New Leadership Takes The Wheel At Circuit of The Americas

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Circuit of The Americas (COTA) began with a dream - to build the world's best sports and entertainment destination, deep in the heart of Texas. Since 2012, COTA's world-class racing events (including the Formula 1 Emirates US Grand Prix, the Red Bull MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas and the AutoNation INDYCAR Challenge), live concerts, major festivals and holiday attractions have brought over 4 million visitors and $5.0 billion in revenue to Central Texas.

With a new leadership team in place, Circuit of The Americas is expanding and redefining its guest experience. Bobby Epstein, COTA's Chairman, explains, "Building on what is already a world-class brand, the experience of our new leadership team will help us expand to offer a greater array of experiences for our partners and fans. Now, we're expanding to become a multi-purpose family destination. A place where fans, friends and families come to make lifelong memories." Over the next year, Epstein says, COTA will continue to enhance guest experiences with new technologies as well as host premier entertainment for the entire family to enjoy.

COTA's leadership team combines decades of experience in entrepreneurship, sales, sports marketing, technology, and customer engagement.

Tim Prukop, Chief Revenue Officer, came from VenueNext, Inc. where he worked with major sports stadiums to help them deliver an improved fan experience, drive ticket sales and increase customer engagement at events. VenueNext's customers included the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, NY Yankees, San Francisco 49ers, and Orlando Magic. Prior to VenueNext, he served as Vice President of Sales, Sports and New Media for LiveU Inc., where he led the effort to deliver LiveU's patented bonded-cellular video uplink technology to market. Previously, he served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at XOS Technologies which provides video editing systems used by NFL and College coaches to analyze film and prepare their teams for games.

Rick Abbott, Executive Vice President of Operations, started his operations career at ESPN, where he was the head of Global Operations, managing 7,000 employees across a 110-acre campus. Over 12 years, Abbott oversaw security, safety, construction, sustainability, facilities, and studio operations worldwide, and travelled to over 30 countries to take part in the biggest sporting events in the world. Prior to joining COTA, Abbott was the Vice President of Operations at NBCUniversal in New York City, where he managed 2.7M sq ft of Rockefeller Plaza, more famously known as 30 Rock, including nine soundstages and 71 floors of offices. Abbott worked alongside NBC News, MSNBC, The Today Show, Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, Seth Meyers Late Night, and Saturday Night Live. Abbott won 5 Emmy awards during his time at ABC, ESPN and NBC.

Eric Bechtel, Founder and President of IdeaQuest LLC, is known for his extensive industry relationships. A marketing executive with over 30 years of experience, Bechtel has helped Fortune 500 brands, professional athletes, entertainers, broadcast talent, media companies, leagues and team properties navigate the sports, entertainment, media and technology industries. Over his career, Bechtel has partnered with some of the world's most respected brands and created marketing solutions actualized in national advertising campaigns, naming rights deals, property sponsorships and endorsements. IdeaQuest clients include American Family Insurance, Johnson Controls, and The General Insurance, among others. Over the course of his career, Bechtel has also worked with 24 Hour Fitness, Ask.com, Burger King, Heineken USA, L'Oréal's Drakkar Noir, World Wrestling Entertainment, Bellator, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rory McIlroy and Steve Young.

Jeff Marks, Chief Executive Officer at IPG360, is a sports business executive with over twenty years of experience working with C-level executives at Fortune 500 companies, sports teams, leagues, venues, governments, universities, franchise owners and investors. Marks specializes in naming rights and founding partnerships to drive long-term revenue for prestige properties with a focus on sports, entertainment, and real estate development. Mr. Marks has worked on over a hundred plus business partnerships over his career, including Johnson Controls Hall of Fame Village, Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Globe Life Park in Arlington, TD Place in Ottawa, Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium, Portland Timbers, USA Triathlon, DC United and many more. Mr. Marks is also credited with developing the sports industry's leading valuation tool which is an analytical sales model for identifying, creating and valuing sponsorships and naming rights with the IPG360 Property and Brand Valua+or.

COTA has partnered with sports marketing consultants, IdeaQuest, a sales solutions firm led by Eric Bechtel, and Innovative Partnerships Group (IPG360), an elite naming-rights agency led by Jeff Marks, to offer next generation sponsors "one of one" partnership opportunities including never before entitlements and branded zones at COTA. Our collective team was instrumental in closing a multi-year mid-seven figure deal with Germania Insurance. Other partnerships secured include Ascension Seton's multi-year jersey KIT with the USL's Austin Bold FC, Lexus, Cat Entertainment Services, and AutoNation (Entitlement to COTA's INDYCAR Race). Bechtel, founder of IdeaQuest, told us, "Jeff and I are excited to be working with COTA's new leadership team and connecting them with world-class brands that want something more meaningful than traditional sponsorships."

About Circuit of The Americas
Experience the unfiltered thrill of being alive at Circuit of The Americas, in Austin, Texas. Watch the racing world's most elite competitors negotiate our acclaimed 20 turn course, white knuckling their way around the greatest circuit in the world. Raise your voice and dance with tens of thousands of fans as the hottest musical acts perform live at Austin's largest outdoor music venue. Stand Texas-tall on top of our 250-foot Observation Deck (the most Instagram place in Texas) and get a VIP view of top racing action that is viewed by over 200 million people from around the world each year. The 1,500-acre campus is home to award-winning performance venues including an Amphitheater voted the Best New Major Concert Venue by Pollstar in 2013, the 83,000-person capacity Super Stage and the 6,000 seat multi-purpose stadium that is home of the Austin Bold FC.  The campus also offers driving experiences including COTA Karting and the Audi Driving Experience, as well as expansive meeting and hospitality spaces with over 150,000 square feet of meeting space including a conference center and ballroom designed for large group, private or corporate events. You can also enjoy a full hook-up at the Revline RV Park complete with a trophy catch and release fishing lake.

For more information and to download videos and photos, visit www.thecircuit.com. For an experience as unique as Austin and a rush you'll never forget, visit Circuit of The Americas, where exhilaration happens. To book a camping experience at COTA, please visit www.cotarv.co.

About IdeaQuest LLC
IdeaQuest is a sales and marketing and solutions provider.  We exist to serve and provide our partners with the inspiration and support needed to pursue big ideas and help them realize their full potential.  We guide our clients in the ideation and implementation of custom sales and marketing platforms and we are passionate, innovative, collaborative and driven partners.  IdeaQuest specializes is consulting, activation and business development in the sports, entertainment, media and technology verticals.  IdeaQuest was founded and is led by President Eric Bechtel and is based in Ramsey, NJ.  Additional information is available at www.ideaquest.net.

About Innovative Partnerships Group (IPG360)
Innovative Partnerships Group (IPG360) consults with prestige sports and entertainment properties and brands to identify, create and value business partnerships. The team has deep expertise in naming rights, founding partners and next generation sponsorships. IPG360 executes on these partnerships through the development of state-of-the-art commercial sales programs resulting in maximizing long-term revenue for both properties and brands. Verticals include Smart Cities, Sports & Entertainment Districts, Healthcare Properties Campuses & Brands, Next Generation Retail/ Lifestyle Centers, Universities & Municipalities, Emerging Sports Properties & Leagues, Stadiums, Arenas & Entertainment Venues. Additional information is available at www.ipg360.com.

Contact: Stephanie Brown, [email protected]

SOURCE Circuit of The Americas

Related Links

http://www.thecircuit.com/