Monumental Sports & Entertainment has hired industry veteran Tom Hunt to lead its corporate sales efforts as the Ted Leonsis-owned company continues to integrate business operations between the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
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| Tom Hunt starts today with Ted Leonsis' company. |
As Monumental’s senior vice president of corporate partnerships, a newly created position, Hunt leads a staff of 12 selling across all three teams and the Verizon Center. He begins his job with Monumental today and reports to Dick Patrick, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Monumental Sports. Patrick is also president of the Capitals.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment was created last June when Leonsis acquired a majority interest in the three franchises and the Verizon Center from the estate of late Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin.
Before joining Monumental, Hunt, 44, worked since 2005 in corporate sales for the Sacramento Kings, a franchise that faces an uncertain future as owners Joe and Gavin Maloof investigate a relocation to Anaheim. The team has until May 2 to file a relocation application with the NBA.
Prior to the Kings, Hunt worked in broadcast sales for Turner for 11 years.
Monumental used Turnkey Sports & Entertainment for the search.
“Part of the attraction is that it is a job selling across all of our teams and our arena,” Patrick said. “This past year, we increased our corporate sales revenue by 10 percent and feel we can do better than that going forward.”
Hunt said that it is the chance to work in a bigger market in Washington rather than the uncertainty of the Kings future in Sacramento that attracted him to the job.
“It is a top-10 market, and strong brands and great content always win,” Hunt said. “Look at what Ted is building with the Capitals along with the same game plan with the Wizards. It is a great opportunity.”
