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JANUARY 6-12, 2020 VOLUME 22 ISSUE 37 • $7.95

THE DEFINITIVE COMMISSIONER f How David Stern built the NBA f A media and marketing master f Reflections from executives PAGES 6 9 Madkour: Meet our six 2020 Champion honorees.

Why George Pyne calls Bruin ‘the best bet I ever made.’

A record $8.5 billion in facility projects will open this year.

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W H E R E T H E L E A D E R S I N S P O RT S B U S I N E S S C O N V E N E

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

STATE OF PLAY

GETTING MORE

The NFL boosted its stake in On Location Experiences from the 16% it had before the company’s sale to Endeavor was closed last week.

THE METER DOING LESS The NFL once again is drawing heat for the lack of opportunities for minority head coaches and GMs. Though some head coaching positions remain open, only three head coaches in the league are African American.

Bowled Over A lot of eyes in Texas were upon the Dallas Stars and the Nashville Predators for the annual Winter Classic on Jan. 1. The game, won by the home team and held at the famed Cotton Bowl, drew 85,630 fans, the second-highest total ever for an NHL game behind only the 2014 Winter Classic held at Michigan Stadium. The league announced that next year’s game will take place at Target Field in Minnesota between the Wild and a yet-to-be-named opponent.

MONEY TALKS

RATINGS GAME

If they are all not going to agree to Brittany running the team, it seems to t me that we’re headed for more batttles and at that point, I know Pat would have preferred the team be sold.

This year’s College Football Playoff national title game, between No. 1 LSU (14-0) and No. 3 Clemson (14-0), is the sixth under the current format but the first one remains the undisputed champion for average viewers (all games on ESPN family of networks):

33.9 25.3

28.4 25.3

26.1

— Denver Broncos President and CEO JOE ELLIS on the Bowlen family’s futture as the team’s owners

2019 Clemson d. Alabama

2018 Alabama d. Georgia

2017 Clemson d. Alabama

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Number of people who registered to bet on sports in New Hampshire on Jan. 1, the first day after betting became legal in the Granite State.

2016 Alabama d. Clemson

Adidas released the first signature shoe by esports star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, called the Ninja Nite Jogger.

6,000 ODDS ARE

2015 Ohio State d. Oregon

Getty Images (4); Courtesy of adidas

FASHION SENSE

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FORUM INTRODUCING CHAMPIONS OF 2020 WE ARE pleased to introduce the 2020 Champions: Pioneers & In-

novators in Sports Business, our 11th class recognizing well-known visionaries in the industry. Here are our six honorees.  JIM DELANY: Delany retired from the Big Ten after 30 years as its commissioner and leaves as one of the most influential administrators ever in college sports. He was a pioneer in sports media, as well as a trendsetter on expansion, growing the Big Ten to 14 schools.

His behind-the-scenes work on diversity made the conference a professional launching pad for many minorities in college sports.

Remembering Stern, and our Champions of 2020 ABRAHAM MADKOUR PUBLISHER AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR

L

OSING A true giant in sports business was

a painful, sad way to start the new year.

David Stern’s death on Jan. 1 left so many of us sad, hurt and even angry. That’s how I felt in realizing that the 77-year-old legend didn’t have more life to live, more questions to ask, more problems to solve and more fun to have. I kept going back to look at our cover story on Oct. 28, which showed a proud, gleeful Stern with his business partner John Kosner, as they picked the jockeys they were betting on among their investments in sports. You could tell how much fun he was having, and how much he still hoped to have.

My final time with him was at our Dealmakers in Sports conference on Dec. 4, where a noticeably slower-moving Stern took in my interview with his successor, Adam Silver, from the back row, sitting with Kosner and some young people he was mentoring. I still remember Silver, before we took the stage, quietly and discreetly, walking over in the back of the room to Stern, bending over and giving a warm grab of his knee. Little was said, but the look in their eyes showed their great mutual respect.

I’ll miss David Stern’s big ideas, his tireless ambition, his belief in sport as a vehicle for social good, his skill in crafting arguments and rebuttals and even his caustic needling. But what I’ll miss most are his counsel, support and kindness. I just wish I had one more chance to thank him.

 MARVIN DEMOFF: Demoff may be best known for representing future Hall of Fame quarterbacks John Elway and Dan Marino in the famed 1983 NFL draft, which featured six quarterbacks taken in the first round. But Demoff also represented other athletes and broadcasters throughout a well-respected career that spans 50 years.

He is known for his creativity in the details of contract negotiations, but more than anything Demoff is known for his integrity.  MARLA MESSING: Messing left a promising legal career in the early 1990s to tackle three projects that changed the face of American sports business forever: the launch of Major League Soccer, selling the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and her biggest achievement — delivering the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup at a scale few thought possible, supercharging the growth of women’s sports nationwide. A generation later, she’s rebuilding the U.S. Tennis Association’s critical Southern California division.  TOMMIE SMITH: Smith’s enduring moment from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City came on the medal stand, when he and teammate John Carlos each raised a gloved fist during the anthem, a gesture widely known as a symbol of black power. Ostracized from the track and field world, Smith paid a price that is relevant to a generation of athletes who have been increasingly vocal on social issues in recent years.  JON SPOELSTRA: David Stern effectively advocated for Spoelstra, whose innovative style delivered at every stop, whether it was leading the Portland Trail Blazers to more than a decade of consecutive sellouts or transforming the former New Jersey Nets from a moribund franchise into one of the NBA’s sales leaders. He also florished for more than a decade at Mandalay Baseball Properties. Over his career, he served as a mentor to a number of sports executives who sit in leadership positions today.  JIM STEEG: During Steeg’s 26 years with the NFL, the Super Bowl grew into America’s premier sporting event, as much a weeklong spectacle as a championship contest. Steeg brought a unique vision to the league’s events, including developing the highly popular and widely imitated NFL Experience at the Super Bowl. He transformed the NFL draft into one of the league’s biggest annual events that attracts millions of TV viewers and hundreds of thousands of visitors on site.

We look forward to sharing their stories with you in upcoming issues, and welcome your suggestions for future Champions.

Abraham Madkour can be reached at amadkour@ sportsbusinessjournal.com.

The entire contents of this magazine are copyrighted by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal 2020 with all rights reserved. Street & Smith’s is a registered trademark of Leaders Group Holdings LLC. Reproduction or use, without permission, of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited.

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THIS WEEK OPINION . . . . . . . . . 27 CAREERS . . . . . . . . . 28 FACES & PLACES . . 29 CLOSING SHOT . . . 30 Cover image by Getty Images

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MARKETING

SPORTS MEDIA

LABOR

SPONSORSHIP

=CLOSING SHOT

11 THE LEFTON REPORT

12 SECURITY MINDED

13 SEEKING RELIEF

18 MIXED RESULTS

30 TEAM EFFORT

Reorganization at Legends includes teaming with MainGate for onsite merchandise sales.

Mike Heimbach has gone from pursuing terrorists at the FBI to securing the sites of sports’ biggest events for ESPN.

A federal judges panel will hear arguments in March appealing a ruling on college athlete compensation.

Several brands saw a drop in the percentage of MLS fans who could correctly identify them as official sponsors.

As the inaugural ATP Cup gets underway, will national pride from 24 competing countries be enough to spark success?

By Terry Lefton

By John Ourand

By Liz Mullen

By David Broughton

By Bret McCormick

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Basketball’s Architect Remembering David Stern, who turned the NBA into a model for modern leagues. BY JOHN LOMBARDO AND TERRY LEFTON

W

HEN JOE LECCESE was named chairman of Pros-

kauer law firm in late 2010, partly as the result of decades of success in which he had worked closely with NBA commissioner and former Proskauer laywer David Stern, he went to Stern’s office on Fifth Avenue to share the news with him personally. After 30 minutes, Stern offered Leccese his secret to leadership. Expecting a treatise from the wise commissioner, what Leccese got instead was more like a haiku.

“He said, ‘Democracy bad, dictatorship good,’ and he got up and left the room,” Leccese said.

Stern wasn’t always so brief in his remarks, but as a harddriving perfectionist with a demanding management style, he often lived up to his top-down management philosophy.

Still, after he passed away on Jan. 1 at age 77 from a brain hemorrhage he’d suffered on Dec. 12, the tributes that poured in made it clear that Stern the person would be remembered as fondly as Stern the commissioner. Gary Stevenson, now the deputy commissioner of MLS and previously the president of

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NBA Properties, remembers taking his three small children to meet Stern in the mid-1990s. He told them to address Stern as “Commissioner” or “Mr.”, which they did. Stern, though, didn’t mind and he told the children, “Just call me Dave.”

“A week later at the dinner table, my youngest son said, ‘So, how’s my friend Dave doing?’” remembers Stevenson. “I said, ‘Dave, who?’ He said, ‘You know, Dave, my friend at your office.’

I said, ‘You mean Commissioner Stern?’ He said, ‘Yeah, but he told me to call him Dave.’ I told David that story, and he loved it.

For the next 25 years, every time I saw him, he would end it by saying, ‘Tell the boys their friend Dave said hello.’”

To most people who crossed paths with Stern during his 30 years atop the NBA, he could be a good friend, a tough boss and a valuable mentor. He was also a visionary and an innovator. And he may have been the greatest commissioner in sports history, taking the NBA from a fringe sport to a billion-dollar global property.

“He was the driving force for making the NBA what it became,” said Jerry Colangelo, former Phoenix Suns owner and past chairman of the NBA’s board of governors. “The job he did was off the charts in terms of the growth and development of the NBA.” Stern joined the NBA as general counsel in 1978, and when he took over as commissioner at age 41 in 1984, the league was still a struggling entity, with many of its teams playing in half-empty arenas and Finals games that just a few years before had aired on tape delay. League revenue was a paltry $165 million, the league

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Getty Images

Stern smartly built his league around the popularity of superstars like Michael Jordan, who helped rocket the NBA from secondclass status to a global powerhouse.

NBAE/Guetty Images

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

had just 23 teams and its TV rights deal was for an average of $28 million annually.

By the time he retired in 2014, there were 30 teams — plus the WNBA and a developmental league — TV rights were going for $930 million annually and league revenue had grown to nearly $5 billion.

“I don’t think David made any secrets of his visions,” said Leccese. “He wanted to build the NBA into a global and media entertainment company.”

Those days must have seemed far away when Stern and a handful of the league’s sponsors held their first meeting together in 1985. Former Gatorade sports marketing head Bill Schmidt remembers that his company was joined by American Airlines, Schick and Spalding. “It was a time when no one much was watching the NBA on television,” said Schmidt. “He stood up and said, ‘We’re going to build this league and we need your help to do it.’”

Ten years later that same meeting featured dozens of sponsors and required a hotel with more than 1,000 rooms to accommodate everyone.

“He was a great negotiator who would roll up his sleeves and relish the challenge and fight just as hard on a $5,000 deal as a $50 million deal,” said John Slusher, executive vice president of global sports marketing for Nike. “I’m not sure where we would be today, in either the U.S. or in Europe or Asia, without the NBA’s huge strides and David Stern was obviously the force behind that.”

“He very much was driven to get as close to perfection in terms of performance as possible,” said former NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik. “But he also was a teacher. His attitude was you couldn’t back down from anyone and exist in the league office. While the teams were the clients, you couldn’t let them push you around in thinking what was best for the league.

For most of my tenure, we tried to get out of problems.

It was only after a certain period of time could we focus on building instead of problem solving.”

Other commissioners watched with keen interest as Stern revolutionized the NBA’s brand. According to former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, among Stern’s long list of accomplishments was his early recognition in the global interest in sports and developing many initiatives including the WNBA, implementing with the National Basketball Players Association the first collective-bargaining agreement with free agency and a salary cap, and “persuading the owners and their teams to recognize the power of league-centric programs, the league’s brand, and leaguewide standards of business operations and fan service.”

The upper echelons of sports business are heavily populated by those who worked under Stern and succeeded under his intense style. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was a key Stern ally during his days as NBA general counsel. Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman was tapped by Stern to be the first president of the WNBA. Scott O’Neil is now the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment. Each took the lessons learned under Stern to their new roles.

“The way he was able to deal with the people who worked for him always brought out the best in them,” said Bettman. “He might make people feel uncomfortable, but the end result was always better work.

He was very focused and very intense, all as a methodology for getting the best out of people.”

“He turned the NBA into something more than a sports league,” said Ackerman. “It was about sports and society. It was about advancing women.

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 Stern and Magic Johnson helped save the NBA in the 1980s, then teamed up for a more important mission.

THE LIFE OF DAVID STERN SEPTEMBER 22, 1942: Born in New York, N.Y. 1963: Receives a bachelor of arts in history from Rutgers.

1966: Earns juris doctor from Columbia Law School.

1967: Begins his association with the NBA as an outside counsel at Proskauer Rose.

1978: Leaves Proskauer Rose and becomes the NBA’s first general counsel.

1984: Named commissioner, succeeding Larry O’Brien.

1990: Phoenix Suns play Utah Jazz in Tokyo, the first regular-season game held outside of North America for any major American sport.

1992: The U.S. Olympic “Dream Team” features NBA stars for the first time and wins the gold medal in Barcelona.

1996: Announces the creation of the WNBA, to begin play in 1997.

2001: The NBA Development League (now the G League) begins its first season of play.

2014: Completes his 30-year tenure as NBA commissioner. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

JAN. 1, 2020: Dies at age 77 of a brain hemorrhage.

It was about being in front of the curve in technology. He knitted it all together in ways that broke the mold.”

“Every flight I’d get on with him, he would have stacks of papers nine inches thick and he’s reading and he’d love to debate and discuss and not just the sports pages,” said O’Neil, formerly a senior vice president at the league. “He was very much in tune to the geopolitical landscape. He was very connected to the business world and he was way ahead of his time when we needed it. It wasn’t a coincidence that he had an office in China in the 1980s. It wasn’t an accident when Magic was diagnosed with HIV and he understood the disease on a level that most people didn’t.”

Indeed, Stern knew well that basketball was a way to influence society beyond sports. His support of Johnson helped advance the acceptance of people with HIV. He created the WNBA in 1996, and he crafted the NBA Cares charitable organization in 2005.

“There is more than enough data to prove that David was not only the greatest commissioner in sports history, but also one of the most influential CEOs in any industry, ever,” said Chris Granger, who ran the league’s team marketing and business operations division and worked as president of the Sacramento Kings from 20132017 before leaving the league to work as group president for sports and entertainment for Ilitch Holdings. “I

could also make the case that his impact on society was even greater. David understood like no other, the role of sport, and basketball in particular, in changing the world for the better.”

The league was not immune to challenges and negative publicity. A lockout canceled significant portions of the 1998-99 and 2011-12 seasons. The 2004 Malice at the Palace, in which Stern levied the heaviest suspensions in NBA history, shined a spotlight on the disconnect between players and fans. There was the gambling scandal of NBA referee Tim Donaghy, the poorly received dress code for players and even the misfire of a new synthetic ball in 2006.

Yet Stern was always willing to lead the way with firm and decisive action.

“Success never comes as a straight line,” said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. “But it never comes at all if you can’t address the lowest and most difficult problems that present themselves. David’s legacy isn’t just that he made basketball a global, successful sport, it’s that he loved the league so much that he never backed away from any problem it faced. Every issue, every problem, was his problem. That’s what made him special as commissioner.”

It didn’t hurt that he had the benefit of a line of hugely popular players to serve as ambassadors for the league.

From Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, to Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal, to Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, Stern never forgot that the players were the ones who were the faces of the league.

That didn’t stop him from becoming almost as recognizable. While growing up in Trinidad, Davyeon Ross thought of three people who epitomized basketball: Magic, Michael and David Stern. Later, as the co-founder of ShotTracker, he would work closely with Stern, internalizing the lessons he taught. “I’ve been in so many discussions with him late night, via text message. We used to talk all the time.

I’m going to miss him.”

Not long before Stern fell ill, he had lunch in New York with former lieutenant Rick Welts, now the COO of the Golden State Warriors. Their relationship dated back decades and their conversations typically covered all sorts of territory. That day, Welts made sure to say something else.

“I told him that I loved him — I don’t think I ever did that before,” he said.

“I’m glad I did.”

Additional reporting by Mark J. Burns and Eric Prisbell.

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UPFRONT DAVID STERN 1942 2020

WHEN HE became commissioner of the NBA in 1984, David

Stern already had a model of how best to expand the league’s marketing, media and merchandising businesses: the Walt Disney Co., which was renowned for its integrated marketing, long before that term existed.

So it would have been fair to call the NBA a Mickey Mouse operation. Nor would it have been peBY TERRY jorative: A dozen years before Disney bought ABC and ESPN in 1996, Stern would show LEFTON how the Disney model could work within sports marketing.

“David was obsessed with Disney,’’ said New York Knicks President Steve Mills, whose first job in sports was in 1984, working as a special assistant to Stern and former Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik. “Look at the two companies and you can see the same attention to detail, the importance of a shared corporate culture and everybody being on the same page, and protecting and nurturing of the brand being paramount. Every little detail was always the most important thing.’’

Stern subsequently hired David Schreff from the Disney Channel to run the league’s Global Marketing and Media Group in 1990. Two minutes after meeting Schreff, Stern showed his cards. “I want to make the NBA the Disney of sports,’’ the commissioner told Schreff. “Our athletes are our characters and we want to make our arenas more like theme parks, with nonstop entertainment, and we want to make our sponsors and licensees global amplifiers that can shape and share the league everywhere. We need someone from Disney to help us do that.”

Schreff received a job offer just a few days later, but he still wonders why Stern never asked him what he knew about basketball. Of course, Stern was more concerned about whether Schreff could sell the NBA to top-level media and marketing executives, which, as it turned out, he could.

Across the industry for years, Stern’s negotiating skills have been lauded. A favorite industry story concerning the intersection of Disney and the NBA took place shortly before Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando opened in 1997. Sports was a different direction for Disney, and Stern headed an NBA delegation taking a presentation on the new theme park.

Michael Eisner, then Disney’s chairman and CEO, was pitching the creation of an “NBA Land” within Disney World, with basketball-themed facilities and events, which Eisner said would cost “only a $100 million sponsorship fee.” Without flinching, Stern turned the proposition around, telling Eisner and the assembled Disneyites that $100 million was exactly what they had in mind as a fee for Disney to access the NBA’s valuable IP rights. The 44,000-square-foot NBA Experience at Disney Springs opened last August, seemingly unrelated.

Still, for Schreff, the measure of Stern’s success can best be measured in the grassroots.

“Through David Stern’s sustained efforts, millions of boys and girls are playing basketball, enjoying the sport, and aspiring to be NBA and WNBA athletes, across countries and cultures,’’ said Schreff, now CEO of ACTV8me, an advertising technology company. “So when you talk about growing the sport of basketball, David Stern did it at every level.’’

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David Levy (right) said Stern painted an accurate picture of the importance of media partners to the NBA.

‘You are going to do this’: Stern as media visionary

BY JOHN OURAND A BIG PART of David Stern’s legacy can be seen

in the media business, where he made big bets that usually paid off — from his early embrace of prime-time playoff games to his 2002 decision to become the first professional sports league to embrace cable television.

During his time as commissioner, Stern developed close relationships with media executives, most of whom consistently describe him as a mentor and a friend.

NBC’s Mark Lazarus first got to know Stern in 1989, when the media executive worked on the Miller account for an ad agency. As Lazarus moved from the agency to Turner to NBC, he remained close with Stern, and is one of dozens of sports business executives who describe him as a mentor.

“David was never an ‘official’ mentor to anybody — he never considered himself a mentor,” Lazarus said. “But he had the type of leadership skills that made people view him with that lens.”

As an example, Lazarus pointed to a lunch the two shared in New York in early November. Stern “was as vivacious and cantankerous as ever,” Lazarus joked.

The conversation was dominated by talk of new sports businesses that the two could explore, like esports and gambling.

During the lunch, Stern told Lazarus, “You’re not thinking big enough.”

“That was not a throwaway line — I took it as a lesson,” Lazarus said. “He always challenged me to think differently about things.”

In 2007, Stern orchestrated a media rights deal with ESPN and Turner Sports that, combined, neared the $1 billion per year

benchmark.

Network executives pushed Stern to give them more access during games, including putting microphones on players and coaches, and allowing cameras inside coaching huddles.

Stern invited ESPN’s John Skipper and Turner’s David Levy to explain their plans at a meeting that fall that included most of the league’s coaches. After Skipper and Levy made their presentations, one of the league’s older coaches spoke up and said his team was not going to participate.

At that point, Stern’s hand came crashing down on the table, creating a large bang. He looked around the room to make sure that everyone was paying attention and said, “Gentlemen, these two men represent companies that are paying us $1 billion per year.

We are going to provide them some value.

This is not a democracy. You are going to do this. Are there any questions?”

“That spoke to the fact that David was a very strong leader who had vision and knew what the league had to do in order to grow,” Skipper said.

Levy referenced Stern’s vision when he spoke of the part of that 2007 deal that had Turner operate the NBA’s digital businesses, including NBA TV. Levy recalled that Stern pushed for a profit-sharing deal with Turner, believing that building and operating media businesses is not a smart strategy for sports leagues.

“That is still a very important piece of his legacy,” Levy said. “David was always a leader in the digital arena, from executing that deal to understanding that his players should be on social media.”

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NBAE/Getty Images

Of Mouse and Man: Stern used Disney as marketing model

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Stern lessons helped shape the people he guided DAVID STERN was a notoriously de-

manding boss, but he also stood as a treasured mentor for those who proved their mettle and withstood the demands and rigors of the

BY JOHN hard-driving commissioner.

LOMBARDO “He used to say in every staff meeting that it was about the relentless pursuit of perfection,” said Scott O’Neil, a former senior NBA executive who is now chief executive officer for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers. “The challenge to us was to do more and be more prepared. Good was never good enough. Great wasn’t good enough.

He had this incredible appetite to grow and work and his expectation was that we had the same gear. I am one of 10,000 people he mentored and he never let me forget it.”

No detail was too small for Stern and he taught his staff the art of preparation.

“He was tough, but when you earned his respect, you got it back 100%,” said Bernie Mullin, who led the NBA’s team marketing and business operations division from 2000-04 and then worked as the CEO of the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-08. Mullin now runs sports consulting company The Aspire Group.

“He’d ask third-level questions and if you hadn’t thought it through, he’d crucify you,” Mullin said. “But once

Val Ackerman (left) was tapped by Stern as the first president of the WNBA, and went on to become the commissioner of the Big East.

he trusted you and you had the right answers, he immediately empowered you. Who hasn’t loved the toughest coach they had? Once you got through the baptism of fire, he was amazing.”

The lessons Stern imparted on many of his staff extend far beyond the executive suite.

“As a leader, he pushed us, challenged us, and tested us,” said Chris Granger, who was executive vice president for the league’s team marketing and business operations division before becoming president of the Sacramento Kings from 2013-17. He left the

league to work as group president for sports and entertainment for Ilitch Holdings. “He focused us on the details, reminded us of the importance of preparation, and ensured relentless intensity in the execution of a plan. But even with all of this famous ferocity, what I will remember most about David is his humanity on a personal level. The call, the grace when my mother passed away. The introspective sounding board when I needed guidance on strategy, career decisions, or health care options for my father. The needed kick in the pants when I wasn’t pushing or negotiating hard enough. I will take the lessons learned, in business and in life, and be a better executive and a better man, because of having the privilege of working with him.”

Stern’s mentorship didn’t end when an executive left the league.

“We were in touch all the way to the end,” said Val Ackerman, the first WNBA president and the current Big East commissioner. “He was a continuing source of counsel and we shared notes on everything. He allowed me to be part of so many things in basketball. It was global, it was college sports. He was part of my ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ in my new job.”

In his later role working at Micromanagement Ventures, Stern counseled the next generation of executives in the tech space, and imparted the same valuable lessons on them.

“The last four years, it’s almost been like postgraduate school for me. I learned so much from him that changed my life,” said Miheer Walavalkar, the CEO of LiveLike. “The optimism was infectious.

It was about the concept. It was about what the impact could be. He was both a visionary and also someone who had incredible attention to detail. He took me in and opened every door for me.”

My experiences trading punches with David Stern I KNEW David Stern was on the phone when my caller ID would

NBAE/Getty Images

BY JOHN LOMBARDO

flash “private.” Then I’d hear his voice, announcing “This is David” followed by a complaint, a suggestion, or a joke — sometimes all three in the same sentence.

Covering Stern could be difficult — he was as gruff as he was tough — but it could also be entertaining. He could be charming, but he always had a point to make.

Interviewing him was not unlike stepping into the ring for a sparring session. Before going to his office at the NBA’s New York headquarters for an interview I would prepare as if I was studying for a final exam. Stern, after all, was a lawyer, and a darn good one, and he didn’t mind turning a discussion into a debate. During one phone interview he repeatedly told me how wrong I was for having referred to an NBA franchise as a small market team. “It’s a lower revenue franchise,” he would implore before finally moving on to whatever else we needed to discuss.

Nor did he mind discussing subjects beyond the business of basketball. Our conversation after his trip to India late in his tenure consisted as much of him recapping the sights he had seen and the culture he had experienced as it did the stated NBA-related reasons for the trip.

When I first started covering the NBA in 2001, Stern was well into what became a 30-year run as the league’s commis-

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sioner. The league was long past the days of having the Finals air on tape delay, and he had put it on a global trajectory with his vision, passion and relentless drive. And just as he had been way ahead of anyone else in terms of the league’s evolution of media into cable television, he was then doing the same with the push into digital.

Sponsors were partners, and the NBA product was growing rapidly around the world. But Stern also strongly believed in the role that his league in particular and sports in general had in society. He created the WNBA and defended it mightily, and he took the NBA Cares charitable initiative as seriously as any media deal.

He had a great amount of perspective, seeing the league through some of its toughest moments. He dealt with Magic Johnson’s stunning retirement and HIV announcement in 1991 during the height of the AIDS crisis, wielded strong discipline after the Malice at The Palace in 2004 and was able to guide the league safely past the gambling scandal involving referee Tim Donaghy.

Through it all, the league kept growing. Stern’s razor-sharp mind and impeccable instincts helped turn a sleepy league into a global behemoth. He took all the punches and he always punched back.

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UPFRONT

The Market A M E AS U R E D LO O K AT T H I S W E E K ’ S HOLDINGS

BUY

WASHINGTON REDSKINS Yes, you read this right! Daniel Snyder seemed to make a lot of smart moves after the season’s end, moving on from polarizing President Bruce Allen and bringing in the classy and widely respected Ron Rivera as head coach.

A new day in D.C.? All Hail, indeed!

SELL

Visa’s Johnson to lead Google’s search for larger sports presence

BY BEN FISCHER IN A SIGNAL THAT GOOGLE is prepared

to unleash more of its vast resources on sports, the Silicon Valley giant is building a global content and sports media partnerships team.

On Jan. 6 Kate Johnson, formerly Visa’s head of global sponsorship marketing, will start at Google’s San Francisco offices. She will build a division dedicated to organizing the tech behemoth’s existing sports relationships and finding new deals across the globe, the first time the nearly $1 trillion company will have a centralized, enterprise-level sports and entertainment division. Her title is head of global partnerships, content and sports media.

Johnson emphasized she will spend much of 2020 auditing the landscape, and her intentions will likely evolve based on what she learns. But the starting point is a sense within Google that it could be getting more out of sports and cultural marketing, which to date has mostly been through commercial buys.

“Google is showing up in a lot of different spaces, but they’ve come in through the media side of the conversations,” she said. “But the question is are we getting traction with con-

Golden State Warriors at Chase Center and the NCAA, a limited exclusive MLB rights package on YouTube and YouTube TV, YouTube TV sponsorships of postseason baseball and the NBA Finals, and some YouTube jersey deals and local streaming rights in MLS. Google Japan will be a third-tier domestic Kate Johnson worked on Visa’s long-term sponsorships with the IOC and NFL during her six-year tenure. sponsor of the Tokyo 2020 Games in a new sumers, and B2B partners? Sometimes category: Internet-based information without the IP there’s only so much and navigation services. you can do to drive the connection.”

Few, if any, companies have had Johnson’s team will work within the range and cash to influence sports the Google Media Lab, an internal and entertainment at the scale Google agency that handles media strategy could. YouTube, Google Cloud, Google for all ad campaigns. Over the last Maps, Google Home and its breadsix years at Visa, Johnson worked on and-butter search business could all the payment processor’s long-term anchor global campaigns. deals with the International Olympic Google’s parent, Alphabet, reportCommittee and NFL, which were both ed $121 billion in cash on hand as of renewed during her tenure.

Sept. 30, and had a market capitalizaCulture and entertainment are a tion of $934 billion on Jan. 2. With big part of her remit, she said. “This those resources, Google could redeisn’t just sports. They really want to fine the entire concept of sports stratown cultural moments.” e g y, b l e n d i n g s p o n s o r s h i p, Google’s sports presence includes advertising and content creation, or Google Cloud sponsorships with the even acquiring properties outright.

CLEVELAND BROWNS

HOLD

NEW YORK GIANTS Are fissures beginning to form in the longtime relationship between the Mara and Tisch families? Steve Tisch (right) stating he intends to get more involved in team decisions has some questioning if his vision is now at odds with partner John Mara. Worth keeping an eye on.

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Goodman departs NBA to lead NYCFC’s business

BY MARK J. BURNS WHEN BRAD SIMS joined NYCFC as

chief executive a year ago, it was apparent to him that the only way to move the team’s business forward was by improving top-line revenue across ticketing, sponsorships and premium sales. That marked a notable change from the strategy of maximizing efficiencies and reducing expenses that had predated Sims’ arrival.

For Sims, that new focus continues with the hiring of Matt Goodman as chief commercial officer and COO. The move makes Goodman, formerly senior vice president within the NBA’s team marketing and business operations group, NYCFC’s second highest ranking executive.

“There’s very few people who have that well-rounded profile,” Sims said when listing Goodman’s credentials, from previously leading

ticket sales teams in minor league baseball, overseeing premium sales and hospitality at the Madison Square Garden Co. and managing a sponsorships group for the Cleveland Browns.

Sims added that Goodman’s five-plus Goodman years with the NBA afforded him additional exposure to other business verticals, including marketing and analytics/business intelligence, both of which he’ll also oversee for NYCFC along with youth partners. His immediate to-do list begins with cementing a Manhattan-based sponsorships team — including hiring a lead for new business — that is dedicated solely to selling NYCFC. It’s a group that didn’t previously exist, says Sims.

“We were missing a big opportunity to bring on local companies and local partners, to be focused

not just on seven- and eight-figure deals but on six-figure deals and maybe high five-figure deals,” he added.

Goodman’s relationship with Sims dates back more than a decade, to when he was at MSG while Sims had a role in the NBA’s TMBO group. The two then overlapped briefly in Cleveland, where Goodman had a brief 15-month stint as a vice president with the Browns while Sims was in the midst of a long run as the Cavaliers’ chief revenue officer.

“To be part of a — I won’t say turnaround — but I like to think of us as a challenger brand when you consider the age of our team relative to the age of the other teams in New York,” Goodman said.

“The club is only 5 years old. It obviously has its own unique set of opportunities, and to me, that was the most interesting part. I like that story.”

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AP Images; Getty Images (2); Visa

How many people (including SBJ!) overhyped this organization before the season started? By moving on from both interim head coach Freddie Kitchens and general manager John Dorsey, owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are looking at overhauling the team’s direction … again.

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

THE INSIDERS MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP

Legends’ reorganization includes teaming with MainGate for on-site merchandise sales

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ALL IT A 2020 VISION. The new year will see

and shipping we did fine,” he said.

Legends Hospitality reorganize into separate vertical organizations in a streamlining move. We’ve long felt the company has great pieces, including a sales function armed with inventory counting the NFL’s newest stadiums in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as well as hospitality and concession services, project management and venue merchandise sales, augmented by the acquisition of MainGate in 2019.

Of course, any sports agency with the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys in its ownership and DNA has considerable political influence. Still,

BY TERRY LEFTON its impressive component parts, at times, have seemed less than cohesive when considered in tandem. In an attempt to remedy that, Legends is beefing up its verticals, starting with on-site merch sales. What will now be called Legends Global Merchandising will include the production and distribution capabilities of MainGate and be headquar tered out of MainGate’s hometown of Indianapolis.

MainGate President and CEO Dave Moroknek, who will head the division, said the new structure will provide more cohesive servicing of Moroknek the NFL teams that work with the company — including the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans — along with Legends’ recently secured merchandising rights for NFL jewel events, like the draft and the Super Bowl. There will be around 350 employees in the newly reorganized division.

“The idea is for us to be focused on specific busi-

Talent representation and marketing agency Independent Sports & Entertainment, Los Angeles, is expanding its property sales and brand consulting capabilities with the acquisition of Intersect Partners, a small Atlanta agency specializing largely in colleg i at e m arke t i ng . Wi t h t h e acquisition, Intersect’s partnership team of Owen Shull and Scott Malaga will now head the properties division at ISE. Shull brings more than 20 years of collegiate sales and marketing exMainGate reacted quickly to increased demand at the Rugby World Cup. perience to the new position, including recent titles at Learfield IMG College, and CRO for the Peach Bowl. Malaga’s ness lines every day, and grow the business globprior agency jobs included stops at The Marketing ally and strategically with a better use of all of our Arm, Learfield Sports, MKTG, and Intersport. resources, especially our vertical capabilities,” said Intersect was founded in 2016 and its clients have Moroknek. Competing against a company with the included the WNBA Atlanta Dream, for its jersey reach and scale of Fanatics, Moroknek added that sponsorship; the MLS Chicago Fire; as a local sponhe wants his group to be “the nimble player that sorship sales agency for the College Football Playcan get things to market first.” off National Championship; selling digital media Dan Smith, Legends Hospitality for Cox Media Group; the PGA Tour Champions; president, echoed that sentiment: and a number of colleges and collegiate sports “With our history, we look at everyproperties. thing through the sports teams ownISE, majority owned by Penguins co-owner Ron ership lens and we think this will Burkle, launched its properties division in 2018 bring that thinking to bear in the with the hiring of former Omnigon and Cox Media merchandise world.”

Smith Group sales executive Jake Stone, who’s now ISE’s Moroknek said that other than chief revenue officer. As co-heads of ISE properties, expanding business relationships with existing Shull and Malaga will report to Stone. customers, he sees opportunities overseas and at ISE has around 60 employees and reps more than home, in the collegiate market. Asked for an ex200 professional athletes across MLB, the NBA, and ample of synergy thus far, he noted that during the the NFL. recent Rugby World Cup in Japan, demand exceeded supply. Accordingly, the company produced 8,000 Terry Lefton can be reached at T-shirts in Indianapolis and shipped them to Japan tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com. while the market was hot. “Even with some duties

Getty Images

■ NEW INTERSECTION:

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THE INSIDERS

CFP Championship latest stop for former FBI assistant director now overseeing security for ESPN

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EN YEARS AGO, MIKE HEIMBACH was pursuing

“My philosophy is that you tighten the perimeter al-Qaida as an assistant director of the FBI’s and you loosen the interior,” he said. “That means terrorism division, a position in which he that you tighten up everything with the access, then reported to FBI Director Robert Mueller. you can loosen the interior, if you've done your job Next week, Heimbach will be at the right on the access control.”

CFP Championship game, where he still At Clemson that day, it was the first will be trying to combat terrorist time the school used metal detectors at threats. The difference is that he has the football stadium’s entrances, which traded the FBI for ESPN, where he is a led to longer lines than usual outside full-time employee as vice president of of the stadium. But it was a developsecurity and facility operations. ment Heimbach was happy to see.

Every network employs some ver“It's an inconvenience, but it's worth sion of Heimbach — a security officer it because you just don't know,” he said. who works with local stadium secu“You'll get a lot of folks, even today, that rity and is tasked with keeping the don't want magnetometers, that don't network's remote productions and want to go through the extra scrutiny.

BY JOHN OURAND employees as safe as possible. Hired But the majority do. They love the extra

by ESPN in 2009, Heimbach oversees level of protection. That's the world we 250 people globally, and has spent the live in.” past decade as a constant presence at ESPN events At Clemson, and next week at the CFP Champion— even if most people don’t know his name. ship game, Heimbach’s team works with stadium I caught up with Heimbach four months ago on security and local law enforcement to develop sethe sideline of Clemson’s season-opening game curity procedures. His team is responsible for proagainst Georgia Tech — the first live game produced tecting ESPN’s production compound and getting for ACC Network. Two hours before kickoff, as announcers from the compound to their sets. alcohol-fueled tailgates were in full swing, Heimbach At the season-opening game, Heimbach’s team was a picture of calm. His team of seven full-time also handled the hiring of the 150 contractors for employees and another 150 contractors were execut- security. ing the plan that he had put in place.

“We’re the managers of it,” he said. “Our team

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John Ourand can be reached at jourand@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ Ourand_SBJ and read his twice weekly newsletter.

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SPORTS M E D I A

oversees them, puts them in the right place and gives them the guidance and instructions to handle the event.”

It’s easy to get terrified when you talk Mike about security with Heimbach, someone like Heimvice president bach. Threats are evof security erywhere. Security and facility operations, exper ts have long oversees 250 viewed sporting events people globally. as soft targets for terrorist attacks, from radicalized lone wolves to the possibility of drone attacks.

Heimbach, though, projects such a calm and confident demeanor that security threats don’t seem as prevalent.

I asked Heimbach to relate his most harrowing experience during his time at ESPN. For a former FBI agent who investigated the 2008 Marriott bombing in Islamabad and the 2002 bombings in Bali, Heimbach chuckled at the word “harrowing.”

He’s had to deal with myriad threats at ESPN. But harrowing?

“We’ve had nothing harrowing,” he said. “There probably hasn’t been a serious life-and-death situation that l’ve had to handle here.”

The most angst comes when ESPN travels internationally, like it did for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa or MLB’s 2016 game in Cuba, when protesters interrupted Bob Ley during a live “SportsCenter” shot. The key for Heimbach is to have his team make as many advance visits as it can to build relationships with local law enforcement and mitigate threats.

“We’re a storytelling company — we want to go in and get the best story,” he said. “When reporters wanted to visit a shanty town, we had to bring the right police officers with us and protect them. We rarely say no unless it’s a very high-risk area. We’ll tell the producers, ‘On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s about a 9 and here are our fears.’”

Heimbach wants to be as visible as possible at ESPN events, allowing him to earn the respect and confidence of executives throughout the company.

During his first two years at ESPN, he went to virtually every event. Now, he’s choosier about the ones he wants to attend.

“I like to get out in the beginning of the year,” he said. “It's our first year with the ACC Network, and I haven't met any of the talent. I came to Clemson to introduce myself to them. I try to stay close to our executives, like Jimmy Pitaro and some of his direct reports. I won't miss the Super Bowl. I won't miss a College Football Playoff. I'll always be at all the large, large events.”

Still, many of Heimbach’s responsibilities are a lot more mundane.

“I oversee everything from the cafeteria to all the mechanical, the electrical, the HVAC, snow removal, landscaping,” Heimbach said. “I'm even in charge of the toilet paper when people complain.”

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

LABOR AND AGENTS

Arguments set in NCAA appeal; Maxx adds clients

T

will hear oral arguments in March on the NCAA’s appeal of a federal court decision that would allow student athletes to be paid unlimited costs for play, as long as it is tied to education.

Both the NCAA and college conference defendants, as well as the student athletes led by former West Virginia running back Shawne Alston, are appealing last year’s decision by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken. Wilken permanently enjoined the NCAA “from agreeing to fix or limit the compensation or benefits related to education” from the conferences or schools to Division I basketball and football student athletes.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys have estimated that D-I football and basketball players could be receiving overall as much at $200 million a year in added benefits tied to education, under Wilken’s decision, but that has been held up on appeal.

A three-judge panel will hear oral arguments the week of March 9 at the circuit court in San Francisco, although an exact time and date had not been set at press time. The panel consists of judges Sidney Thomas, Ronald Gould and Milan Dale Smith Jr. The NCAA seeks to have the injunction vacated and the decision overturned. The student-athlete plaintiffs, meanwhile, are asking the panel to affirm Wilken’s decision and grant relief beyond what she gave them.

“What we are asking for is relief that would strike down all of the NCAA rules without limitation and let the individual conferences have their own authority to decide what rules to have,” said Jeffrey Kessler, a partner at Winston & Strawn and one of the lead attorneys for the student athletes.

That relief, if granted, the NCAA has argued, could create a free market for stu-

Group.

“Maxx Sports Entertainment was actually named after me when I was a kid and my father was just breaking into the industry,” Maxx Lepselter said.

He said he enjoys the mentorship and expertise of his father’s experience, and the two companies do some business together, but they are separate companies.

“As a father, there is nothing more gratifyMaxx Lepselter (right) is joined by his father, Mark, who ing than seeing your encouraged him to start his own representation practice. kids set out on their dent athletes’ playing services. own path,” Mark Lep“Our hope is that we could get a decision selter said. “My advice to Maxx was to go by the summer,” Kessler said. into his own business, because that’s what I felt was best for him and his personality.

Q MAXX SIGNS NFL PLAYER CLIENTS: Maxx Now he just has to keep building on the MGMT has signed Alabama cornerback ace foundation he has put in place Trevon Diggs, a projected high NFL draft thus far.” pick, as well as several veteran NFL playMaxx Lepselter has ers, including Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl signed more than 20 NFL linebacker Matt Judon, for marketing and player clients in the last off-the-field endeavors. year, including Houston Maxx MGMT has also signed Denver Texans r unning back Broncos safety Justin Simmons, Carons Duke Johnson, New Orleans lina Panthers cornerback James BradSaints cornerback Janoris Jenkins, Los berry, Green Bay Packers guard Elgton Angeles Chargers linebacker Denzel PerJenkins, Seattle Seahawks offensive lineryman and Detroit Lions linebacker man D.J. Fluker and Atlanta Falcons Devon Kennard. safety Keanu Neal in the last few months.

“The cool thing about Devon Kennard Agency founder and President Maxx Lep— and Justin Simmons — is they are both selter is representing the players. up for the man of the year award, so we Lepselter founded the agency in January are working on their philanthropic endeav2018 to represent athletes in all areas, ors,” Maxx Lepselter said. other than playing contract work. Maxx Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@ is the oldest son of veteran broadcasting sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on agent Mark Lepselter, who founded and Twitter @SBJLizMullen. owns Maxx Sports Entertainment

Courtesy of Mark Lepselter

BY LIZ MULLEN

HE 9TH U.S. CIRCUIT COURT of Appeals

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PYNE’S

PLAN Five years in, well-resourced Bruin Sports Capital is making all the right moves. BY MICHAEL SMITH

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

T HAD BEEN A STRESSFUL 24 HOURS FOR

George Pyne by the time he settled his 6-foot-5 frame into a chair at the Clement in midtown Manhattan’s Peninsula Hotel for lunch last month. The veteran sports executive, who’s accustomed to the highpressure world of negotiating hundred-milliondollar deals as the CEO of Bruin Sports Capital, was still processing his son’s high school football game from the night before. Drew Pyne, a Notre Dame signee and one of the nation’s top prep quarterbacks, did not play for New Canaan (Conn.) High because of a shoulder injury, and the 42-0 loss in the state playoffs had brought an unfortunate end to his senior season.

Pyne, who was an offensive lineman at Brown before rising to become the COO at NASCAR and the president of IMG Sports & Entertainment, has done deals with strong personalities and demanding bosses, including Ted Forstmann, Bill France Jr. and Martin Sorrell. But watching his children — an older son, Brendan, recently joined Colorado as a graduate transfer from Brown — is a different kind of stress. “You have no control,” he said.

When the 54-year-old father of four sat down for a lunch of tomato soup and Dover sole at the Clement the next day, he was ready to decompress. Bruin Sports Capital turns 5 years old this month and it already has proved to be among the more successful investment firm launches in sports, given its portfolio of companies that span media, marketing, live events and hospitality, ticketing and technology.

Over the course of two hours, Pyne looked back at the five years since he created Bruin from scratch and what the next five years might bring. Normally understated — Pyne compares his risk tolerance to that of a 100-year-old man — he was bolder and more confident than ever over lunch. It’s clear that his vision for Bruin’s next five years is more aggressive than anything he dreamed in 2014 when the investment company first took shape.

“I want us to be the Berkshire Hathaway of sports,” Pyne said of Warren Buffet’s multinational holding company that owns businesses as varied as Geico and NetJets, and ranks among the world’s largest public companies with a $552 billion market cap.

Bruin’s most recent round of capital fundraising generated $600 million of new money from well-established funds CVC and The Jordan Company, meaning that Bruin has raised close to $1

BRUIN SPORTS CAPITAL

HEADQUARTERS

PRIMARY ACQUISITIONS

White Plains, N.Y.

On Location Experiences, Deltatre, Engine Shop, SoulSight, Two Circles

FOUNDED Taylor Ballantyne / Bruin Sports Capital

January 2015

FOUNDER George Pyne

PARTNERS David Abrutyn, Tony Crispino, Jeffrey Roth

TOTAL ACQUISITIONS 17

AMOUNT INVESTED $285 million

LEAD SHAREHOLDER The Jordan Company

billion in just five years. Sources indicate that additional fundraising from two or three more companies, not previously announced, will boost that $600 million number even further this year.

Whatever limitations Pyne might have encountered in the past are now gone because of the resources at his disposal.

“We have enough capital that we’re only limited by our capabilities,” Pyne said. “We have unlimited access to capital, so there’s no good idea we can’t pursue.”

While Bruin typically describes itself as having sports, entertainment and branded lifestyle interests, the company won’t have boundaries in the future, whether that means venturing out to acquire a data analytics agency such as the recently acquired Two Circles or potential ownership of a pro sports franchise or league. Without specifying which one, Pyne said Bruin had recently been approached by a non-U.S. pro team about an ownership stake.

“We learned a lot in the last five years, and I think we can apply those learnings going forward in a faster and bigger way,” Pyne said. “So, we’re going to take a couple of big shots in the next two or three years. I think we’ll do some big things. I would say that we would do two or three significant things in the next five to seven years that are much more meaningful than where we are today.”

A

FTER AN often prosperous but sometimes

turbulent eight-year run at IMG, which ended in 2014, Pyne began contemplating his next move. It was during several after-work conversations with Tony Crispino, IMG’s operating and financial chief, that the then 49-year-old Pyne became convinced he could raise the money to build a company like Bruin.

Pyne had earned a well-deserved reputation for his skills as an operator at NASCAR and IMG. Acquiring companies and putting them together is essentially what they were doing at his latter stop. IMG College, which was formed in 2007 with the purchases of Collegiate Licensing Co. and Host Communications — it later added ISP Sports — was a prime example that changed the college marketing landscape.

While researching the sports marketplace, Pyne got help from Allen & Co., and met with high-profile investors such as Sorrell, the founder and former CEO of WPP. Pyne brought another IMG alum, David Abrutyn, and added Jeffrey Roth from Allen & Co. as partners in Bruin along with Crispino.

Together, they crafted a platform strategy that led to five primary acquisitions: On Location Experiences; Deltatre; Engine Shop; Soulsight; and the recently acquired Two Circles. Those companies became the anchors for each platform, and Bruin then went about adding acquisitions to fortify the anchor company, just like IMG did with the college business.

For example, Bruin acquired marketing agency Engine Shop in 2016 and later added smaller companies, like Terrence Burns’ brand marketing agen-

GEORGE PYNE ON ...

RETIREMENT “As I get older, I just don’t see me NOT doing this. I’ve got a lot of gas in the tank. If you asked me 10 years ago I might have said ‘Maybe not so long,’ but sitting here today, God willing, I want to do this for another 15 or 20 years.”

HIS SON’S RECRUITMENT ( DREW, A QB, SIGNED WITH NOTRE DAME ) “The recruiting takes a toll. When you’re offered by Alabama at 15, 16 years old, the scrutiny is unbelievable. It’s remarkable how he’s handled it. Whatever the challenges have been, they’ve made him better. I wouldn’t trade the whole experience for anything.”

STORIES HE’S WATCHING “A lot of media rights are coming up in the next few years. I think the sports media rights will fare well and I think that’s the single most interesting story, is how that all works out. The other big stories are the collective bargaining agreements that will be undertaken in the next 12 to 24 months. … Another I’d add is gambling. You’re 19 times more likely to watch a game if you gamble on it. It’s slow to implement going state to state, but over time it’s a net positive for sports.”

ADVERSITY “It’s not whether challenges will happen; the question is how you deal with it. You can also look at a challenge as an opportunity to become closer with your CEOs because you’re working together to get through a tough situation.”

HIS FAVORITE SAYING “You can’t mail in a handshake.”

RAISING CLOSE TO $1 BILLION IN FIVE YEARS AT BRUIN “Raising capital is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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THE STORY GEORGE PYNE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

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return on Bruin’s investment.

“We wouldn’t be where we are now without Bruin,” said Giampiero Rinaudo, co-founder and CEO at Deltatre.

Pyne’s partners admire his ability to spot the smart bets, which has only increased their confidence and given him more horsepower.

“George has taken Bruin from nothing to really being a leading player in the areas that he’s entered,” Caputo said. “Now he has $600 million of dry powder to move forward with. He’s been able to invest and deploy a little less than half of that amount over the past five years. So, given the opportunities that he’s seen, I have little doubt he’ll be able to find great investments with the capital that he has at his disposal.”

W

HEN PYNE launched Bruin five years ago, he said,

“This is my shot.” He knew then that Bruin would be his legacy. With that in mind, he set out to be more than an absentee investor or the heavy reminding his company CEOs about hitting their quarterly quotas.

“It’s never just about the numbers,” Pyne said. “If someone says, ‘Turn in the numbers,’ I don’t know what that means. To me it’s about the ideas that are going to create lasting values.

And how are we doing against those ideas? It’s been a formula that’s worked out well.”

That doesn’t surprise Mark Donovan, president of the Kansas City Chiefs. Donovan and Pyne played football together at Brown — Donovan was the starting quarterback and Pyne protected his blind side as the team’s left tackle. They briefly worked together at an agency in Atlanta before Pyne went to NASCAR and Donovan started a lengthy career in the NFL. Donovan said Pyne, even in his days as a young professional, was known as “the hardest working man in show biz.”

“He just didn’t take ‘No’ for an answer,” Donovan said. “Once he gets an idea in his head, he’s going to make it happen. That

LESSONS FROM TED George Pyne’s office at IMG from 2006-11 was next to Ted Forstmann’s, so it’s not surprising that Pyne, then the company’s president, took several tips from his late boss. During a lengthy interview last month in Manhattan, Pyne often referenced Forstmann, the private equity mogul, when asked about his own investing strategies.

“I was 40 years old when he hired me at IMG, so I knew I was going to learn a lot and I did,” Pyne said. “I quote him almost every day.”

Forstmann constantly referred to the risk-reward ratio on any deal and Pyne does the same.

“What’s the upside and what’s the downside?” Pyne said. “The minute Ted could eliminate the downside, he was all in.”

Pyne said the risk-reward ratio has even made it into his home in discussions with his four children.

Whenever there’s a big decision to be made, Pyne will ask, “What’s the upside and what’s the downside?”

“Ted structured everything around the risk,” Pyne said. “He was always thinking, always analyzing.”

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cy, T Burns Sports Group, that broadened Engine Shop’s capabilities. Similarly, Bruin helped build On Location by adding Anthony Travel and PrimeSport to round out its hospitality offerings.

“We were going to be a little different than your typical private equity,” Crispino said of Bruin’s strategy at launch. “We were going to be all about supporting the management team and helping them achieve their goals [like they did at IMG]. So, we thought we can do this on our own. We can be better. And we saw an opportunity in the marketplace where there really wasn’t a Bruin-type company out there.”

When Bruin opened for business in January 2015, Pyne touted $250 million raised in six months. Steve Greenberg, Allen & Co.’s managing director, called it unprecedented for a sports firm to raise that much capital so quickly.

One of the tenets for Pyne was to project Bruin as a company, not a private equity firm, and to position himself as an operator and builder of businesses, not a finance wizard. Those distinctions, and the connections he’d made during a nearly 30-year career in sports business, were the core of his fundraising message. WPP emerged as the lead investor at more than $90 million before selling its share to The Jordan Company a year ago.

Rich Caputo, Jordan’s chief executive partner, was an adviser to Pyne behind the scenes when Bruin launched. The two became friends when they were in college together at Brown and have stayed in touch ever since. It was just a matter of time before Caputo and Pyne joined forces.

“The concept of investing in Bruin was very easy because George and I had been talking about it over several breakfasts and dinners,” Caputo said. “He would run things past me because I have been through so much of this stuff as an investor. The way it worked out — for us to come in as the largest shareholder in Bruin after George had already built a great business — actually was better.”

Five years in, Bruin has invested $285 million to build its portfolio. Bruin companies have seen compounded annual growth rates of 48% for revenue and 35% for EBITDA. Those performances reflect Bruin’s keen eye for investments, but it’s the exits where an investment company makes the big money.

Bruin is approaching its first two opportunities to sell with returns that could reach 10 times the investment for On Location Experiences and Deltatre.

Bruin and its co-owners of On Location — RedBird Capital, Carlyle Group and the NFL owners’ investment arm — have been negotiating the sale of the hospitality and live event business to Endeavor since early 2019 for close to $700 million. That’s a sharp profit for RedBird and Bruin, the two lead investors who combined to invest about $70 million.

Meanwhile, reports have surfaced that Deltatre, which was acquired in 2016, is on the market. In just three years under Bruin’s ownership, Deltatre has grown from 600 employees to 1,100. It provides streaming of NFL Game Pass to most countries outside of the U.S., and specializes in direct-toconsumer platforms for properties such as UEFA, the ATP and many others. Bloomberg reported the company, purchased for around $160 million, could be sold for more than $1 billion, marking a sizable

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

far left:

Getty Images; Marc Bryan-Brown

Pyne rose to become the COO of NASCAR, where peers described him as “the hardest working man in show biz.”

was the case at NASCAR and IMG and even before then. It’s one thing to have a vision, it’s another to execute that vision.

“Looking back at his entrepreneurial vision and the way he is driven, it all makes sense now.”

Through those early years, Pyne became known by another common nickname: “Bull in a China shop.” As NASCAR’s COO in the early 2000s, Pyne would bring the sanctioning body’s management team together once a month at a hotel in Orlando, not far from the Daytona Beach headquarters.

He would sit quietly and listen to reports from different divisions of NASCAR’s business. At the end of each report, the questions would start — and continue. Pyne is notoriously curious and if something isn’t working, he wants to know why.

“A lot of people claim to be good listeners, but if you’re a good business person who listens, you’re going to have a lot of questions,” said Burns, who was a NASCAR staffer in those meetings in 2003 and sold his brand marketing shop to Bruin nearly two years ago.

“In those meetings, it could feel like you were on the firing line,” he said. “You gave your report and then you had to withstand the scrutiny. And if you weren’t prepared, that could be a tough experience. But I always liked the intensity George brought to business. You could see the football player in his style.”

Deltatre’s Rinaudo put it another way: “George is a business guy and he can be tough. But he’s also a friend.”

Pyne said there were two pieces of advice that have guided him as an operator. When he left NASCAR in 2006 to run Forstmann’s latest acquisition — IMG — Bill France Jr. and Jim France took him to a going-away lunch at Steak ’n Shake.

Pyne asked the France brothers for advice on his next move.

Bill Jr. replied, “Know when to squeeze and when not to squeeze.”

Pyne, later as IMG’s president, ran into former Coca-Cola CEO Doug Ivester at Wimbledon. Pyne again asked for advice. Ivester

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left:

IMG’s late chairman Ted Forstmann schooled Pyne on evaluating risk and eliminating the downside to deals.

told him, “You’re going to have somebody who wants to get from point A to point B, but they want to do it in a different way than you’d do it. And you’re going to have to give them the latitude to do it, as long as they’re getting from A to B.” Bruin’s portfolio now puts it in 30 different countries with 1,900 employees. There is clearly not a one-size-fits-all solution with Bruin’s range of businesses, geography and cultures.

“There are times when you have to modify your approach, but you still have to have a certain discipline,” Pyne said.

So, as Pyne said, this is his shot. Five years ago, the sports executive with the risk tolerance of a 100-year-old man took a chance. The returns after the first five years have exceeded his expectations.

Now, the expectations go up.

In projecting the next five years for Bruin, Pyne did what he never does — he went way out on a limb by saying he wants Bruin to be the Berkshire Hathaway of sports. That reminded Pyne of another inspirational message, this one from IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, who recently told a group of business leaders that you’re only growing if you’re outside your comfort zone.

“I really think that’s true,” Pyne said. “Have I changed? Things maybe bother me less than before.

I’m more reflective, maybe more patient. But I’m no less determined. … It’d be easy to look back five years ago and say that Bruin was high risk, high reward, and I’d say the rewards have been pretty good so far. I’d say it was the best bet I’ve ever made.”

above:

Pyne now passes along advice to others, including the need to network and the value of listening while always being inquisitive.

STICKING TO THE PLAN When a new company is brought into the Bruin Sports Capital portfolio, it begins the relationship by creating a three-year plan. Within the plan will be goals for revenue and profit growth, as expected, but also goals for stretching the company’s capabilities.

Bruin partners David Abrutyn and Tony Crispino typically meet with the companies monthly to review their progress. “We want the company’s senior management to be part of that process,” Crispino said.

Two Circles, a data analytics company acquired last year, literally took its three-year planning to new heights. Two Circles CEO Gareth Balch took his senior management team to Switzerland and they crafted their plan while looking across Lake Geneva.

“We have a team where the average age is 27 years old, so I think it’s really important to make them feel engaged from the outset,” Balch said. “We actually voted on most aspects of the plan and presented it to George.”

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PORTFOLIO SPONSOR BREAKTHROUGH: MLS

What resonated with fans among MLS sponsors?

Several brands saw a dip in the percentage of fans who can identify them as official league partners. BY DAVID BROUGHTON THE RESULTS were decidedly mixed in this year’s an-

nual MLS Sponsor Breakthrough study fielded recently for Sports Business Journal by Turnkey Intelligence.

Compared to our 2018 study, official sponsors in six of the 10 categories tracked saw a decline or no change in the percentage of fans that could correctly identify them as such.

Audi, Etihad and Wells Fargo each saw a year-over-year decline of at least 2 percentage points.

Coca-Cola, which completed its fifth season as a sponsor, also saw a year-over-year drop of 2 percentage AT&T remains one of the most recognized brands. points. However, the brand’s 48% awareness level topped its official relationships tracked in our 2019 NCAA (45%), MLB (44%) and PGA Tour (42%) studies. Only Coke’s NASCAR relationship, which dates to 1998, registered a higher awareness rate (51%) last year.

Similarly, AT&T’s MLS relationship is one of the brand’s most recognized. The study found that 37% of MLS fans were aware of the partnership, compared to the 38% of the respondents in our NCAA study and 27% of NBA fans.

Other notable findings: Q Home Depot was the only brand to see an increase of more than 1 percentage point. In 2019, the partnership was extended through the 2022 season. As part of the renewal, the store created the “Summer of Soccer” campaign that highlighted the company’s LG appliances.

Q The league’s official sponsors topped their rivals almost every time when respondents were asked “Which of the following [category-specific] brands would you consider purchasing/using for you or your household?” However, in the airline category, 57% of respondents said they would choose American Airlines, compared with 17% for Etihad.

HITS & MISSES: RECOGNITION COMPARED TO 2018 SURVEY

3% PTS

The league’s home improvement retailer since 2008 announced in July an extension through the 2022 season.

3% PTS

It’s the lowest awareness level the brand has received since becoming a partner in 2014.

3% PTS

A drop after 2018’s jump in recognition that was bolstered by the opening of D.C. United’s Audi Field.

8% PTS

A partner since 2013, the bank is the presenting sponsor of the annual Community MVP award.

AD EFFECTIVENESS Turnkey draws from its database of more than 400 ads to analyze the impact of creative spots running on MLS and other major league programming.

GRADE: 10

(EXCELLENT) CAP TAIN MORG AN ORIGINAL SPICED RU M , “H E SAID HE WANTS A CAP TAIN & GINGER ”

A man is trying to order a drink at a noisy bar packed with New York City FC fans. One fan takes up the chant of “Captain and Ginger” to the tune of “Guantanamera” and the rest of the bar joins in. The man and the bartender look on, bemused, but the point is made and the man gets his drink. The ad’s use of traditional soccer chanting struck a chord with MLS fans, with the spot garnering excellent ratings on all key metrics.

GRADE: 6 (FAIR)

Etihad saw its lowest recognition levels since 2014.

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The spot shows Atlanta United fan Vera Zeigler, known as the Tifo Queen, creating banners to show her support of the club. The spot ran from July through November almost exclusively on soccer programming. In particular, fans found the spot to be likable, although the overall breakthrough score was hurt by the relatively low branding strength of the Continental name.

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Getty Images (2)

CONTI N E NTAL TI R E , “CE LE BR ATING SOCCE R : VE R A ZE IG LE R ”

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Do You Know Who Is Sponsoring MLS? SINCE 2007, Turnkey Intelligence has been benchmarking detailed sponsor performance and breakthrough metrics for

Sports Business Journal across Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, PGA Tour and NCAA. Presented here are the brands, per category, that were most likely to be selected by MLS fans in our recent study of that league.

OFFICIAL SPONSOR RECOGNITION HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE

Q Official Sponsor

TIRE

Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

45%

Home Depot +2 pct. points from 3-year avg.

21%

Lowe’s +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

7%

Ace Hardware -3 pct. points from 3-year avg.

Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

Continental -1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

Goodyear +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

Michelin +2 pct. points from 3-year avg.

WIRELESS SERVICE

37%

AT&T Wireless -3 pct. points from 3-year avg.

14%

Verizon Wireless -4 pct. points from 3-year avg.

10% Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

36%

Heineken No change from 3-year avg.

Budweiser +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

19%

Corona No change from 3-year avg.

9%

Walmart -3 pct. points from 3-year avg.

Costco +3 pct. points from 3-year avg.

29% 19% 9%

SODA Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

48%

Coca-Cola -1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

Pepsi +3 pct. points from 3-year avg.

22% Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

29% 19%

Allstate -2 pct. points from 3-year avg.

Geico +4 pct. points from 3-year avg.

10%

State Farm -1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

Wells Fargo -4 pct. points from 3-year avg.

Bank of America +4 pct. points from 3-year avg.

Citibank -2 pct. points from 3-year avg.

27% 23% 7%

AIRLINE

AUTOMOBILE Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

BMW +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

Target +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

BANK

INSURANCE

Toyota +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

Note: 2018 was the first year this category was measured.

BEER

Audi -4 pct. points from 3-year avg.

12%

RETAILER

Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

T-Mobile +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

23% 17%

24% 18% 8%

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American Airlines +1 pct. point from 3-year avg.

Etihad -3 pct. points from 3-year avg.

Delta No change from 3-year avg.

Considered To Be The Official Sponsor

18% 15% 9% J A N U A R Y 6 -12 , 2 02 0

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19

PORTFOLIO THE SIT DOWN

Inside the mind of a tech investor There’s a lot of eyeballs [in esports].

That’s cool. People talk about Techstars Managing users and downloads or visits.

Director Jordan Fliegel … The valuations are very said the investment high relative to the revenue, “misses” on a good company hurt the most. and maybe that will change at some point in some way, but I’m a little bit more old-fashioned. I want to understand who’s going to pay, and how much are they going to pay, and how long will they pay, why are they paying, things like that.

Jordan Fliegel — an entrepreneur, angel investor and former pro basketball player — spoke at SBJ’s Sports Media & Technology conference about the value of an idea and the headaches for CEOs.

B

ehind every successful business should be one very simple idea. With CoachUp, it came from a personal experience for me as the founder of the company where I had a coach who helped me improve from being a bad high school player to being an OK college player and even worse pro player.

The misses are the worst. People think if you invest in a company and it fails, that’s bad. But it pales in comparison to the good ones that really work that you miss on.

With (CoachUp), it was creating a market. Airbnb, I wish I’d founded it. It’s an incredible company, of course. Everyone knows what it means, you need a place to sleep, you need a roof over your head. They just created a different way of doing it. With us, we really had to create a category. We had to explain what is private coaching — this is the best way to improve in sports.

Try to put the investor’s hat on. …

As an investor, you’re automatically thinking about risks. There’s the team risk, that it’s not the right team or that they’re going to break up, or they’re not going to be able to scale the business and you’re going to have to replace them. … There’s a product risk. There’s an execution risk. I think the best things you can do is, basically like a snowball, you’re pushing down a hill. You try to do just one thing, and then another, then another.

Fundraising sucks, and it’s something that you always do. As soon as you raise a round, you’re already starting to think about the next round.

We didn’t have an accelerator for sports, and so I felt like we should. … We never had a dedicated accelerator (like Techstars Sports Accelerator). … Finally, this group in Indianapolis came together and really wanted to do it, put up all the money to do it, so the Pacers, the Colts, NCAA, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

We had 10 companies (in 2019) from eight different cities around the world doing 10 totally different things, from athleisure, to fan engagement, to ticketing. They come, they spend three months with us. Not just with me, with all of our partners … and they hopefully form some partnerships with those partners. They hopefully develop their products, they raise money.

It’s cool. Each company is such a reflection of the founder and their DNA because at the stage we’re investing, it’s a couple founders, an idea, a little bit of traction hopefully, but at the really early stage of businesses.

Indy has got all the ingredients: pretty unique, amazing airport, great hospitals, schools, IU, Purdue, Butler. Notre Dame is in Indiana, right?

Sports DNA, it’s the home of basketball. There’s a cluster, all of our partners, the NCAA being there, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Pacers and Colts. It’s a rare combination of talent coming out of the universities, probably the most businessfriendly government from a state perspective in

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the country. No. 1, I would say.

JORDAN FLIEGEL f HOMETOWN:

Cambridge, Mass. f EXPERIENCE:

Founder and chairman of CoachUp.com; former CEO of Draft.com; managing director of Techstars Sports Accelerator in Indianapolis. f EDUCATION:

Bowdoin College, B.A., philosophy and government; Tel Aviv University, MBA. f COLLEGE SPORTS:

3-year basketball starter at Bowdoin. f PROFESSIONAL SPORTS:

Played for Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem and Hapoel Kfar Saba, 2008-10.

I’m friends with Wyc Grousbeck, who owns the Celtics. I couldn’t see the Celtics and the Patriots and the Red Sox getting together and doing something together.

I don’t know why anyone would start a company in Silicon Valley right now. It’s so ridiculously expensive to hire an engineer. It’s so competitive, why would you be there?

I want hustle and you have to have a technical co-founder who’s actually going to build the product, hopefully have someone who can do the marketing or the product or design side. An ideal founding team would [also have] a business-y, sales, charismatic person who’s essentially going to raise money and hire people.

If you’re a non-technical founder, and you want to start a company, the hardest thing to do is not raising money. The hardest thing to do is to get a technical person to join your company.

If I go meet someone, I would never ask for money right away in that interaction. I try and explain what I am, what I’m doing.

You raise a little bit of money. Just enough to hire the people you need to execute on a certain thing to derisk the business. That enables you hopefully to raise at a higher valuation, hire more people, build more product.

A good CEO is really responsible for hiring a great team, protecting the vision and the mission, and not running out of money. If you’re doing your job well, it should almost feel a bit easy, with the exception of when you have to go after more money, which is always hard.

You really get a great team, and you’re able to delegate.

You have to be really conscious of what you say when you’re leading a company because people think that whatever you talk about the most, that’s what the most important thing is for the company.

WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

Tony Florez

The idea has to make sense, but the ideas will change.

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

IN -DEPTH FACILITIES 2020

Record Year Ahead

Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will become the home of the NFL’s Raiders starting this summer, and its glass-paneled exterior will give the $2 billion stadium its character.

Sports facility construction in 2020 projected to hit $8.5 billion, easily topping the industry’s previous high-water mark set in 2017

Las Vegas Raiders

A

STADIUM BUILT on the site of an old horse racing

worth looking back. The last time more than one NFL statrack, a ballpark converted to a football stadium, dium opened in the same season was 2002, when Centurythe most expensive minor league soccer stadium Link Field (Seattle), Ford Field (Detroit), Gillette Stadium ever built, a record year for college ballparks and a world(Foxboro, Mass.) and Reliant (now NRG) Stadium (Houston) class track and field facility are among the diverse list of all debuted. The total construction cost of those four buildconstruction projects scheduled to conclude this ings: $1.6 billion. year, according to Sports Business Journal’s anThis year, each of the two NFL stadiums schedBY DAVID nual venue preview. uled to open will top that figure alone.

BROUGHTON Sports facilities scheduled to open in the UnitLas Vegas has become a microcosm of the oned States and Canada in 2020 are expected to tally going sports construction boom: T-Mobile Arena a record $8.5 billion in construction costs, led by opened in 2016; HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas a record year in the stadium category. Overall, this year’s opened in 2018, as did Las Vegas Ballpark, which at a cost total will represent a 43% increase from the $5.4 billion of $150 million was the most expensive minor league stathat was spent on projects that opened in 2019 and a stagdium ever built. Las Vegas Motor Speedway will wrap up gering 25% increase over the industry’s previous high of a major renovation this year. $6.8 billion, set in 2017.

But all of those projects pale in scope to the $2 billion CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 Before we look ahead to the year’s priciest projects, it is

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TURNKEY POLL

The following are results of the Turnkey Sports Poll taken in December. The survey covered more than 2,000 seniorlevel sports industry executives spanning professional and college sports.

Which of the following new sports facilities would you most like to visit when they open?

Allegiant Stadium Las Vegas Raiders

40%

SoFi Stadium Los Angeles Rams and Chargers 40% Globe Life Field Texas Rangers

11%

Lockhart Stadium Inter Miami CF

3%

Not sure / No response

6%

Source: Turnkey Intelligence in conjunction with Sports Business Journal.

Turnkey Intelligence specializes in research, measurement and lead generation for brands and properties. Visit www.turnkeyintel.com.

J A N U A R Y 6 -12 , 2 02 0

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21

IN -DEPTH FACILITIES 2020 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

Allegiant Stadium that will open this summer for the relocating Raiders and the UNLV football team.

The facility will feature a retractable, natural turf field and walls that open to views of the neighboring Las Vegas Strip. The design team consisted of Manica and HNTB, and the joint venture of Mortenson and McCarthy Building Companies is overseeing construction.

On July 25, Taylor Swift will christen the new $2.6 billion SoFi Stadium, built on the site of the old Hollywood Park horse track in Inglewood, Construction of Calif., about 10 minor league miles south of stadiums will downtown Los hit $572 million Angeles. The this year. In the HKS-designed college ranks, stadium will be baseball stadium home to the Los Angeles Rams construcition will and Los Angetop $195 million, its les Chargers highest level since and will anchor 2013. a 298-acre mixed-use development that is projected to cost $5 billion. One of the stadium’s signature features will be a 70,000-squarefoot oculus display board that will have 4K doublesided video. Construction is being handled by a collaboration of Turner and AECOM. This spring the Texas Rangers will christen the $1.1 billion Globe Life Field, being built across the street from the team’s most recent home, Globe Life Park, which opened in 1994. The HKS-designed ballpark will feature a retractable roof and is adjacent to the Texas Live! entertainment district. Manhattan Construction is overseeing the project. The old stadium is being converted to be the home of the new XFL Dallas Renegades and the USL North Texas SC. Construction of minor league stadiums will hit $572 million this year, topping the record set in 2019

SoFi Stadium will be the second NFL stadium to open this year, the first time that’s happened since 2002.

by 2%. Populous will account for more than one-third of that total, designing new venues in Kannapolis, N.C., and Madison, Ala., and wrapping up a massive renovation in Dunedin, Fla. New ballparks are also scheduled to open in Wichita, Kansas, and Fredericksburg, Va., with upgrades concluding in Port St. Lucie, Fla.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Syracuse, N.Y. But it was the strength of minor league soccer that pushed the category into record territory. The HOK-designed Lynn Family Stadium, for example, will cost nearly $70 million and will be home to the USL Louisville City FC and NWSL Louisville Proof (a 2021 expansion team). Additionally, the USL Chattanooga Red Wolves FC expect to open their new $6 million stadium this year.

The upcoming year will be relatively quiet on the arena side, after five new NBA/NHL arenas opened over the past four years. The biggest effort in 2020 will be the transformation of Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, designed by SCI Architects.

James Madison University and High Point University are also opening new on-campus arenas.

Looking ahead to 2021, however, arenas will dominate the ledgers: New major league buildings will open in Nassau County, N.Y., and Seattle; college arena openings are projected to top $1 billion for the first time; the most expensive minor league arena ever built will open in Palm Springs, Calif.; and the new $50 million esports-specific Fusion Arena is scheduled to open in Philadelphia.

A Really Big Year The openings of Allegiant Stadium, SoFi Stadium and Globe Life Field will propel the venue construction industry to its biggest year ever, according to Sports Business Journal research. $8B

$6B SPEND

$4B

$2B

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021+

Stadiums

1,028.9

2,003.2

705.7

2,509.9

5,633.9

3,700.0

1,618.5

2,392.4

1,867.5

3,399.2

2,201.3

3,515.7

4,803.5

3,233.4

3,099.4

7,584.6

4,120.3

Arenas

1,340.4

555.9

961.6

1,167.8

748.4

1,609.7

648.1

1,640.7

1,731.4

993.4

1,040.0

2,595.1

1,976.9

1,870.4

2,861.6

923.7

4,206.0

TOTAL

2,369.3

2,559.1

1,667.3

3,677.7

6,382.3

5,309.7

2,266.6

4,033.1

3,598.9

4,392.6

3,241.3

6,110.8

6,780.4

5,103.8

5,961.0

8,508.3

8,326.3

Note: Figures in millions

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Source: Sports Business Journal research

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Los Angeles Rams

PROJECTIONS f

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Plan the ribbon cutting

n Architects: Manica Architecture; HNTB n General contractors: Mortenson/McCarthy Building Cos.

Here’s a sampling of the major sports facility projects expected to be completed in 2020.

STADIUMS

MAJOR LEAGUE SOFI STADIUM n Tenants: Los Angeles Rams; Los Angeles Chargers n City: Inglewood, Calif. n Cost: $2.6 billion n Architect: HKS n General contractors: Turner; AECOM Hunt ALLEGIANT STADIUM n Tenants: Las Vegas Raiders, UNLV football n City: Las Vegas n Cost: $2 billion

GLOBE LIFE FIELD n Tenant: Texas Rangers n City: Arlington, Texas n Cost: $1.1 billion n Architects: HKS; VLK n General contractor: Manhattan Construction DODGER STADIUM* n Tenant: Los Angeles Dodgers n City: Los Angeles n Cost: $100 million n Architects: DAIQ Architects/Levin & Associates/Studio-MLA n General contractor: PCL Construction LOCKHART STADIUM* n Tenant: Inter Miami CF for two seasons, then will be the team’s practice facility n City: Fort Lauderdale, Fla. n Cost: $100 million n Architects: Manica Architecture; Perez & Perez Architects Planners

n General contractor: Bliss & Nyitray

Note: Final phase of a 5-year, $575 million project

GREAT AMERICAN BALL PARK* n Tenant: Cincinnati Reds n City: Cincinnati n Cost: $13 million n Architects: multiple n General contractors: multiple

MINOR LEAGUE

T-MOBILE FIELD* n Tenant: Seattle Mariners n City: Seattle n Cost: $9.3 million n Architect: Populous n General contractor: Skanska

Note: This represents the fan-improvement capital projects at the Rooftop Boardwalk, Lookout Landing, left field gate expansion and the Terrace Club. The team has four other projects underway, totaling more than $9.2 million.

WRIGLEY FIELD* n Tenant: Chicago Cubs n City: Chicago n Cost: N/A n Architect: Populous n General contractor: Pepper Construction

TD STADIUM AND THE ENGLEBERT COMPLEX* n Tenants: Class A Dunedin Blue Jays; Toronto Blue Jays spring training n City: Dunedin, Fla. n Cost: $102 million n Architect: Populous n General contractors: Gilbane/Turner WICHITA BALLPARK n Tenant: Class AAA Wichita Wind Surge n City: Wichita, Kansas n Cost: $81 million n Architects: Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture; DLR Group n General contractor: JE Dunn/Eby LYNN FAMILY STADIUM n Tenant: USL Louisville City FC n City: Louisville, Ky. n Cost: $70 million n Architect: HOK n General contractors: Messer/Harmon

FIRST DATA FIELD n Tenant: Class A St. Lucie Mets n City: Port St. Lucie, Fla. n Cost: $57 million n Architect: EwingCole n General contractor: Barton Malow KANNAPOLIS SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT VENUE n Tenant: Class A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers n City: Kannapolis, N.C. n Cost: $52 million n Architect: Populous n General contractor: Barton Malow SCOTTSDALE STADIUM* n Tenant: San Francisco Giants spring training n City: Scottsdale, Ariz. n Cost: $51 million n Architect: DWL Architects + Planners n General contractor: AECOM Hunt TOYOTA FIELD n Tenant: Class AA Rocket City Trash Pandas n City: Madison, Ala. n Cost: $46 million n Architect: Populous

n General contractor: Hoar Construction FREDERICKSBURG BALLPARK n Tenant: Class A Fredericksburg Nationals n City: Fredericksburg, Va. n Cost: $35 million n Architect: N/A n General contractor: N/A NBT BANK FIELD* n Tenant: Class AAA Syracuse Mets n City: Syracuse, N.Y. n Cost: $26 million n Architect: N/A n General contractor: N/A GLOBE LIFE PARK IN ARLINGTON* n Tenants: XFL Dallas Renegades; USL North Texas SC n City: Arlington, Texas n Cost: $10 million n Architect: SBL Architecture n General contractor: Manhattan Construction CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

Photo courtesy of Jason O’Rear, Chase Center

REDEFINING

WHAT’S POSSIBLE INSPIRING THE FUTURE OF PREMIUM SPACES

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IN -DEPTH FACILITIES 2020

BY KARN DHINGRA TWO OF THE MORE high-profile college baseball pro-

grams are stepping to the plate with major ballpark projects, extending the run of investments that schools are making in the sport to generate more revenue.

Oklahoma State and Florida have new baseball complexes set to be completed this year. The ballparks feature fan and player amenities that rival some major league spring training and high-end minor league ballparks. They include suites, clubs, loge seating, picnic terraces, dedicated player development labs, luxurious locker rooms for current and former players, and high-tech nutritional and sports medicine facilities.

Oklahoma State’s O’Brate Stadium, which cost $60 million, will significantly upgrade the experience for fans of Cowboys baseball, said Josh Holliday, head coach of the baseball team.

“We were lacking some of the fan amenities that have become such a big part of going to a baseball game,” Holliday said. “We lacked parking, so fan convenience and fan access was not ideal, and we lacked some of the modern features like video boards and different seating options.”

Some of the updated seating options include a family section and a tailgating section.

“We wanted to capture and build on the tailgating experience that college campuses have shown so much passion for on college football Saturdays,” Holliday said.

To bolster family-friendly

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amenities, Oklahoma State will open an adjacent practice field ahead of games for children to play whiffle ball and participate in other baseball-related activities, said Payton Phillips, Oklahoma State’s associate athletic director for strategic marketing.

Oklahoma State has named it Dreamers’ Diamond.

“So whether you’re an 18- or 19-year-old dreaming about dog-piling in Omaha or you’re a 13-year-old dreaming about playing for Oklahoma State, we think it will speak well to that,” Phillips added.

O’Brate Stadium will feature many seating options in the outfield. “Everything from outdoor tailgate tents to tiered berm seating to seats that hang over the top of our bullpen,” Holliday said.

“They’re a little bit of a play on the Fenway Park Monster seats, so what we came up with was ultimately a really awesome college baseball facility that we think will have something for everyone.”

The stadium and complex, which was funded in part by a major donation from oilman Cecil O’Brate,

SHADE FROM THE FLORIDA SUN Added fan amenities are also a focal point at the University of Florida’s new $65 million ballpark.

The facility, for now known as Florida Ballpark, is scheduled to be finished this year, with the team starting play there in 2021.

Jason Ford, a senior architect at Populous and project manager, said the new ballpark increased the amount of shaded seating, premium seating and club seating.

“What they’ve seen and what we’ve seen historically in the last couple years in college baseball is really kind of mirroring what they’re doing in minor league ballparks by having a lot of different seating types and having really strong fan amenities when it comes to concessions,” Ford said.

The ballpark will have a seating capacity of 10,000 (nearly double the school’s current home), with 3,400 chair-back seats in the lower bowl and 800 such seats in the club section. A team store and coaches offices off the concourse level will overlook the field. The team will have a lounge, nutritional area, indoor hitting cages and a The Gators will debut a new pitching lab. ballpark that “In their current nearly doubles ballpark, with all of capacity over the their concessions and former venue and toilets, you have to go puts more fans in the shade. outside the stadium to access them,” Ford said. “And when you go out to their current concourse, you don’t get to continually watch the game. So at the new ballpark, as we’ve done in several other ballparks, we’ll have a concourse that wraps around the field that at any point you can see the game.”

Florida is paying for the project primarily with private gifts and bond proceeds.

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Oklahoma State; Populous

Oklahoma State, Florida swing for the fences

also was developed with a focus on player development. The facility includes an artificial turf infield practice area and six retractable batting tunnels.

“We have a 50-seat classroom where we’ll be able to meet with the kids on a daily basis and go over pertinent information, a state-of-the-art training room with hydrotherapy, an equipment room inside the locker room, coaches locker room, and alumni O’Brate Stadium locker rooms,” Holliday at Oklahoma added.

State will include tailgating areas Holliday said he was first to draw on the introduced to alumni locker tradition well rooms when he coached at known in college Vanderbilt University. sports.

“They had a strong core of alumni that were still playing and coming back in the winter to train,” Holliday said. “It gave them a second home and we want to have that same dynamic of former players that are actively pursuing their careers in professional baseball, to make it easy for them to come back, to finish school.”

Oklahoma State turned to Oklahoma City-based Studio Architecture to design O’Brate Stadium.

The project took inspiration from venues across the country, including Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Ballpark, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha and Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

CHATTANOOGA RED WOLVES STADIUM n Tenant: USL Chattanooga Red Wolves FC n City: Chattanooga, Tenn. n Cost: $6 million n Architect: N/A n General contractor: ASA Engineering OSCEOLA HERITAGE PARK* n Tenants: Orlando City SC training; USL Orlando City B; NWSL Orlando Pride training n City: Kissimmee, Fla. n Cost: Would not disclose n Architect: Farmer Architecture n General contractor: JK2 Construction

COLLEGE HAYWARD FIELD n Tenant: University of Oregon track & field n City: Eugene, Ore. n Cost: $200 million n Architect: SRG Partnership n General contractor: Hoffman Construction BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM* n Tenant: University of Alabama n City: Tuscaloosa, Ala. n Cost: $106 million n Architects: HOK; Davis Architects n General contractor: Caddell Construction AMON G. CARTER STADIUM* n Tenant: TCU

n City: Fort Worth, Texas n Cost: $100 million n Architect: HKS n General contractor: Turner Construction

n Cost: $60 million n Architect: Studio Architecture n General contractor: Manhattan Construction

LASCH FOOTBALL COMPLEX*; HOLUBA HALL* n Tenant: Penn State n City: College Station, Pa. n Cost: $69 million n Architect: HOK n General contractor: N/A

KIDD BREWER STADIUM* n Tenant: Appalachian State University n City: Boone, N.C. n Cost: $50 million n Architect: CJMW Architecture n General contractor: DPR Construction

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA BALLPARK n Tenant: University of Florida baseball n City: Gainesville, Fla. n Cost: $65 million n Architects: Populous; Walker Architects n General contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie CAMPING WORLD STADIUM* n Tenants: Vrbo Citrus Bowl; Camping World Bowl; Camping World Kickoff n City: Orlando n Cost: $60 million n Architect: N/A n General contractor: Barton Malow DELAWARE STADIUM/ WHITNEY ATHLETIC CENTER n Tenant: University of Delaware football n City: Newark, Del. n Cost: $60 million n Architect: HOK n General contractors: EDiS/Barton Malow O’BRATE STADIUM n Tenant: Oklahoma State University baseball City: Stillwater, Okla.

ELLIOT BALLPARK n Tenant: University of Connecticut baseball n City: Storrs, Conn. n Cost: $40 million n Architects: Newman Architects; RDG Planning & Design n General contractor: Daniel O’Connell’s Sons USA SOFTBALL HALL OF FAME COMPLEX/ OGE ENERGY FIELD* n Tenant: NCAA Women’s College World Series n City: Oklahoma City n Cost: $28 million n Architects: Lloyd Sports + Engineering; Studio Architecture n General contractor: Timberlake Construction WILLIAMS-BRICE STADIUM* n Tenant: University of South Carolina n City: Columbia, S.C. n Cost: $22.5 million n Architects: HNTB; Garvin Design Group n General contractor: Contract Construction

TOINTON FAMILY STADIUM*/BUSER FAMILY PARK n Tenants: Kansas State University baseball/ women’s soccer n City: Manhattan, Kansas n Cost: $15 million n Architect: HOK, BG Consultants n General contractors: BG Consultants; Mortenson/G.E. Johnson

n General contractor: Structure Tone

LITTLE GIANT STADIUM n Tenant: Wabash College n City: Crawfordsville, Ind. n Cost: $13 million n Architect: DLR Group n General contractor: FA Wilhelm Construction

COLLEGE

BAILEY-BRAYTON FIELD* n Tenant: Washington State baseball n City: Pullman, Wash. n Cost: $10 million n Architect: SRG Partnership n General contractor: Hoffman Construction

ATLANTIC UNION BANK CENTER n Tenant: James Madison University n City: Harrisonburg, Va. n Cost: $88 million n Architects: Populous; Mosely Architects n General contractor: S.B. Ballard Construction

ARENAS

MAJOR LEAGUE WELLS FARGO CENTER* n Tenants: Philadelphia 76ers; Philadelphia Flyers; NLL Philadelphia Wings n City: Philadelphia n Cost: $265 million n Architect: SCI Architects

MINOR LEAGUE CITYGATE EVENT CENTRE n Tenant: TBD n City: Naperville, Ill. n Cost: $60 million n Architect and general contractor: Harbour Construction

COLE FIELD HOUSE* n Tenant: University of Maryland n City: College Park, Md. n Cost: $210 million nArchitect: Cannon Design n General contractor: Gilbane

NIDO AND MARIANA QUBEIN ARENA n Tenant: High Point University n City: High Point, N.C. n Cost: $70 million n Architects: Perkins & Will; CJMW Architecture n General contractors: Samet Corp.; Christman Co.

n City: Moscow, Idaho n Cost: $51 million n Architect: Opis Architecture n General contractor: N/A HULMAN CENTER* n Tenant: Indiana State University n City: Terre Haute, Ind. n Cost: $50 million n Architects: Ratio Architects; HOK n General contractor: Hannig Construction XTREAM ARENA POWERED BY MEDIACOM n Tenant: University of Iowa volleyball n City: Coralville, Iowa n Cost: $50 million n Architect: JLG Architects n General contractor: Mortenson CHEEL ARENA* n Tenant: Clarkson College hockey n City: Watertown, N.Y. n Cost: $40 million n Architect: HOK n General contractor: N/A Notes: College stadiums listed are primarily for football and college arenas are primarily for basketball, unless noted. * Project is a renovation.

N/A: Not available Source: Sports Business Journal research

IDAHO CENTRAL CREDIT UNION ARENA n Tenant: University of Idaho

Sports-anchored Mixed-use How-to

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IN -DEPTH FACILITIES 2020

Oregon’s bold vision for track and field shown in Hayward Field makeover tion of historic Hayward Field reimagines one of the United States’ most iconic track and field facilities.

Set to reopen this spring, the complex aims to recreate the original venue’s famed “Hayward Field Magic” with modern amenities and additional features, Oregon track and field coach Robert Johnson told Sports Business Journal.

The redesigned venue will feature a wooden roof inspired by Oregon’s historic connection to wood and forest products. The soffit of the upper bowl will be clad in perBY KARN forated metal panels.

DHINGRA “We wanted to create something that is a theater for track and field,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely going to be the crown jewel because it’s in the center of campus and it’s something that people will travel far and wide to, to come and see.”

The previous iteration of Hayward Field included a 93-year-old covered grandstand on the east side of the field that was demolished. Many items from the grandstand will be salvaged and used in the rebuilt venue, including bleacher seats made from Douglas fir trees.

“There were a lot of things there that were deteriorating at Hayward Field, and the renovation just made sense,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the new Hayward Field complex will be in the same league as Oregon basketball’s Matthew Knight Arena and football’s Autzen Stadium.

The design and building of the new Hayward Field is being led by a group of companies primarily from the Pacific Northwest. Seattle’s SRG Partnership is the lead architect and is joined by MKA Structural Engineers, BHE Group Civil Engineers, PAE Consulting Engineers, HLB Lighting, Place Landscape Architecture, Cameron/McCarthy Landscape Architecture and Hoffman Construction.

Once completed, spectators at Hayward Field will be closer to the track, with unobstructed sight lines throughout the venue. Seating will be expanded from a 10,500 capacity to 12,605 chair-backed seats.

The first row of seats will sit at track level.

The main entrance of Hayward Field will be Powell Plaza, on the northeast corner of the venue, and the reinvented open space will be the front door of Oregon track and field.

The stadium is split into a lower section with nine rows and an upper level with 18 rows. Suites, concessions and restrooms will be located between the wester n and southwestern edges of the field.

A concourse will wrap around the upper bowl of the field’s west stands.

The project includes new locker rooms, equip-

With financial backers such as Nike co-founder Phil Knight, few programs can keep pace with Oregon. The school again goes next level by incorporating a modern roof and multi story tower into Hayward Field.

ment, video and weight rooms for Oregon’s men’s and women’s programs. An indoor practice area will feature a six-lane, 140-meter straightaway track, as well as areas for long jump, triple jump, throws and pole vault. Training and sports medicine fa-

“We wanted to create something that is a theater for track and field. It’s definitely going to be the crown jewel because ... it’s something that people will travel far and wide to, to come and see.”

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and a staircase to the top.

The renovation was fully funded by Nike cofounder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, as well as more than 50 other donors. Jim Petsche, Nike’s director of corporate facilities, who represented the Knights and the other donors, declined to discuss specifics about the financing and their expectations for the new venue.

The new Hayward Field will host some marquee track and field events once it opens, including the NCAA Division I track and field championships in 2021 and 2022, and the 2021 IAAF World Championships, the first world track and field championships held in North America.

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University of Oregon (3)

THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON’S $200 million renova-

cilities will include a hydrotherapy room, treatment and rehab area, anti-gravity treadmill room and passive and active recovery spaces.

The 4,000-square-foot Hayward Hall, located on the east side of the stadium, will provide a museum experience that will incorporate pieces of the old Hayward Field and chronicle the history of Oregon track and field. One exhibit will be dedicated to former Oregon track and field coach and Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman.

Hayward Field will have a multistory tower, inspired by the Olympic torch. It features a lobby with more exhibits, an observation deck, elevator,

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

OPINION

The decade of NIL is here — what’s next for sports business?

H

OW OFTEN DO YOU think about the future? We ask because

as the new decade dawns, it certainly seems like the future is coming at us faster than ever.

Nonsense, you reply. The days ahead never arrive any faster than the days that went before. All things come in their time.

Each day contains 24 hours. Each decade only 10 years.

Still, as the baby boomers begin retiring en masse (bringing upon us an era of unprecedented demographic change), it’s valuable for future CEOs to spend more time predicting where things are truly headed. The best leaders continually minimize the reality of the present to better understand the possibilities of the future.

As a simple example, California legislators recently passed Senate Bill 206 that might, in 2023, let NCAA athletes competing in California leverage

BY RICK BURTON their name, image and likeness. Known as AND NORM O’REILLY the Fair Pay to Play Act, it is the first formal development in the wide-ranging discussion of compensating student athletes.

Although challenges are expected, if this law (or others in multiple states) goes into effect, it will have major consequences for intercollegiate sport and could dramatically reshape America’s rison in Canada and Shepherd in Australia. sporting landscape.

They shared their thoughts about the future, But what would those changes look like? Well, there are some giving us five areas that the industry should major considerations. keep an eye on in the decade ahead.

1. These laws could open doors for athletes (and their agents) to 1. Stadium technology will continue exsign contracts with brands that provide compensation for an athpanding and take more resources from the lete’s NIL, but only if the contract is not in conflict with their world’s leagues and team owners. The two university’s existing agreements (plus a few other restrictions). new stadiums in San Francisco (49ers, WarOn a simplistic level, this is easy to grasp but the specifics are vast riors) plus everything designed for Tokyo and many related issues remain unanswered. For instance, how 2020 have made that concept quite evident. will anyone manage boosters who don’t represent consumer brands?

Stated another way, as clubs factor in the 2. Questions on jurisdiction will also come to the fore. Will the comforts of home viewing, variable win-loss NCAA change its rules to accommodate select states? Or will a records, free-agency superstars and federal omnibus law come to exist? None technological advancements in perof us may know the answer but sponsors Will the NCAA sonal media platforms, the stadium such as Intel (which recently declined change its rules experience must provide more than to renew with the NCAA) may move to accommodate ever before. toward other investments.

2. Sports organizations will in3. Given that the NCAA has no fedselect states? Or will creasingly draw on global workforceral antitrust exemption and the NCAA a federal omnibus es that can jump borders. Flexible is the development system for the NFL, law come to exist? working environments and projectNBA and some NHL/MLB players, will based deliverables will disrupt the we look back in 10 years on SB 206 as a 40-hour workweek as will traditional salary tipping point for elite sport development in America? concepts. Workers will be expected to learn You might argue 2023 is a long ways away and that SB 206 is on the job (which means lifelong learners will likely to get amended between now and then. But, our obligation out-earn those who refuse to learn) and workas regular contributors is to engage industry leaders, get their ers will possibly be offered higher pay but opinions on where Wayne Gretzky’s proverbial puck is going less long-term security. Short-term services and pass those projections along. will likely “beat” long-term skills and loyalty.

So, let’s dig a bit deeper.

3. Technology platforms mean big clubs If the future of the NCAA is headed toward a sea change with will grow their global fan bases by building cord-cutting and the decline of the RSN, what does Pay to Play add technologically dynamic “supporter clubs” to this reality? We’ve been talking to people like Liverpool CEO all over the world. Top teams will soon purPeter Moore, T1 Agency CEO Mark Harrison and Leaders of Evochase growth market real estate to support lution co-founder Jon Shepherd. Moore is in Great Britain, Har-

WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

their fans via “micro-stadiums.” Yes, real estate will once again become a key global strategy, augmented by the rise of gambling mixed with virtual reality.

4. Despite growing concerns about heading the ball and CTE, women’s football (soccer), will (finally) grow as women increasingly become the primary decision-makers. In addition, the disparity between what men’s national team players are paid and what their female counterparts receive will be resolved.

And the day is not far off where we discuss women’s professional sport from a true gender equity standpoint.

5. New visualizations of sport will enable better media consumption in order to accommodate younger generation demands. Unique camera systems and data management systems will facilitate fan avidity and engagement, g rowing g ambling habits and manipulation of the humans (or machines) that are, in their essence, the product.

Are there more than five things on our list?

Of course! But for a start of the new year column, this ought to get us all thinking about 2020-29.

Rick Burton is the David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University and SU’s faculty athletic representative (FAR) to the ACC and NCAA. Norm O’Reilly is director of the International Institute for Sport Business & Leadership at the University of Guelph and partner consultant at T1.

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CAREERS On the Move

Changing places and positions around the industry

Colleges Big West Conference Commissioner DENNIS FARRELL announced his retirement following the 2019-20 academic year.

Carroll University named MICHAEL SCHULIST athletic director.

Columbia University promoted AMANDA GOODWIN to ticket manager and hired BRENDAN BISSET as coordinator of ticketing and marketing.

Florida A&M University hired KEITH MCCLUNEY as deputy athletic director and chief of staff. McCluney was interim athletic director at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

University of New Haven hired SARA RICHWINE associate athletic director for compliance and studentathlete services. Richwine was associate athletic director and deputy Title IX coordinator at the University of Bridgeport.

The University of Houston promoted MONTY PORTER to deputy athletic director and chief operating officer.

Johns Hopkins University named JANE WELLS senior woman administrator. Wells will continue to serve as the university’s field hockey coach.

Johnson & Wales University named GREG WAGGONER athletic director.

Waggoner was athletic director at Eastern New Mexico University.

Louisiana Tech University hired TIM PADGETT as associate athletic director for business operations and chief financial officer. Padgett was associate athletic director for financial operations at Pittsburg State University.

Penn State University hired CARL HECK as senior associate athletic director for capital, events and facilities and promoted HERB COMBS to associate athletic director for facilities management and operations.

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference promoted KIRSTEN MCCOWAN to assistant commissioner.

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Samford University hired MATT JONES as senior associate athletic director for external affairs. Jones was senior associate athletic director at Delta State University.

The SEC promoted CHARLIE HUSSEY to deputy commissioner.

The University of Southern California hired BRANDON SOSNA as senior associate athletic director and chief of staff. Sosna was chief revenue officer at the University of Cincinnati.

Stony Brook University named ADAM RUBIN associate athletic director for strategic communications.

Rubin was assistant athletic director for strategic communications at the New York Institute of Technology.

Lagardère Sports promoted JOEL SEGAL to CEO North America.

GRAFFICE

MORRISSEY

STATHOS

The NWHL hired MICHELLE PICARD as deputy commissioner and director of player development.

The Kansas City Chiefs named GREG MORRISSEY account executive, new business development, and CHRIS STATHOS manager, new business development.

The San Francisco 49ers hired JENNI LUKE as vice president of community impact. Luke previously served as CEO for Step Up.

Media Fox Sports Arizona hired KRISTIN MACDOUGALD as digital content producer.

ISMERT

GMR Marketing named ALIAH BERMAN head of diversity, equity and inclusion. Berman was director of diversity and inclusion at Advocate Aurora Health.

Sports Betting PointsBet named ERIC FOOTE U.S. chief commercial officer. Foote was vice president of business development and partnerships for CBS Sports Digital.

GRUNDY

Technology FanCompass promoted RYAN BRUENER to director of fan insights and innovation and hired AARON MENDLE as account manager.

MACDOUGALD

Awards and Boards

Marketing Collegiate Sports Management Group hired NICOLE DECOSTA as coordinator of client services; PATRICK YOUNG as manager of strategic development and planning; and NATHAN LIU as coordinator of marketing and analytics.

Wunderman Thompson Mobile promoted TED ISMERT to president.

BERMAN

Football HOF Village named ANNE GRAFFICE executive vice president of public affairs. Graffice was vice president of development and strategic adventures with the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Octagon promoted JOHN SHEA to global president of marketing and events; LOU KOVACS to president of marketing, North America; BEN HARTMAN to chief client officer, international; JEFF MEESON to managing director, Europe; and AYKAN AZAR to managing director, APAC, Middle East and Africa.

You First Sports named IAN GRUNDY senior director, international. Grundy was previously head of marketing and communications, APAC, for the Adecco Group.

Weber State University named TIM CROMPTON athletic director.

Hockey

Learfield IMG College named ERIK LOWERY general manager for VCU Sports Properties and JOSH PELL general manager for Mizzou Sports Properties.

FOOTE

Dover Motorsports Inc. President and CEO DENIS MCGLYNN received the Buddy Shuman Award, which recognizes individuals for their contributions to professional stock car racing.

The Hampton Roads (Va.) Chamber named CLAUDELL CLARK executive director of the Hampton Roads Sports Commission and the chamber’s vice president of sports.

To have your personnel announcements included in “On The Move,” please send information and photos to careers@ sportsbusinessjournal.com.

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

FACES AND PLACES

Geoff Burke / USA Hockey; Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment; Courtesy of the Greg Norman Company; Jay Ship / X’s and O’s of Success; Courtesy of SMA; New England Revolution; Rick Warne

U.S. HOCKEY HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CELEBRATION From the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Celebration on Dec. 12 at the Marriott Marquis D.C.: Zach Leonsis, SVP/GM, Monumental Sports Network; Lynn and Ted Leonsis, Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder and CEO; Fort Dupont Cannons coach Neal Henderson, Class of 2019 honoree; and his son, Neal Henderson Jr. Ted Leonsis also accepted the Wayne Gretzky International Award on behalf of Capitals star Alex Ovechkin.

NEVER FORGET TRIBUTE CLASSIC U.S. Navy veterans Laura Cowen and Matt Cowen (center) were honored during an on-court ceremony on Dec. 14 at Prudential Center’s 4th annual Never Forget Tribute Classic presented by United Rentals and benefiting SoldierStrong. Also present were Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment CEO Scott O’Neil, SoldierStrong co-founder and Chairman Chris Meek; Scout Sports and Entertainment EVP and managing partner Michael Neuman, United Rentals CMO Chris Hummel and WME sports division co-head Jordan Bazant.

ON COURSE AT QBE SHOOTOUT From the QBE Shootout during the week of Dec. 11 at Tiburon Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla.: Vietnam War veteran Bud Alley, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, Greg Norman, Vietnam War veteran John Cahill, 100-yearold World War II veteran Steve Melnikoff and Darius Rucker. Lady Antebellum and Rucker performed during the event’s Live Fest concert on Dec. 14.

COACHES VS. CANCER From the Neon Hoops Coaches vs. Cancer game (Kentucky vs. Utah) in Las Vegas on Dec. 18: American Cancer Society’s Daryl Evans, VP, strategic sports alliances; Summer Dunham, director, marketing communications; and Natalie Morrison, strategic director, Coaches vs. Cancer and Sports Alliances; Jason Kohll, CEO, Professional Sports Partners; Bill Zachry, senior director, brand strategy, Professional Sports Partners.

THE REVOLUTION WAY

SPORT MARKETING ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE From the Sport Marketing Association Conference in Chicago: Presenting the Mullin Award winners — SMA President Windy Dees; winners Michael Goldman of the University of San Francisco and Joey Nevin, VP, San Francisco Giants; and Chicago Cubs SVP Colin Faulkner.

WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

The New England Revolution unveiled the Revolution Training Center in Foxboro, Mass., on Dec. 9. Sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena, owners Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft and President Brian Bilello were on hand at 1776 Revolution Way to cut the ribbon on the $35 million complex.

FROM ONE HALL OF FAME TO ANOTHER Joe Horrigan (right), a Buffalo native and recently retired executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, recently was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Therese Forton-Barnes of the GBSHOF and Pro Football Hall of Fame President David Baker presented Horrigan with his ring.

Please submit photos for review of industry conferences, parties, product launches and openings showcasing the people and personalities at the event.

Include the event date, location, names/titles of those featured along with credit information. The photo specifications are as follows: 300dpi, tiff, jpeg or eps color images. Submit digital phaotos for review at: photo@ sportsbusinessjournal.com or send color prints to: Faces & Places, c/o Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, 120 W. Morehead St., Suite 310, Charlotte, NC 28202.

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CLOSING SHOT Ken Rosewall Arena will host the final of the ATP Cup on Sunday.

The Road To Sydney The inaugural ATP Cup launches as the third team event on the tour schedule, raising the question of whether national pride from the 24 competing countries will be enough to spark success.

THE ATP TOUR is barely a month re-

moved from a 2019 season that drew a record 4.82 million fans to its tournaments. But change is the early theme as the 2020 season starts, beginning with the official exit of six-year tour President Chris Kermode, and the launch of one of his pet creations, the ATP Cup. The event, first discussed six years ago, according to ATP Chief Player Officer Ross Hutchins, will be contested Jan. 3-12 across Australia with pool play held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena will host the final.

Twenty-four countries, divided into six groups of four teams, will compete for ATP Tour points and a tour-best $15 million prize fund. Although Roger Federer withdrew from the event, all but a few of the ATP’s top-30 players will represent their countries at the ATP Cup, including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, while also warming up for tennis’ first Grand Slam of the

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season, the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 20.

“We think it could grow into one of the biggest events we have, along with the Nitto ATP Finals,” Hutchins said.

The tournament, which in the U.S. can be streamed via Tennis TV, will debut several hard-to-miss innova-

players throughout the year,” said Andreas Plastiras, the ATP’s senior director of digital content, “so that’s going to be nice.”

The ATP Cup does not have a title sponsor, but Rolex heads the list of corporate partners. Toshiba, Kia, Dunlop, Marriott Bonvoy, and the

“We think it could grow into one of the biggest events we have, along with the Nitto ATP Finals.” tions, including the first ATP rankings event in history to use enhanced video review, full-court LED screens, and team zones located in the corners of the court, giving fans a closer view of players’ interactions. Pride in country creates the kind of digital engagement that gets social media managers drooling.

“We’re so focused on individual

three host cities’ tourism bureaus are also heavily involved.

The ATP Cup joins two existing team tournaments on the men’s pro tennis calendar, the Laver Cup and the Davis Cup. The latter is a 119-yearold event considered men’s tennis’ World Cup and was played just six weeks prior to the ATP Cup. Critics of the ATP Cup have been

vocal since its inception, while Djokovic suggested that the event should merge with the Davis Cup. The Serb’s view spoke to the feelings of many that the ATP Cup was a redundant addition to the already jampacked men’s pro tennis circuit. Asked if there are too many national team tou r naments in men’s tenn is, Hutchins said, “I don’t think there are.” But, he added, “I think we will see if there are.”

The tournament not only kicks off 2020, but a new decade and a new ATP era under the dual leadership of Italians Andrea Gaudenzi and Massimo Calvelli.

Yet how the ATP Cup turns out could be the final line in Kermode’s legacy. He was shown the door in large part by the ATP’s Player Council, headed by Djokovic. Kermode’s ATP Cup will outlast him. The only question is by how much, and the event’s debut will go a long way toward providing an answer.

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