Inductees
Frank Viverito
The plan was pretty simple: Follow the wife to her new job in St. Louis and, when time to relocate, it’d be his call on which city.
However, Frank Viverto has never left. One sports marketing job led to another and then, in 1995, more than a decade after relocating here, a call came from the St. Louis Sports Commission.
“The Commission was looking for someone passionate and knowledgeable about sports, marketing, and St. Louis,” Viverito said. “I had spent almost 10 years in sports marketing (in various jobs) and almost 10 years promoting St. Louis (with the STL Convention & Visitors Commission), so I guess I was a good fit.”
Try a great fit. This year marks Viverito’s 26th as President of the St. Louis Sports Commission, a role that has helped the city attract top-notch sporting events and helped fuel almost $1 billion toward the local economy.
That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Viverito with the Class of 2021.
In leading the privately funded non-profit, Viverito has worked to enhance the area’s quality of life.
During his tenure, St. Louis has secured high-profile events such as the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball Final Fours, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships (nine times), NCAA hockey’s Frozen Four, the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament, and the PGA Championship.
Others include the Missouri vs. Illinois Arch Rivalry series, U.S. Figure Skating Championships, U.S. Olympic Diving Trials, and U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials.
To Viverito, the success is due to the St. Louis Sports Commission team, as well as many others.
“The most important thing to emphasize is that this is so not about me,” Viverito said. “It’s a total team effort fueled by, literally, millions of people who care about sports and the potential for sports to move St. Louis forward.”
It’s been some journey for the Brooklyn, N.Y., native. As a kid, there were few opportunities to play organized sports.
“I was always small for my age and young for my grade, but I had a passion for sports, especially in baseball, and was determined that, if I couldn’t play it, I would find a way to work in it,” Viverito said.
Viverito earned a bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University and then a master’s in sports management at the University of Massachusetts. Along the way, he met two of the most important mentors of his career – his wife, Patty, as well as a Minor League Baseball general manager.
Patty (MSHOF 2014) is now her 30th season as the associate commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference.
“I have had so many (mentors). By far, though, I have learned most from Patty – about fairness, about passion for work, about giving back, about dedicating a career to an important cause,” Viverito said.
“I also learned much from my first boss, Dave Rosenfield, the 50-year general manager of the Tidewater Tides,” said Viverito, who was the assistant GM of the Tides. “He taught me how to sell.”
He and Patty made their home in St. Louis in 1985 and raised sons Greg and Matt here. A decade later, and three months into the Commission job, he was making a bid presentation for the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
“The biggest challenge is competing with cities that have very strong products and very strong funding resources when it seems that we are often faced with playing ‘catch-up’ on both counts,” Viverito said. “But we have countered that with organizational stability, a track record of successful events, a great staff, and great support from the business community and fans.”
Viverito’s team has built relationships nationally with other event owners to understand ways St. Louis can enhance its bids.
Said Viverito, “I believe we always have the best staff, the best partners, the best knowledge and experience, and the best sports town to sell.”
The Commission also hosts The Musial Awards, which recognizes extraordinary sportsmanship. The awards are created annually by Marc Schreiber and underwritten by Mark Lombardi and Maryville University.
Viverito called them “the most significant personal achievement of my life, and the most important awards in sports because sportsmanship is the most important part of sports.”
Asked how fortunate he’s been, Viverito said, “Incredibly fortunate.”
“But not just the sports part of my job,” he added, “because my job is more about civic betterment than about sports, and there is great reward in focusing on making St. Louis a better place to live, visit, work and play through sports.”