Mike Nealy
Episode 125
21 JUNE 2021
The CEO / Executive Director of Arizona Sports Foundation, Valley of the Sun Bowl Foundation and Fiesta Events, Inc., community-based organizations that operate the Fiesta Bowl, Guaranteed Rate Bowl, and numerous charitable and community events throughout the state. Prior to heading the Fiesta Bowl, he spent eight years with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes and Jobing.com Arena, most recently as President and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining the Phoenix Coyotes in January 2006, he spent four seasons with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. He has also been both a football coach and a basketball referee.
Notable guest quotes:
“That was my first opportunity to be able to be part of a Catholic school system… I think on many fronts that was a positive influence that you could get with the teachings there.”
“I look back and my whole life I think I’ve been very fortunate… God… puts people in your life for reasons.”
“As a young professional out of college I lived pretty close to downtown near the basilica, St. Mary, and started attending much more regularly. They had a youth group, young professionals’ group, that made it another reason to get involved with people that were like-minded, of Christians.”
“You can see when your life is going the wrong direction versus the better direction that you know when God has been more at the center of your life.”
“A group of us got together, collected medical supplies, and huge boxes, and flew over there… we stayed with some host families… When we landed there, the families that we stayed with picked us up… The first place — literally before we even went to where their home was — is they brought me to a church. And how special is that?”
“I like to think that I bring my faith (into the workplace) in the way I act and how I treat people.”
“The goals that I put forward for our organization lie in: how do we treat people’s integrity, how do we support each other, are we enhancing people’s lives, dignity. Those types of things are the core of the goals that I bring forward in my organization now.”
“I had a basketball coach that… was a leader in the FCA, the Fellowship of Christian (Athletes), and he took a direction to me and really asked me to start joining him in prayer.”
“(The Positive Coaching Alliance) is really about developing better people, through athletics, making better athletes better people… The power of using sports to develop character and having character, and a lot of that is based in, obviously, religion is a strong base for treating people well and doing the right thing.”
“Faith is a big part of keeping you humble.”
Related link:
Mike’s bio on Fiesta Bowl website
