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The
successes and challenges of professional-sports ownership
from those who know best. |
It
takes more than a skilled, successful businessperson to
be able to build and lead pro-sports teams the way that
the four men on the following pages have. In addition to
assembling outstanding players and management, team owners
must set goals and strategies and ensure that true teamwork
exists under their direction – all the while never
neglecting what matters most ... in their cases, their families,
philanthropic passions and endeavors.
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Dr.
Jerry Buss
Owner
Los Angeles Lakers
Year Acquired:
1979
Purchase Price:
$67.5 million
In
1979, Jerry Buss purchased the Los Angeles Lakers. Buss also
acquired the Los Angeles Kings, the Forum (and a 13,000-acre
ranch in Kern County) for $67 million, in what was then the
largest sports purchase in history.
The Lakers have been in the NBA finals 13 times, winning eight
world championships and more games then any franchise, under
Buss’s ownership. Their success is directly attributable
to the combined efforts of great players, outstanding coaches,
intelligent management and imaginative marketing. This teamwork,
under Buss’s direction, is a major factor in the NBA’s
enormous popularity.
Buss earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University
of Southern California. In 1959, following a brief stint in
the aerospace industry, he launched a real estate career and
planned to pursue his love for teaching. Ultimately, Buss
was able to parlay his original investment in a building into
assets that 20 years later enabled him to achieve ownership
of a major-league sports team.
Buss has initiated many innovative marketing changes, including
a major advertising agreement with Great Western Bank in 1988
that resulted in the Lakers’ former home being renamed
the Great Western Forum. Now, naming rights for sports facilities
is the norm.
One of his major accomplishments was the 1985 launch, with
Bill Daniels, of Prime Ticket Network, which shortly became
the nation’s premier regional sports television entity
and has now evolved into Fox Sports Net West and FSN West
2.
Buss is respected for his philanthropic efforts on behalf
of highly divergent causes. His four grown children are actively
involved in his business operations.
CLAIM
TO FAME
Having six children, my best accomplishment; getting my Ph.D.;
the championships of the Lakers, one of the highlights of
my life.
HOW
I GOT INTO PRO-SPORTS OWNERSHIP In 1973, a
friend was buying a team and asked if I wanted half of it.
I said yes and so we had a little minor-league tennis team.
I loved promotion and being a sports entrepreneur so much
that I bought the Lakers and Kings when I had the opportunity.
BEST
THING ABOUT OWNING A TEAM It’s really
a lot of fun – and allows you to exercise your competitive
nature.
BIGGEST
CHALLENGE Making sure the team has younger
players so we can maintain our position as a contender. I
think the Lakers hold the record for having missed the playoffs
once in the last 26 years. That’s quite an accomplishment.
WHAT
DISTINGUISHES THE LAKERS We try to build character.
I think our teams have had some of the best citizens in all
of pro sports.
GREATEST
ACHIEVEMENT We were the first to beat the
Celtics in their own home floor in a deciding game of championship.
BIGGEST
SETBACK OR FRUSTRATION Injuries. The toughest
was when we signed Mitch Kupjak to a long-term contract and,
in an early game of the year, he was hurt and out for a couple
of years.
FUTURE
GOALS We have undergone a rejuvenation, a
direction toward youth, and it will take a year to be back
on top. We are in a two-year plan to become one of the NBA
elite teams. It will be the third time we are up there. |
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Lamar
Hunt
Founder
Kansas City Chiefs
Year Acquired:
Founded the old AFL and the Chiefs (formerly Dallas Texans)
in 1959
As the National Football League marks its 86th year of competition
in 2005, the Chiefs franchise also will be celebrating its
46th season of play. Perhaps no individual appreciates the
historical significance of those anniversaries more than Lamar
Hunt, who is recognized as the guiding force behind the formation
of both the American Football League and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Hunt’s influence on professional football has been felt
since he attempted to acquire an NFL expansion team in 1958
and conceived the American Football League in 1959. Hunt was
the first AFL figure to be enshrined into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of ‘72, a remarkable
feat considering he became involved in pro football just 13
years earlier.
On June 8, 1966, the AFL-NFL merger was announced by NFL commissioner
Pete Rozell and, on January 15, 1967, Hunt’s Kansas
City Chiefs were participating in the inaugural Super Bowl.
Whether it was serving as the driving force behind the formation
of the AFL, playing a pivotal role in the AFL-NFL merger in
the ’60s or overseeing many crucial issues concerning
pro football and the Chiefs franchise during the past four
decades, there is little question that few individuals have
helped positively change the face of America’s favorite
game as much as Hunt.
In the late ’60s, Hunt was closely involved in the development
of Arrowhead Stadium, still considered among the finest venues
in the world in which to view a sporting event.
Hunt was a contributor to the design of the NFL playoff format
and also put the name Super Bowl on the NFL’s championship
game. In 1981, Hunt was inducted into the NFL Alumni Association’s
prestigious Order of the Leather Helmet; and, in February
of 1993, he received the Francis J. “Reds” Bagnell
Award from the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia for continuing
positive contributions to the game.
Hunt and his wife, Norma, have four children and 13 grandchildren.
CLAIM TO FAME
I don’t have one. That’s for others to judge.
HOW I GOT INTO PRO-SPORTS OWNERSHIP
I first got into ownership of the Dallas Texans Football Club
(relocated and renamed the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963) via
the founding of the AFL in 1960. There was only one football
league (NFL) with 12 teams at that time, and I felt there
were a number of cities that could also support teams. We
went out and found others, in various cities, and the result
was the AFL.
BEST THING ABOUT OWNING A TEAM
The constant evolution and challenges – first to survive
and now to continue forward by having the organization be
the best (on the field and off).
WHAT DISTINGUISHES THE CHIEFS
Our game uniforms and vivid red and gold colors, which have
remained basically the same for the last 42 years, including
the Arrowhead logo with an interlocking KC on our helmets.
Also, the name Chiefs, which I think connotes leadership.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
To try to help keep the product modern and also make sure
the league and its 32 teams are on relatively equal competitive
footing. We always hope we can win the championship, but the
reality is that if the league is to remain successful, all
the teams must remain competitive with one another.
GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS All
eight original AFL teams have survived, merged with the NFL
and became viable businesses; winning the World Championship
(i.e., Super Bowl IV after the 1969 season); the development
and construction of the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City
(opened in 1972); becoming the first team in pro-sports history
to sell 70,000 season tickets (in 1972) and leading the NFL
in home-paid attendance for six consecutive years in the 1990s,
even though we are in the 26th market in the NFL (from a population
base standpoint).
BIGGEST SETBACK OR FRUSTRATION
When I see other teams in the league who want to change the
key ingredients that have helped to make the league successful.
FUTURE GOALS
To assure that we have the continuity of a first-class stadium,
either through the refurbishing or ultimate replacement of
Arrowhead Stadium, so that we can remain competitive with
the other teams in the sport; and to assure that we keep the
key structural elements that will permit pro football to remain
the number-one sport in America (revenue sharing, player draft
and all teams being competitive). |
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Jeffrey
Lurie
Chairman/CEO
Philadelphia Eagles
Year Acquired:
1994
Purchase Price:
$185 million
Since his purchase of the 2004 NFC Champion Eagles, Jeffrey
Lurie has transformed the team into one of the most competitive
and valuable sports franchises in the NFL. Under his leadership
the Philadelphia Eagles have won an NFL best 59 regular season
games in the last five seasons and have been in the playoffs
seven times out of ten seasons. With 101 combined wins in
the regular season and playoffs since 1995, the Eagles are
one of the just five NFL franchises to have accumulated 100
or more victories in that span.
Lurie is also at the forefront of national sports philanthropy
through the Eagles Youth Partnership, a nonprofit charity
he founded in 1995 that now serves more than 50,000 low-income
children in the Greater Philadelphia region each year. Lurie’s
other philanthropic passion is autism research. He is a director
of the NLM Foundation and the Autism Research Foundation and
co-funded, with CNN, the 2004 Academy Award nominated film
Autism is a World. Lurie is very involved with the NFL, serving
on the NFL Finance, Broadcast, Diversity in the Workplace
and Super Bowl Policy committees and is on the Board of Directors
of NFL Charities.
Lurie has a B.A. from Clark University, a master’s in
psychology from Boston University and a Ph.D. in social policy
from Brandeis University.
He is a Boston native who now lives in the Philadelphia area
with his wife, Christina, and their two children.
CLAIM TO FAME
Being a great father.
HOW I GOT INTO PRO-SPORTS
OWNERSHIP About 11 years ago I started to look to buy an NFL
team. I first tried to buy my original hometown team, the
Patriots, and subsequently negotiated to buy the Eagles. I
got into pro-sports ownership by being an obsessed fan of
pro sports in America who spent a lot of time growing up wondering
how I could operate a franchise philosophically and operationally
if ever given the chance. I did a lot of homework before buying
the Eagles. Once I knew that I could accomplish something
financially that I was emotionally attached to, it was natural.
I thought it was also a smart business decision.
BEST THING ABOUT OWNING A TEAM
The opportunity to lift the entire spirit of a city and region.
That is the biggest gratification. Philadelphia, especially,
is an obsessed sports city and it is really a football city.
Football is by far the number-one sport. The fact that people
live and die through the business you are operating gives
you the opportunity to make everybody very proud of their
football team.
WHAT DISTINGUISHES THE EAGLES
The consistency of the excellence. In the ten years that I’ve
owned the team we’ve made the playoffs seven times.
Along with the Patriots we have the best record this decade.
It is so hard to do that in the NFL, where you are penalized
for success – whether it’s drafting at the end
of the draft or there is a salary cap so the teams that didn’t
have as good players now can get better players every year.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
On a personal level, I have these wonderful kids with whom
I want to spend a tremendous amount of time. It’s always
a challenge since I am so emotionally attached to my work
as well. The business challenge was turning around a culture
of mediocrity into a culture of winning. It involved building
a state-of-the-art stadium and practice facility for the team
and turning around the whole corporate culture. That’s
been the foundation of our success.
GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT
Surrounding myself with excellent people and creating a marquee
franchise out of a team that had not been a marquee franchise
in the NFL for quite some time. Also, we have this really
wonderful charity, the Eagles Youth Partnership. It’s
been a model for sports philanthropy. One of our greatest
achievements has been how proactive we’ve been in the
Philadelphia region in terms of eye care and literacy with
our eye mobile and book mobile.
BIGGEST SETBACK OR FRUSTRATION
We haven’t won a Super Bowl championship yet. We’ve
been so close the last four years or more. So that’s
something to look forward to.
FUTURE GOALS
To maintain the consistency of excellence and to hopefully
win some Super Bowls. To expand the Eagles Youth Partnership
and have its philosophy replicated in other places. |
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Bruce
C. Ratner
Principal Owner
New Jersey Nets
Year Acquired:
2004
Purchase Price:
$300 million
Bruce C. Ratner is in his first season as principal owner
of the New Jersey Nets and is dedicated to making them a successful
organization on and off the court.
He is also president and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies
(FCRC). Under his leadership, FCRC has become one of the foremost
urban real estate developers in the New York metropolitan
area.
Ratner has been instrumental in the renaissance of Downtown
Brooklyn, including One Pierrepont Plaza and the MetroTech
Center. His endeavors as an urban developer have been distinguished
by his vision that New York City – whose residents have
long been underserved by major national retail outlets –
can create and sustain a thriving retail base, and indeed
must do so for its long-term economic survival. A key element
in that vision – Atlantic Center, a 400,000-square-foot
shopping mall adjacent to the Atlantic Terminal transportation
hub – was opened by FCRC to resounding success in November
1996. FCRC continues to create major retail projects across
all five boroughs of New York City.
After graduating cum laude from Harvard College in 1967 and
Columbia University School of Law in 1970, Ratner entered
public service as the director of a Model Cities Program –
and later as head of the Consumer Protection Division in the
New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. He taught at
NYU Law School from 1973 to 1977, then returned to government
the next year as New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs,
responsible for designing major initiatives in consumer-fraud
protection.
Ratner has demonstrated a conviction that successful entrepreneurs
should engage in philanthropic endeavors that promote social
justice, a spirit of community and the quality of life. Thus
he has devoted much time to cultural institutions, education
and city parks out of a deep belief in their crucial role
in economic development and enhancing the urban environment.
CLAIM TO FAME Being
a leader in the renaissance of Downtown Brooklyn; leading
the investment group that purchased the Nets; preparing to
build Atlantic Yards, a 21-acre mixed-income residential and
commercial community in Brooklyn; building MetroTech, a 16-acre
corporate campus in Brooklyn.
HOW I GOT INTO PRO-SPORTS OWNERSHIP
When the Nets became available, Brooklyn Borough President
Marty Markowitz suggested that I look into purchasing and
moving the team to Brooklyn. We made the winning bid and will
move the team for the 2007-08 or 2008-09 season.
BEST THING ABOUT OWNING A TEAM
The competition, being civic-minded, building a championship
team and giving fans real entertainment. I was an Indians
fan growing up, but since buying the Nets I have immersed
myself in learning about basketball and have developed an
insatiable thirst for it.
WHAT DISTINGUISHES THE NETS We
play a team-oriented style, and we have three of the best
players in the NBA – Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard
Jefferson. We have the best managers in Rod Thorn and Ed Stefanski,
and outstanding coaches.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Purchasing the team was complicated, but building MetroTech
in Brooklyn and helping to create the renaissance in Downtown
Brooklyn were the most difficult challenges.
GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT
Raising my daughters.
BIGGEST SETBACK OR FRUSTRATION
After we traded Kenyon Martin before this season, I was heavily
criticized by the media. That criticism subsided, especially
after we acquired Vince Carter in December.
RECENT INITIATIVES
My goal is to provide our fans with the most entertaining
game experience. We have teamed with the Apollo Theater to
have a musical artist perform after select games. One of my
guiding principles when I purchased the Nets was to make the
team accessible to everybody. We have implemented Screechers
Seats at the Continental Airlines Arena, in which we offer
3,000 seats for each game at $15 each. We plan to bring the
program to Brooklyn. Basketball cannot be priced so high that
the real fans are priced out. I also want the best people
in all areas of the organization. We are thrilled to have
Marv Albert as our voice on the YES Network beginning next
season.
FUTURE
GOALS I want to build the best organization
in sports; make Atlantic Yards into an important place to
live, work and play; build the most unique and accessible
arena in the world; and make a difference in people’s
lives. |
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Photo
credits
image 1: Courtesy of NBA Entertainment. image 2: Courtesy
of The Kansas City Chiefs. image 3: Courtesy of the Philadelphia
Eagles. image 4: Courtesy of Forest City Ratner Companies. |
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