dropping the mic The Mic Drop podcast dives deep into Dallas’s unmatched sports community. By David Lee
Whether chatting about a $4 million Luka Dončić trading card, possible college football playoff expansion, bringing the 2026 FIFA World Cup to Dallas, or the Dallas Cowboys reappearing on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” the Dallas Sports Commission’s Mic Drop podcast pulls back the curtain on what makes the Dallas sports community so unique and vibrant.
biggest sports events in the world to the area, including Super Bowl XLV, NCAA Basketball Final Four, the College Football Playoff, World Cups, and many others. Past guests have included ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, Cowboys greats Charles Haley and Darren Woodson, and legendary Dallas broadcast personality Dale Hansen.
Hosted by Monica Paul and Kevin Sullivan, Mic Drop can be found on all major podcast platforms. It began in February but has already attracted nearly 4,000 listeners. One of the core goals of the show is to reveal the important behind-the-scenes work that has positively impacted the Dallas community by bringing some of the
Monica serves as Executive Director of the Dallas Sports Commission leading bid strategies and marketing programs that enhance Dallas’ ability to lure sporting events to the region. She’s been instrumental in selling Dallas as a marquee location to host various World Cups, WrestleMania, NCAA basketball Final Four and a Super
Bowl. Kevin has served as VP of Communications for the Dallas Mavericks, held senior communications roles with NBC Sports and NBC Universal at 30 Rock in New York. He now consults on communications strategy, messaging and coaching with an impressive list of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to professional sports franchises and leagues, high-profile CEOs and major nonprofits. “Creating Mic Drop was a natural next step for the Dallas Sports Commission,” Monica says. “When we began developing the idea, we wanted to share what happens behind the scenes in the Dallas sports community and make people feel like they were in the room with their favorite sports heroes. Since then, our unparalleled sports community has given us so much talent and opportunity for our 20-plus episodes. We’re working now on more outstanding content and guests for the coming weeks. We’re just getting started.” Roughly 55 percent (155 million) of Americans are podcast listeners. Bucking the trend of bite-sized
online content, Mic Drop leverages the impact of a longform podcast to develop relationships with fans, area sports teams at all levels, businesses, government representatives, charities, and many other organizations throughout the Dallas community. “Love the variety of topics and guests on this great new podcast for Dallas sports,” reads one fivestar review. “From a sports fan it’s great to hear these takes on all the Dallas sports teams,” another review claims. “I read the other day that a Luka Dončić trading card sold for $4.6 million. I thought it was typo,” Kevin said to open the third episode. The co-hosts also discussed the growing popularity of NBA Top Shot, Blockchain digital trading cards and the impact of the traditional physical card market. The unscripted, casual conversations make listeners feel as if they are part of the discussion. “You hear them talk off the cuff and not scripted at all, so you feel like they’re actually on your friends list,” Dallas Sports Commission Event Marketing Manager Alex Gilbert says.
Charles Haley, Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys DE-LB
Monica Paul, Host, Mic Drop
Kevin Sullivan, Host, Mic Drop
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The FIFA World Cup, which drew more than 3.5 billion viewers in 2018, has been a hot show topic lately, as Dallas is in the running to be one of the host cities for the 2026 tournament. The show even covered the rise of e-sports and the popularity of professional gamers in the Dallas area. When the Dallas Cowboys topped the Forbes Most Valuable Sports Teams list for 2021 with
When we began developing the idea, we wanted to share what happens behind the scenes in the Dallas sports community and make people feel like they were in the room with their favorite sports heroes. - Monica Paul, Executive Director, Dallas Sports Commission a value of $5.7 billion, Monica and Kevin chatted with Cowboys Ring of Honor member Darren Woodson about what continues to make the Star so popular around the world. With baseball at mid-season, football right around the corner, and multiple Dallas athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics, there’s a plethora of exciting things on the way, and you can bet there will be mic drop-worthy coverage you’ll only hear from the Mic Drop podcast.
SOME OF OUR FEATURED GUESTS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Jeff Van Gundy, NBA Analyst, ESPN Curt Menefee, Host, Fox NFL Sunday & Fox NFL Thursday Jason Howarth, VP of Marketing, Panini America Andrea Williams, COO, College Football Playoff Marty Turco, President & Chairman of the Board, Dallas Stars Foundation Eric Nadel, Radio Play-by-Play/Color, Texas Rangers George Killebrew, Commissioner, Major League Rugby Lance Barrow, former CBS Golf Lead Producer Dedra DeLilli, Group Manager, Olympic/Paralympic Marketing, Vehicle Marketing & Communications, Toyota Motor North America Nancy Lieberman, Head Coach of Power, a team in the BIG3 Natalie Jenkins, Vice President, WISE DFW Jon Drago, Tournament Director, AT&T Byron Nelson Mike McKinley, President, Salesmanship Club of Dallas Pedro Silva, Sports Host, Univision Brad Townsend, Dallas Mavericks beat writer for the Dallas Morning News Bryan Curtis, Editor-at-Large, The Ringer Danyel Surrency Jones, Co-Founder & CEO, Powerhandz Chuck Carlton, Cowboys Beat Writer, Dallas Morning News Bill Hancock, Executive Director, College Football Playoff Larry Lundy, Pres., Black Sports Professionals of North Texas Troy Aikman, NFL on FOX and Dallas Cowboys Legend Brad Alberts, President & CEO, Dallas Stars Abner Haynes, former UNT Football player Jaylon Smith, Linebacker, Dallas Cowboys Vickie Johnson, Head Coach, Dallas Wings Gordon Jago, Ambassador & Special Consultant, Dallas Cup Andy Swift, Executive Director, Dallas Cup Sandy Cross, Chief People Officer, PGA of America Bryan Trubey, Principal & Executive Vice President, Global Director, FAIA, HKS Sean Decker, Executive Vice President, Sports & Entertainment, Texas Rangers Verne Lundquist, former WFAA Sportscaster and Radio Voice for the Dallas Cowboys Bob Bowlsby, Commissioner, Big 12 Conference Derek Harper, Dallas Mavericks Legend & Television Analyst André Zanotta, FC Dallas, Technical Director Charles Haley, Dallas Cowboys Legend Pudge Rodriguez, Texas Rangers Legend Darren Woodson, Dallas Cowboys Legend Dan Hunt, President, FC Dallas Spud Webb, Pres. of Basketball Operations, Texas Legends Dale Hansen, WFAA sports anchor Geoff Moore, President and COO, Team Envy Jim Nill, General Manager, Dallas Stars Molly Solomon, Television Producer, NBC Chuck Cooperstein, Radio Voice of the Dallas Mavericks Charean Williams, NFL Reporter Jane Slater, Reporter, NFL Network
Dallas native Lawlar picked sixth in MLB draft by Arizona By John Tranchina
On some rankings, he was listed as the top player available, so the Arizona Diamondbacks were thrilled to select Dallas native Jordan Lawlar with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft on July 11. Lawlar, a shortstop from Jesuit Prep in Dallas, enjoyed an outstanding senior season, batting .412 with 47 runs scored, six home runs, 37 RBIs and 37 stolen bases. He was officially ranked the No. 3 prospect by MLB and was number one on the ESPN broadcast’s “players available” list, and Diamondbacks Director of Scouting Deric Ladnier was happy he was still there when their turn came up. “We were excited that he was there for us at six, there’s no doubt,” Ladnier said. “I was just very pleased that we were able to select him. I think everybody in that room was excited about that selection.” Lawlar, who was the second shortstop selected, is a special player who excels in all aspects of the game. In addition to his offensive prowess, including impressive speed and base-running ability, he is a strong defensive BEHIND THE BANNER JULY 2021 EDITION
player at the most demanding infield position. “Finding that premium shortstop that can hit, do all the things that he can, is a wonderful commodity to have and he has every tool to be a very successful major league shortstop for a long time,” Ladnier said. “Just electric tools – really good feet, really good hands, really good arm, good range, good instincts, ability to steal bases, ability to hit, power. He checks all the boxes, quite frankly. And just a wonderful human being. He thrived under the limelight last year, and obviously his accolades are pretty well-documented. “He’s a super athlete … and all of those things that he possesses are the type of tools that we as evaluators are always looking for when we go to the ballpark, and we can pretty much walk out of the ballpark and check every box, which doesn’t happen a lot.” In addition to all his physical attributes, Lawlar has the intangibles that every coach loves to have on his team. “Jordan is a true team player and teammate, a hard worker that leads by example on and off the field,” said
Jesuit coach Brian Jones. “Even with all the attention this season, he didn’t make the atmosphere about him. He’s mature beyond his age. Great character. A solid young man off the field, in the locker room as well as the classroom. In dealing with adversity, or accolades, his temperament doesn’t change. He stays calm and level headed at all times.” Lawlar, who turned 19 on July 17, won the Gatorade Player of the Year as the top high school player in Texas and has
been compared to another Dallas-area shortstop, Bobby Witt Jr., who was drafted second overall by Kansas City in 2019 out of Colleyville Heritage. Lawlar played his entire senior season with the microscope on him, and after a bit of a slow start, enjoyed another outstanding year as Jesuit went 32-6 on the season and advanced to the Class 6A Area playoffs. “We watched this young man all the way from last summer into this year,” Ladnier said. “I think he started off this season a little bit slow this year, and maybe that’s attributed to the Covid, I’m not sure. But we watched basically all of his games, and over the course of the year, as he got back into the groove, his swing, his ability to take pitches and his ability to control the zone, the power – all of those things were factors that we weighed in. “He’s accustomed to swinging a wood bat, he’s done it
before and he’s been very good at it. I feel like this young man is going to develop into a really good hitter.” He has long been committed to play at Vanderbilt University (since before he even played a high school varsity game) and Lawlar may end up choosing to go there instead of joining the Diamondback organization. He has until Aug. 1 to make a decision – either sign with Arizona or attend Vanderbilt and then re-enter the MLB Draft in 2023.
Whether or not Lawlar signs with the team that drafted him like Witt did (he was recently promoted from Double-A Northwest Arkansas to Triple-A Omaha), is still a mystery, as Lawlar hasn’t met with media since the draft. “When you select a player, we have every intention of signing that player,” Ladnier said. “We were able to talk to him after our pick was over, and he was excited about the opportunity to hopefully get out here and start his career, but obviously, there’s always different choices that players have to make. That’s their own personal decision, but we selected this player with every intent of getting him on the field and getting him in uniform where he can start his development process.”
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LATEST FROM
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Monica Paul Speaks at Host City Americas & Dallas Bar Association HOST CITY INFO
DALLAS BAR INFO
Event News
WrestleMania 38
Your favorite WWE Superstars are returning to Arlington at WrestleMania 38 on April 3, 2022! The first WWE LOC planning meeting will be held in the beginning of August.
Plano Seventh Grader Represents the Dallas Sports Comission in National Bee Seventh-grader Dhroov Bharatia from Wilson Middle School in the Plano Independent School District represented the Dallas Sports Commission in the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee which took place on July 8 and aired on ESPN. Dhroov tied for fourth in the finals but has the opportunity to compete for the last time next year as an 8th grader.
UPCOMING EVENTS
JUNE 11 - AUGUST 23 NERF Challenge // Fair Park
J U LY 2 5
Gold Cup Quarterfinals // AT&T Stadium
J U LY 2 9 - A U G U S T 1
USA Water Polo National Junior Olympics – Session 3 // Dallas Area Aquatics Facilities
SEPTEMBER 4
Allstate Kickoff Classic: Kansas State vs. Stanford // AT&T Stadium
JUNE 11 – AUGUST 23, FAIR PARK This groundbreaking live attraction brings all of the highoctane action and competitive fun of NERF into a 90,000 square foot, adrenaline-pumping, action-packed active play experience. erf Challenge features off-the-wall experiences playfully N designed to test your focus, dexterity, and skill across multiple play styles. Fans can also test their speed and accuracy in specially designed activations utilizing NERF’s iconic blasters and sports products.
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AT&T STADIUM AT&T Stadium will host the Quarterfinal doubleheaders of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on July 25th.
Costa Rica vs. Canada – 6 p.m. United States vs. Jamaica – 8:30 p.m. TICKETS + INFO
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