Ron Price: Visit Phoenix’s Big Basketball Push

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Ron Price has been the chief executive officer of Visit Phoenix since July 2021. Prior to the move to Phoenix, Price had stops in Arlington and San Antonio, Texas, as well as more than a decade with Marriott in several places, including Denver and Southern California. Phoenix has become a basketball hotbed, having hosted the NCAA Men’s Final Four in March with the Women’s Final Four on tap for 2026. Phoenix will also host the WNBA All-Star Game this summer and the NBA All-Star Game in 2027. And then there’s always the lingering question of when the region will again host the Super Bowl, which it last did in 2023. There’s a lot going on in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and Ron Price is the man at the center of it.

Among the topics in this episode

• The logistics of hosting a basketball event in a football stadium (1:56)
• The number of people needed to get a football stadium ready for basketball (3;48)
• When Phoenix might host opening round or regional NCAA Tournament action (5:04)
• What it means to host the Women’s Final Four in 2026 and WNBA All-Star Game in 2024 (6:07)
• Phoenix trying to become the basketball capital of the United States (8:04)
• Working with other tourism entities in the Phoenix metropolitan area, including Glendale, Scottsdale and Mesa (9:28)
• Where sports fit into the big picture for the city (12:39)
• The appetite for sports and the passion of sports fans in Phoenix (14:37)
• How the Phoenix market compares to other large markets he’s been in (16:29)
• Taking the job with Visit Phoenix in July 2021 during the pandemic (19:00)
• Competition out West to host the Super Bowl (21:12)
• Which major sporting event he wants to bring to the city (23:57)

This episode is sponsored by: