Long-time industry manager George Michael “Mike” Abington passed away on April 23. He was 73.
Mike was a true pioneer in the field of stadium management. Graduating from Northeast Louisiana State 
University in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV Management, Mike went on to Spartanburg, South Carolina. Following the wedding to Kathryn Myrick Abington, the pair moved to Hampton, Virginia, where Mike ran the Hampton Coliseum. Headed to the big leagues, they next ended up in Pontiac, Michigan, to serve as Stadium Director, where the Detroit Lions and the Detroit Pistons played their NFL and NBA games.
In 1992, Mike got the brilliant idea that he wanted to host the first indoor World Cup Soccer playoffs at his home stadium. This idea was met with disbelief and criticism. Over the next two years, he engineered a new type of stadium grass with Michigan State University and visited nine countries across the world to learn everything he could about soccer. 1994 dawned on the very first indoor FIFA World Cup Soccer playoff tournament, and Michael Abington, overnight, become a legend in his field.
Mike was also a former director of the Alamodome in San Antonio, where he made countless friends in the city as well as on staff.
“I know he worked with a lot of folks over his time in the industry, including Mike McGee,” said Kent Meredith, executive director of United Supermarkets Arena at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. “I was fortunate to work with him from 1994-1999 while I was at the Alamodome.”
In addition to his professional achievements, Mike was an avid photographer and loved the outdoors. He had a special fondness for fishing, and his passion for the land his family grew up on was infectious.
Mike was blessed to have Kathryn M. Abington by his side, who preceded him in death, and together they raised a daughter, Elizabeth Claire. His grandchildren, Charlotte-Joy Corinne Abington, Isobel Grace Abington Toms, and Harper Lucille Tunstall Abington were a constant source of joy and inspiration for him. Survived also by sister Michele Abington-Cooper, her son Raymond Cooper and wife Katherine, mother-in-law Ada J. Myrick, brother-in-law Tom Myrick Jr. and wife Carol, and numerous nieces, nephews, and greats.
Mike’s name will forever remain synonymous with the development of the grass that could be transplanted from outdoor to indoor, which revolutionized the World Cup soccer world.
As we look back on Mike’s life and the love he shared, we will always remember him as a true leader, a devoted friend, and a loving family man.
