Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The LVCVA public tourism agency has updated its contract award process after LVSportsBiz.com discovered irregularities with a contract awarded to sports marketing firm Position Sports in March to do work on the 2027 college football national chapionship game in Las Vegas.
“That process did not meet our standards,” Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) CEO Steve Hill told the LVCVA board at a meeting Tuesday.
LVSportsBiz.com has obtained a July 7 memo sent from Hill to the LVCVA’s board members about the contract issue and it says former LVCVA Vice President of Sports and Special Events Lisa Motley wanted to “hire Position Sports non-competitvely.” But Hill said the LVCVA “determined it was in the best interest of the LVCVA to engage in a competitive procurement for the services.”
The LVCVA’s summary of findings in the memo also highlighted Lisa Motley’s efforts to hire “ex-husband and close friend Jeff Motley as a contractor through our PR and Communications department to support CFP media efforts. While Mr. Motley is well-respected in the industry, we decided against hiring Mr. Motley as an LVCVA ambassador.”
The findings also stated, “On February 6, the RFP was officially issued. Although Lisa later recused herself, she requested – and the Purchasing team granted her – permission to attend the February 14 pre-proposal conference. That permission should not have been given, and she should not have had any involvement in the RFP process.
“On February 11, Lisa sent confidential information related to CFP production requirements to Mr. Motley, an unauthorized disclosure that compromised the integrity of the procurement process and undermined her recusal.”
The LVCVA summary said, “The panel ultimately selected Position Sports and awarded the contract on March 11. On March 14, we learned Position Sports had hired Jeff Motley as Chief Media Officer.”
In response to the LVCVA’s internal review, Lisa Motley was no longer working for the LVCVA as of June 5, according to the memo. Chief Operating Officer Brian Yost is now the LVCVA Chief Sports Officer.
LVSportsBiz.com reached out to Jeff Motley and Lisa Motley after today’s LVCVA meeting and if we hear back we will include their comments.
LVSportsBiz.com is publishing Hill’s entire memo to the board of directors for readers to see Monday’s letter:
On June 9, I shared that after hearing concerns related to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for services tied to the 2027 College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship, I asked our legal team to conduct a review of the procurement process.
We have worked diligently over the last several weeks, interviewing those involved with the process, reviewing documents, and analyzing all that we found. That review has concluded, and I want to update you on our findings and the steps we’ve taken in response.
Summary of Findings:
In October 2024, Lisa Motley identified Position Sports as the preferred contractor for the CFP services. The LVCVA has previously worked with Position Sports through sponsorships of events. We have not directly hired Position Sports as a consultant. The experiences with Position Sports have been positive, and the team is highly thought of in the sports event industry.
Lisa intended to hire Position Sports non-competitively. While we have the authority to engage professional services vendors non-competitively, LVCVA policy requires that I approve any non-competitive procurement. I had not been asked whether to hire Position Sports non-competitively. When I received the request to award the services contract to Position Sports non-competitively, I consulted with Brian and determined it was in the best interest of the LVCVA to engage in a competitive procurement for the services.
In November, the idea was presented to hire Lisa’s ex-husband and close friend Jeff Motley as a contractor through our PR and Communications department to support CFP media efforts. While Mr. Motley is well-respected in the industry, we decided against hiring Mr. Motley as an LVCVA ambassador.
Later in November, Lisa proposed that Mr. Motley be hired by Position Sports to fill the PR/media position required as part of the CFP services. Lisa shared this concept with Brian Yost and asked that he share it with me. We, collectively, agreed that Mr. Motley working for Position Sports was an acceptable concept.
On February 6, the RFP was officially issued. Although Lisa later recused herself, she requested – and the Purchasing team granted her – permission to attend the February 14 pre-proposal conference. That permission should not have been given, and she should not have had any involvement in the RFP process.
On February 11, Lisa sent confidential information related to CFP production requirements to Mr. Motley, an unauthorized disclosure that compromised the integrity of the procurement process and undermined her recusal.
While Lisa did not serve on the RFP evaluation panel, two of her direct reports did, alongside Brian Yost. Although all three are highly capable, involving Lisa’s direct reports as evaluators created an appearance of conflict and should have been avoided.
The panel ultimately selected Position Sports and awarded the contract on March 11. On March 14, we learned Position Sports had hired Jeff Motley as Chief Media Officer.
Actions Taken Following the Review:
- We have reissued the RFP for CFP services. Ed Finger is now leading the evaluation process.
- Lisa Motley’s employment with the LVCVA ended on June 5.
- Ashley Balducci has been promoted to Assistant General Counsel and Senior Director of Purchasing. She will now lead that department. Ms. Balducci has extensive purchasing experience in her roles in the Attorney General’s and Clark County District Attorney’s offices.
- Brian Yost will assume full-time responsibility for sports and events, with the proposed title of Chief Sports Officer, pending board approval of the new position.
- Ethics training with the Ethics Commission, scheduled prior to this incident, has been completed.
- I will personally lead two internal sessions in July focused on applying ethical principles to real-world scenarios.
At the LVCVA, we are deeply committed to living by our core values, including “Do The Right Thing”. These principles guide our culture and inform our decisions. I am dedicated to leading an organization that operates with the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and, when we don’t meet these expectations, accountability. Our actions in this instance fell short of our standards. We hope our actions in response reflect our unwavering commitment to ethical conduct and our responsibility to uphold the trust placed in us by our stakeholders and the community.
The LVCVA had awarded a $1.236 million contract to Phoenix-founded Position Sports in March, but LVSportsBiz.com learned a Position Sports executive was part of the LVCVA travel party in January at the College Football Playoff title game in Atlanta.
LVSportsBiz.com also reported on the potential conflict issue with Lisa Motley and her former husband/close friend Jeff Motley, who was also in the LVCVA travel party in Atlanta in January but was working as communications head at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the time in January.
The LVCVA initially told board chairman Gibson, the Clark County commissioner, in March that the request for proposal process for the CFP game job was adequately followed. One of the unsucessful bidders, Richard Manhattan of Las Vegas-based sports/entertainment company Propyrion, had contacted Gibson and Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft who serves on the LVCVA board regarding Manhattan’s issues with the way the bidding process was conducted.
But after LVSportsBiz.com’s stories, the LVCVA also looked into the contract bidding and decided in June to rebid the CFP game contract.
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with Gibson after the board meeting and asked him what happened between March when he was told the contract procedure was OK and in June when the LVCVA rebid the CFP title game contract work.
Gibson said the LVCVA took a “deeper dive” into the contract procedures around Position Sports getting the CFP game consulting job.
We also asked Hill why did Gibson tell Manhattan in March that the bidding procedures were followed (based on feedback from the LVCVA) if the LVCVA had to rebid the contract in June. Here’s our talk with Hill after the LVCVA meeting Tuesday:
Hill explained that the public relations element of the job was removed from the request for proposal. Here is the LVCVA’s current description of its soliciting proposals for the job:
It should be noted that the July 7 deadline was extended to later this month. Las Vegas Events, the LVCVA’s non-profit event promotion arm, has said it will submit a proposal for the CFP game work.
Hill’s right-hand man, LVCVA Chief Strategy Officer Ed Finger, took over the job of evaluating the contract bids for this CFP game consulting work.
At least two private sports and entertainment marketing companies have said they will also apply. Position Sports executive Melissa Grossman has not responded to LVSportsBiz.com emails about whether it will apply for the CFP game work.
The new deadline to apply for this CFP contract is July 18.
Spoeaking of Hill, the LVCVA CEO received a nice pay hike thanks to the board’s approval of his new salary and bonuses. Hill’s base salary for Fiscal Year 2025 was $495,000 and now with the nine percent increase, Hill’s new base salary for FY26 will be $539,550. Plus, the 50 percent bonus equals $247,500. Hill’s salary and bonus for 2026 is $787,050.
The LVCVA also returned to approving sports expenditures Tuesday as its board greenlighted spending $26 million in public dollars on the college basketball’s Final Four event at Allegiant Stadium in April 2028.
The LVCVA also approved sports spending on other events like’s UFC’s International Fight Week in June ($250,000), Alvarez-Crawford boxing match in September ($250.000) and sports event convention in April 2026 ($400,000).
The LVCVA gets it money from room tax revenue in order to pay sports promoters and events in Las Vegas. The LVCVA, a public government agency charged with drawing visitors to Las Vegas, received $383 million in room tax revenue in fiscal year 2024 and projects $370 million for room tax money in fiscal year 2025.