Long-distance relationships create a challenge when trying to operate and bring business and cultural changes to a sports organization, said panelists at the '16 CAA World Congress of Sports during a discussion on global investments. “It’s really, really difficult when you’re not walking around the halls,” said Italian soccer club AS Roma President & Chair James Pallotta. “It’s very difficult from afar.” While day-to-day management is a challenge, bringing about cultural change takes even more effort. “That’s probably one of the hardest things to work through, especially from afar, because the things we see as obvious and opportunistic, to them, this is how they’ve always done things,” said EPL club AFC Bournemouth co-Owner & BOD member Matt Hulsizer. “To actually change the culture and to get them to embrace it is work. It requires time and effort, and that’s not going to happen quickly.” AEG President & CEO Dan Beckerman called it “change management.” “You go into a culture that’s used to doing things a certain way,” he said. “People are sort of set in the way they do things and the way they do projects and the way they entertain, and have a certain mindset when it comes to sponsorship, and then we come in and we have different model that can work.”
RESPECTFUL APPROACH: Beckerman said respect is key to creating change. “It’s a very integrated approach and you want to be respectful to the culture and mindful of the way they do business,” he said. “But at the same time introduce new ideas and new ways of doing business. We have had success in that. I’ve found that if you try to be respectful to the culture and the business practices, I think people welcome change.”
