Ryan Walsh was hired Friday as the CEO of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, tasked with overseeing the city’s largest sports facilities and events, after a unanimous vote by the agency’s board of directors.
The move follows a series of high-profile exits from the organization. Walsh works as the CEO and executive director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation and NRG Park. He plans to step back from his position to take on the role of sports authority CEO, he said. His first day with the authority is Nov. 21.
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Former CEO Janis Burke was fired in a unanimous vote Oct. 11 after Mayor John Whitmire and the region’s sports executives called for new leadership at the agency in a City Hall news conference, citing facility maintenance and transparency issues. Chris Canetti, the city’s FIFA World Cup host committee president, was hired to replace Burke in the interim.
The agency also saw former board chair J. Kent Friedman, who led the organization for more than 20 years, step down. Houston City Council and the Harris County Commissioners Court both voted to confirm [new board chair Juan] Garcia’s appointment to replace Friedman last week.
Walsh’s hire comes a little more than a month after the leadership shakeup, and there was a reason for the speediness with bringing Walsh on board, Garcia said.
Garcia said there was work to do, not only with the FIFA World Cup, but with the Rockets, Astros and at NRG Park. Garcia specifically pointed toward its lease agreements and adapting its sports facilities to make sure they were the best so they could attract business as well as keep its sports teams in Houston.
“It’s been loud and clear, even in the short time period that I’ve been here, by the Rockets, the Astros, the Texans and the rodeo, that we have some work to do, and that’s what we’re going to get to work,” Garcia said.
Walsh said transparency would be a focus in his tenure, and that collaboration and partnership was going to be top of mind — especially as the city prepares to host seven games in the 2026 FIFA World Cup and as the authority looks toward ways to extend their sports facilities’ lifetimes.
See here and here for some background. I’m sure this is fine, I have no quibble with the hire, but it’s a little funny to me that a month after former CEO Janis Burke was suddenly fired for “lack of transparency”, I still have no idea what they mean by that. Like, lack of transparency about what and with whom? Tell me more and give me an example, that’s all I’m asking. I mean, this doesn’t make the first page of the Big List Of Things I Need To Be Worried About Right Now, but it’s still annoying. Anyway, good luck to you, Ryan Walsh. I hope to know more about why you’re here sooner or later.
Burke needed to go, but I’m skeptical these changes will stop the anti-LGBT discrimination and lack of transparency in taxpayer funded Houston Sports.
I say, let’s just stop diverting hundreds of millions of tax dollars per year from critical priorities to fund sports.