Feature photo: One of Eric Martinez’s many alleged Photoshops featured him as a star attraction for the Harlem Globetrotters game in Rio Rancho earlier this year (from Facebook).
By Mark Smith
Enchantment Sports
Editor in Chief
While DreamHouse CEO Eric Martinez and New Mexico Bowl executives are not responding to questions from Enchantment Sports about the vast allegations about Martinez being an alleged scam artist, ESPN did.
A short time ago, ESPN’s Anna Negron emailed the following statement: “We are aware of the allegations and are looking into them.”
Negron, who is listed as ESPN senior publicist on the Internet, said she received Enchantment Sports’ inquiries from Jeff Siembieda, executive director of the New Mexico Bowl.
On Friday, Enchantment Sports emailed numerous allegations and questions about Martinez to Siembieda, vice president of ESPN Events Clint Overby and DreamHouse New Mexico bowl publicist James Hallinan and Ian Stewart, who is the son in law of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and listed as the general manager on the DreamHouse website.
None has responded to Enchantment Sports’s emails as to whether they will answer the questions.
During the weekend, Hallinan, owner of Intersection Strategies, reached out to try to distance himself from DreamHouse. On Monday — despite being the public relations person for the DreamHouse New Mexico Bowl — he emailed that he would no longer communicate with Enchantment Sports, and put an anti-politically correct spin on it with accusations against the website.
Hallinan’s company’s motto: “Protect Your Brand.”
But Hallinan refuses to answer if he feels he has protected the bowl game’s brand – or his own company’s – to this point.
Instead, he responded “As a Hispanic, LGBTQ-owned business, I stand by the services I provide to my clients and my record of success speaks for itself” at least four times to each question.
When Enchantment Sports informed Hallinan it was not asking about race, sexual preferences or any previous success – and only questions about finding the “truth” — Hallinan turned to the PC card and accused the website of having an “agenda” and being “hateful,” and said he will no longer respond to Enchantment Sports.
Huh?
Enchantment Sports had never heard of Hallinan until he was hired earlier this year by the DreamHouse New Mexico Bowl. The only contact it ever made with Hallinan before questioning him Friday, was a single sentence informing him the website would not be able to attend the Oct. 1 news conference when DreamHouse was announced the game’s sponsor.
The bowl game, by the way, is a sponsor of Enchantment Sports. Part of Hallinan’s job as the game’s PR person is to send out weekly releases on the game.
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, Enchantment Sports will continue its series about Martinez and the DreamHouse New Mexico Bowl, regardless of Hallinan’s silence or anyone else’s associated with the game.
Some of the numerous allegations against Martinez are contained in the first two stories of the series; here is a link to the series debut, which posted on Friday. Part 2 posted earlier today, and you can read it here.
Mark Smith has worked in New Mexico sports media for more than four decades, and is one of the most decorated sports journalists in state history. Smith has won more than 30 combined awards in print, television and radio and has been honored nationally for investigative reporting. He is the editor in chief of Enchantment Sports. Contact him at mark.enchantmentsportsNM@gmail.com.
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