By Yasmene Warren
Orlando has too much to offer visitors and locals not to have a bigger role in the world of sports. That’s why we wanted to pick the brains of the masterminds behind sports in Orlando. We recently interviewed Greater Orlando Sports Commission CEO Jason Siegel to get an insider perspective on the past, present, and future of Orlando sports. Let’s get into it!
Leading the Greater Orlando Sports Commission
“What is being the president and CEO of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission? What do you do?”
Siegel said GO Sports was established in 1992 with the sole purpose of bringing the World Cup to Orlando. A small group of team members essentially formed a community entity that would serve as the point of contact for working with FIFA.
As president and CEO, Siegel works hand-in-hand with a number of elected officials, venue managers, tourism partners, and marketing teams within the Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Siegel said the three main functions of his role are to bid on businesses to drive economic impact through sports on our community, market the destination through sports, and a combination of being the glue within the community to help promote the region and being a collective voice for everything that goes on in the region.
“We’re the toy department,” Siegel said. “It’s everything cool and fun and exciting that’s happening, the quality of life via sport — we want to be at the center of it.”
“What do you think of Orlando as a sports destination?”
When the Sports Business Journal named Orlando as No. 1 in Event Hosting, Siegel said our city came out on top due to the success we achieve from visitors attending our events.
“What was your path to get to where you’re at today?”
“Wild ride,” Siegel said.
Siegel spent most of his time in hockey in the 80s and 90s, working for a variety of notable names. He has worked for the Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers, Binghamton Black Bears, Dallas Stars, Ontario Reign, the East Coast Hockey League, and many more to come. Needless to say, he has met a lot of important people along the way.
Siegel’s journey to Orlando officially began working as the managing partner for the Orlando Solar Bears hockey team, which he describes as a “great entrée into the market.”
Turning Orlando into a Sports Community
“Is it possible to have the tourism aspect of Orlando also feel like the community that so many people are after?”
For the sports commission, Siegel said it’s a matter of him and his team taking a thoughtful approach to ensuring they do everything in their power to compete, even against stiff competition.
He describes their roles with GO Sports as community servants whose jobs are to work as hard as they can with all the assets they have to bring big events to Orlando.
“We take a lot of pride in doing that,” Siegel said. “We fight hard for everything that we bring here. There has to be a fiscal responsibility, too. It’s imperative that we do a great job stewarding those dollars.”
“How do you decide which events you want to go after?”
Siegel describes the decision process as being a lot like playing Tetris. They have their falling pieces, such as how many hotel rooms are needed, what venue, what years are available, how much are we willing to incentivize, if there are any risks, and so on.
He said there’s a balance between business development and event execution while looking multiple years out into the future.
“What makes Orlando unique as a destination?”
Siegel said the city of Orlando has a collaborative spirit. GO Sports happily shares success data from past events with other cities from around the country, and they do the same.
“It’s a fraternity, brotherly, sisterly environment where we’re competing like heck but at the same time for sport tourism, we want to see tourism in the United States,” Siegel said. “I think about it, sort of, across the 50 states. If the U.S. is doing well, if our visitation as a country is healthy, there’s enough business to go around.”
Siegel said another thing that sets Orlando apart from other cities is the people who stick around for a vacation. Those who travel to Orlando for sports bring their families and make a vacation out of their visit. They’ll stay for the duration of the tournament and plan a trip to Disney or Universal, ultimately making our city a one-stop shop for all things entertainment.
Orlando as a Sports Hub
Siegel said that every time GO Sports brings a youth or amateur sporting event to the city, it creates an opportunity for everyone in the family to watch their kids play, taking away the burden of having to travel elsewhere.
He strives to continue investing in all of Orlando’s parks and recreational facilities, as well as youth-centered areas like Little League, which better benefits the community.
Siegel added that there needs to be a good balance between visitation, which helps drive income, and being thankful for all the things this can do for the residents of the community.
“What are you most excited about here for the future?”
Siegel said it starts with leadership, such as with the mayors of Orlando and Orange County, and that it trickles down to the individuals in the sports ecosystem and tourism leadership to bring something new to the city of Orlando.
“I’m really looking forward to getting over to Paris and seeing a lot of my colleagues and a lot of our partners … and starting to have that conversation about LA28,” Siegel said, adding that it’s neat for the U.S. to potentially host showcases for the Olympics. “The sky is the limit for us in Orlando.”
“How does somebody get into making Orlando home for their team?”
Siegel thinks that the hotel and tourism spaces with allied members do a great job of supporting Orlando’s tourism community.
“It’s not lost on anybody what tourism means to our community,” he said.
Siegel added that Orlando provides easy access to decision and policy makers and our welcoming and collaborative nature makes for a great formula to be successful in moving your family or company here.
View the whole interview on our YouTube!
Overall
Thanks to Jason Siegel and the work he does as president and CEO of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, the City Beautiful adds yet another notch to its never-ending belt of offerings. If you’re interested in being a part of the action and are looking to move to Orlando, our team would love to help you make it happen!
The Orlando Real is sponsored by The Pozek Group. If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in Orlando, reach out and we would love to help!
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