 |
In our continuing series, SportsBusiness Daily/SportsBusiness Journal asks top sports personalities for their thoughts, ideas, aspirations and likes. Today, SportsMark Management Group President
KEITH BRUCE
.
What I like in an insight: Sports is more than a business, it is a societal institution that is deeply woven into the lives of everyone, everyday. With that comes significant responsibility.
An influential person in my career: JAN KATZOFF, founder of SportsMark. He brought me here six years ago, and is a mentor and great friend.
An out-of-the-box idea: MLB All-Star winner gets home-field advantage in the World Series.
A timeless idea: The real time score graphic on all sports game broadcasts. (Can't imagine life without it!)
A business deal: The CBS/Turner NCAA deal -- a game changer for college basketball.
A sports facility: AT&T Park.
A sports event: The FIFA World Cup.
A strategy: Always keep the client's interests out in front of you. Deliver for your clients everyday and you will keep that client for a long time.
A hire: Pac-10 hiring LARRY SCOTT and LPGA hiring MIKE WHAN as commissioners. Both properties went outside to get great talent.
A brand: Visa. Universally recognized, universally respected, universally used. Doesn't get more powerful than that.
A trend: Corporate social responsibility becoming a critical element of sponsorship and corporate hospitality activation.
An innovation: TV graphics like Sportvision in football (field graphics) and ShotLink on the PGA Tour.
A pro league or team business initiative: MLS team expansion and "First Kick" initiative.
An idea or invention I wish I had thought of: Silly Bandz -- my girls have hundreds of them all over the house.
A fantasy job: To be JIM NANTZ. I always wanted to be a sports broadcaster.
What I like about my job: When my friends outside the business introduce me to other people, they describe me first as "having the best job in the world." SportsMark is a great place to work.
Sports: It is the great equalizer -- whether you are 8 or 80, male or female, you care.
Sports business: Anytime you can mix a love of marketing with the love of sports and get paid for it, it's a good place to be.
Sports media: Omnipresent. Passionate.
Sports technology: It allows you to experience sports so differently now -- imagine it in 10 years.
Competing: When you win, there is no better feeling. When you lose, you get up and dig in deeper.
The future (or direction) of sports business: I see nothing but up, up, up as the popularity and accessibility of sport expands. It is a growth stock.
Sports fans: Win or lose, the loyalty to their teams are beyond logic.
What I would like to change: Eliminate penalty kicks in the FIFA World Cup Final -- play to the last goal scored.
Change in what I do: Listen more, be a better leader. Personally, work out more, be a better winemaker, play more golf.
See: USA wins the FIFA World Cup. It will happen.
See more of in sports: Accessibility for fans and kids to see more of the big sports events.
See more of in sports business: 1) More altruistic values in sponsors, more giving back to the community. 2) Expanding the roles of agencies to add more value to the business process.
See less of in sports: Greed.
See less of in sports business: Corporate procurement divisions.
See different: An Olympics opening ceremonies under two-and-a-half hours.
What I don't like in general: The use of the term "no problem" as a replacement for "you're welcome." (Since when is gratitude a derivative of a problem?).
Pet peeve: The inability to look at things differently or change things up -- in business and in life.
In sports: The cost of a ticket to everyday games.
In business: Lack of decision making. I know it is said a lot, but there is just too much "paralysis by analysis" in business that can stymie the great idea.
About sports fans: Win or lose, they are never satisfied!
What I like in people: Navy seals, teachers, philanthropists, Olympians.
That would surprise those who know me: I was going to be an architect, which is the real reason that everyone can read my notes.
Above all else: My wife KIMBERLY and two daughters MADELEINE and MASON.
About myself: The ability to stay real and grounded -- I know I am very fortunate to do what I do.
Heroes: My mom, who is a two-time cancer survivor.
Players: ALBERT PUJOLS, LANDON DONOVAN, LIONEL MESSI.
Teams: 49ers, St. Louis Cardinals (grew up there), University of Illinois (went to school there).
City: Cape Town.
Possession: My 1967 230SL Mercedes convertible roadster.
Memento: Memories from all the amazing sports events I have attended over the past 20 years.
Time of year (because): Fall. Harvest time in the wine country, great weather, start of football.
Music: World beat/Lounge chill on planes -- contemporary rock on the ground.
Books: "Why Companies Win," by DAVID CALHOUN (CEO of Nielsen); "The Gold Standard, Building a World-Class Team," by MIKE KRZYZEWSKI.
Magazines: SI, Wine Spectator, Kiplinger's Financial.
Web sites: ESPN, SI.com, Wine.com, Seatguru.com.
Gadgets: iPad (two of them, so I don't have to fight with my daughters over just one).
IPad app: WeatherHD, SportsTap, iZones, Angry Birds.
Chores: Cleaning -- I am a renowned neat freak.
Hobbies: Winemaking, golf, tennis, road biking in Dry Creek Valley, gardening.
Trips: Weekend journeys to our house in Healdsburg, Calif.; Lake Tahoe; family trips to New York City.
Movies: Favorites: "Bottle Shock," "Invictus," "The Shawshank Redemption," Bourne trilogy movies.
TV: ESPN, "Entourage," "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory."
Concerts: The Who at our CBS event last year. U2, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band.
Artist: WADE HOEFER.
Food: Give me a perfectly grilled steak and I am happy.
Drink: My 2008 Sonoma County Zinfandel or 18-year-old Glenmorangie.
Vacation spots: Hawaii, South Africa, Italy and soon Brazil.
Cars: All German. BMW, Mercedes, Audi.
Singer: FRANK SINATRA.
Quote: The most important name on your uniform is the one on the front of the jersey, not the back -- JOHN WOODEN.
