Seahawks President PETER MCLOUGHLIN spent more than two decades at Anheuser-Busch before leaving to join the NFL franchise in '10. Slightly more than three years later, his team is one win away from a Super Bowl title. McLoughlin sat down with THE DAILY in advance of Sunday's game.
Q: You must have gone to a few Super Bowls in your 21 years with Anheuser-Busch. How different is it to go as president of a competing team?
McLoughlin: This is Super Bowl 22 for me, but obviously the first on the team side. It's anything but old hat -- it's absolutely thrilling. So many friends and colleagues have advised me to take time to enjoy the experience, because it's a rare opportunity, so I've taken that to heart. We've got a lot of work to do, but I'm trying to remember that we're in rarefied air. I always enjoyed going to the Super Bowl with A-B and being involved with the commercial side of it all. This time, it's about the game itself and it's very different, because you are much more invested emotionally. Your team is taking the field with the opportunity to be world champions -- that's a whole different level of involvement.
This is not a normal week in some respects. We are treating this as a business trip and a regular week to the extent we can, but it's certainly one with a lot of media obligations. Still, the business at hand is just preparing for the game, same as a normal week, even if it isn't a normal week. We all work hard, whether you are a player, coach, or work on the business side. But it doesn't get much better -- this is fun right now. The spotlight's on us.
Q: How many people did you bring to the Super Bowl?
McLoughlin: I think we had four Delta planes chartered. With the entire football team, coaching staff, business operations, sponsors and family members, we're over 500 people.
Q: Since you are based in a city where weather is often an issue, what's your take on the endless discussion of weather this week?
McLoughlin: Our players aren't thinking about the weather. They are thinking about their game plan and preparations to compete and win the game. So the fact that it's in New York is fine with me. There's a spotlight on the Super Bowl regardless of where it's played, but having it in the media and business capitol puts an additional spotlight on it.
Q: What could a win on Sunday do for your business side? You'd told me at the beginning of the season that you had almost no marketing or ticketing inventory remaining.
McLoughlin: There's still a lot of upside for us. The Seahawks brand is becoming more national, and a win Sunday could really put us over the top in that regard. We were already in a growth mode, attracting new national brands as team sponsors, like Starbucks, Boeing, and Delta, to go with those we already had in Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch. We're still looking to attract more blue-chip sponsors.
