title sponsorship with Western & Southern Financial Group through 2017. The multimillion-dollar deal ensures that the relationship remains the longest title sponsorship run among the nine worldwide ATP Masters 1000 events, a tenure that will reach 16 years in 2017.

SunEdison, a renewable energy development company, has become the official solar energy partner of NASCAR Green. Over the next three years, the partnership will build on the expanded use of solar technology across the sport, particularly at team shops and tracks.

And Finally…

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Actually, it’s just a wingsuit flyer, and spectators can catch a glimpse of nearly 100 of them at the first United States Parachute Association National Championships of Wingsuit Flying. The championships include two events: performance flying, in which individual competitors are judged on longest flight, farthest distance and fastest horizontal speed; and acrobatic flying, in which teams of two flyers and a videographer play a game of aerial tag. Free and open to the public, the championships will be held at Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Rochelle, Illinois, September 29–October 4.

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

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, which will be held November 9–12 in Las Vegas. 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.
|
Media Contact:
Timothy Schneider
310-577-3700
Schneider Publishing Company, Inc.