Ryan Vaughn \u201900<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nVaughn:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t start in politics. I kind of backed into it. My goal was to be a trial lawyer. In law school, though, I interned at the prosecutor\u2019s office. I loved that job.<\/p>\nBut I had to pay off student loans at some point, and I still wanted to be that top-tier law firm trial lawyer. When I left the prosecutor\u2019s office I sensed that I had lost something. I eventually realized what I missed was the emotional reward I got from doing public service.<\/p>\n
I struggled for about a year to find a way to get involved again, and I ended up winding my way into politics. That was my first step back into the civic world, which introduced me to a great network of people.<\/p>\n
That background became helpful when we had a major sporting event coming to town and we, as a community, were struggling with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that had just been passed. We needed to address that very quickly. Understanding the political process, already having relationships with the people, was super helpful.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So, Mark, you came back to Indianapolis to work on the Super Bowl?<\/em><\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> No. I came back to Indianapolis thinking I was completely done with anything in sports. I had finished 15 years with the Association of Tennis Professionals.<\/p>\nThe one thing that I missed being away from Indianapolis was this civic engagement. I was taking a job here that was about, in a broad sense, economic development. Mayor Ballard got elected at the end of 2005 and called me that December about the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why did you say yes?<\/em><\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> I remember the phone call. He had run against the Super Bowl\u2014he was at least skeptical. He called and said, \u201cI\u2019ve decided we really should go after the Super Bowl. And when I think about the Super Bowl, I see your face.\u201d<\/p>\nI said, \u201cMan, that\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cWe wanna go after it. Would you chair the bid committee?\u201d<\/p>\n
I hoped I could help and it sounded like fun\u2014the same reason I did everything I\u2019ve done to date, except I wasn\u2019t getting paid. Allison Melangton ran it, make no mistake about it, but she got 30 or 40 hours a week out of me as a volunteer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ryan, you were in the mayor\u2019s office at the time\u2014was that your introduction to the economic and political side of sports in Indianapolis?<\/em><\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> It was the first time I became hyper conscious of it. I began to understand the value proposition that sports bring\u2014beyond the entertainment side of it\u2014to a community.<\/p>\nI often joke that the Indiana Sports Corp was founded in 1979; I was founded in 1978.<\/p>\n
I grew up in a city that I thought was always this busy and always this fun. It didn\u2019t occur to me what it meant for the economics of the downtown, the redevelopment and reuse of spaces in the core of our city, the jobs associated with hospitality.<\/p>\n
You see that stuff through a different lens when that\u2019s the revenue you have to manage. [laughs] That was pretty eye opening for me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In a sense, the history and the legacy of sports in Indiana rides on the shoulders of both of you and your fellow leaders in this work. Why on earth would you want to take that position?<\/em><\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> I never really think of it as pressure. I also don\u2019t think that it rides on our shoulders. This is a multi-generational effort now and so many people have been essential to it.<\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> I took the job because I saw the impact that the sports strategy, the sports mission, had on the community.<\/p>\nOne of the things the Sports Corp is not doing is assuming the mantle of \u201cfollow us. You should do what we do.\u201d We try to attract major events to town, and host those, but we\u2019re also a convener of the different organizations that work in sports in Indianapolis, and we build partnerships in support of that.<\/p>\n
That means the Colts, the Pacers, the Indy Eleven, the Fever, the Fuel. It means the universities. It means the city and state. It means the national governing bodies, USA Track and Field, gymnastics, football, diving, the Horizon League, the NFL Combine.<\/p>\n
A lot of people have an important role in building that identity.<\/p>\n
Miles:<\/strong> As Ryan was naming organizations, I was thinking the Metropolitan Arts Council, the Humanities Council, the museums, the orchestra, the schools, and all the non-sports groups. The beautiful part of the recipe since it started here is not just bringing together everybody related to sports and tourism, but in the broadest sense, the community.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s what really makes people feel good about it. It isn\u2019t what happens on the pitch. It\u2019s not my job really to worry about who wins the Indianapolis 500. I\u2019m looking at how we present ourselves, the relationships we build among organizations that normally wouldn\u2019t have anything to do with each other. That\u2019s what makes them great events.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Do you think that Indiana is what it is in terms of sports because of \u201cHoosier Hospitality\u201d?<\/em><\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> Hoosier Hospitality distinguishes us from many cities which host major sporting events. We hear it all the time: It\u2019s a very, very friendly and engaging place to be. And that\u2019s not true everywhere. In fact, more often than not, it\u2019s not true.<\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> Our people show up and do the work. There\u2019s no place like it in the world that I\u2019ve seen, and I\u2019ve done business around sporting events in 35 countries and I don\u2019t know how many cities.<\/p>\nWhen we first laid out the plan to the NFL for how the volunteers would really make all this happen in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl [regarding the Super Bowl Village], the league kept asking, \u201cWhat are you really going to do if they don\u2019t show up at the NFL experience? What if this doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
We said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it. There\u2019ll be more people than we know what to do with.\u201d And that was true.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Do you ever worry, because we\u2019re bringing in so many big events now and the 500 is gaining popularity again, that Hoosiers are going to get tired of all the sports?<\/em><\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> When I got to IMS I was struck by the fact that this is a mega event. It\u2019s so much a part of the DNA of our community, but there was nothing like the community engagement model we have seen in Indiana Sports Corp with these big events. For Allison and me, coming here with that background, the question was, \u201cWhere\u2019s the host committee?\u201d<\/p>\nAs a for-profit organization we couldn\u2019t use volunteers, but we\u2019ve got a not-for-profit foundation nearby. There were ways we could partner with the 500 Festival or the Sports Corp. We advertised, did a lot of PR, and sold tickets. Everybody came and everybody loved it.<\/p>\n
We started doing that for the 100th in 2016 and pretty much went to the same well. The same people, time and time again, want to answer the call. It\u2019s because they\u2019re proud of their city and want to be part of this esprit de corps that gets created. That M.O. now is really important to this place, and it\u2019s the way we try to make it grow.<\/p>\n
Vaughn:<\/strong> I never struggle filling a board with community leaders or civic leaders.<\/p>\nThen there are the volunteers who are literally on the decks of the Natatorium, in Bankers Life Fieldhouse, or Lucas Oil Stadium. I don\u2019t think they get tired of it. It\u2019s just really incumbent upon us to make sure we\u2019re expressing to them our gratitude.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t ever want them to feel like they\u2019re taken advantage of or that we don\u2019t respect what they do or value what they do.<\/p>\n
Our toughest challenge right now is that our volunteer base exceeds our opportunities. When we had the Big Ten Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament a few weeks ago, we filled all 600 volunteer positions in 90 minutes after we posted, which is just extraordinary.<\/p>\n
Miles:<\/strong> For me, it\u2019s more the challenge of not always going back to the same folks, because they will sign up every time. They love it.<\/p>\nBut this needs to constantly be an avenue for people who have never been involved before at either level, the volunteer management level or on the deck level.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not exactly a volunteer, but in 2017 Pacers President Larry Bird and IndyCar collaborated on the city\u2019s bid to host the NBA All Star game.<\/em><\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> One of the things that differentiates us from other people is that we are all in from the moment of \u201cYes, we have decided to bid.\u201d We go over the top and really show them how much we want this opportunity.<\/p>\nSo you fly Larry Bird to New York. He drives an Indy Car down Fifth Avenue and delivers to the commissioner a handcrafted box that contains a customized iPad that has the entire bid book on it. Other cities literally assembled their bids in binders and FedEx\u2019d them in.<\/p>\n
Miles:<\/strong> That is the mindset of the people who\u2019ve done these events: How are we going to exceed expectations? How about Larry Bird on Fifth Avenue? How about we get eighth-graders, many of whom have never been on a plane, to deliver the bid for the Super Bowl to all team owners? It\u2019s just so cool for those families and those kids. It\u2019s a frame of mind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
It sounds like it takes all of Indianapolis for the city to be successful attracting and hosting these events.<\/em><\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> Other cities manage to do it with really tightly controlled, limited broader involvement. I hate to see the day when we ever even imagine that.<\/p>\nVaughn<\/strong>: Why wouldn\u2019t you get as many people involved as you can? You want those folks involved because you want the entire community to benefit from what you\u2019re doing, not just the venue, a team, or a small group of the community to have some exposure. That, to me, wouldn\u2019t be worth it. It wouldn\u2019t have the community impact that I find rewarding.<\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> There were 38,000 volunteers for the Pan American Games in 1987. At least once a month, if not every week, I\u2019ll run into somebody who says, \u201cI was the deputy awards commissioner\u2026 and it was the highlight of my life.\u201d It has enormous impact for people individually, and then as a community.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Speaking of the Pan Am Games. I was looking at the schedule of what\u2019s coming to Indianapolis between now and 2023, which includes Big Ten Championships, the NBA All-Star Game, the NCAA Men\u2019s Final Four, the College Football National Championship. Ryan, how much of this is possible because of the things that Mark did with the Pan Am Games?<\/em><\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> One hundred percent. Those 38,000 people had a moment where they realized that sports could have a tremendous impact on the city. That has reverberated in multiple ways, whether it\u2019s attracting sports organizations like the NCAA or faith in investing in venues\u2014like Lucas Oil Stadium or Bankers Life Fieldhouse\u2014that have allowed us to continue to grow and thrive in sports.<\/p>\nThe two most catalytic moments in sports in Indianapolis outside of, obviously, the construction of this facility, have been the Pan Am Games and the Super Bowl, because so many people got to work it. They got to volunteer. They got to help plan it. They were super proud of their city. We had these third-party validations from people around the world saying what a great city it is. That\u2019s the stuff that keeps the momentum going and allows you to lean in on all of these other events.<\/p>\n
Miles:<\/strong> By the time we got into the Pan American Games, the Sports Corp had been formed and had done the National Sports Festival. That event, to me, was the coming-out party, because it really was the time, from my perspective, that the host committee model got built.<\/p>\nWe didn\u2019t invent it, we just stole it and modified it a little bit in order to do, basically, the Olympics for American athletes. We had to have this whole constellation of sports venues\u2014the first excuse to build all that was the National Sports Festival.<\/p>\n
And you have to remember the people like Jim Morris, Ted Boehm, and David Frick who, along with another 20 or so other people, decided that they were going to embark on things that would make the city better.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/05\/miles-vaughn-laugh-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Ryan, you have said that, compared to Mark, you\u2019re just a rhyne and he\u2019s the Sphinx Club president. Why?<\/em><\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> It\u2019s because I\u2019m older.<\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> I have been in the world of sports a little over four and a half years. I learn something new every day about our collective industry of sports.<\/p>\nMark has an incredible career, not only from the civic service side of leading things like the Super Bowl and Pan Am Games, but right here at the Speedway.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s got a fantastic resume. I\u2019ve got a bullet point.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What are you doing to attract a new generation of sports fans and a new generation of Hoosier volunteers?<\/em><\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> Our case in racing is quite specific. Probably not even half of 18-year-olds in this country have a driver\u2019s license. People worry that this lack of interest in cars will carry over to racing.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s nonsense, because we view our sport as an extreme sport. Daring, brave, high-speed open-wheel racing does not require that you know anything about what the engine is or what their dynamics are, anything technical. It\u2019s just raw, extreme sport, from my perspective.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a hard sport to watch, because it\u2019s very hard to find a track where you can see the whole thing. We have an issue and an opportunity. There are 44 line cuts around this 2.5-mile oval. Each car has the equipment so that every time they pass one of those 44 line cuts, we take all the data off of it. We want to take some of that data and turn it into graphics and other content that young people can consume.<\/p>\n
The ticket for us in continuing to get younger is not just how amazing the racing is, or how young our athletes are, but how we go to market with ways to consume the sport that are particularly interesting to younger people.<\/p>\n
Vaughn:<\/strong> Fans for the next generation of sports is actually one of the foundational questions on a pretty unique initiative that we are partnering on with the Colts, the Pacers, and the NCAA.<\/p>\nA little less than a year ago we announced the Techstars SportsTech Accelerator. We invited technology companies from around the world that had a focus on sports to help problem solve around these issues: fan engagement, athlete safety, and others. This month we\u2019ll select our first 10 companies.<\/p>\n
We had about 385 companies from around the world apply to be part of it. There are several companies that have a fan engagement element to them.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s exciting stuff out there.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We started this interview talking about the things that you see when you look out these windows. Let\u2019s talk about the things that you don\u2019t see yet, but you want to see. Hilton Hotels plans to build a 38-floor Signia Hotel in Indianapolis\u2014 one of three cities chosen for this massive building. It\u2019s going to change the skyline we\u2019re looking at now. What does that say to you about the future of Indianapolis?<\/em><\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> That we\u2019re growing.<\/p>\nOne of the biggest professional challenges I have is that there are more events that want to come to Indy than we have room to host because we have limited capacity in our downtown.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re leaving business on the table that, if we had greater capacity, we could grow into and really do something special.<\/p>\n
Miles:<\/strong> It\u2019s very natural. It\u2019s a repeating cycle from my perspective\u2014there were 465 downtown hotel rooms in Indy when I graduated from high school in 1972.<\/p>\nVaughn:<\/strong> There are now 10,000 rooms in just the core of downtown.<\/p>\nMiles:<\/strong> It has grown and grown.<\/p>\nI think back to the debate when what became JW Marriott hotel was coming on. The people who owned existing hotels said, \u201cOh no, we really like where we are. We\u2019re at a very high occupancy rate. The new hotel will make that rate dip.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it would.<\/p>\n
But growth cycles are not a curve. They\u2019ll dip a little because we\u2019re at a very high occupancy rate now. To get to the next level of sporting events and conventions, it is essential that we add this capacity. If history repeats itself\u2014and I\u2019m sure it will, because we\u2019re better positioned now than we were then\u2014we\u2019ll get right back up.<\/p>\n
Not very many cities can be so optimistic and almost certain of their continued growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Wabash Men from different generations are leading Indianapolis’s efforts to become “the premier city in America for sports.” Mark Miles \u201976 presides over the largest single-day sporting event in the world.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":4671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-notes"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/05\/miles-vaughn-online-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4665"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4677,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4665\/revisions\/4677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/05\/miles2-300x240.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/05\/vaughn-2-300x240.jpg\")
<\/a>