COVID-19 Impact Continues Reaching Deeper Into Sports, Meetings Schedules
By R.V. Baugus
UPDATE: The NBA has announced the remainder of its regular season is suspended, March Madness basketball games will be played at venues without fans attending.
The call came innocently enough on Sunday night from not only my best friend but a buddy I attended 35 consecutive Southwest Conference/Big 12 Basketball Tournaments with and now attend the Texas boys’ high school basketball state tournament in San Antonio.
“Is the tournament still on?”
Yep, a coronavirus question. The answer is the tournament is still on at the Alamodome. Venue director and friend Steve Zito and his team just successfully completed the girls’ state tournament last weekend and like all other venues taking all the precautions necessary to keep everyone who enters the dome safe.
In hindsight, my friend’s question was not foolish, especially at the rate that events are either getting postponed or simply canceled due to the spread of COVID-19, coronavirus. As the virus has migrated west since originating in China, the United States now finds its meetings and sports industries in daily flux as circumstances continue playing out.
Colleague Amy Fitzpatrick and I only half-joked the other day that to write any kind of blog or story about coronavirus instantly becomes outdated with changes taking place by the minute. Heck, as I am typing this another event could be added to the list and the news that we are doing our best to keep members up to date with.
We even announced last week that the New York International Auto Show car expo at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was going to take place April 10-19. It turns out we spoke too soon as a recent announcement indicated the event is rescheduled for August 28-September 6 for a show that has topped 1 million attendees.
According to Forbes, more than 9.6 million attendees have been impacted and forced to change their plans thus far in the U.S. due to the coronavirus global spread. Hundreds of conferences, concerts, and other events worldwide have been canceled, postponed or transformed into “digital-only” affairs.
There will also be a lot less green to share as St. Patrick’s Day parades across the country are canceling.
College basketball conference postseason tournaments are also taking place with the Ivy League tournament to be 
held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announcing it was canceling its tournament that drew more than 7,700 fans last year.
In chatting with my friend Sunday night, I mentioned how the ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, was configured to where the players would have their own towels in chairs behind them to use and that ball boys would be wearing gloves and not allowed any direct contact with the athletes. I spoke too soon as the next day the tournament scheduled to begin on March 9 was canceled. It has previously drawn 450,000 attendees.
Music festivals across the country are being shuttered, with the popular SXSW festival and conference in Austin, Texas that drew close to 420,000 guests last year pulling the plug this year.
In the pro sports world, the NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS have closed locker rooms to all nonessential personnel — including media — in response to the coronavirus crisis.
While we will not be able to communicate in legitimate real-time through any of our social platforms here at IAVM because of the aforementioned mention reasons, we still want to provide you with the news and the knowledge that you need during these important times.
You will find the links below very helpful, so please refer to them. We also invite you to share any news at your own venues of events being canceled or postponed, or anything else that is news worthy to share with your colleagues. Simply contact me at rv.baugus@iavm.org and we will get the information out.
Risk Management, Safety Strategies a Major Focus in Sports Facilities and the Law Newsletter
By R.V. Baugus
Sports Facilities and the Law is a newsletter by Gil Fried, J.D. – Chair in the College of Business Sport Management Department at the University of New Haven, as well as nine other sports law related periodicals. The newsletter has close to 1,000 opt-in legal-minded and risk conscious subscribers that manage sport/athletic facilities, are responsible for league/conference safety, provide legal counsel to sport/athletic entities, or are in charge of risk management. These are not low level employees, but rather decision makers who control the budget or can mandate that a professional sport league undertake a given strategy.
With risk management and safety strategies so critical today, the newsletter’s goal over the last three years has been to promote safety.
“There is no price that can be put on safety,” Fried said. “We also understand that at times you need content that helps your members address specific safety challenges. To that end, we would be interested in sharing content, publishing your news, and featuring your organization/conference on the website in exchange for helping us grow our subscriber base.”
To subscribe to the publication, go to https://sportsfacilitieslaw.com/latestissue.
ASM Global Announces Hiring of Taki Pappas to Louisville Venues
By R.V. Baugus
ASM Global announced the hiring of Taki Pappas as director of Event Booking and Business Development for the KFC Yum! Center, Lynn Family Stadium and Norton Health Sports Athletics & Learning Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
“As we continue to solidify the Louisville market as a must-play for major concert tours, family shows and other 
event productions I’m proud to add such a dynamic leader to our team,” said Eric Granger, general manager of ASM Global-Louisville. “Taki is one of the most respected and knowledgeable people in his field and I have no doubt that his experience and industry expertise will enable us to attract even more big events for the Louisville market.”
Pappas comes to ASM Global with more than 20 years of experience in the sports and entertainment industry. Most recently, he was senior talent buyer for National Shows 2 based in Nashville. Prior to that he spent four years as director of Programming at the Durham Performing Arts Center, where his efforts helped the venue earn the International Entertainment Buyer’s Association (IEBA) Theatre of the Year accolade in 2018. Pappas also worked as the assistant director and talent buyer at the University of Texas’ Bass Concert Hall, where his strategic programming increased show count and profitability by more than 50%. He also spent the first 13 years of his live entertainment career with Live Nation, working his way through the ranks to vice president of Touring where he managed the day-to-day activities of several national concert tours annually.
“I’m very excited to be joining the team in Louisville during such a pivotal time with the opening of two new venues in the market along with the well-established and successful KFC Yum! Center,” said Pappas. “I look forward to the opportunity to implement new strategies that bring growth and development to such a dynamic city that thrives in the sports, music and entertainment industries.”
As Director of Event Booking and Business Development, Pappas will work to drive content into the three ASM Global-managed venues in Louisville. As the KFC Yum! Center celebrates its 10th anniversary this October, Pappas will be instrumental in aiding the venue in continued growth and success. Lynn Family Stadium opens in April of this year and the Norton Health Sports Athletics & Learning Center is slated to complete construction on December of 2020. Both new venues will host a variety of events including sports, concerts and other special events. Pappas brings a wealth of industry expertise and connections that will be critical in ASM Global’s future success in Louisville
iCommit 2020 Kickoff!
It’s time to kick off the International Association of Venue Managers’ 2020 get-a-member campaign – iCommit.
Goal: We now have 7,000 members. We are targeting a 10% increase with this recruitment effort which ends June 30, 2020. However, if every member adds/refers just one new member, we could DOUBLE our membership!
What’s In It For You?
More members and more collaboration, a bigger and more diverse network for you, and a greater pool of experts to create inspiring and motivating educational content at schools, conferences, webinars, podcasts and blog posts.
Besides feeling good about supporting your association, for each new member you refer, your name will be entered into a raffle to win one of five, $500 Apple gift cards* to apply toward the purchase of any Apple product. The more members you refer, the more chances you will have to win.
Prizes
- The grand prize will be a complimentary registration to VenueConnect 2021 (value up to $1,000).
- Win one of five, $500 Apple Gift cards* – receive one raffle entry for each new member you refer.
- The IAVM Region that adds the most new members will have one CVP application fee waived (the Region Director will choose the recipient within the winning region).
- The campaign ends June 30, 2020.
To ensure you are eligible to win one of the prizes, ask your new member to do the following:
- List your name in the Application Section titled, “Who Recommended IAVM To You/How Did You Hear About IAVM?”
- Enter “iCommit” in the Promotional Code field in the online membership application.
- For new Professional or Allied members only, the $150 one-time initiation fee will be waived.**
Hurry! Start referring new members today. We will post updates throughout the contest period in the IAVM Newsletter. Contact membership@iavm.org if you have any questions.
* The gift cards will be sent to the winners in July 2020.
** Some membership types do not have an initiation fee; the dues will not be discounted
Response is Rapid in Wake of Middle Tennessee Tornadoes
By R.V. Baugus
The images that came across from the path of tornadoes that ravaged Middle Tennessee hit home as eerily similar to the destruction that tornadoes caused in the Dallas area last October. There was one major difference: the ones in Tennessee resulted in the deaths of 25 people, while miraculously no one perished in the Dallas twisters.
Those that struck in Nashville after midnight early Tuesday, produced two tornadoes that left a path of destruction across four counties, including hardest-hit Putnam County, about 60 miles east of Nashville, where at least 18 were killed. Three people remain unaccounted for in Putnam County, which like Nashville was hit by an EF-4 storm with 175 mph winds, according to the National Weather Service.
Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., sent out an update on March 5 to thank those who have rallied to donate and support the community in the wake of the storm. He emphasized that Nashville is open for business and that the upcoming events on the calendar remain as scheduled.
The IAVM community in Nashville was also quick to respond about the tornado and its impact.
“As venue managers know, circumstances can change in an instant. The tornadoes hitting Nashville and central Tennessee during the night made them even more dangerous,” said IAVM Board Chair, Tammy Koolbeck, CVE. “Our thoughts remain with our colleagues and friends that were impacted by these tornadoes as their communities begin the process of clean up, restoration and healing from the loss of life and devastation of property. IAVM stands ready to assist where needed.”
“We are grieving alongside the Nashville community and send our thoughts and prayers to those who have been impacted by the tornado, especially those who have lost loved ones,” said Ron Grimes, director, safety and security, Ryman Hospitality Properties. “Our Nashville-based businesses have not sustained any damage and are open for business as usual to serve our guests. We are in communication with our community and industry leaders and stand ready to assist with the recovery ahead.”
Renuka Christoph, director of communications at the Music City Center, said, “We are grateful our building didn’t sustain any damage so we are fully operational. Some of our team members were impacted as the tornado’s path went through their neighborhoods. We are extending internal resources to our team for support.”
Scott Neal, vice president, operations for the Nashville Soccer Club, said that the team’s business is fine but that “a lot of our staff have sustained damage to their homes.”
There are also the logistical problems at venues with regards to shows coming in.
I texted with Jennifer Turner, Executive Director of TPAC and she shared this information yesterday morning – “We are OK, said Jennifer Turner, executive director of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. “Trying to load in Jesus Christ Superstar with power issues and trucks stuck. The tornado hit a couple of blocks from my house – it was bad. I’m glad everyone with TPAC is OK.”
Photo: Music City Center provides pallets of food to workers at the Central Police Precinct