Worlds of Sport to Bring Something for Everyone to Portland, from a Fan’s Perspective — Sport Oregon Voices

Sport Oregon Voices: First-of-its-kind event for families, collectors and sports fans coming to the Oregon Convention Center June 18-19

In Brian Kappel’s line of work, elevating experiences and solving problems is the name of the game. Along with a small-but-mighty team, Kappel – a veteran event-based designer who heads up Space Monkey Designs in Portland – now has extended that notion to a bit of a personal interest of his with the creation of Worlds of Sport, a first-of-its-kind celebration of all things sport coming to the Oregon Convention Center June 18-19.

Whether you’re an active participant, a fan, collector or a family interested in sports, the first Worlds of Sport promises to offer something for everyone. Anchored by an ever-growing list of local professional and college sports teams, special appearances from notable athletes and celebrities from the area, panel discussions and a wide array or sports card dealers, the main premise of Worlds of Sport is to bring everything sports under one roof for one maximum experience.

Worlds of Sport will offer fans the opportunity to interact directly with local sports teams, including the Hillsboro Hops, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Portland Thorns FC, Portland Timbers, Portland Trail Blazers and Portland Winterhawks. Special appearances from Bill Schonely, Keanon Lowe, Keith Brown (University of Oregon football), Jaydon Grant (Oregon State University football), Daley McClellan (University of Oregon volleyball), and Caiden Madzelan (American Ninja Warrior) are on tap as well, with more to come. Among the panel discussions, topics include Sneaker Week; Name, Image and Likeness; careers in sport and sports broadcasting. 

The weekend will feature a host of activities for kids and families, including an obstacle course, a hoop shoot on the Trail Blazers court, soccer drills with the Timbers and Thorns FC, a baseball speed pitch machine, pickleball, long-putting and the chance to kick actual field goals. A host of free giveaways, nightly raffles and exclusive merchandise drops also add to the excitement of the first event. To truly give it that Oregon feel, INKBUS Tattoo will be at the event offering sports-themed tattoos for the adventurous fans, and Hop Valley Brewing will onsite for the craft brew crowd.

A fan himself, Kappel dreamt up the event through the lens of what fans and collectors would want, and he got down to the task of making the whole experience more interesting and interactive. It essentially brings each of the local team’s fanfests into one setting, while elevating what a sports card show can be in the area. He makes no claim that the card component is going to compete with The National Sports Collectors Convention anytime soon, but he is thrilled to bring so many complementary activities into the fray to appeal to even more people. The Worlds of Sport concept has garnered a great deal of support leading into the first event, including from partners Columbia Sportswear, Toyota, Dutch Bros and Ilani.

“All of this got the wheels turning, asking ‘how would you make the sports world represented in a bigger fashion, in a more updated way,’” Kappel said. “It’s looking at all these different pieces, and saying ‘how can we improve card shows, fanfests, and the fan experience all at one time?’”

An admitted sports “nerd” who grew up in New York and has enjoyed a lifelong passion for sports cards and related collectibles, Kappel has attended many local cards shows in different parts of the country over the years and longed for them to be more elaborate and developed. The conundrum, in his view, has been how to bring local and regional card shows up to date, essentially mirroring the excitement and interest generated by an event like Comic-Con, which itself has evolved into something much bigger with expanded subject areas of interest.

“What it comes down to is Comic-Con is essentially tailgating, for those people who are interested in that world,” Kappel said. “It’s a mass gathering of people who have a shared interest, and it’s their spot where they can feel totally comfortable talking about it and getting their ‘hoo-rah’ on.”

For those who don’t know, the collectible cards industry has realized a major resurgence in recent years. As a result, it also has become much more sophisticated, to keep up with the times, if you will. The upcoming Worlds of Sport event will offer collectors the opportunity to have cards appraised by the Oregon Sports Collectors Association and will feature live nightly card breaks with cards going to the audience, a popular activity within the industry that’s typically streamed online.

Much like Sport Oregon, Kappel firmly believes that sport has the unique ability to bring people together by providing common ground, ultimately serving as a catalyst to improve the community in many ways. The upcoming Worlds of Sport will benefit a number of community partners, including Do Good Multnomah, The Bald Faced Truth Foundation, Camp Exceptional, First Tee Portland and the Oregon Sports Collectors Association, which raises funds to benefit the Parkrose High School softball and baseball programs. 

Another area of focus for Worlds of Sport will be shedding light on some of the lesser-known sports in the area as well. Kappel says that showcasing some of the more quirky activities that maybe people didn’t know existed in the Portland area is one of the more exciting pieces of this grand creation.

And it’s one of the things that reminds us all of how special our area sports community really is.

“At the end of the day, I think that’s probably the biggest thing we’re shooting for,” Kappel said. “Taking an interest in not only sport, but the community that creates it, and the community that lives it.”

If You’re Going
One- and two-day passes are now available for Worlds of Sport, which will take place at the Oregon Convention Center on Saturday, June 18, and Sunday, June 19. Show hours on Saturday are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Show hours on Sunday are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Children 3 and under are admitted for free, while children age 4 to 10 are admitted at a reduced rate. Click here to purchase tickets today.