The advisory group appointed to “help the Fiesta Bowl repair its tarnished image” met for the first time Thursday, but their discussions “weren’t open to the public,” according to Ginger Rough of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Most of the panelists “declined to comment on their inaugural meeting.” Panel member Don Meyers, a Phoenix attorney and a Fiesta Bowl founding member, said that the group “would try to meet again in the next two weeks.” The panel includes NFL Cardinals President Michael Bidwill, USA Basketball Chair Jerry Colangelo, D’Backs Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick, Suns Owner Robert Sarver and former Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority Chair Brad Wright (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/8). In Phoenix, Mike Sunnucks wrote Bidwill is "an old rival of the Fiesta Bowl, some of its board members" and former President & CEO John Junker. The Cardinals and Fiesta Bowl “had spats over University of Phoenix Stadium, its concessions contract and the Arizona Sports & Tourism Authority,” but relations between the two entities “have improved recently” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/7).
PAY RAISES: The AP’s Frederic Frommer reports the Orange Bowl Committee “bumped up” CEO Eric Poms’ pay “by nearly $150,000 in 2009, boosting his compensation to more than $500,000.” Orange Bowl VP/Communications & Community Relations Larry Wahl in an e-mail said that the increase was “mostly supplemental compensation” given to Poms. He added it was given to Poms for the “added work and effort involved” in hosting two BCS games in ’09, including the national championship. Tax returns show that Poms earned $507,000 in ’09, a 42% increase over the previous year’s earnings of $358,000. In addition to Poms, “several other Orange Bowl officials also got bumps because of hosting two games” in ’09, including CFO Brian Park, whose pay increased 28% from $200,000 to $257,000. Former CMO Christina Francis received a 24% increase from $203,000 to $251,000, and COO Michael Saks' pay “jumped 38 percent from $185,000 to $255,000” (AP, 4/8).
DROPPING THEIR TICKETS: In Orlando, David Damron notes city Mayor Teresa Jacobs has “dropped Orange County's longstanding membership with Florida Citrus Sports, which means it will not buy its regular ticket package for stadium events and this year's bowl lineup,” including the Citrus Bowl and Champs Sports Bowl. Orange County Chief Accountability Officer Eric Gassman in a letter to FCS officials last week wrote, "The lingering impact of the economic recession has forced us to make deep budget cuts including eliminating memberships." Orange County last year “paid $3,195 for a ticket package, though officials considered a more expensive membership level of $8,090 until objections were raised about the recession.” The county in ’09 “paid for a $7,490 membership.” Damron writes Jacobs' cancelation “is not a big surprise,” as she “ran as a budget hawk, and there has always been top-level internal hand-wringing about Orange taxpayers buying sports tickets as workers saw hours cut” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/8).
