Board will search for new strategic director
The Maine Sports Commission, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing, elevating and promoting Maine as a four-season sports destination, announced that Strategic Director Sheila Brennan Nee has announced her intentions to retire at the end of the year after more than a decade of helping grow sports tourism across the state.
Brennan Nee has served as strategic director since 2015 and helped establish the Maine Sports Commission in 2012 alongside leaders from the Maine Office of Tourism and Maine’s education, sports and tourism sectors. Since then, she has played a central role in building partnerships with government, industry and community leaders to attract and support sporting events that bring athletes, families and visitors to communities throughout Maine.
Among the events supported during her tenure are the America East Women’s Basketball Championships, Firecracker Sports baseball and softball tournaments, Gran Fondo Hincapie Bangor, IRONMAN 70.3 Maine in Augusta, Kayak Bass Fishing, the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, the PDGA Women’s Championship, USA Artistic Swimming and the XTERRA Trail Run World Championships. These events have introduced athletes and visitors from across the country and around the world to Maine while generating meaningful economic activity for host communities.
“Sheila’s passion for Maine, her deep understanding of our communities and her unmatched relationships across sports, tourism and economic development have been invaluable to the Maine Sports Commission,” Russell Walters, former board chair and founding board member, said. “She has been a core part of making Maine a stronger four-season destination for sports and recreation. Through her work, sports have become an important way for people to discover Maine and experience communities they might not otherwise have known.”
A native of Foxborough, Massachusetts, and a lifelong New England sports fan, Brennan Nee moved to Maine with her family in 1990. Her passion for sports has driven her work, supporting major competitions and community events and championing the people and partnerships that make Maine’s sports landscape distinctive.
In addition to helping bring new events to Maine, Brennan Nee has helped elevate existing sporting events in Maine. Her support has ranged from promoting events through traditional and social media to showing up on the sidelines and at finish lines for rides, runs, swims and competitions in every season. She worked closely with the USL and the founding leaders of Portland Hearts of Pine during the early efforts to bring professional soccer to Maine, believing from the beginning that the vision would be a viable reality.
In August 2025, Brennan Nee was selected by the Portland Sea Dogs as one of the inaugural “Starting Nine,” an honor recognizing women in sports who have helped create opportunities for the next generation. That same month, she participated in the Maine Celtics Partner Summit panel, Minor League, Major Impact, following Portland’s October 2024 recognition by Sports Business Journal as the nation’s No. 1 minor league sports market.
Brennan Nee has also worked closely with the Maine Mariners since the team’s launch in Portland. She was instrumental in forming the Maine Girls + Women in Sports Community, a statewide network that now includes 45 members and amplifies National Girls & Women in Sports Day celebrations and year-round stories of success.
Reflecting on her tenure, Brennan Nee points to the relationships she forged across the industry as one of the most rewarding parts of her work.
“Helping build and grow the Maine Sports Commission has been one of the great privileges of my professional life,” Brennan Nee said. “This work has given me lasting friendships, unforgettable experiences and a deep appreciation for the way sports bring people and communities together. While it is bittersweet to retire from a role I have loved, I am looking forward to this next chapter and to spending more time with family and friends — while continuing to cheer on the people, places and events that make Maine so special.”
Brennan Nee will remain with the Commission through the end of the year, working alongside Sports Development Director Patrick Caron to support the transition as the board conducts a search for the Commission’s next strategic director.
The Maine Sports Commission is a nonprofit organization that works to advance, elevate and promote Maine as a four-season sports destination, strengthening the state through sports tourism and encouraging healthy, active lifestyles for all. Sporting events contributed an estimated $155.6 million to the Maine economy and attracted approximately 253,071 out-of-state visitors in 2019, according to a study conducted by the University of Southern Maine’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Portland, Maine was named the No. 1 minor league market by Sports Business Journal in October 2024.