On the latest “Listen In With KNN” episode, host and award-winning journalist, Kelsey Nicole Nelson welcomed the Executive Director of the Arizona Sports & Entertainment Commission, Nikki Balich on the show to highlight her work and impact for a special Women’s History Month edition of the show.
ASEC one of the nation’s oldest sports commissions, aims to bring sports to Arizona, support youth and amateur sports programs while creating about $1 million worth of economic impact a year.
Balich joined the ASEC in 2014 and now operates Section 7 Basketball, the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and the Grand Canyon State Games as examples.
“A couple years ago, we acquired Section 7 basketball, which is the largest scholastic high school basketball tournament in the country,” Balich said. “You’ve got nearly a 1,000 college coaches that come in that actually recruit the kids.”
Balich said Section 7 brings $39 million economic impact along with $29 million in scholarships awarded each year for national students calling it a “powerhouse.”
“We take up most of the months of March at the Arizona Athletic Grounds, and then we dive right into the Piestewa games, which are the largest native American games in the world, and it’s right here in Arizona,” Balich said.
In addition, Balich oversees the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.
The 2025 class features prominent names such as Phoenix Mercury Legend, Diana Taurasi, Olympic medalist and 5x Pro Bowler, Michael Bates and University of Arizona and Olympic swimming head coach, Frank Busch.
In consideration for an athlete to be inducted, Balich emphasized the certain criteria and strict guidelines that must be met.
“You have to be a native Arizonan, that automatically gets you in or you have to have two touches, which means you either have to grow up and go to high school here and do all that and then play in college and then play professionally here,” Balich said.
She described how challenging it is for the trustee board to pick the athletes to be inducted.
“I have a board of trustees that are all the top dogs in Arizona in sports,” Balich said. “It is very hard for us every single year to pick among the quality people.”
Furthermore, Balich leads #ImpactArizona which is ASEC’s community impact initiative and supports over $100 million annually in economic activity statewide.
In #ImpactArizona, she believes the focus is on saving jobs and changing to lead to success.
“It’s not what’s good for Nikki or what’s good for her staff,” Balich said. “It’s what’s good for Arizona and that’s our mentality here and we love it.”
Primarily, she has served work ranging from boards, sporting events and creating bowl games while her impact goes beyond sports such as a Fiesta Bowl Life Director and co-founder of the Arizona Bowl.
Balich helped raise over $2 million dollars for the past five years in the Trends Charitable Fund as its president and ideally support charities providing support for women, families and children.
She said she cares about making an impact on everybody in changing lives for the better while also contributing to helping fund for ovarian cancer as an example.
“This is something, absolutely 180 degrees from my job, but equally fulfilling because I’m with a group of women who truly uplift communities and change people’s lives for the better,” Balich said.
With a prolific sports career, Balich faced adversity in her journey getting to her current role in sports.
She explained that breaking into sports as a woman hasn’t been easy and that it took time to earn her place where she is today.
“The harder that they make it, the harder that they doubt,” Balich said. “Doubt me, the harder we push. The more we succeed because I just put my head down, our staff puts our head down, and we just go.”
With her work, Balich was recognized by being named the Top 50 People to KNOW in Arizona by KNOW Magazine was honored among the “100 Women to KNOW in America.”
“I’m very honored, but I can tell you, there’s a lot of other people behind me that made that happen,” Balich said. …“I always make sure that I give credit to my team because they are a part of who I am and what we do collectively.”
Listen to the full episode down below.
