If anyone understands the world of sports, it’s Greg Stremlaw. Chief Executive Officer of Indy Sports & Entertainment and Indy Eleven, former Team USA hockey player and former president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Stremlaw’s entire life has been embedded in sports.
Indy Eleven takes up much of Stremlaw’s time, as well as the development of Grand Park in Westfield. As co-chief executive officer of the park and a co-founder of Grand Park Sports & Entertainment, the new business that runs Grand Park, Stremlaw and his teams are working to add even more to Grand Park. Part of the plan includes a stadium for the W League of Indy Eleven to play at. Also included in the plan is a district within Grand Park with hotels and restaurants to draw even more people to the park.
“We’re excited to work with various partners, including Sports Tech HQ and IEDC from the state, to try and be an incubator of sport technology, not just in central Indiana, but around the country,” Stremlaw says.
The excellence of Grand Park follows a long list of Stremlaw’s achievements. With a Bachelor of Commerce from Western University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maine, a Master of Science in sport management from the University of Miami, and certificates from Harvard and MIT, Stremlaw has been uniquely positioned to combine his knack for business with his passion for sports.
“There’s so many synergies when it comes to sport as an industry. You still have staff to manage, you still have legal issues, you have marketing, you have communications, you have sponsorship assets and corporate partnerships that you have to work very intimately with. And that has been, I think, a big success of a lot of what I’ve done,” Stremlaw says. “I’ve had a lot of success selling international portfolios and international rights for sports and got to know and get close with a lot of international companies and corporate partners.”
But at the core of Stremlaw is his deep passion for not only sports, but the athletes themselves. Eight Olympics under his belt and a member of a family of high-performance athletes, Stremlaw has been able to viscerally understand the highest level of sports.
“Soccer is massive, but the fact that the Olympics are all the different sports, summer and then winter, and these are these athletes’ dreams to represent their nations,” Stremlaw says. “The camaraderie, the spirit of athleticism and humankind. It rises above everything. I mean, it’s very emotional. People spend their entire lives to get to that pinnacle.”
After five years in international broadcasting and media, Stremlaw and his family came to Indiana for Indy Sports & Entertainment in 2019 and became a part of Noblesville’s community.
“We know what we like, and after touring around, we really fell in love with Hamilton County. Just beautiful. Great place to live, great school and educational systems, great health care,” Stremlaw says. “Still within striking distance to downtown Indianapolis, but very, very peaceful, and just love the people.”
To find more information on the Indy Eleven schedule of events and tickets, visit indyeleven.com and follow them on social media. For more information on Grand Park, visit grandpark.org and follow them on social media.
