William Knox was ready for the next chapter of his career, but that doesn’t mean he was ready to leave Grand Park Sports Campus behind.
Although Knox stepped down as Grand Park director on Dec. 31, he continues to work as a consultant for Grand Park through Westfield-based Legacy Sports Group.
“It’s a consulting and management company which will stay on with the city of Westfield and Westfield (Redevelopment Committee) in matters related to Grand Park, particularly related to the business development efforts, contracting, sponsorship and marketing,” said Knox, president and owner of Legacy Sports Group.
Knox said he has six full-time employees and two part-time employees. Two employees are dedicated to managing assets related to Grand Park.
“It was a good time for me, personally, but I knew the time wasn’t quite right for me to leave some of the responsibilities that I was still working on for the park,” Knox said. “Fortunately, I was able to work with the city and RDC to make it a very smooth transition.
“Grand Park has a new director with Matt Trnian, and I’m still working on those other aspects.”
Knox, 45, looks forward to seeing the evolution of Grand Park and is working on a five-year strategic plan for the campus. At the same time, he is working with several clients across the United States with his Legacy Sports Group.
“We’re working with some communities who are trying to advance their sports tourism efforts, whether it’s local recreation sports or the travel sports side of things,” he said.
Knox, a Fishers resident, served as Grand Park director for five years. Prior to that, he was with the Hamilton County Sports Authority for 10 years.
“Grand Park is a one-of-a-kind facility,” Knox said. “I don’t think too many people can replicate that. We are looking to work with communities to help guide their sports tourism strategy, more around getting a sports commission created and developed.”
Knox is also helping to create and operate events that happen in those communities.
“There are communities looking to develop facilities and we’re helping them guide some of those conversations,” he said.
Knox said his decision to step down as Grand Park’s director was spurred by the fact he was starting to get offers to work on other projects that he didn’t want to turn away.
“We were fortunate to be in a situation with Grand Park where I could still advance certain initiatives that will happen here as well as work on some of the opportunities,” he said. “I’ve been in a consulting space for the last seven or eight years, working on small projects, but it was able to grow to a place where I was able to become a little bit bigger player in the space.”
Early in January, Sports Events & Tourism Association (Sports ETA) named Knox to lead the facilities program development.
Knox also is part of group with six consultants across the U.S. who focus on sports-related projects.
“Where I might focus on facilities, we got another guy who focuses on sponsorship and marketing,” Knox said. “We come together for larger projects.”
The high point of his tenure as Grand Park director was hosting the Indianapolis Colts training camp. The 10-year agreement started with the 2018 training camp.
“It was definitely a huge feather in the cap for the mayor (Andy Cook) and the city,” Knox said. “It was one of those things where we all had our doubts early on because it’s such a big operation. For (the Colts) to trust the City of Westfield and Grand Park to host that was a huge honor for us.”
Knox, who is from Gary, studies sports marketing at Indiana University. He then helped run the sports commission in Bloomington for 10 years for the Hoosier Sports Corp.
Knox’s daughter, LaChelle, attends IUPUI. His two sons, William Jr., 10, and Alexander, 7, are in the Hamilton Southeastern school system. His wife, Tamika, is a physician.
For more, visit legacygroup.llc.
Experienced replacement
Matt Trnian became director of the Grand Park sports campus when previous director William Knox shifted his role
Trnian studied sports management in college and has served in several capacities at Grand Park.
“Being at the park since it opened has given me the opportunity to learn, grow, both personally and professionally, and enjoy unique experiences I never dreamed of being a part of,” Trnian stated. “I look forward to facing the challenges and opportunities that will come with this new position.”
