Wild Owner Bob Naegele Jr. is profiled by USA TODAY's
Bill Meyers in the Money section Cover Story, who writes
that Naegele "faces the biggest marketing challenge of his
career" trying to sell "an invisible franchise." But Meyers
writes that Naegele joins Suns CEO/D'Backs Managing General
Partner Jerry Colangelo and Seahawks/Blazers Owner Paul
Allen "as one of the new breed of creative entrepreneurs now
aggressively changing American sports ownership." In '97,
Naegele "stepped up" as the franchise's main investor and
committed $35M for 70% of the team. Under his leadership,
the team has secured more than 12,000 season-ticket deposits
for the Wild and "has fashioned a counterintuitive grass-
roots strategy designed to promote" amateur hockey in MN,
rather than the Wild. Team employees travel around the
state each week visiting ice rinks, attending high school
hockey games and supporting youth hockey organizations.
Naegele, on MN's hockey base: "The explosion in girl's
hockey, youth hockey and roller hockey has created an even
bigger fan base. These are off-balance-sheet assets for
us." Wild CEO Jac Sperling: "We're trying to connect to the
Minnesota hockey experience, where kids shovel snow off a
pond and hose down the ice. It's a passion for the purity
of the sport, unadulterated by money" (USA TODAY, 3/25).
