Meet Brian Petrone, an avid traveller and sports fanatic, who incorporates his love of sports into his travel itineraries. He started out trying to visit all thirty Major League Baseball stadiums in the United States, and from there started attending sporting events worldwide.
Brian has been to 36 UN countries and 122 NomadMania regions, but is focused around traveling to the next sporting event, stadium, or experience around the world.
Tell us something about your early life and how you initially became involved in sports and travel.
As far back as I can remember, sports have always been a part of my life. As a child, I used to attend local games with my dad and play any number of sports with my brother, sister, cousins, and friends. At the same time while growing up, I also had the desire to learn about the world and all the different countries. My mom bought me a globe, atlases, and books with all the flags, and it didn’t take me long to learn it all. It only seemed natural that, as I grew older and finally had the ability to travel and see the world, I looked to incorporate sports and travel as much as I could.
How were you able to travel so frequently to attend sport events?
As part of my first job after college, I began to travel around the United States for assignments and even then, I looked to attend sporting events when I could, particularly baseball games. A growing challenge in the United States is to attend all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums, and this gave me an opportunity to begin that journey. I was able to attend games in Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Cleveland. Then, I began to travel more for my own leisure, and always kept an open eye for sporting opportunities.
My first international trip was to Brazil in 2007. While vacationing in Rio de Janeiro, I was able to attend a game between two local teams at the famous Maracanã stadium. I did the same the following year when I traveled to London for the first time and took in a friendly between England and the United States at Wembley Stadium. For both of those trips, the purpose was to experience new locations, and the sporting events just happened to be a part of it. Just like visiting Copacabana Beach or Westminster Abbey, visiting these world-famous stadiums taught me something new about culture and history.
Which of the famous sports events around the world have you attended?
The most significant sporting vacation I’ve had was my trip to Brazil in 2014 for the World Cup. We had to wait to see which tickets we received from the lottery process, and then plotted our course from there. We started in Natal and were lucky enough to see the United States play their opening match against Ghana. We didn’t realize it until we walked into the stadium, but our seats were three rows off the field. The United States would score less than one minute into the match, in the goal just in front of our seats. They would score again late in the match to secure a victory and seal an unforgettable night. Our night wasn’t over yet, though, as we still had to find a way back to our hotel from the stadium.
There wasn’t much in the way of public transportation, so we tried our luck for a taxi to no avail. Out of nowhere, a van pulled up alongside us and asked if we were going to Ponta Negra – coincidentally, the section of Natal where our hotel was. Out of options, we hopped in the van and enjoyed our ride back with other fans from the game, all of whom were also in a celebratory mood. We took in two more games as we traveled around the country, including stops in Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia. All along the way, we spent time meeting fellow fans from all over the world, watching the games at bars and fan fests. Incredibly, we ran into someone who could have been my neighbor just outside Washington, DC.
We sat down for lunch and to watch a game at a small cabana in Natal. My friend was wearing a Washington Nationals t-shirt, and someone there recognized it and struck up a conversation. It turned out he was from the same area as us, and actually owned a condo in the building across the street from mine. We also got to meet plenty of Brazilians, who were all too happy to show us their country. Our driver in Recife took extra time to show us even more of the city, including where they prepare for their annual Carnaval celebration.
Tell us about an experience from one of your trips that has left a lasting mark in your memory.
Back in the USA, I’ve also started traveling to different football venues. The most tradition-filled sport in the United States is college football. Many of the teams associated with colleges and universities are older than their NFL counterparts and have traditions and rivalries that date back to the early 20th century. A friend and I are only cracking the surface for now, but we’ve seen some unforgettable atmospheres, campuses, stadiums, and local college towns in Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Colorado.
How have your travels impacted, if at all, your professional and personal life?
Whenever I travel, I still look to incorporate a sporting event when possible. On my honeymoon in 2019, my wife and I spent part of it in Australia and were lucky enough to take in an Australian rules football game at the famed Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the past two years, we’ve had some smaller trips to Milwaukee and Arizona but still managed to take in a baseball game. And now that my son is three, we’re able to add him in to some of our travels, including the baseball game in Arizona. I’ve visited almost 2/3 of MLB ballparks to this point, but I look forward to completing that list with my son as he grows up and learns to love sports and travel as much as his dad.
Through sports and travel, we can all find ways to connect with one another, whether it’s a local team we’re following or making a journey around the world to see a major event. Both can teach us about different cultures and viewpoints on life. They can bring us together in celebration of major accomplishments and give us something to strive for, to make ourselves better people and achieve something new and unforgettable.
