NASHVILLE, TENN.
Jay Grider, a thirty-eight-year veteran of professional sports and longtime executive with the Nashville Sports Council and Music City Bowl, announces the release of LAST CALL: From the Minor Leagues to Nashville’s Rise as a Major Sports Destination, a candid and often funny insider account of how a self-described “big, small town” became one of the premier sports markets in America.
The memoir opens on May 19, 2026, when the NFL awarded Super Bowl LXIV to Nashville for 2030, asking how we got here. Grider rewinds to 1988, when he was mailing resumes and taking a $1,000-a-month marketing job with the Huntsville Stars, whose first task was picking up stadium trash in a new suit.
From that start, LAST CALL follows Grider’s rise through minor league baseball to nearly 30 years with the Nashville Sports Council, where he helped organize major events that boosted Nashville’s reputation, including the Music City Bowl, 2019 NFL Draft, NHL All-Star Game, U.S. Figure Skating Championships, WWE SummerSlam, Music City Grand Prix, and 2026 FCS Football Championship. The book also covers crises like a 1989 Alabama tornado, COVID-19, and the 2020 Nashville bombing, which impacted the sports community.
The Nashville Sports Council’s events have generated over $1.5 billion in economic impact since the 1990s, with more than a million hotel nights and thousands of volunteer shifts. LAST CALL features testimonials from civic and sports leaders like Nashville Predators CEO Sean Henry, College Football Playoff COO, Byron Hatch, and SEC Deputy Commissioner, Charlie Hussey, highlighting Grider’s role in the city’s growth. Written with humor and humility, LAST CALL appeals to sports fans, hospitality professionals, locals, and anyone curious about turning a city into a destination.
LAST CALL is available now on Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and eBook formats.
About the Author
Jay Grider has spent thirty-eight years in professional sports, most recently as Chief Operations Officer and Special Advisor for the Nashville Sports Council and Music City Bowl, Inc., where he previously served as Senior Vice President of Events and Operations. His career began with the Double-A Huntsville Stars in 1988 and has included nearly three decades helping recruit and produce major sporting events for Music City, from the NFL Draft to the NHL All-Star Game. He is currently in a planned, multi-year transition from full-time leadership at the Sports Council. Grider lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Victoria.
Author Name: Jay Grider Book Title: LAST CALL Published By: visionary book publishers
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Jay Grider
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Phone: 615-642-7109
Last modified: September 23, 2026
