Rangers President Tom Schieffer is resigning from his
position after 10 years with the team, according to Evan
Grant of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Rangers Owner Tom Hicks
"acknowledged" that Schieffer's role with the team had
"changed" since he purchased the Rangers last year: "He has
gone from representing the owners to working for an owner.
It is different. I think that did play a part in his
decision." Schieffer declined to comment on his changed
role with the team, but said, "We've done a lot here."
Schieffer plans to remain with the team as a consultant,
where his "primary role will be to shape the development" of
the 270 acres around The Ballpark in Arlington that were
included in the $250M purchase price Hicks paid for the
Rangers. The goal is to eventually create a "downtown
Arlington" around the ballpark. Schieffer will also "help
enhance" the team's Latin American facilities, and he
"didn't rule out the possibility" of becoming involved in
the presidential campaign of TX Gov. and former Rangers
Partner George W. Bush. Hicks said that Schieffer would
continue his duties as Rangers President until the team
finds a replacement, a process that "should take several
weeks." Schieffer's successor will report to Southwest
Sports Group COO Michael Cramer. This "represented a change
of job description" for Schieffer, who started out reporting
directly to Hicks after he purchased the team (DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, 4/30). In Ft. Worth, Sean Wood reports that
Rangers execs said that Schieffer "was used to being in
control," and that some of his autonomy "disappeared" after
Hicks bought the team (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 4/30). In
Dallas, Kevin Blackistone writes, "Make no mistake, The
Ballpark is Schieffer's legacy with the Rangers. ...
Unfortunately for Schieffer, his new entrepreneurial owner
probably used a measuring stick other than aesthetics to
compare those other retro stadiums against The Ballpark.
Like, say, attendance" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/30).
MEET THE NEW BOSS, WILL THERE BE A NEW BOSS? Hicks, who
also owns the Stars, "did not dismiss the possibility of
having no successor to Schieffer." Hicks: "We're trying to
figure out how to take the best of both teams and get the
most synergies possible" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 4/30).
DEVELOPING STORY: In Dallas, Richard Alm writes that
the proposed project around The Ballpark could span four
million sq. ft. of land next to Interstate 30 with access to
Dallas/Ft. Worth Int'l Airport (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/30).
