From Bill Freeman

I recently read that Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp CEO Butch Spyridon is retiring soon. Retirement is a well-deserved reward for Spyridon, as in my opinion, no one has done more for this city in the past 32 years than he has. Deana Ivey, who has been part of the NCVC since 1997 and is well-suited for this position, will assume Spyridon’s leadership role. Spyridon will stay on contractually for two years as a strategic consultant, as he is still “working on a deal for a new NFL stadium, and to attract the Super Bowl, WrestleMania, Rugby World Cup and new international flights at Nashville airport.” 

Spyridon has always been working to position Nashville as a leader. As NCVC board chair Kevin Lavender told The Tennessean, Spyridon is responsible for changing “our branding from Country Music USA to Music City.” According to the Recording Industry Association of America: “The world now looks to Nashville as a singular global center of creativity and commerce. Los Angeles, New York and Nashville are the top three U.S. locations for the recording industry, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the entire music industry. Nashville’s music industry contributes $5.5 billion to the local economy.” So Spyridon’s vision to rebrand was a wise one. 

Rebranding was only one of the areas where he’s had an incredible impact. As recently reported by Country Insider: “Spyridon was instrumental in recruiting professional sports to Nashville. He also helped lead the way for the construction of Bridgestone Arena, Nissan Stadium and Geodis Park. He served as Nashville’s point person for the 2019 NFL Draft, the most successful one-day event in Nashville history.”

Back in February of last year, I wrote in the Scene that Spyridon “seems to have a magic touch in bringing significant events to Nashville. The 2019 NFL Draft reportedly attracted more than 600,000 people to the downtown area, and according to the Titans, it resulted in $133 million in direct spending and a TV audience of 47.5 million. The NCVC is also working toward hosting the FIFA World Cup. If that happens, it could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact for Nashville, not to mention thousands of jobs. Spyridon has also been involved in working to bring NASCAR back to The Fairgrounds Nashville.” What’s more, there’s also the CMA Fest each year, the incredible Fourth of July celebration and the more recent New Year’s Eve celebration  — for which Spyridon is credited with garnering national media attention. Outsider.com reported that Nashville’s Big Bash on New Year’s Eve, which was televised on CBS, brought about 210,000 people to the city.

“After a record-breaking year of economic activity generated by tourism, 2023 is projected to bring in even higher numbers of visitor spending, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp,” reads a recent Tennessean report. “Last year saw the most hotel room nights sold in a single year in Nashville at 9.5 million room nights, the organization announced.”

I cannot help but compare Spyridon and the NCVC to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and its leadership. Both the NCVC and the chamber should be leading the charge in Nashville when it comes to increasing our growth and our bottom line. But there is really no comparison. 

The Nashville Area Chamber is led by president and CEO Ralph Schulz. In the past I’ve shared stats from the chamber’s own website that brought me to the conclusion that “the ‘area’ part of the group’s moniker is seemingly more important than the ‘Nashville’ part.” In May of last year I wrote about how the chamber was pushing legislation to give county mayors the power to take over school boards, and that no one had mentioned this intention to the mayor. The year before, the mayor cut the chamber’s budget in half, from $350,000 to $175,000 — the lowest it’s been in 31 years. The chamber has also downsized its office space and cut staff since Schulz has been at the helm, despite Nashville’s incredible growth. 

The NCVC, on the other hand — under Spyridon’s leadership, and now Ivey’s — continues to grow and make incredible strides that benefit Nashville and its residents. Nashville is now a “global destination.” And Spyridon should be very proud — he and his team have had a great deal to do with making our city something we can all be proud of. I must also note how proud Spyridon is of his team at the NCVC, calling them his “greatest professional accomplishment” and “second to none.” They’re just following suit!

So, thank you Butch — and

congratulations.

Bill Freeman

Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and The News.