ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 12, 2020) - On Wednesday afternoon, the Greater Orlando Sports Commission announced its list of 51 finalists for the 2020 SPORTYS: Greater Orlando’s Night of Champions presented by Orlando Health. As a Club, Orlando City SC garnered nine nominations.
Orlando City Chief Executive Officer Alex Leitão leads the way for the Club’s front office with a nomination for Executive of the Year presented by Orlando Health. Throughout the course of the last year, Leitão has led numerous community initiatives including All for ORL and donating nearly 5,000 masks to essential workers at Orlando Health to help relieve the community stresses put forth by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leitão was also instrumental in bringing the MLS is Back Tournament to The City Beautiful, working hand-in-hand with members of Major League Soccer, Walt Disney World Resorts and local medical task forces to house the tournament in Orlando.
Joining Leitão as a nominee are seven members of the front office staff, including two members of the Executive Team in Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel Caesar Lopez, nominated for Best in Business Operations presented by Withum, along with Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Brand Pedro Araujo, nominated for Best in Marketing presented by Berman Hopkins, CPAs & Associates.
Rounding out the members of the Orlando City front office nominations are Senior Director of Content, Ed Cahill; Senior Director of Community Development, Kaia Forgét; Director of Stadium Operations, Jessica West; Partnerships Marketing Manager, Lauren Poppe; and Broadcast Announcer, Miguel Gallardo, each nominated for awards in their respective industries.
The Club also garnered a nomination for Sponsorship Activation of the Year presented by Osceola Heritage Park, for its 2019 Delivering Hope Pajama Party in partnership with City Furniture. The October event brought 100 underprivileged children to Exploria Stadium for a night filled with activities including a stadium tour, dinner, arts and crafts, a DJ and each child signing a one-day contract with the organization. To culminate the night, each child was surprised with a brand new bed, compliments of City Furniture.
The nominations were selected by a voting committee made up of members of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission Board of Directors. Winners will be revealed on Saturday, Aug. 29 at the 2020 SPORTYS, set to air live on WKMG-TV News 6 while streaming online at ClickOrlando.com at 7 p.m. ET.
The complete list of nominees can be found at the link here.
