Highlighting the best and brightest of the sports tourism industry
Faces of Sports Tourism showcases the best and brightest of the sports tourism industry, establishing a closer connection between sports event planners and the destinations that host their tournaments. With us for this feature is Mark Jeanneret, executive director at Erie Sports Commission and the current chair of Pennsylvania Sports (PA Sports) group.
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Mark’s background
I went to school for broadcasting radio and TV, wanting to follow in my father, Rick Jeanneret’s footsteps, who was the play-by-play announcer for the Buffalo Sabres. I got my first full-time chance in Erie, Pennsylvania with the Otters when they moved from Niagara Falls in 1996. I had a great time with that organization. We won a championship in 2001, which was extremely exciting. To date, it’s probably the highlight of my career, with the way the community embraced the team and the excitement around it. From there, I went to the American Hockey League and did a couple years in Portland, Maine, but then I sort of saw the writing on the wall that that was probably as far as I was going to go.
How did you get into your current role as Executive Director?
I was lucky with the Otters that I worked for a gentleman by the name of Ron Sertz. After I left for Portland, we kept in touch and when he found out that I was sort of searching for something new to do in my career, he was already in the midst of studying the possibility of a sports commission in Erie. When that was approved and activated, I got a call from him and he said, “Hey, do you want to come and work for me again?” So in 2013, I moved back and became the second employee of the Erie Sports Commission.
In hindsight, I sort of was always involved in sports tourism—at least one segment of sports tourism. When I worked for the Otters, Ron always told me that I’d be a great salesperson. I never wanted to be a salesperson, and now I’m sort of a sales person (laughs). I’m not selling widgets or anything but I’m selling Erie. I credit him for the opportunity he gave me and the qualities that he saw in me to be able to advance to where I am today.
What would you consider your favorite part about your job?
I’d have to say the diversity. We’re averaging about 80 events a year in Erie and they’re all over the map: from the traditional stick and ball to hydro flight and foot bag. The first event that I got credited for bringing to Erie was the Pennsylvania YoYo Championship. That’s diverse and we’ve always sort of gravitated towards the non-traditional events. Diversity allows us to work with many different people on a daily basis, learning a lot of different sports and what it takes to execute tournaments effectively.
It’s sort of cliche, but no two days are the same and there’s always something different. There’s always somebody new knocking on our door that is passionate about something and we get to work with those people that are passionate about what they do. [In the end], you learn new things every day.
What’s your favorite sport to play or watch?
I’m a proud Canadian and a hockey guy through and through. I played from basically the time I could walk, and competitively until I was 18 when I realized that I wasn’t going to play much more competitive hockey after that. I love the team dynamic of hockey. Obviously I worked in hockey for a long time. I have lived hockey for almost half of my life, so I also love to watch the NHL [regular season] and [Stanley Cup] Playoffs.
Who do you root for?
I am a die-hard, long-suffering Buffalo Sabres fan. I’m a Bills fan as well, but I would call myself more of a Sabres fan than anything else. Unfortunately, they’ve hit a bit of a [playoff drought] stretch here, but I’m hopeful they’ll turn things around sooner than later.
Some of my friends think that I hate the Toronto Maple Leafs more than I like the Sabres. I grew up in Niagara Falls, Canada, so Toronto is on one side and Buffalo is on the other, so it doesn’t bother me to watch the Leafs lose once in a while (laughs).
In 1999, when the Sabres and the Leafs met in the Eastern Conference Finals, it was fantastic. When you drove from Buffalo to Toronto, on the overhangs there would be signs hanging that say “Let’s Go Leafs!” and on the way back to Buffalo it would be “Let’s Go Sabres!” The two communities are separated by an hour and a half, if even that, so it was fantastic. The buildings were electric on both sides.
What is Erie building or renovating right now?
Well, we’ve been really fortunate. We have a convention center, ballpark, arena and historic theater that are seemingly always under renovation. The Convention Center Authority in charge hasn’t just sat back and let them run; they’ve always looked to improve those facilities in any way that they can. That group of facilities have really taken steps consistently in a positive direction to stay as current as possible.
From a university standpoint, we do have four universities in Erie County, three of which are located within the proximity of the City of Erie. All three have gone through some major renovations. Behrend just built a $13-million athletic center on their campus to go along with the Junker Center, which is their main athletic campus. Gannon University right now is in the midst of a major renovation of Highmark Event Center, [which is] scheduled to open January of 2025. Mercyhurst University has renovated their entire sports complex, adding a multipurpose turf field in the process. So, you know, our athletic venues in Erie County certainly have seen a lot of investment over the last five years.
Recent and upcoming events in Erie:
In Erie, we’re in the midst of hosting the PA State Bowling Championships, which runs for 10 straight weekends. We’ll bring in about 5,000 people over the course of the tournament, which will be a big economic generator for us. We’re [also] looking forward to the NCAA bid announcements coming up in the fall. We’ve had some success in the past, having recently hosted the women’s Frozen Four in 2021. We’re hoping to be back on the national stage for that and other opportunities as well.
From your perspective, what does the future for PA Sports look like?
I think we’ve made some real big positive strides at the state level. In the past year, we actually have a state bid fund now. We’re excited to be in a position to help craft that fund as it moves forward, which was a big step up for the state. I hope that we can continue to have a positive impact.
We’re [also] looking at how we can continue to support our members—maybe recruit a couple new members. We added Visit Delco to bring us up to 14 as a membership group, and there are two or three others in the state that we are targeting to join to help strengthen our resolve. Our main goal is just to continue to move forward and provide as much benefit as possible to our members so that they can in turn get out there and do their jobs and attract more events to Pennsylvania.
Get in contact with Mark Jeanneret
814.454.1000
