By Zach Wagner | @zachwagner22
Sports Capital Journalism Program
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.– Brad Wright, Board Co-Chairman of the Arizona Organizing Committee, discussed topics ranging from the preparation for the second College Football Playoff National Championship, the role the Phoenix area plays as a host for large-scale events, and the anticipated economic impact.
The game between No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama will mark the eighth time the Phoenix area has hosted a national championship game. Championships won by Penn State (1987), Notre Dame (1989) and Florida (1996) were won in the Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. In the Bowl Championship Series era, Tennessee (1999) and Ohio State (2003) became champions in Fiesta Bowl games in Tempe, while Florida (2007) and Auburn (2011) won BCS title games at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
Wright has served as the chairman of the board for the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority and currently serves as the chairman of WESTMARC, a public-private partnership of the 15 communities, the business community and the educational sector in the West Valley of Greater Phoenix.
Wright was graduated from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis with his Juris Doctorate degree in 1991. He is a graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1998. He has accumulated a vast amount of knowledge in real estate development, entitlement, law and public finance districts.
Q: How much time goes into putting an event of this magnitude together?
A: We started two years ago with this effort when we found out that we got the bid in early December of 2014 and a lot of behind the scenes work went into getting ready for it. We hosted the Super Bowl last year, so we didn’t really start the public or external messaging until about a year ago. Then, we really hit that hard soon after. All of the plans of traveling, logistics, and the stuff you see that makes this scheme come together, we started quite some time ago.
Q: In your preparation leading up to this event, did you look back at how Dallas handled it last year to get ideas and some ways you could improve the overall experience?
A: We did. Dallas did a great job last year and we even took a group of some of our staff, our board and our sponsors to Dallas last year, so that we could get a sense of how that worked. We got some great ideas from them and made some of our own changes. The differences that you will see this year are the championship campus, which is new for the (College Football Playoff) and it’s a big success. ESPN College GameDay broadcasts from down there, with free concerts with a stage. What’s cool about that for our community is that’s a place that everyone can go and be a part of the game, even if you don’t have a ticket. It’s a point of pride for the community and some of the fans get to come downtown and see a little bit of what makes us special. It’s really worked out.
Q: And your organization takes a lot of volunteers to make all this possible, correct?
A: Absolutely. It takes a lot of volunteers to make these big events happen. Probably around a couple thousand volunteers. Everything from the big sexy fun stuff with the teams and the game, all the way up to the greeters at the airport. Even the people that help the fans, as well as the press, get on the correct bus.
Q: How much sleep have you gotten since this week began?
A: We’re going to sleep Tuesday. Until then, we’re dialed in.
Q: I read that the economic impact that came as a result of hosting the BCS National Championship Game four times was huge for this area. Do you expect that to be the case this time around?
A: The economic impact over the last four BCS National Championship Games that we hosted was $646 million. Now that this has changed to a four-day celebration of college football, we expect the economic impact from this game to be even bigger, if you look at what the Super Bowl did here last year, with its $729 million of economic impact.
There’s a bigger story though. That impact comes from the fans, media and everyone that comes here for the game weekend. They stay at our hotels, go to our resorts, and go to our restaurants. We’re also really focused on the long-term economic potential that these types of games bring. We’ve talked about this three-year window of opportunity with the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl last year, and the (NCAA Men’s) Final Four next year. We have a Governor of this state that really understands how to use that platform to show off and display our city as a great place to live, work and operate a business.
Q: What advantages do you think this area has that allows it to serve as a great host city for big occasions like the College Football Playoff National Championship?
A: I moved here from Illinois about twenty years ago and I moved here because of the weather, and all of the different things that you can do here. It’s a place of opportunity. I’m a 50-year-old lawyer and I’m running the host committee for the National Championship game. You can’t do that in some of the older eastern big cities. What makes us special? We have the weather, the outdoors, the opportunities, but also a world-class stadium and top-notch transportation through the light rail system. All the things that you need to host these things.
Q: How ecstatic was your organization when you found out that Clemson and Alabama were going to be the two programs playing in this year’s final?
A: We couldn’t ask for a better matchup for all reasons. It’s a great matchup on the field and those are two great fan bases. From an economic development standpoint, Alabama and Clemson haven’t played football here in a long time. That gives us a chance to reach whole new markets and show them that this is a fantastic place to live, work and vacation.
Q: When this week is over, what is the one thing that you hope people remember or take away from their time here?
A: We hope that they remember they had a great time. We hope they remember Arizonians are welcoming people, and lastly we hope they leave here thinking I want to go back and maybe stay a little longer.
