Stacey Allaster has been named chief executive for professional tennis at the United States Tennis Association. In this newly created position, Allaster will be responsible for setting the strategic vision for the USTA’s professional tennis division, with oversight that includes the U.S. Open, the Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series and the Western & Southern Open. Allaster previously served as chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association.

Dawson Hughes has been appointed CEO of U.S. Masters Swimming. He most recently served as vice-president of business development at the Orange Bowl Committee, a nonprofit sports organization based in South Florida that hosts events including the Capital One Orange Bowl.

Nigel Melville will transition from CEO of USA Rugby to CEO of Rugby International Marketing as the governing body searches for a new full-time leader. USA Rugby is the majority owner of RIM, which was recently formed as a for-profit to represent USA Rugby’s commercial rights and develop new revenue streams.

The USA Swimming board of directors has extended the contract of Executive Director Chuck Wielgus through 2020. Wielgus, who started in the job in 1997, is the longest-tenured current chief executive of an Olympic national governing body.

Joan Hanscom has been hired as director of event services at USA Cycling, where she will oversee the renamed and restructured event services department. She previously worked at ABUS Mobile Security , leading the U.S. public relations and marketing for the bike lock brand.

Christine Bowen has been promoted to vice-president of programming and operations at Running USA. For the past six years, she has led the group’s event efforts, including the annual Running USA Industry Conference.

The PGA Tour has entered a partnership with Yahoo to deliver free, live and on-demand video content from the tour, with no cable subscription or authentication necessary. As a result of the deal, the companies have launched a live, cobranded PGA Tour leaderboard, and Yahoo will offer global access to video on demand PGA Tour content.

Hosts & Suppliers

Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe has been appointed president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corp., which manages the San Diego Convention Center on behalf of the city. Rippetoe most recently served as president and CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board in Louisville.

Visit Phoenix has announced that Connections Housing will be its preferred housing partner, offering housing solutions that include reservations and room-block management, as well as pre-event and on-site meeting management.

Luke Charpentier has been named sports sales manager of Visit Bentonville (Arkansas). Charpentier played with the Arkansas Razorbacks football team for five years and participated in the 2015 New Orleans Saints Rookie Training Camp.

Anthony Travel, the largest university and sports travel management company in the country, has been acquired by On Location Experiences, a hospitality business owned by Bruin Sports Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, 32 Equity (the entity that oversees the NFL’s private equity efforts) and musician Jon Bon Jovi. As part of the acquisition, John Anthony will become an equity holder in On Location Experiences and will join its board of directors. He will also remain CEO of Anthony Travel, which will continue to operate within the On Location Experiences platform.

The Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board has announced the formation of Valley Forge Sports, an initiative aimed at attracting sports meetings and events business. The announcement was made in conjunction with move-in day for the USA Weightlifting National Junior Championships & Senior Trials at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center.

The public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller has acquired a majority stake in international sports consulting firm TSE Consulting, which will continue operating under its own name and with the same personnel. TSE Consulting is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has regional offices in North and South America, Africa and the Middle East. Its North American office is in Indianapolis.

Sites & Venues

Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins will play a regular season game in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on July 3. MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association will construct a 2,500-capacity ballpark that will stage the event, which will mark the first regular-season game of a professional sport ever played on an active military base. Following the game, the ballpark will be into a softball field and multi-purpose facility.

Events DC, the convention and sports authority for the District of Columbia, has selected the architectural firms Marshall Moya Design and Rosetti to develop designs for an entertainment and sports arena in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The project is expected to serve as the practice facility for the Washington Wizards, home court of the Washington Mystics and an entertainment venue. Construction on the 5,000-seat venue is scheduled to begin later this year, with an expected completion of fall 2018. 

The 2017 and 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championships will be held at WakeMed Stadium in Cary, North Carolina, and Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York, respectively. This marks North Carolina’s first time hosting the event.

Orlando, Florida, will host the AAU Girls’ Junior National Volleyball Championships through 2020. The event— which will take place on more than 180 courts between the Orange County Convention Center and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex—will feature 31 divisions of competition, including an international division.

The U.S. Golf Association has selected the Lake Course at The Olympic Club in San Francisco to host the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open. The event will mark the venue’s first time hosting a USGA women’s championship.

The Association of Volleyball Professionals has announced its 2016 schedule. The tour will feature eight stops: New Orleans (April 14 –17); Huntington Beach, California (May 5–8); Cincinnati (May 16–21); Seattle (June 2–5); New York City (June 16–19); San Francisco (June 23–26); Manhattan Beach, California (July 14 –17); and Chicago (September 1– 4).

The inaugural Armory NYC Indoor Marathon will be held April 8–10 at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory in New York. The event will consist of 14 separate and sequential round-the-clock relay marathons and 12 heats of corporate- oriented team marathons. The track will be open 24 hours a day for the three-day event.

Sponsors & Licensing

The North American Soccer League and Under Armour have announced an official match ball partnership. Beginning this spring, the customdesigned ball will be used in all training sessions, matches and community activities. The match ball features the NASL’s red-and-blue colors as well as the league’s logo.

Coca-Cola, Sprint and State Farm have been named official partners of the Copa America Centenario, a soccer event honoring 100 years of the Copa America tournament. The companies will receive rights to use the tournament’s intellectual prop erty for advertising and marketing materials, as well as packaging, consumer promotions and signage at tournament games. Additional partners will be announced leading up to the tournament, which will take place June 3 –26.

Emirates will serve as the offical airline sponsor of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Emirates will have home stadium signage and will open a new Emirates Lounge, a hospitality space that can host groups of up to 70 people. The Dodgers will be sponsoring the Dubai Little League All Star Travel Teams, which will now be called the Dubai Dodgers.

Tag Heuer has announced a longterm partnership with U.S. Soccer and Major League Soccer, making it the offical watch and official timekeeper of U.S. Soccer, MLS and the Professional Referee Organization. During MLS games, referees will wear a Tag Heuer watch and uniform with a Tag Heuer logo.

The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co., United World Sports and NBC Sports Group have announced an extension and expansion of their partnership through 2019 for the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship and the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup. The deal, which began in 2014, includes Penn Mutual holding title sponsorship for both events, a year-long presence across all NBC Sports Group and UWS rugby properties and expanded marketing connections to more than 900 colleges and universities through Rhino Rugby.

UFC and Toyo Tires have announced a multiyear partnership extension. Toyo Tires, the official tire of UFC Octagon as well as on UFC.com and other UFC digital assets.

Delta Air Lines and AEG have extended their partnership for six years. Delta will remain the official airline of Staples Center in Los Angeles, the official airline and charter partner of the Los Angeles Kings and an official partner of the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live. Delta also will receive new naming rights to the luxury suites at Staples Center.

And Finally…

U.S. Soccer has announced plans to launch a Girls’ Development Academy Program in the fall of 2017. The academy will focus on female youth player development across the country. The season will be structured over a 10-month period, and the clubs will be organized by divisions and conferences with national and regional events incorporated into the program. For clubs interested in joining the program, the application process will open in May.

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. 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:
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310-577-3700
Schneider Publishing Company, Inc.