In our continuing series, SportsBusiness Daily/SportsBusiness Journal asks top sports personalities for their thoughts, ideas, aspirations and likes. Today, SportsNet N.Y. President STEVE RAAB.
What I Like… An insight: Nothing’s more important than leverage and relationships.
Influential people in my career: STEVE LESNICK, who owned KemperSports, which was my first real job; [Mets Owner] FRED WILPON, who's been all about honesty, integrity and relationships; and SAUL KATZ, co-Founder and President of Sterling Equities.
An out-of-the-box idea: Harrah's hiring GARY LOVEMAN, a career academic, in 1998 to be its COO with oversight for 35,000-plus employees.
A timeless idea: Maintaining a focus on customer service.
A business deal: The Pac-12 Network.
A sports facility: AT&T Park is built in just a stunning setting, but Wrigley Field is still my favorite ballpark of all time. And it is the star, not the team.
A sports event: Any truly big-time college football game, probably SEC.
A strategy: IBM transforming itself from mainframe obscurity into a software and service company.
A hire: MARK LAZARUS by NBC.
A brand: Ironman Triathlon.
An ad campaign: I always thought "Where's the Beef" from Wendy's was brilliant.
A trend: Customization, which is just really hyper-segmentation.
An innovation: The yellow first-down line on televised football.
A pro league or team business initiative: Soccer United Marketing (SUM). Having a plan from the outset to branch beyond MLS and involve itself in soccer's most important properties across North America.
A sports announcer: MARV ALBERT ... but [SNY's] GARY COHEN/KEITH HERNANDEZ/RON DARLING for baseball on television and [WFAN-AM's] Gary Cohen/HOWIE ROSE for baseball on radio.
A story that bears watching: TV Everywhere.
An idea or invention I wish I had thought of: StubHub and the whole movement that has made the secondary ticketing market so efficient.
A previous job: GM of the CBA Sioux Falls Skyforce team. I was 23.
A fantasy job: U.S. ambassador to a neutral country with a great climate.
What I Like About...
My job: The ability to manage an entire business every day.
Sports: The passion that it generates.
Sports business: A lot of days, it doesn't really feel like a job.
Sports media: The fan base with an insatiable appetite.
Sports technology: The challenge to stay informed.
Competing: The chance to win.
What I Would Like To... Change: Pricing, so that more consumers can participate.
See more of in sports: Sportsmanship.
See less of in sports business: The winning-is-everything attitude.
What I Don't Like...
About sports fans: A winning-is-everything attitude.
What I Like...
Heroes: My father. My dad is a pediatric ophthalmologist and so what he does is highly specialized and highly valued. That's got to be very fulfilling.
Athletes: THURMAN MUNSON, BERNARD KING, BILL BRADLEY
Teams: The championship Knicks teams.
City: S.F.
Possession: Does my family count? They are more important to me than any one thing.
Music: Springsteen.
TV shows: "THE OFFICE" and "60 MINUTES."
Movies: "RAISING ARIZONA," "THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION,"BRIAN'S SONG."
Books: "BALL FOUR," by JIM BOUTON.
Magazines: SI, Fortune.
Websites: Deadspin, SNY.TV.
Gadgets: BlackBerry.
Food: Italian.
Drink: A cold beer.
Vacation spot: Jackson Hole, Wyo.
