We asked leaders in emerging leagues what advice they have for starting new leagues and teams
“It takes a community that will rally behind you. I would really challenge anybody who’s thinking about doing something like this, do not do it if you can’t say, without one piece of dirt being moved, that your community will rally around you. We can build a great business, we can build a great model, but I don’t know that I would pick this up and move this if I didn’t fully believe that the community was a sports community who would show up. Otherwise, you’re going to to have a half-sold-out stadium. I’ve been crazily surprised by how little opportunity there is for revenue streams within professional sports. You’re talking merch and ticketing and sponsorships. That’s it. So, unless you have a community that’s 100% got your back and is going to show up and support you, then I would say run. It’s not for the weak.”
— Katie Harnetiaux, co-owner, Spokane Zephyr/Velocity
“Building a stadium or finding a stadium where you can have control of the stadium in some way, whether it’s a marketing buyout like we did, is critical. You’ve got to have your own stadium, otherwise the revenue won’t be there for you.”
— Ryan Harnetiaux, co-owner, Spokane Zephyr/Velocity
“Be community-first. Be a voice and be an extension of what your community stands for and represents. It’s really hard to reverse engineer that. It’s really hard to go to market and then try and tie the community in if you do it your way.”
— Mack Mansfield, CEO, Brooklyn FC
“Just being open to learn and having an open mind on everything. … Surround yourself with people that have been in the sports industry before, learn from their mistakes, learn from the things that went right. And really just try to be open-minded and be willing to try things and be willing to mess up on things, because you don’t know, necessarily, what’s going to be good unless you try it.”
— Connor Pardoe, founder and CEO, Pro Pickleball Association
“If you go in with a plan, stick to the plan and it’s OK if that’s a steady pace and not a crazy trajectory, because that’s what keeps it authentic and a quality product for the fans.”
— Bruce Popko, CEO, Major League Pickleball
“One thing that drove me nuts and also motivated our group to do the Brooklyn project in the first place was that everyone said it can’t be done. Everyone said you can’t make money in soccer, you can’t make money in New York. I always said you really have to challenge this. In my opinion, that’s a lazy conclusion to draw. ‘Because these guys couldn’t do it in the past, what makes you think you can do it?’ Well, if you do the same thing that they did in the past, of course it’s not gonna work. So don’t be afraid to do things differently. Do things a little bit innovative, a little bit more innovatively. Test things out.”
— Matt Rizzetta, chairman, North Sixth Group (Brooklyn FC)
“Leave a road map. There’s going to be more, especially with the growth of women’s sports right now, and we all go through ups and downs in the process. Being able to share those with the next one coming, I think, is a real powerful demonstration of what we can collectively bring.”
— Amanda Vandervort, president, USL Super League
“The first piece of advice is make sure you’re catering to your audiences’ needs, whoever they are and wherever they are. … Know your audience, what they want and when they want it. Don’t dictate to them, but serve their needs. The second piece is create the best possible experience that makes those audiences feel truly valued by what your league offers them and what it represents. The third thing is be good people; have good ethics, good integrity and make that an absolutely core part of how you do your business. And the last part is invest in great storytelling. Whatever league it is, whatever sport you’re involved in, there are heroes and villains, happy stories and sad stories. Find really clever, creative people and then give them simple instructions to let them tell really great stories.”
— Tom Webb, CMO, Association of Pickleball Players
