The Houston Rockets are close to hiring a new chief strategy officer after Chris Dacey resigned in early July to take a job outside of the sports industry.
Dacey, who joined the Rockets as vice president and chief strategy officer in 2007, resigned to take a job as operating vice president for the private equity firm Berkshire Partners in Boston, according to Rockets CEO Tad Brown.
“He accomplished for us what we had hoped in teaching us how to think more analytically and how to use our data,” Brown said.
The Rockets already have sifted through more than 200 inquiries for the open position. The team is not using a search firm and is nearing a decision on a new hire.
“We are close,” Brown said, adding that targeted candidates are not from the sports industry. The team will keep the same title for Dacey’s replacement, who will report to Brown.
“It is like having a small venture capital group within our organization,” Brown said. “[Dacey] worked on taking research and giving us a blueprint on everything ranging from our decision to form a new television network to helping define ticket pricing strategies. The job is … designed to help us make the best decisions possible.”
