Kayla Gostnell
Sports Sales and Services Manager, Arlington Sports Commission 
Arlington, Texas 

Reliable
Compassionate
Positive

Main Event: 2019 Esports Awards

Instagram: @kaysimps

What I do: I’m a chaos coordinator; I sell to groups needing 50 rooms on peak and smaller, service all sports groups that come to Arlington (volunteers, group dining, transportation, printing services, road closures, after-parties, etc.) and work very closely with the financial incentives offered from both the city and the state. 

What I did to assist the sports tourism recovery during COVID: My biggest contribution would be my work on the financial incentive process for some of the major events we hosted in 2020. These incentives allowed our clients to relocate their trademark events to Arlington and have live audiences, which at times seemed impossible.

Greatest career accomplishment: In a three-month span in 2020, we hosted the MLB National League Division Series, MLB National League Championship Series, World Series, PBR World Finals and PRCA National Finals Rodeo—all in the middle of a global pandemic.

Impressive stats: Since I came on board four years ago, we have increased our number of hosted events by 40% and our total room nights by 60%. 

Favorite sports movie: “Miracle” 

Favorite athlete: Patrick Mahomes

Editor's Note: During the awards process, Kayla Gostnell accepted the position of director of tourism and sales for the Marble Falls CVB, also in Texas. Her responses reflect her work in Arlington and we wish Gostnell well on this new endeavor.