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SPORTSMARK
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PROFESSIONAL
What I Like …
■ AN OUT-OF-THE-BOX IDEA: MLB All-Star winner gets home-field advantage in the World Series.
■ A TIMELESS IDEA: The real-time score graphic on all sports game broadcasts. (Can’t imagine life without it!)
■ A BUSINESS DEAL: The CBS/Turner NCAA deal … a game changer for college basketball.
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■ A SPORTS FACILITY: AT&T Park.
■ A SPORTS EVENT: The FIFA World Cup.
■ A HIRE: Pac-10 hiring Larry Scott and LPGA hiring Mike Whan as commissioners. Both properties went outside to get great talent.
■ A TREND: Corporate social responsibility becoming a critical element of sponsorship and corporate hospitality activation.
■ AN INNOVATION: TV graphics like Sportvision in football (field graphics) and ShotLink on the PGA Tour.
■ A PRO LEAGUE OR TEAM BUSINESS INITIATIVE: MLS team expansion and “First Kick” initiative.
■ AN IDEA OR INVENTION I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF: Silly Bandz … my girls have hundreds of them all over the house.
■ A FANTASY JOB: To be Jim Nantz. I always wanted to be a sports broadcaster.
What I Like About …
■ SPORTS: It is the great equalizer … whether you are 8 or 80, male or female, you care.
■ SPORTS BUSINESS: Any time you can mix a love of marketing with the love of sports and get paid for it, it’s a good place to be.
■ SPORTS MEDIA: Omnipresent. Passionate.
■ SPORTS TECHNOLOGY: It allows you to experience sports so differently now … imagine it in 10 years.
■ COMPETING: When you win, there is no better feeling. When you lose, you get up and dig in deeper.
■ THE FUTURE OF SPORTS BUSINESS: I see nothing but up, up, up as the popularity and accessibility of sport expands. It is a growth stock.
What I Would Like To …
■ CHANGE: Eliminate penalty kicks in the FIFA World Cup final … play to the last goal scored.
■ CHANGE IN WHAT I DO: Listen more, be a better leader. Personally, work out more, be a better winemaker, play more golf.
■ SEE: USA wins the FIFA World Cup. It will happen.
■ SEE LESS OF IN SPORTS BUSINESS: Corporate procurement divisions.
■ SEE DIFFERENT: An Olympics opening ceremony under 2 1/2 hours.
What I Don’t Like …
■ IN SPORTS: Cost of a ticket to everyday games.
■ IN BUSINESS: Lack of decision making. I know it is said a lot, but there is just too much “paralysis by analysis” in business that can stymie the great idea.
■ IN GENERAL: The use of the term “no problem” as a replacement for “you’re welcome.” (Since when is gratitude a derivative of a problem?)
PERSONAL
What I Like …
■ PEOPLE: Navy SEALs, teachers, philanthropists, Olympians.
■ THAT WOULD SURPRISE THOSE WHO KNOW ME: I was going to be an architect, which is the real reason that everyone can read my notes.
■ ABOVE ALL ELSE: My wife, Kimberly, and two daughters, Madeleine and Mason.
■ HEROES: My mom, who is a two-time cancer survivor.
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■ PLAYERS: Albert Pujols, Landon Donovan, Lionel Messi.
■ TEAMS: San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Cardinals (grew up there), University of Illinois (went to school there).
■ CITY: Cape Town.
■ POSSESSION: My 1967 230SL Mercedes convertible roadster.
■ TIME OF YEAR: Fall. Harvest time in the wine country, great weather, start of football.
■ MUSIC: World beat/Lounge chill on planes … contemporary rock on the ground.
■ BOOKS: “How Companies Win,” by David Calhoun (Nielsen CEO); “The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team,” by Mike Krzyzewski.
■ GADGETS: iPad (two of them, so I don’t have to fight with my daughters over just one).
■ CHORES: Cleaning … I am a renowned neat freak.
■ HOBBIES: Winemaking, golf, tennis, road biking in Dry Creek Valley, gardening.
■ TRIPS: Weekend journeys to our house in Healdsburg, Calif.; Lake Tahoe; family trips to New York City.
■ MOVIES: “Bottle Shock,” “Invictus,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” Bourne trilogy movies.
■ TV: ESPN, “Entourage,” “30 Rock,” “The Big Bang Theory.”
■ CONCERTS: The Who at our CBS event last year, U2, Coldplay, Dave Matthews.
■ ARTIST: Wade Hoefer.
■ FOOD: Give me a perfectly grilled steak and I am happy.
■ DRINK: My 2008 Sonoma County Zinfandel or 18-year-old Glenmorangie.
■ VACATION SPOTS: Hawaii, South Africa, Italy and soon … Brazil.
■ CARS: All German. BMW, Mercedes, Audi.
■ QUOTE: “The most important name on your uniform is the one on the front of the jersey, not the back.” — John Wooden.
