Thursday, January 4, 2024

UTSA Athletics Director Lisa Campos, Centro San Antonio to discuss role of sports in city’s development

UTSA Athletics Director Lisa Campos, Centro San Antonio to discuss role of sports in city’s development

UTSA Soccer won its first Conference USA championship in November 2022, giving the program positive momentum as the university joins the American Athletic Conference this fall.

APRIL 11, 2023 — UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and Athletics Director Lisa Campos will share her insight on the interplay between sports and downtown’s development at Centro San Antonio’s upcoming Alliance Event, “In the Mix: Sports Edition,” beginning at 5 p.m. this evening at the Alamodome.

Campos will join a panel of local sports leaders and downtown developers to discuss the economic impact of athletics teams are having on San Antonio’s future. She has been a catalyst behind efforts to bring in as many fans as possible to the Alamodome, including urging fans to #PackTheDome.

This past October, San Antonio Sports appointed Elena Wells as executive director of the San Antonio Local Organizing Committee to head up the organizing committee for the 2025 NCAA Men’s Final Four. A headline-grabbing event in college sports, the 2025 Final Four will be cohosted by UTSA and the University of the Incarnate Word. Games will be played at the Alamodome.

“Sports teams have the power to create powerful community pride and immeasurable economic impact and exposure to the international audiences,” said Matt Brown, CEO and president of Centro, which manages the downtown Public Improvement District and works to make San Antonio a vibrant place that amplifies its culture, heritage and spirit. “With the help of our panelists and partners, we hope to explore the growing role of sports in shaping our center city as well as exciting upcoming opportunities we need to cheer on and thoughtfully support.”


UTSA Men's Tennis has been celebrating lots of victories this spring, catapulting to No. 34 in the national rankings in April.


UTSA has captured a pair of Conference USA (C-USA) championships so far in 2022-23 in its final year in the conference. The women’s soccer team surged through the conference tournament last fall for their second overall and first C-USA crown, and, for the second year in a row, the football team took home the league title. UTSA will join the American Athletic Conference on July 1.

Meanwhile, several UTSA programs have earned national rankings this spring in addition to the football team making an appearance in the top 25 for the second straight season last fall. The men’s tennis program recently reached a historical milestone in the national rankings, earning the No. 34 spot in the ITA Division I Men’s National Computerized Rankings on April 4. The men’s track & field program has been ranked as high as 28th in the USTFCCCA Outdoor National Team Rankings. Additionally, the baseball team earned top-25 rankings for the first time in program history on April 3, checking in at No. 23 by Perfect Game, No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 27 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Joining Campos and Wells on the panel will be Randy Smith, CEO and co-founder of Weston Urban and Designated Bidders LLC, and Steve Zito, assistant director of convention and sports facilities/Alamodome general manager for the City of San Antonio.

When it comes to telling the story of sports and downtown development, Campos, Smith, Wells and Zito are among those shaping the narrative.

Weston Urban was founded in 2012 to revive the center city by focusing on three primary services: development, leasing and lending. Among the company’s signature projects is the Frost Tower, which opened in 2019 and was the first downtown tower to be built in more than 30 years. Smith is also one of the founders behind Designated Bidders, the new owners of the San Antonio Missions minor league baseball team, which has plans to build a new stadium in or near downtown.


EXPLORE FURTHER
Learn more and register for the upcoming In The Mix: Sports Edition.
Learn more about Centro San Antonio.

The Alamodome will celebrate its 30th anniversary on May 15. In a recent op-ed in the San Antonio Business Journal, Zito noted this one would be a birthday to celebrate. The facility started 2023 by drawing more than 60,000 fans for the annual Alamo Bowl.

“There has been enough confetti dropped from the rafters of the stadium over the years to stuff the Stars at Night Ballroom at the nearby Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center,” Zito wrote.

After the panel discussion, participants will enjoy a tailgate/mixer with activities including field goal attempts with Valero Alamo Bowl and Spirit Selfies with UTSA Cheer & Rowdy as well as complimentary concessions and swag.

Liz Burt and Tricia Lynn Silva



UTSA Today is produced by University Strategic Communications,
the official news source
of The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu.


UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.


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UTSA’s Mission

The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

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The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.