Keith Tribble, chief executive officer of the Orange Bowl Committee, will be the keynote speaker at the 12 th annual West Virginia University Sport Management Summit at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 17, at the Pines Country Club.
The summit brings together past WVU alumni from the graduate program and invites a noted figure within the sport setting to discuss a current industry topic.
Once again, the Graduate Sport Management Program has attracted a great leader to provide the keynote address at the summit,said Dallas Branch, program coordinator.Keith Tribble will bring many years of varied sport experience to campus, and we are very excited that he will be our featured speaker.
Tribble has spent the last decade at the forefront of collegiate athletics. He has been instrumental in securing the Orange Bowl’s membership in the elite Bowl Championship Series as South Florida hosts the national championship game in January 2005.
In 2003, Sports Illustrated recognized Tribble as the second-most influential minority figure in the world of collegiate athletics. He was then tabbed by SI as No.12 among the Most Powerful People in college football.
As chairman of the Football Bowl Association, Tribble has also overseen a bowl system that reported in 2002-03 a record 1.4 million fans in attendance, a television rating increase of 10 percent for the BCS and $1 billion in annual economic impact.
There are few people in the world of sport who are more successful and influential as Mr. Tribble,said Corey Lawson, class president.Having him accept our invitation as keynote speaker at this year’s Sport Summit is truly an honor. His visit to Morgantown will undoubtedly be a great experience for all involved.
As CEO of the Orange Bowl Committee, Tribble handles the organization’s day-to-day operations, budgets and business affairs and is a driving force in the implementation of nearly 40 events annually. He also serves as CEO of the Orange Bowl Foundation, the charity arm of the committee.
The Orange Bowl Committee was created in 1935 to bring tourism to South Florida through an annual football game. Since then, the non-profit, 301-member, all-volunteer organization has expanded its reach beyond the city to become a foundation of the South Florida community.
Tribble attended the University of Florida, where he played offensive guard for four bowl teams and graduated in 1977 with a degree in journalism.
The Sport Management Summit is open to the public on a limited basis. For more information, contact Dallas Branch at (304) 293-3295 ext. 5264 or dbranch@wvu.edu .