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Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill is part of the eight-member 2024-2025 class of inductees to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, the Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission announced Thursday.
Bidwill joins former Olympic and Arizona State swimmer Melissa Belote Ripley, former University of Arizona and NBA basketball player Mike Bibby, former U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player and Mesa native Julie Ertz, former Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Joe Garagiola Jr., former University of Arizona football standout Ricky Hunley, former Major League Baseball player and Scottsdale Chaparral alum Paul Konerko, and the late Matt Shott, former Senior Director of Amateur Hockey Development for the Arizona Coyotes who died after a battle with cancer in late 2021.
The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators and others who have made exceptional contributions to sports in Arizona.
Bidwill is to be the sixth member of the Cardinals organization to be elected to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame. He joins his late father, Bill Bidwill, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, safety Pat Tillman, safety Adrian Wilson and quarterback Jake Plummer.
Fitzgerald delivered the news of his induction to Bidwill in person.
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Bidwill, a former ball boy for the St. Louis Cardinals before they moved west, was the Cardinals team president from 2007 to 2019. He took over as owner in 2019, keeping the Cardinals in the Bidwill family since 1933.
Bidwill, who has served on several influential NFL committees, oversaw the creation and construction of State Farm Stadium, which opened in 2006 and has hosted three Super Bowls and a Pro Bowl plus numerous major international soccer matches and the Final Four in 2017.
Belote Ripley is a three-time Olympic gold medalist who swam at Arizona State and has coached youth in the Phoenix area. Bibby helped lead the Wildcats to the national title in 1997 and played 14 seasons in the NBA. Ertz was a two-time U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year who played in two FIFA Women’s World Cups and an Olympics.
Garagiola Jr. was the Diamondbacks’ first GM and served until 2005. He also was an MLB executive for several years. Hunley was the first Wildcat to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and played seven NFL seasons, including 1988 with the Cardinals. Konerko was a six-time All-Star who played 17 MLB seasons, mostly with the Chicago White Sox, and hit 439 career home runs.
Shott’s work growing and coaching Arizona youth hockey endeared him to many in that community.
This year’s Arizona Sports Hall of Fame class will be honored at an induction ceremony on April 10 at Chateau Luxe in Phoenix.
(This story has been updated to add or change a video.)