Sunday Forum: Somebody told me...

Good morning. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I’m in Las Vegas for the NACDA convention and will be in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday for our Brand Innovation Summit. Looking forward to saying hi along the way…

• Themes from an SBJ Trendsetters & Tastemakers dinner in Atlanta
• U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center may be the most overlooked venue this year
• Dallas’ difficult week as city leaders grapple with losing downtown pillars
• Remembering the late Raymond Berry and tales from one who knew him
• Steve Greenberg and Arn Tellem: Two SBJ Champions and stories from the road
• This Week’s Forum: Lew Wolff takes his cuts in his book “Moments”

It was a good few days for the band The Killers, as they were connected to two of this week’s biggest sports events. First, I received a number of text messages from friends and sources about their performance before the Champions League final in Budapest on Saturday, as they noted the effusive energy focused on just the music, devoid of lip-synching or piped-in audio. Second, their track “All The Things That I’ve Done” was the backdrop of ABC’s strong intro, narrated by hockey lover Jon Hamm, before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. I’m not the generation leagues are trying to reach with their musical acts around big events, but The Killers were the right choice in both instances.

→ SBJ hosted a Trendsetters & Tastemakers private dinner on Thursday in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, as I facilitated a conversation with about 20 sports business leaders. The themes were consistent, but some broad takeaways from the discussion: the difficulty of discoverability when it comes to games; the focus on creating shareable moments of content; the concern over Gen Z and Alpha’s interest in the live sports experience; the emphasis on developing social experiences within venues; and the concern over affordability and access.

As we dined on filets, chicken Milanese and rigatoni alla vodka, I was surprised how much of this dinner discussion was about star power and how some sports struggle today because they lack names and personalities. Some feel talent has been trained to be so boring to avoid cancel culture. There was also a great deal of discussion on the future vision around mixed-use development around sports and the real-estate trends driving the experiences. But the talk always came back to affordability, which is a real pain point and concern. As a wrap-up, when asked which sport of the future they would invest their money in, there was no consistent choice, as answers varied from volleyball, basketball and women’s sports to combat and racquet sports. If you’re ever interested in co-hosting or attending a dinner, please let me know.

→ The newest venue that should be on your radar is U.S. Soccer’s $250 million Arthur M. Blank National Training Center that sits on 200 acres south of Atlanta, near the town of Trilith. There are so many angles to this story — from the contributions by Blank and Michele Kang, to the local support from Coca-Cola and so many other partners, to the land being donated, to it housing more than 400 staffers on-site, to 17 outdoor fields and having it all completed, from ground-breaking to ribbon cutting, in two years. This would have seemed like a pipe dream just a few years ago when U.S. Soccer was in very meager, cramped and outdated accommodations in Chicago. The National Training Center is something we should all see, as it will be a 365/24/7 turnstile of soccer. The progress of this federation in such a short period of time is one of the most impressive stories in sports business.

→ It was a difficult week for the city of Dallas, which saw both the Mavericks and Stars announce that the preferred sites of their future venues are outside the downtown core. The Mavericks prefer a site 12 miles north of downtown, though still in Dallas, while the Stars are eyeing a site in Plano, which is about 20 miles outside of Dallas. I spoke to some locals who expressed great frustration that both were leaving downtown. This comes on top of news that a flagship Neiman Marcus store is also closing downtown. This is a blow to city leaders, who are now scrambling for ideas to keep the city’s downtown core active.

A Dallas Morning News editorial credits the Mavericks for remaining in city limits, adding “Valley View will be a great site, and the Mavericks’ ownership has been true to the pledge to stay in the city. That’s laudable.” It instead criticizes local leadership for not anticipating this, and offers a warning to all cities looking at possible venue issues: “Dallas wasn’t ready when opportunity came because our leadership wasn’t focused on the big picture.” One thought: Do city leaders have more incentive now to offer more financial benefits to the Stars to compete with what Plano is offering?

→ Longtime friends Arn Tellem and Steve Greenberg are both being honored this year as SBJ Champions of Sports Business. Greenberg is profiled in this week’s issue by Chris Smith, while Tellem will be profiled later this year. At the CAA World Congress of Sports, the two enjoyed swapping stories from their years together as young lawyers and agents.

Tellem recalled the two being in Florida or Arizona during spring training representing players in the 1980s, watching movies late at night at a Holiday Inn. “We didn’t share the bed, but we had twin beds, and often Steve would fall asleep and I’d have to take his glasses off. Sometimes I would be asleep, and he would take my glasses off. There was one night where he actually said, ‘Goodnight, honey,’ thinking I was Myrna.”

Greenberg recalled a spring training trip driving across Florida through Alligator Alley. Halfway through the trip, Tellem said he had to go the bathroom. Greenberg said he would stop the car, saying, “Just go over there in the bushes, but be careful because there’s alligators, so just look around. And Arn said, ‘There’s alligators?’ I said, ‘Arn, it’s called Alligator Alley. There are alligators, so be careful.’ He said, ‘No, no, I don’t want to go if there’s alligators. Keep going. We’ll find a house.’ So, we drove another five minutes, and I see a dirt road and at the end of the dirt road, there’s what I would call a wooden shack with a flag hanging out the front, but it was a Confederate flag. And Arn said, ‘Stop. I’m going to go knock on the door and see if I can use their bathroom. What do you think?’ I said, ”Well, Arn, you got two choices. You can either go in the bushes, look for alligators, or you can go knock on that guy’s door and say, ‘Hi, I’m a Jew from Philadelphia. Can I use your bathroom?’ Arn thought for a moment. He says, ‘I’ll go in the bushes.’”

Please take a moment to read this week’s cover story on Greenberg; it’s well worth your time.

→ The late Raymond Berry was coach of the New England Patriots from 1984-1989, my last few years of high school and early years at UVM. He replaced the combustible, unpredictable Ron Meyer in Foxboro, and was unlike any coach I remembered: calm, stoic, so focused and Western-style cool. My parents and I loved the Patriots’ magical run to the Super Bowl in 1985 and had great appreciation for Berry’s style and substance; he’d crack a wry smile on the sidelines during tense times, and subtly reassure a player who just made a terrible mistake. He just seemed different. Berry was an important character during some great days in my youth, and as my sister said the other day, he is now with my parents.

There are too many people who will never know or appreciate what Berry meant to the NFL; an amazing wide receiver who changed the league, and all that came with very average talent. He told Sports Illustrated, “All you can do is squeeze the very most out of what you have.” My late friend, Jerry Richardson, raved about how Berry mentored him at the Baltimore Colts, and even long-time veterans at the NFL office recall Berry as a legend among leaders. I reached out to longtime Patriots GM Pat Sullivan, who hired and fired Berry, about his memories:

“A truly great human being and leader. He never sought credit.

In 1966, the Patriots played the mighty Baltimore Colts in a pre-season game at Harvard Stadium. This was our first game against an NFL team after the merger. These were the Colts of Unitas, Berry, Mackey, Marchetti, and Lenny Moore. I was 13 years old. After the game, I was lugging the Colts’ equipment out of the locker room when a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Let me help you with that, son.’ I instantly knew it was Raymond Berry.

Fast forward to February of 1978. I was the stadium manager then, and we had an epic snowstorm. Chuck Fairbanks hired Raymond to be the receivers coach. While I was plowing snow, I noticed a man walking down Route 1 in a blizzard. He came into the parking lot, tapped on my window and said, ‘Get me a shovel, I’ll give you a hand.’ He had been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame five years earlier.

In 1984, I let Ron Meyer go as head coach. John Hannah said to me, ‘We don’t need a big name, we need credibility. Raymond Berry will bring us instant credibility.’

Other than my father, I never met another man for whom I had so much respect.”

→ Feedback on last Sunday’s Forum, where I wrote about the percentage of fans that teams actually know in their venue:

• “Last week’s piece on understanding your fans hit close to home. It’s something we’re actively working through. We currently know ~40% of the people in our venue on any event day — the challenge we’re focused on: how do you design a stadium that makes fans want to identify themselves that doesn’t create friction in their experience? Separately, the retail media network angle you raised is on our radar too. … I remember at DRIVE last year in L.A., Steve Ballmer mentioned teams need to be thinking about what the “next row on the spreadsheet” is from a revenue perspective — monetizing IP in new ways like this might be it.”

• “There is a big difference between ‘knowing” vs. ‘communicating’ vs. ‘active.’ We track the known fans as a proxy for demand and access. Those numbers you cited seem low, depends on the sophistication of the organization. For sophisticated organizations, (they know) over 60%, but they have to be invested and focused.”

→ Check out the latest episode of SBJ Inside the Industry. I am joined by my colleague Joe Lemire and we discuss how sports technology enhances the live sports experience. Segments include a look at OneCourt, which just won Sports Tech of the Year at SBA: Tech (18:52), and sports execs featured include Amy Brooks, president of global business development, NBA; Raul Fernandez, CEO, DXC Technology; Jez Lubenetski, EVP of global strategy and consulting, The Team; Dan Reed, former COO, Meta Reality Labs; Tina Thornton, EVP of creative studio and marketing, ESPN; Luke Tingle, senior project manager, Daktronics; and Dave Wolf, principal, KPMG.

→ If you missed Morning Buzzcast, check out this week’s episodes here.

→ Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

→ Photos of the week include a fantastic image of some ESPN pioneers: David Berson, George Bodenheimer and Burke Mangus. Check it out below, as well as this week’s Forum, where I share some takeaways from former A’s owner Lew Wolff’s new book. Also, check out our early access stories from tomorrow’s weekly edition.

The cover of “Moments,” the new book by former A’s owner Lew Wolff, shows him at the plate, swinging a bat recreationally. It’s an appropriate cover, because the well-liked former owner takes a few swings along the way through this breezy read. Wolff positions it as a personal recollection of moments and adventures while he was co-owner and managing partner of the A’s from 2005 to 2015. Wolff is not a flame-thrower. He is measured, humble and one of the most successful real estate developers from Los Angeles to San Jose. He is a reluctant celebrity in the most influential circles in California; that’s the respect he’s garnered over years.

Within sports business circles, Wolff has always been seen as honest and fair. I bring this up to say that at 90 years old, he obviously feels comfortable sharing points of view that he may have kept to himself for years. In the preface, Wolff writes that during his tenure, “While I did not fully recognize it, the valuations of all professional sports teams moved from being worth millions to billions. I sort of missed the full benefit of the explosion. I exited my position without partaking in the much higher values that were created.”

He became a partner in the team in 2005 and recalls the advice of John Fisher’s father, Don, who said, “Lew, do your best not to lose money, as losses in sports are hard to stem once they begin.” Wolff’s focus from Day 1 was on a new venue for the A’s, and he writes extensively on those failed efforts. He forcefully points to whom he considers the main culprit, writing about the “despicable treatment that the A’s, Bay Area and MLB endured and continue to endure from the San Francisco Giants,” who fought the A’s over rights to Santa Clara County. He notes the Giants spent extensively “to intimidate MLB to accept that they own the vast majority of the territory” that he believes should be shared equally. While he doesn’t mention any names, Wolff repeatedly exempts current Giants board of directors Chairman Greg Johnson from criticism, writing that Johnson may have a different view on territorial rights. He and Fisher remained “non-belligerent” over the issue, and my read on this is that Wolff was not going to take a fight up against his good friendand Wisconsin fraternity brother Bud Selig — but now, unburdened, he feels free to speak out. The Giants have not had any comment on Wolff’s book.

The chapter everyone would enjoy, titled “Peaceful Transfer Of Power,” details the process of selecting Selig’s successor in 2014. Wolff long assumed that it would be MLB COO Rob Manfred, but Selig soon formed a search committee and owners met in Baltimore to discuss the final candidates: Manfred; longtime MLB executive Tim Brosnan; and Wolff’s choice, Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner, whom Wolff is very complimentary of. During that meeting in Baltimore, Wolff recalls after several inconclusive rounds, Manfred was just one vote shy. Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and other owners wanted the deliberations to continue, even if that meant subsequent meetings. Wolff hints that Selig wanted a resolution that day, and writes that the Washington Nationals and owner Ted Lerner, “after being one of the staunch supporters for additional consideration, altered their long-standing stance and cast the deciding vote to close the succession process,” and Manfred was named commissioner. Wolff: “To this day, I remain not exactly sure why the Nationals altered their very solid stance. The peaceful transition from Bud to Rob is a model for America. The Nationals were awarded the 2018 MLB All Star-Game.”

Wolff is very complimentary to many, but a few stand out. There is, of course, Selig, and it’s clear that his friendship with Selig led him to MLB, and team ownership was the most enjoyable business he has ever been involved in. … He adores his partner John Fisher. … He has strong praise for Brosnan: “Tim contributed more revenue to MLB than any other party I observed.”… He is very fond of longtime A’s executives Billy Beane and Michael Crowley. … He states Brewers owner Mark Attanasio would be a great MLB commissioner. … He pushed back on the notion that the Athletics’ successful financial performance was due to subsidies from MLB, stating the team didn’t abuse funds from the league’s revenue-sharing pool. … He notes his visit with Raiders owner Al Davis, who, not surprisingly, urged Wolff to pursue litigation against the Giants and MLB.

There are plenty of detractors of Wolff and Fisher who blame them for the Athletics’ relocation to Las Vegas, and feel Wolff accepts no responsibility for what transpired. They won’t feel better after reading this book. Wolff comes across as reasonable and measured; someone who loved his life as a team owner but was never going to lead a fight against his fellow owners or his friend, the commissioner, despite how aggrieved he felt. Overall, “Moments” is a rare look at the joys and challenges of team ownership.

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