Three leaders in the sports events and tourism industry will be enshrined into the Sports ETA Hall of Fame at the organization’s annual Symposium in April.
The new Hall of Fame members announced are: Janis Burke, STS, CEO of the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority; the late John Gibbons, STS, former executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Commission; and Bill Hanson, cofounder of San Antonio Sports.
The Sports ETA Hall of Fame is a lifetime achievement award recognizing longstanding and significant accomplishments in, and major contributions to, the industry trade association, Sports ETA, and the overall sports events and tourism industry. The Sports ETA Hall of Fame was launched in 2017, and there have been five induction classes with 18 honorees.
“Sports ETA is honored to welcome three new members into the association’s prestigious Hall of Fame,” says John David, president & CEO of Sports ETA. “Janis Burke, John Gibbons, and Bill Hanson have all made major impacts in our industries and their respective communities that are celebrated and recognized by their induction into the Sports ETA Hall of Fame.”
Burke has been the CEO of the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority since 2006. She became the third chief executive and the first woman to
hold the position since the organization’s inception in 1997. In addition to overseeing the billion dollars of bond debt service for Houston’s professional sports stadiums, under her leadership, Houston has been awarded major sporting events including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, U.S.Olympic Trials, collegiate tournaments, numerous national and world championships, AAU Junior Olympics, and the Transplant Games of America.
She is a past chair of Sports ETA. Burke has also been recognized locally by Conference USA and Rice University for her outstanding contributions and
achievements as a woman in the Houston sports industry, identified by the Texas Executive Women’s Association as a “Woman on the Move,” and named one of “Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women.”
Gibbons, the former executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Commission, passed away last year at 63. John spent over three decades in the travel and hospitality industry. Gibbons joined the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2006. In 2010, he was appointed executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Commission. Gibbons traveled extensively to represent Rhode Island to bring business to the state, including the NCAA men’s basketball, ice hockey, and Division III wrestling and lacrosse tournaments in 2024 and 2025. He was a former board member for Sports ETA and a certified sports tourism strategist. Gibbons graduated from the University of New Haven with a bachelor’s degree in travel & tourism management.
Bill Hanson is a co-founder of San Antonio Sports where he retired after a 42-year career in amateur and professional sports organizations, primarily
in event management and operations. Born and raised in Vermont, he went to San Antonio in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the U.S. Modern Pentathlon Training Center at Fort Sam Houston. In subsequent years, he was executive director of the USMP Association, sports manager at the 1984 L.A. Olympic Games, assistant competition director at the Atlanta Olympics, and technical director at Pan American and Goodwill Games and four U.S. Olympic Sports Festivals. Hanson spent eight years in the original North American Soccer League with the S.A. Thunder, the L.A. Aztecs, and the S.D. Sockers. In his 22 years on the staff of San Antonio Sports, his job was internal operations and event bids and management. He directed sports operations for the 1989 AAU Jr. Olympic Games, was vice-president of operations for the U.S. Olympic Festival ’93, and directed numerous NCAA, NGB, Big 12 Conference, and other events hosted and created by SAS. Hanson served for years with Sport ETA on the board and executive committee and was chairman from 2007-08.
