Outsports will host its third annual Pride celebration in New York City, June 21-24, 2018. Registration is now open for people interested in attending.
The event will bring together LGBTQ athletes, coaches, sports executives, members of the media and fans for a weekend of the celebration of courage. This year we are also welcoming non-LGBTQ people in sports who want to learn more about the community and bring that back to their team, league or school.
Our tagline is “Courage Is Contagious,” and that motto will be the driving force behind our weekend of celebration and conversation. We are thrilled to be supported this year by our incredible people at SB Nation and Vox Media.
We are putting together an incredible list of partners to make this event a truly fantastic experience. We’ll update this page as we have more announcements.
One thing we can share now is that we are working with Erik Braverman and the Los Angeles Dodgers on a fun optional outing Saturday night to the New York Mets game! The Dodgers play at the Mets that night at 7:10pm. Braverman is an openly gay senior vice-president with the Dodgers who attended our event last year. He’s excited to make an MLB game part of our weekend.
The weekend will begin with a social event Thursday evening. We are still working out the details, but it’s going to be a great spot to kick off the weekend. Some key parts of the schedule:
- Thursday, June 21, 7pm: Weekend kickoff party on the terrace at Boxers HK, Ninth Ave. & 50th Street. Join attendees and speakers for a party at sunset at one of the best venues in town. Free food and $6 drink specials will be available for all registered attendees.
- Friday, June 22, 10am-4pm: Outsports “summit,” with sharing, storytelling and some great speakers. We have announced our first round of speakers including people from the NFL, ESPN, and college sports.
- Friday, June 22, evening: Social gathering
- Saturday, June 23, 8am: OPTIONAL Pride Run in Central Park. MLB’s Billy Bean will be running and would love to meet anyone from Outsports before or after the run. A chance to meet one of the legends of LGBTQ sports inclusion.
- Saturday, June 23, 5pm: Social gathering at Gym Sportsbar. Afterward we’ll all head to:
- Saturday, June 23, 7:10pm: Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets. If you register for Outsports Pride by May 16 you will get a guaranteed free ticket to the game, courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- Sunday, June 24, 12noon-4pm: New York City Pride March
We’re also thrilled to announce a couple names who will be joining us for our Friday “summit,” which will bring together people from across the community to share stories, meet other people in sports and grow the community.
- Jace Anderson. The long jumper and triple jumper on the men’s track & field team at the Univ. of Nebraska finished sixth in the triple jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
- Dawn Ennis. The journalist, blogger and host of YouTube talk show “RiseUP With Dawn Ennis” has written and produced for CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC News. Ennis was America’s first out transgender journalist in a TV network newsroom when she came out five years ago.
- Christina Kahrl. The ESPN baseball editor has been a trailblazer for trans people in sports media for at least a decade. A founding member of Baseball Prospectus, Kahrl is a powerful thought leader on LGBTQ sports issues.
- Nick McCarvel. The sportswriter and host has interviewed some of the greatest athletes of our time, particularly tennis pros Serena Williams and Roger Federer. He was one of NBC’s top correspondents during the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- Ryan O’Callaghan. The former New England Patriot and Kansas City Chief is the only former NFL player to come out publicly in the last year.
- Will Sheridan. He was out to his Villanova men’s basketball team and was accepted by his teammates. Now he is a music artist in New York City.
- Katie Sowers. The San Francisco 49ers assistant coach is the only full-time female or out LGBTQ coach in the NFL.
- Jarrin Williams. The high school track coach in Illinois is also an eighth grade English teacher at Washington Junior High School in Rock Island, Ill.
As in previous years, we will be marching as a group in the New York City Pride March. If you haven’t participated in this march before, it is a unique experience. Entering the Village on the march route, you are surrounded by screaming revelers like nothing you’ve experienced.
This year we are charging a nominal registration fee. Because we have so many great things planned, we need those who registered to be vested in the event and committed to join us. In the next month, current students pay only $15 for the weekend. Professionals pay only $50. Those prices go up after April 10.
Finally, we are thrilled to be centering our event at the Dream Downtown Hotel in Chelsea. It is a stunning venue, perfectly located just a three-minute walk from the ACE subway line (which connects to JFK Airport) or the beautiful High Line.
Of course New York City Pride will have a bunch of other events happening throughout the weekend. Pride Island will culminate Sunday night with an incredible dance party on the river complete with fireworks. Youth Pride will take place Saturday on 14th Street in the Meatpacking District.
We hope you will join us in New York City for Outsports Pride. It is going to be an incredible weekend to remember for the rest of our lives.
You can register for Outsports Pride by visiting our Eventbrite page.
