William Knox Has a Passion for the Business of Sports
Writer / Renee Larr
Photographer / Jubilee Edgell
As director of Grand Park, William Knox helped to mold the sports facility into a sports destination. Knox served as director from 2016 to 2021. He’s now using his experiences there to run his own company, Legacy Sports Group (LSG). It’s a consulting, management and event production firm specializing in the sports tourism industry. The company assists in the management and operation of facilities, and also plans and produces both sporting and community engagement events.
Prior to serving as director at Grand Park, Knox served as director of sports development for Hamilton County Tourism and as director of the Hamilton County Sports Authority.
“I worked in some capacity on the Grand Park project since 2000,” Knox says. “So I was involved in the sports tourism capacity for a very long time.”
Knox started consulting under the name Team Knox Strategies to provide communities the opportunity to create their own events. Team Knox Strategies transitioned to Legacy Sports Group in 2020. In 2022 Knox decided to focus his energy full time on growing LSG.
“I was able to work with the city, the mayor and the administration there to make that transition,” Knox says. “While I’m no longer director I’m still able to support efforts at Grand Park, managing research and development.”
Knox brought on former co-workers to help develop and run LSG. As part of his contractual agreement with the park, three of the staff members on his team are fully dedicated to projects for Grand Park. Many of LSG’s members have a personal background in sports as well.
“In starting Legacy I was looking at how we continue to evolve and develop what was created in Westfield,” Knox says. “A lot of people think of it from the physical aspect of the campus, but what we’re looking to do is continue to transform it into a destination for sports events. This is what we call the business of sports. That’s where a lot of our focus has been the last few years.”
In the future, Knox and his team at LSG hope to work with communities around the U.S. that aren’t fortunate enough to have large sports facilities. “We’re hoping to create recreational opportunities in communities that don’t have them,” he says.
Knox has a bachelor of science degree in sports marketing with a minor in business from Indiana University, and started his career as director of sports marketing with the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Later he became director of the Hoosier Sports Corporation. In addition, he is a board member with numerous organizations including the Indy Eleven Soccer Foundation and National Association of Sports Commissions.
For more information on Legacy Sports Group, visit legacygroup.llc.
