Gene Hallman
American sports businessman (born 1959)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gene Hallman is a sports event entrepreneur. He is best known for his work developing sports tourism in Birmingham, Alabama.[1] Hallman is the President and co-founder of sports event company Eventive Sports. He also serves as the CEO of Bruno Hospitality, ZOOM Motorsports,[2] and the non-profit, Alabama Sports Council (formerly Alabama Sports Foundation).[3][4] Hallman was born in South Carolina in 1960. In the early 1990s, he quit his job and moved to Birmingham, where he organized a Senior PGA TOUR event. Over time, his sporting events business expanded to other sports and geographic areas.
Gene Hallman | |
|---|---|
| Born | circa 1960 South Carolina |
| Occupation | Sports event management |
| Years active | 1991 - current |
| Known for | Organizing sporting events |
Early life and education
Hallman was born circa 1960[5] in Anderson, South Carolina. His family moved to Irmo, South Carolina when he was a child. Hallman graduated from Irmo High School.[6] Hallman received his bachelor's degree in economics from the College of Charleston in 1982, then completed his MBA from the University of South Carolina in 1985.[7]
Career
Initially, Hallman worked for NCR Corporation.[8][9] In 1990, Hallman quit his job[8] and started working as a self-employed agent for golfers, such as the PGA Tour's Corey Pavin.[10] He moved to Birmingham, Alabama, in November 1991 to serve as a director for a new tournament on the Senior PGA tour.[10][11]
In 1995, when the Bruno's grocery chain was sold, former Bruno's CEO Ronald Bruno and Hallman co-founded the firm Bruno Event Team together.[10] Over time, the business expanded to other sports, in addition to golf.[12] It was largely a local business in Birmingham, until it started expanding in the early 2000s with events for the U.S. Women's Open.[12] Bruno also organized the soccer matches at Legion Field for the 1996 Summer Olympics.[13][10]
The Bruno Event Team became one of the largest sporting events management firms.[8][14] Bruno sold his interest in the company in 2022, when he retired.[10] The company was renamed to Eventive Sports, then was acquired by a company called Troon in 2024.[15] In 2022, Hallman was awarded the Distinguished American Sportsman Award by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.[10][14]