John Mark Freeze | One Spartanburg Inc.

Bio

A leader in the tourism and hospitality industry, John Mark Freeze serves as the Vice President of Sports Development for OneSpartanburg, Inc., Spartanburg County’s Destination Marketing Organization (DMO). Freeze oversees the organization’s efforts to identify, seek and attract sports-related events to Spartanburg County.

Prior to his post in Spartanburg, Freeze served as the director of sports development for Visit Charlotte/CRVA, where he worked for almost nine years. Under his leadership, Visit Charlotte/CRVA was honored by SportsETA as the 2023 Sports Tourism Organization of the Year; population 500,000+ category. Before joining the team at Visit Charlotte, Freeze had stints with IMG Learfield at The University of Tennessee, Shanghai Resort & Marina, and the New Orleans Hornets.

As a sports tourism advocate for the Upstate region and state of South Carolina, Freeze has a passion for youth sports and community development. John Mark received his Sports Tourism Strategist designation from the Sports Tourism Learning Institute and is an active member of the Sports Events & Tourism Association and South Carolina Sports Alliance.

Freeze is a native of Laurens, SC and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation and Sport Management from Coastal Carolina University.