From Ballparks to Pickleball

Summary

Jose Moreno, Phoenix Suns community relations, GCU outreach, Fiesta Bowl CMO for nine seasons, now CMO of USA Pickleball, walks Rachel through a career arc built from a not-qualified Denver Nuggets internship to running the fastest-growing sport in the country. The standout story: a fan-less COVID Fiesta Bowl where the team turned PlayStation into 10,000 video-game cutouts the players begged to take home, plus a Suns Gorilla who broke ribs falling off a Southwest baggage cart and never broke character.

Key takeaways

1. Make chicken salad out of the mess — A fan-less COVID bowl game became 10,000 PlayStation-character cutouts in the end zones, more social attention than fans would have generated, and players coming out of the locker room to grab their favorites. Turn the constraint into the idea.
2. The pro absorbs the pain invisibly — The Suns Gorilla performed with broken bones, broken ribs, and a cut tongue, and never let the crowd see it. The audience experience is the only thing that exists, and a memorable character outlasts every roster change.
3. One person's risk is the whole career — Somebody hired Jose for a Denver Nuggets internship he wasn't qualified for because they saw heart and work ethic. Find what makes you different from the person on your left and right, then make it felt at every interaction.
4. The kindest gesture is the one nobody asked for — At a Bob Baffert Hall of Fame event, the Suns Gorilla noticed Bob's young son sitting alone, set up a table with Hall of Fame programs, and ran the boy his own autograph session. The media ate it up because it wasn't planned.
5. Hospitality wins the room before the room arrives — Wishes for Teachers gives Arizona teachers $2,500 classroom grants and is on year ten, well over $1.2M a year. The Fiesta Bowl reputation was built on finding ways to say yes, not the games on the field.

Transcript

00:00 With over 33 years in the mobile bartending and service industry, he is the guy who brings the party and the joy wherever he goes. She's a seasoned event planner and producer with more than 20 years of experience in sports, corporate, nonprofit, and private events. Together we are Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters of the wild, hilarious and unforgettable moments in the world of events.

00:27 This is the Event Talk podcast with Dave and Rachel.

00:31 Hey everybody. Welcome to the Event Talk podcast. We have an amazing guest joining us — Jose Moreno. I met Jose years ago when we both worked for the Phoenix Suns. He migrated to the Fiesta Bowl, and now is over at USA Pickleball as the chief marketing and strategic officer. Welcome to the podcast, Jose.

02:11 If you'd told me at 20 I'd be working in pickleball and be the CMO, I'd have laughed — it was a 55-and-over sport. Now it's the fastest-growing sport in the country four years in a row, 20 to 50 million people playing. I fell in love with the movie Jerry Maguire in high school. Played a little college baseball, that got me to Colorado. Growing up in Tucson, small town, single mom — I was a DECA president, went to a Phoenix Suns game and sat the very last row, mesmerized by the glitz and pageantry.

04:36 I interned for the Denver Nuggets and the NBA All-Star game. My heart's always been working with youth. I didn't get a job in sports out of college — became a youth and family director for the YMCA, moved to Sun Valley, Idaho to open a new one. Opportunity came with the Phoenix Suns in 2008 — community relations coordinator. Best job at 20-something because you're thrown in the fire. Community relations touches every department — we did 200, 300 events out in the community.

06:34 Then I went to GCU — you literally took my job at the Suns. Jerry Colangelo helped grow GCU, a lot of Suns executives went there. Community outreach manager — better title, double the money, no 40 home games, and my last two grad classes free. I built programs from scratch with student athletes, started the Run to Fight Children's Cancer with the Children's Cancer Network and Phoenix Children's Hospital. I was there 3-4 years.

08:21 Then the Fiesta Bowl — director of community relations and charitable giving, worked my way up to VP and chief marketing officer. Nine seasons. College football was ever-evolving — we went from BCS to College Football Playoff. Now USA Pickleball, two and a half years. There's no playbook — no sport has grown this fast. People think we started after COVID, but pickleball's been around since 1965. COVID amplified us.

09:58 We've been a governing body about 20 years. We came on two and a half years ago, a small but mighty team of 8 to 10 — we oversaw the rules, the referee program, nationals. Mike Nealy, our CEO at the Fiesta Bowl who I worked under nine years, came over — if I'm going, you're going. We brought everything in-house. Now we're close to 40 staff. I got to play GM, put the best ballplayers on the field. Our staff spans NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college football.

12:11 All my friends' tennis courts have turned into pickleball. There aren't enough courts to meet demand. We have a facilities development department working with HOAs to grow and expand, but do it right — safety is a top priority. Scottsdale just put one in with a bar.

13:30 Amazing stories — during COVID you had to get really creative for sports with no fans. We were one of the first. Arizona was one of the few states open for sporting events. We got told shortly before our game we couldn't have fans. PlayStation was our title. We said, can we make chicken salad out of this? We asked PlayStation for every major character in every video game and did 10,000 cutouts in all the end zones — Crash Bandicoot, all of them. We got more social attention because it was unique.

15:20 The college football players are still big kids. After the game they started coming out of the locker room — "I love this cutout, can I have it?" We were giving out three or four of these cutouts. A scenario that could have been dark, we turned into something fun. PlayStation was over the moon. That year the PlayStation 5 came out, the hottest ticket — we gave every player a PS5.

17:03 The Phoenix Suns Gorilla — he was probably the first mascot to jump through fire or rappel from a ceiling. We crashed golf carts at tournaments — broken legs, cut tongues. He did a Southwest Airlines bit, got on the baggage cart not realizing he's ten feet in the air, rolled off and broke his ribs. Every injury I've seen — and I've seen a ton — he stays in character. Broken bones, cut tongue, broken ribs, never breaks character.

18:55 One of the cool ones — a Hall of Fame event honoring Bob Baffert. The Gorilla brought his son, maybe eight years old, sitting alone while everyone went around his dad. The Gorilla grabbed all the Hall of Fame programs, set up a table, sat his son down and started an autograph session. The media ate it up — everybody asking for this kid's autograph. He had a gift to make people feel special. Only one Gorilla, ever and will only be.

20:55 When I went to GCU we built that arena — Brian Mueller brought Suns executives over. We took what was happening in the NBA and put it into the college world. You go to one of those games and it's not quiet at all, same energy win or lose, one of the most fun atmospheres in college basketball.

22:25 Fiesta Bowl — every year a new challenge with different teams. We've had everything, hosting a VIP party and 30 bartenders show up that weren't from us. What we were known for was hospitality — find a way to say yes. Spring Summit — head coaches and athletic directors for four days. A hiking tour of Camelback. Urban Meyer missed the tour, sitting in the hospitality room with his wife — "anybody could take us on a hike?" I took them to Piestewa. He's like, you guys have rattlesnakes? First thing we see — yeah. They thought it was the coolest thing.

25:19 My most favorite initiative — during COVID, kids in the hospital limited to one family member. We donated ten virtual robots, giant screens that roll around, to Phoenix Children's Hospital. We brought ten robots to the game, put them as a team coming out of the tunnel, up to the ESPN anchors. Players high-fiving them through the screen. What it meant for those kids who couldn't leave their room for months. You have the opportunity to change somebody's memory, good or bad — it could be your 90th day, it's someone's first event.

28:35 Proudest achievement — at the Fiesta Bowl my team created Wishes for Teachers, going since 2016. Teachers in Arizona were underpaid, underserved. It started with $500,000 in $5,000 classroom grants, now well over $1.2 million a year in $2,500 grants. Millions of kids impacted. To see it still going, ten-year anniversary — technology, special needs equipment, playgrounds, simple things underserved communities don't have.

30:37 Advice for breaking into sports — don't start in sales, you get stuck. It's a lifestyle, not a job. It's more competitive than ever. Find what makes you different from the person on your left and right, find your why, make it felt at every interaction. Somebody took a risk on me with a Denver Nuggets internship I wasn't qualified for, they saw my heart and work ethic. It could take years to grow your reputation and one second to lose it. It's not what you know, it's who knows you and what they know you for.

33:56 What inspires me — I thrive on being different and better than yesterday, and I'm nowhere without my team. Your motivators change as you progress. What can I do today that makes a difference for tomorrow. We have a platform in sports — that's an honor and a gift, don't take it lightly. I love being the underdog. Everybody has a seat at the table, there's no bad idea. As events evolve, people's time is more precious post-COVID — you have to earn it with something dynamic and out of the box, well-run, with purpose.

37:17 Thank you so much for joining us today, calling in from Colorado. Thanks for sharing all your fun stories. Thumbs up, like, fave, all that fun stuff.

37:53 Thanks for tuning in to the Event Talk podcast — Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters where every event has a story. A big thank you to our guests for their laughs, stories, and lessons. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share with your fellow event pros. Until next time.