SportsTravel Podcast

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 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games in Los Angeles, the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup, 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup and 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Utah, the time has arrived where these mega events may lead to policy changes. Chief among those is the issue of visa wait times, which can be hundreds of days for people wanting to enter the United States from certain countries, including several expected to compete less than two years from now in the World Cup. For some of those fans, unless something changes, it may already be too late to get to those matches in 2026. These are important issues, especially for destinations that are investing millions of dollars in hosting matches with the expectation that they will lead to foreign visitation.

These are some of the themes we’ll be discussing with Freeman on stage at the TEAMS Conference and Expo, September 23­–26, in Anaheim, California. But in this episode, we introduce the discussion with Freeman and talk about ways destinations of all sizes can better advocate and lobby for the important work they do day in and day out.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 large as the World Championships. In this discussion, we trace Saroni’s journey to adaptive sports, talk about her experience at the Paralympics and other major sports events and delve into things event organizers and host cities can and should be thinking about when it comes to the next generation of para athletes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 found the house used in the film as the home of the brothers who make up the main characters. Shocked at what had become of the home, he led an effort to purchase and restore it, an effort that has now led to a museum to the franchise, which also saw a Broadway musical version debut last year that took home a Tony Award for Best Muscial. In the process of restoring the home, O'Connor not only fell in love with the town, but he has become one of its biggest tourism advocates.

In this episode, we’re going to talk about all of these things and you may come out surprised at how the worlds of music, sports and tourism can often interact seamlessly.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

One of the most high-profile sports in the Olympic Summer Games in Paris will be basketball. The USA Basketball teams have been some of the most dominant in Olympic history in any sport. The women’s team looks to extend its streak to eight consecutive gold medals and the men’s team looks for its fifth in a row, having only lost six games in Olympic history. The U.S. also will have teams in the blossoming 3x3 competition that will be held on Place du Concorde in one of the more stunning locations in Paris.

At the center of it is Chief Executive Officer Jim Tooley, who has been with USA Basketball for over 30 years. We discussed USA Basketball’s state of preparations before Paris, the amount of planning needed for the back and forth between Paris and Lille for group-stage games, USA Basketball’s relationships with Las Vegas and abroad ahead of exhibition games in London, the growth of the international game and 3x3 and celebrating the national governing body’s 50th anniversary.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Skip Gilbert is no stranger to the sports industry. As a former professional soccer player, the sport may well be his true love. But his previous stints included one with the USADA, the anti-doping agency, as managing director of operations, marketing and development; managing director of professional tennis operations and tournament manager for the U.S. Open in New York; CEO of USA Triathlon; a vice president for the Arena Football League; and chief marketing officer of USA Swimming. Along the way, he’s also become one of the industry’s staunchest advocates for kids being involved in sports for their own health and well-being — and being involved in as many sports as possible to avoid specialization.

Since 2020, he has been at the helm of US Youth Soccer, the largest youth sport organizations in the United States, which is focused on having a positive impact on the lives of America’s youth through the game of soccer. The group’s mission is to make soccer the preeminent youth sport in the country, and they are well on their way. Soccer participation has held steady or grown in recent years and the big events headed to the United States, including of course the FIFA World Cup in 2026, may only serve as a catalyst for continued growth, or at the least an aspirational event that could well fuel future growth in the sport.

In this discussion, we sit down with Gilbert to discuss the state of youth soccer, the opportunities and challenges ahead for the sport, the rise of the professional leagues for both men and women, and the importance of diversity when it comes to kids getting active in sports. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2019, the Sports Events and Tourism Association, or Sports ETA, embarked on an ambitious State of the Industry report to attempt to put a value on the economic impact derived from sports events and sports-related travel. The timing was fortuitous as it set a baseline for future studies just before the pandemic. In 2022, a second report analyzed the pace of recovery from that pandemic, looking at data from 2020 and 2021. But the latest report arguably paints the fullest pictureyet not just at how the industry has recovered, but how it continues to thrive.

The headline numbers are that sports-related travel had a $52.2 billion direct economic impact in 2023. More than 200 million travelers were reported, generating more than 73 million room nights. But perhaps most impressive of all, some 63 percent of destinations surveyed said that sports are their largest generator of room nights. Think about that statistic for a moment and you can start to grasp the true power and potential of this market.

John David took over as Sports ETA’s president and CEO last year after decades as an event organizer and executive himself at USA BMX. So his perspective, and his support of continuing this vital research, are the perfect match to wade into the details of the full report. And Greg Pepitone from Tourism Economics, as the lead researcher in the project, also brings his perspective on where sports fit into the mix since his organization is one of the leading data providers for the overall travel industry. In this discussion, we talk with John and Greg about the not only the headline numbers in the report, but deeper insights that were analyzed about how event organizers make their decisions on locations, what kinds of services travelers are spending their money on, which areas of the country are sourcing the most events and much, much more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve ever seen traditional diving at the Olympic Games or in real life, you know that the cleaner the dive, the better the score. The goal in that discipline is to enter the water as straight as possible with as little splash as possible. But starting in the 1970s, a new generation of divers began something just a bit different. Starting in Norway, these diving daredevils started jumping from substantial heights, doing crazy stunts on the way down, entering the water in a hunched position not just for safety but to create the largest splash possible. Imagine something that combines the flips of snowboard halfpipe with the satisfaction of a cannonball and that gets you close.

But now Døds Diving or Death Diving if you’re Norwegian isn’t up to speed, has become a legitimate event circuit, hosting world championships since 2008. Leading the charge is Paul Rigault, CEO and Co-Founder of the Døds Diving League and Døds Federation, and Stine Brun Kjeldaas, the league head of sports and media, and a World Champion, X Games gold medalist and silver medalist in snowboarding at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. In this episode, we talk with Paul and Stine about what it takes to host one of these events, what an ideal host venue looks like, what the atmosphere is like at a Døds competition and why in the world anyone would want to hurl themselves off a high dive platform, spin around on the way down and splash their way to victory. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.