Lisa Motley
Senior Director of Sports Marketing and Special Events, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
Born: St. Paul, Minn.
Education: University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, B.S., business
Lisa Motley graduated from the University of Minnesota on Mother’s Day in 2000. She packed whatever could fit into her new silver Grand Am, drove 1,800 miles and started a job on the Las Vegas Strip six days later as an advertising coordinator at the closed-for-renovation Aladdin resort. As a result, she went from a market that boasted the Minnesota Twins and Vikings, the soon-to-begin Minnesota Wild and her beloved Golden Gophers to a gambling mecca that had no big league sports tenant.
“I rolled the dice,” she said.
Motley started at the LVCVA five years ago after working as director of marketing for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, handling marketing for Las Vegas Events and a managing advertising for the Golden Nugget resort.
She helped create the annual Ultimate Vegas Sports Weekend, which, depending on the year, has included NASCAR, USA Sevens Rugby, UFC, Golden Knights and pro bull riding events. Vegas also will host the 2022 NFL draft thanks to her diligence in 2018. “We had seven days to put the bid together.” she said. “We didn’t even have an NFL stadium.”
Earlier this year, she oversaw a massive effort that resulted in the NCAA awarding the city nine postseason events between 2022 and 2026, across five different sports. She is now focusing on luring the Super Bowl, Final Four, College Football Playoff and other major events.
“People don’t realize that we had 104,000 seats to fill even before Allegiant Stadium was built,” she said. “We already were the entertainment capital of the world. Now we’re the sports entertainment capital of the world.” — David Broughton
More about Lisa
Biggest work and/or home life adjustment during the pandemic: Learning a new routine. I no longer had the luxury of commuting, going into an office, meeting face-to-face with people.
Guilty pleasure: Watching the greatest movie of all time — “Rocky IV!”
Advice to my younger self: Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself.
Attribute I look for when hiring: Positive attitude.
Best advice I’ve received for career development: Be the person you needed.
The sports industry will look back on the past year as … .: The Little Engine That Could … and Did.
Proudest professional achievement in current position: Developing three programs that involve all sports entities and major hotel partners to position Las Vegas as “The Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World” while developing our rising talent pool. The UNLV/LVCVA College Mentorship Program, the PR Sports Executive Committee, and Team Las Vegas.
