SportsTravel Podcast

The 2022 PGA Championship was scheduled to be held at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, before the PGA of America in January announced that it would move the event instead to Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the 2021 Senior PGA Championship was recently completed. The PGA Championship then received a giant burst of attention when this year’s event at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, was shockingly won by Phil Mickelson, making him the oldest player to win a major in golf history. It comes right as the PGA of America is about to make tickets for the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club available exclusively online through a registration process for the first major to be played at Southern Hills since 2007. In this episode, SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub talks with Bryan Karns, championship director for next year’s PGA, about what goes into the planning for a major championship, the similarities and differences between the PGA and Senior PGA that was recently completed at Southern Hills and much more.

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Helen Maroulis became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling when she won in Rio in 2016. Not only did she break new ground for women’s wrestling in the United States, it was the magnitude of victory that also impressed. To earn the gold, she beat the most dominant wrestler of all time, three-time Olympic gold medalist and thirteen-time World champion Saori Yoshida of Japan. Her career seemed full of possibilities, but a concussion suffered during a competition two years later put everything on hold. Eventually, with considerable outside help, she fought her way back. And at the recent Olympic Wrestling Trials in Fort Worth, she earned her way back on to the team headed to Tokyo, winning in a dramatic match over Jenna Burkert. In this conversation with SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, we talk about Maroulis’ start in wrestling, the journey to the Olympic Games, her epic comeback from her concussion and the victory at the Trials. Special thanks to one of Helen’s sponsors, Procter & Gamble, for their help arranging this conversation.

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Allyson Felix is an Olympic legend. In June, she will compete at the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials for a spot in what would be her fifth Olympic Summer Games. In her previous four (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016), she has earned six gold medals and three silver medals, making her one of the most decorated track stars of all time. She also has 18 world championship medals to her name, — a record for men or women — including 13 golds, the most recent of which came in 2019 in the 4x400m and the 4x400m mixed relay. But this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, held during a global pandemic, will be unlike any for which she’s prepared. In this conversation with SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, hear how Felix is preparing for the competition, her thoughts on Eugene, Oregon, as a track destination and as host of the upcoming World Championships, what cities she’s enjoyed competing in the most ,and what the best events do well when it comes to taking care of athletes.

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Tim Schneider, the chairman of the Sports Division at Northstar Meetings Group, is the founder of SportsTravel magazine, the TEAMS Conference and Expo and the EsportsTravel Summit. In this conversation with SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, we talk with Schneider about the origins of SportsTravel and the sports-event industry itself, the growth of sectors such as esports and the role that sports-related travel will play in the nation’s economic recovery. It’s a wide ranging conversation that holds many lessons that still apply today for professionals who are involved in the organizing and hosting of sports events at all levels.

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Melissa Stockwell's road to the Paralympics began in Iraq in 2004 when a roadside bomb took her leg, making her the first female American solider in history to lose a limb in active combat. After earning a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for her service, she turned her attention to the Paralympics, becoming the first Iraq War veteran to qualify for the Paralympic Games. She competed in swimming at the Beijing Games in 2008, coming away without a medal but being selected to serve as the Team USA flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony. She then switched to paratriathlon, where she really found her calling. In 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, she won a bronze medal, part of a U.S. sweep of the podium. Now she is training for the Tokyo Games in hopes of besting that performance. In this conversation with SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, Stockwell discusses her journey to the Paralympics, how to prepare for a Games that will be unlike any other and how she is encouraging youth adaptive sport athletes to give triathlon a try through her Dare2Tri nonprofit. Special thanks for Stockwell’s sponsor, Proctor & Gamble, for helping to arrange this episode.

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The WNBA bills itself as a league that features the most accomplished and highly skilled women in the world of basketball who are passionate about the game they love. One of the biggest names in the league is Elena Delle Donne, who in seven years has racked up one of the longest track records of success in the league’s recent history. In this episode of the SportsTravel Podcast, SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub talks with Delle Donne about preparing for this season after offseason back surgery, being vocal on social issues that matter to her and the WNBA, balancing her community and charity work with playing basketball at the highest levels, her Olympic memories of Rio and preparing for this year’s Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, her new YouTube series and much more. Special thanks to one of Elena’s sponsors, Proctor & Gamble, for helping to arrange this conversation.

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Leigh Steinberg is the original sports super agent, the inspiration for the movie “Jerry Maguire” and the representative for current NFL star Patrick Mahomes. In this episode of the SportsTravel Podcast, SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz talks with Steinberg about his career as an agent and his epic comeback after years out of the business. We also get Steinberg’s unique take on some of the NFL’s biggest events from an agent’s perspective, including the NFL Draft, the Super Bowl and the NFL Combine. He’s also an event organizer himself, hosting one of the biggest ancillary events around the Super Bowl, one that will return next year in his hometown of Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI.

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The Professional Fighters League 2021 season will be held in a bubble environment at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with former world champions Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis and Clarissa Shields all participating in the PFL for the first time this season, in addition to returning champions Kayla Harrison, Lance Palmerand Nathan Schulte looking to defend their crowns. In this conversation with SportsTravel Senior Editor Matt Traub, Dan Ghosh-Roy, chief digital officer of the Professional Fighters League, previews the PFL’s season, what went into the choice of Atlantic City as the choice for the league's bubble and much more about what sports organizations can and should be doing when it comes to promoting themselves on social media platforms while embracing technology.

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Dale Murphy is a legendary Major League Baseball player who won two National League Most Valuable Player and five Gold Glove awards and appeared in seven All-Star Games during a career largely spent with the Atlanta Braves, but that also included stops with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies. Today he is executive vice president of sports for LiveView Technlogies, which provides portable security cameras that add to an event or venue’s security plans.

In this episode, SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz talks with Murphy about his career in baseball, his thoughts on getting a younger generation interested in the sport and his new role in the sports-events industry.

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HotelPlanner has been around for 17 years helping organizations book group travel. Bruce Rosenberg, the company’s president of the Americas and chief operating officer, has been part of that leadership team since 2012 after a career in hospitality that included 13 years with Hilton Hotels. As the travel industry has tried to get back on its feet after a devastating 2020, one area that already is standing out is sports-related travel. Especially at the amateur level, destinations and hotels are seeing steady business in group hotel stays from traveling teams and the expectation in 2021 is that sports will continue to be a bright spot for the industry.

HotelPlanner is certainly banking on that business. In recent weeks, the company has signed partnerships at the professional level with Harris Blitzer, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center in Newark, but also with USA Pickleball, the USL soccer league and a promotional deal with American tennis player John Isner, all of which are based on the notion that fans of those sports will soon be returning to travel if they haven’t already. And their work isn’t just limited to traditional sports. A recent deal with Immortals Gaming Club shows evidence that HotelPlanner sees a bright future in esports-related travel as well. In this episode with SportsTravel Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, learn why Rosenberg and HotelPlanner are so bullish on the role sports-related travel will play in the industry’s recovery.

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