Catching Up With Stars Exec VP Sales & Marketing Geoff Moore

Moore Was First Employee Ever Hired By The Stars In '93

Q: What is a sports brand you really admire?

Moore: The Boston Red Sox. Recently they have come up to compete with the Yankees and have not been seen as a high-spending, rich team and are still keeping their underdog status. And they have kind of a friendly brand, unlike the Yankees. (The Red Sox) band wagon is more accessible, and they've done a really good job both on the competitive and brand side. The fact that they stayed in Fenway … is so ironic because the rush for everyone to get a new building has been one of the biggest megatrends over the last two decades in our industry, and the two teams (Red Sox and Cubs) who are in the most historic, oldest facilities are probably going to have a huge advantage by having to stay put. If they can just renovate to keep them standing up, then all of a sudden they have the incredibly unique facility because they have the oldest facility. They're in a really interesting position.

Q: What up-and-coming sports marketing idea do you really like?

Moore: Dynamic pricing. We're doing that with our tickets, and I like the idea of being able to custom fit individual game prices based on a variety of factors. I like the idea of being able to both lower prices to make them more affordable and have primary and secondary markets be closer together on the real high demand games. I think affordability of tickets to people with families is a huge challenge to people in our industry. 

Q: What are some of the challenges of marketing in a non-traditional hockey market?

Moore: The challenge has always been the same for us because we're hockey in Texas. We're not football in Texas and we're not hockey in Toronto. A big challenge is being able to communicate and connect with people. I was working for the Dallas International Sports Commission and we were helping the Minnesota North Stars navigate the waters to come to Dallas and then I got hired by the Stars as their first employee the day after they made the decision to move here. I got to see the courting of them and then the on-ground challenges and opportunities. I remember when we were courting the North Stars and we were in meetings with the mayor of Dallas and ROGER STAUBACH was explaining to the mayor what the opportunity was, and he said Dallas is such a growing, dynamic marketplace and most people here are from somewhere else and a great number of them come from markets that love hockey. There is a lot of pent-up demand and affinity for the sport. But also the similarities between hockey and football in terms of speed and physicality are well-correlated that it'll catch on here with the natives as well. Staubach's analysis 16 years ago still rings true today. Our biggest marketing challenge is getting people to come to games and experiencing it, but once they've done that we have a really good story to tell.

Q: How would you best describe your management style?

Moore: I have 13 departments that I manage and I like to kind of be in the trenches with my directors and staff people. Having a very open-ended brain-storming session gets the best ideas out. I want to make sure that I'm not telling them what to do and I want to provide a little bit of vision to get them started, and then I like having a group discussion about it.

Q: What is a typical work day like?

Moore: Begins and ends with ticket sales because that's how we measure ourselves. First thing in the morning is looking at overnight reports from the previous day and tracking 10 different ways the groups selling tickets for us are offering. That flows into the activity process that we're going through on the initiatives that we have. 

Q: Has your team/job been affected by Owner Tom Hicks possibly looking to sell the Stars and Rangers?

Moore: No. I've got 50 friends over at the Rangers and I used to have some crossover responsibility with the Rangers. … Even if, and when, they're sold to someone else, we'll still work closely because we all know each other and are good friends. The trick is we only work together when it’s good for both sides. … It's something we try to be really careful with, that each team is its own brand, has its own set of fans. Even fans of both teams don't want to see them turn into a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut/Kentucky Fried Chicken stand. You want your pizza to be from one place and your chicken from another place. 

Moore Lauds NHL For Its New Media Initiatives

Moore: I think (NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN) has done a very good job. I would concentrate on labor peace and improving our existing partnership with the union, patting JOHN COLLINS and his group on the back for continuing their new media initiatives and I think the biggest thing I would focus on is finding the right schedule mix for our teams. I would have every team play every other team in every other market every year. I know the travel costs and divisional alignments are an issue and it's not an easy thing to solve, but the fact that the Penguins don't come to Dallas this year is a crime.

Q: What would people be surprised to learn about you?

Moore: I'm an excellent diaper changer. I have four children, my youngest is 18 months old and my oldest is nine and a half and I've been changing diapers for a long time and I can't wait to lose that skill.

Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to get into the industry?

Moore: You have to get into it any way you can. … If you have to work for free, intern, work on game nights at the facility, whatever it is. You have to show you're willing to work for something larger than yourself. When people come in and say, "Hey I'm really cool and for $150,000 I'll do this for you," they don't get it. You have to be an internally motivated person. You have to be the people who set up for the prom, not the people who want to kiss the Homecoming Queen. We need people to work and sacrifice for the team, not the people who want to star in a reality TV show.

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