Sportstravel Podcast

The NCAA Men’s Final Four, for the fourth time in its history, will be held in Houston starting with the semifinals on Saturday and the championship game on Monday. For the third time the games will be at NRG Stadium, home of the NFL’s Texans and host to many events each year. The venue will also host the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship and be one of the host cities for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub talked with Janis Burke and Holly Kesterson from the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority about the planning that has gone into this weekend’s events both on and off the court, working with the NCAA for years leading up to Saturday, civic engagement throughout the community, the hardest parts about putting on the event and what it means for the city to be the site for Jim Nantz to end his tenure as the play-by-play voice of the Men’s Final Four.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Motley has worked in the Las Vegas events and tourism industry for more than 20 years. She has held various roles in her six-plus years at Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. As senior director of sports and special events, Motley works tirelessly to bring all sizes of sporting events to Las Vegas. She was instrumental in organizing the 2022 NFL Draft, and has held a large role in securing some of the biggest sporting events in the world for Sin City. This November, Las Vegas will host Formula 1 for the first time, and then three months later will welcome Super Bowl LVIII to Allegiant Stadium. In this conversation with SportsTravel Associate Editor Justin Shaw, we talk with Motley about what it takes to bring these massive events to Las Vegas, and what to expect from the city as a host. We also discuss all of the college basketball action in Las Vegas, including this year's NCAA Men's West Regional Final and the 2028 Men's Final Four. Motley also divulges the one event that she still wants to ch

One of the biggest sports in each Olympic Summer Games is swimming, which has been part of the Olympic program since 1896. But what casual fans of swimming may not realize is that the sport’s international governing body, World Aquatics, also oversees water polo, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving throughout the world. The international federation has been around for decades but recently underwent a dramatic rebranding from FINA to World Aquatics. One of the leaders of the federation is American Brent Nowicki, who has been executive director at World Aquatics since June 2021 after spending more than eight years at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub talked with Nowicki recently about the organization’s rebranding, the international scene especially in a time of turmoil in the Ukraine, the importance of the U.S. market five years out from the Los Angeles Games and how growing up in Buffalo has shaped his work ethic as an international sports e

Gary Hernbroth spent 17 successful and colorful years in the luxury hotel business in sales and operations leadership, including stints with Westin, Fairmont and Park Lane Hotels. It was there, especially in Northern California where he lives now, that Hernbroth discovered the power of sports-related travel at a time when it took some convincing to explain the potential benefits of the market. Hernbroth did this in part by attracting professional sports teams to stay at his properties when they were in the Bay Area to play the region’s professional teams. But once team travel secretaries began telling their counterparts about the services Hernbroth’s hotels could provide, word traveled fast and the case for going after sports groups became easier to make. In 1995, Hernbroth founded Training for Winners, taking his years of industry knowledge and sharing it through motivational talks and workshops for others in the industry. Today, he travels the country speaking to groups to encourage their sales professional

The United States Figure Skating National championships was first held in 1914 in New Haven, Connecticut, and has been the spot for fans of the sport to see the best in the history of the sport, including Dick Button, ScottHamilton, Brian Boitano and Nathan Chen on the men’s side, to women’s sports icons such as Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hammill, Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan. This year’s event is in San Jose, California, at the SAP Center. SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub talked with Bob Dunlop, the senior director of events for U.S. Figure Skating about what goes into organizing the national championships, how the event is more than just the elite competition seen on television, working with destinations and venues over the years including during the pandemic, best practices in the business and the one event that he still wants to check off his sports bucket list. We hope you enjoy the conversation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Winter World University Games is the largest multi-sport winter event in the world, after the Olympic Winter Games. This year’s event starts January 12 and is an 11-day international festival and competition combining high-level sport with educational and cultural events, all taking place in Lake Placid, New York, and nearby towns. With more than 2,500 participants from over 50 countries, the Winter World University Games will reignite the celebrated history of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic venues, many of which have been recently modernized. In this conversation, SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub sits down with Mike Pratt, president and chief executive officer of the Olympic Regional Development Authority, and with Jim McKenna, the longtime president and chief executive officer of the Lake Placid CVB. We discuss not only the new venues and the logistics for the Winter World University Games but the legacy of Lake Placid’s Olympic history and how it still has an impact on sports tourism in the Adirondac

This past year has been an eventful and historic one at SportsTravel as we celebrated the magazine’s 25th anniversary since its first issue. During the past year, we promoted longtime senior editor Matt Traub to the position of managing editor and hired Justin Shaw, another sports journalism veteran as our new associate editor. In this episode of the SportsTravel Podcast, Matt, Justin and Executive Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz take a look back at this past year from our key takeaways about the year, to story lines that resonated with us to our favorite events we saw in person. But we also take a look ahead at what trends and story lines we’re watching in 2023 and specific predictions we have for the industry and the sports world in the months ahead. So sit back and take in this discussion from the entire SportsTravel editorial team. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From its signing in 1972, Title IX has become the backbone for which women’s sports have climbed from decades of inequity and ignorance to the spot they have today. Particularly for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement, the past decade has seen the biggest names and biggest accomplishments come from the women’s teams. Indeed, women’s professional sports teams saw record attendance and ratings this season, suggesting there has been tremendous progress at the elite level of women’s sports, especially in recent years. But there of course remains considerable work ahead. At the recent TEAMS Conference and Expo, we assembled an impressive group of women who have accomplished some amazing feats in sports both on the field and off. Our discussion included: Hilary Knight, an Olympic gold medalist, three-time Olympic silver medalist and eight-time world champion in in hockey, who holds the record for the most all time points and goal scored at the women’s world championships; Amanda Kraus, the CEO of USRowing and

Youth sports are a bigger industry than any professional sports league in the country and are valuable for destinations of all. With multi-sport venues continuing to be built around the country, the industry shows no signs of slowing, but challenges remain from keeping children safe at events to getting them engaged in the first place. In a discussion that was recorded at the TEAMS Conference & Expo in Oklahoma City, we brought together a panel of leaders in the youth sports space to discuss the industry's most pressing issues, opportunities for sports organizations and destinations to work together, and the future of youth sports across the country. The session was moderated by SportsTravel executive editor and publisher Jason Gewirtz and the panel included Ju'Riese Colon, chief executive officer of the U.S. Center for Safe Sport; Megan Ditchman, vice president of marketing and partnerships for Elite Tournaments; Sarah Dyer, senior director of operations for EventConnect; and Wayne Moss, executive direct

The last World Cup sliding event in North America was held in 2019. All three North American tracks lost events — including world championship races in Whistler and Lake Placid — because of the pandemic, with international officials relocating those events to Europe and Asia. American and Canadian sliders spoke out about a wish for more races on home ice and how having essentially the first half of the bobsled and skeleton World Cup seasons in North America should be a boost to both programs. And now this year, that finally comes true with the World Cup season starting November 22 in Canada before going to Park City, Utah, from December 1-3 and then to Lake Placid, New York, for the world push championships and World Cup event. [article_sidebar]Aron McGuire was a member of the USA Bobsled national team from 2003 through 2006 and after his athletic career was completed, he worked for USA Track & Field and the USOPC, eventually becoming the senior director of Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers. He wa

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, mass participation races were some of the first to shut down. And when events started to return, they were some of the last to come back by nature of their key element: bringing large amounts of people together to experience a similar event. But mass participation events — running races, triathlons, cycling tours, obstacle races, to name a few — remain some of the biggest potential economic drivers for cities. Perhaps more importantly, they remain tremendous ways to improve the quality of life of residents in a city or for participants who travel to compete. For years, Chris Robb has been following trends in the space. Robb is the founder of Mass Participation World, which includes an annual business conference in the space, and is a leading advocate for the industry. During the pandemic, he leaned into his specialty of trying to unite a disparate industry, launching podcasts and webinars to help organizers get back on their feet and supporting research to show the potential

Wayne Moss began his career in professional sports, working for the Detroit Lions and the Baltimore Orioles before taking the call to service and joining the recreation divisions in his hometown of Cleveland and later Dekalb County in Georgia. He then worked 15 years at the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, where he led program planning and assessment efforts. In 2018, he was appointed the executive director of the National Council of Youth Sports, whose members serve an estimated 60 million registered participants in organized youth sports programs. The NCYS works to promote the essential role of youth sports in America, with a goal of enhancing the experience of all participants by reducing barriers and creating safe environments. And that’s no small task. With issues such as ensuring athlete safety, increasing participation rates, finding enough qualified coaches and volunteers, and providing adequate access to organized sports, the youth sports landscape has challenges left and right. And yet there remain

Max Siegel has been the chief executive officer at USA Track & Field since May 2012, making him one of the longest-tenured CEOs in the U.S. Olympic movement. During that time, USA Track & Field has remained one of the best-performing NGBs and made huge strides in the sponsorship landscape thanks to a long-term deal with Nike. [article_sidebar]Coming off the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the first time the event has been held in the United States, Siegel sat down with SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub to discuss how the world championships went, plans to grow the sport of track and field dramatically leading up to LA28, sponsorship and branding on the NGB and individual athlete levels and so much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There aren’t many kids who have the opportunity to be exposed to the Olympic version of the sports of canoeing and kayaking, but Joe Jacobi was one of them. After being exposed to the sport in a summer camp near the Washington, D.C., area where he grew up, Jacobi found himself on the path to elite competition. Years later that led to international rankings for him and his partner Scott Stausbaugh in the two-man version of whitewater canoe slalom. By the time the 1992 Olympic Summer Games came around in Barcelona, they were poised to take a serious run at the podium. That effort, which culminated in the first U.S. gold medal ever in canoe slalom, came after years of intense preparation and training. After competing, Jacobi went on to administration at the then-governing body of the sport, USA Canoe/Kayak, which moved its headsquarters to Oklahoma City after that destination began a major investment in paddlesports. Now, he is back living near Barcelona as a a performance coach and author, who latest book is ca

Phil Andrews is credited with making multiple changes for the better over a decade of service at USA Weightlifting, including the past six years as CEO, and overseeing an elite team that at the Tokyo Olympics took home its first Olympic silver in women’s weightlifting. Among his challenges at the governing body was a deep debate internationally over the future of the sport, one that very well may see weightlifting removed from the Olympic program in future years over concerns about their approach, or lack thereof, to doping at the international level. Andrews was a fighter for the anti-doping cause, an effort that he pushed as he also fought to expand the sport of weightlifting to the widest audience possible in the United States. In July, he was named CEO of USA Fencing, an organization that has had its own challenges in recent years, especially in areas surrounding SafeSport. But it’s an organization with an even larger membership than weightlifting — around 40,000 members compared to about 30,000 — and one

Spikeball is a beach and park game played with four people and described by some as a warped version of 2-on-2 volleyball that's heavy on spikes, drop shots, trickery, and diving around. The sport, originally created in 1989 before its modern revival in 2008, has grown not just throughout the United States but internationally. Nora White, senior sport development manager at Spikeball, got hooked after seeing the sport while hanging out with her family and has made it into a career, helping organize events of all shapes and sizes. She joined us on the podcast to discuss her involvement in the sport, what it’s like for those who have never played the sport before, the demographics of tournaments, its spread internationally and what its growth plans are going forward. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At 37 years old, Travis Shumake may be new to drag racing as a driver, but he’s definitely not new to the sport. His late father, Tripp Shumake, was the winner of multiple NHRA titles and his mother, Susie Shumake, is a member of the Arizona Drag Racing Hall of Fame for her contributions to the sport. But it wasn’t until recently that Travis decided he wanted to give it a go behind the wheel. And he is doing so in full knowledge that when he hits the pavement at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka for the Menards NHRA Nationals, he will become the first openly gay driver on the circuit. It’s a milestone he doesn’t take lightly and one that he is hoping will spark new conversations among the sport's fans base, which over the years has leaned conservative. But his story isn’t the only one that may spark new conversations. [article_sidebar]Shumake's car, a 24-foot, 4,000-horsepower nitromethane-burning, rainbow-colored drag racer, will be sponsored by and feature the branding of Visit Topeka, the city’s convent

If you don’t follow surfing terribly closely, you may not know that Coco Ho comes from a legendary surfing family that is considered Hawaiian surfing royalty. Her father is pro surfing pioneer Michael Ho, considered the godfather of the North Shore surf scene on Oahu. Michael had a 25-year career that included two Triple Crows and finished No. 3 in the world. Meanwhile, her Uncle Derek was the 1993 World Champion and a four-time Triple Crown winner. And her older brother Mason competed as well, eventually coaxing her into competition. [article_sidebar]The results were immediate. After a solid amateur career, Coco joined the Championship Tour in 2009, won the Rip Curl Search event in Portugal, and nabbed the rookie of the year honor for finishing No. 4 in the world. At 17 years old, she was the youngest woman ever to make the women’s tour of the World Surf League. An injury caused her to pull out of the 2019 season, but she is working her way back and plans to compete at the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntin

The World Games is an international multisport event that gets underway on July 7 with the Opening Ceremony at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. The event will culminate a seven-year planning process after the Alabama destination was first awarded host duties and will feature 30 official sports in 54 disciplines, which will be contested at 30 venues across the Birmingham area. We talked with World Games Chief Executive Officer Nick Sellers and David Galbaugh, vice president of sports sales and marketing for the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, about everything involved with the event. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TOCA recently became the largest operator of indoor soccer centers in the United States after adding locations in Dallas, Cleveland, Nashville, Chicago and Denver. In addition, the company launched TOCA Social, a soccer entertainment and dining venue, in London with plans to expand to additional two UK locations as well as Dallas in 2023. TOCA was founded in 2016 by two-time U.S. World Cup and former MLS and English Premier League midfielder Eddie Lewis, building off a training idea that he developed during his professional career. TOC recently announced a landmark investment from Premier League player and England national team captain Harry Kane, one of the world’s most high-profile players. In this episode, we talk with Lewis about how TOCA came about, how it intends to expand and why the sport lends itself to the entertainment space as well as the training space. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.