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| Astros President Of Business
Operations Pam Gardner |
PAM GARDNER joined the Astros in '89 as Dir of Communications, became VP/Marketing seven years later and in '01 was named President of Business Operations. Currently the highest‑ranking woman in an MLB front office, Gardner assumed a leading role in the design and development of Minute Maid Park, where attendance, spurred by the offseason signings of ANDY PETTITTE and ROGER CLEMENS, is up over 37% through 17 dates. Gardner spoke recently with SportsBusiness Journal N.Y. bureau chief Jerry Kavanagh.
Question: What's been your most significant accomplishment with the Astros?
Gardner: I would say when we worked on the construction of the stadium. That was probably the biggest thing that turned events for the franchise. Personally, it was the most fascinating and rewarding project that you could ever work on because it encompasses all the business aspects, plus it impacts the city and the team and the kind of team you can put on the field.
Q: Minute Maid Park is the first Coca‑Cola Co. brand to be placed on a sports facility. You called the deal "the perfect match for us." Why?
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| Minute Maid-Astros Pact Effective
As Both Are Courting Children |
Gardner: There are several reasons. Obviously, it's a wholesome product. Minute Maid is based in Houston and has been for over 30 years and was a well‑kept secret. So, it's a wonderful coming home, so to speak, for Minute Maid. It's a celebration of who they are. They're also the Coca‑Cola Co., one of the most powerful brands in the world. And most importantly, it's a product that families use, and we're a family game. So we looked at it as a huge win‑win. It's about bringing up youngsters and introducing them to what your product is. Ours is baseball; theirs is orange juice. And then continuing to grow that through their lifetime.
Q: Some of the moves you made during the offseason so far have paid off on and off the field: It took 15 minutes to sell out opening day. Clemens and Pettitte were a combined 11‑1 at one point. Attendance is up almost 39% and 3 million is possible.
Gardner: That's a possibility, yeah. That's a goal.
Q: How is the business health of the Astros?
Gardner: There are a lot of factors that go into business health, and we've worked very hard to try to position ourselves to be in a place where we can take advantage of that. And then there are just some things that fall from heaven. So all of the stars aligned for us and that made for a very positive outcome for 2004, and we think there's more to come.
Q: I'm sure there's more than astrology involved.
Gardner: [Laughing] It's a lot of hard work. There's no question, but when the stars are aligned it certainly makes all the colors brighter and the smells greater and all the accomplishments seem more fulfilling.
Q: You signed NOLAN RYAN to a personal services contract. What does Ryan mean to the Astros, and what will he do?
Gardner: Nolan's a baseball icon. He's a hero, not just in Houston but in all of Texas, and Texans have great pride in our own. Nolan's a good person, and he's a wonderful baseball person. He's going to do a combination of things. He'll work with us on some marketing aspects for the team, but we're most excited that he's going to be working with some of our younger players in the development and minor league systems. He makes a huge difference to these young guys and can really bring a depth of knowledge to that.
Q: In Ryan and Clemens you've got the No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers in baseball history in strikeouts. Pretty cool.
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| Clemens Has Been Effective In Helping
Promote All-Star Game, Other Events |
Gardner: Yeah, and they've been together here on several occasions since the beginning of the season, when Nolan's been here to do some work for the club and Nolan and Roger together working on some things for Major League Baseball and FanFest.
Q: It's been a good year for sports in Houston: Super Bowl XXXVIII in Reliant Stadium, the Major League Baseball All‑Star Game coming up this summer.
Gardner: We're hopeful that a World Series is next. And let's not forget the Rockets. They made it to the playoffs for the first time in several years, so there was a lot of excitement there. We've had some really positive things. The All‑Star Game is going to be a wonderful coming together for the city. Some of the gala activities are within walking distance of the ballpark.
Q: In the book "Building Reputational Capital," the author, Kevin T. Jackson writes, "Reputation is the primary attribute of commercial relationships. If there is no trust, there is no deal."
Gardner: No question. Deals are made based on relationships. People do business with people. DRAYTON [MCLANE] says that all the time. We have a couple of rules we follow here. You can't do anything that's illegal. You can't do anything that embarrasses you, your company or your family. You have to do the right thing. That's how we base all the deals that we do here. They're based on relationships and how you treat your customer. That clearly is No. 1 for us.
Q: You said, "We're in the business of entertaining fans. We have to challenge ourselves all the time." JERRY COLANGELO said, "The days of just opening the doors and selling tickets are over" as far as attracting fans. What's the Astros' best new fan initiative?
Gardner: We try to do a new fan initiative every a week if we can. We're entertainment, like anything else, and we compete for the entertainment time and dollar. We also compete with people who stay at home. The most important thing we try to do is take our current sponsors, who obviously are linked with us because they are trying to reach our fans, and take our product and extend it outside the ballpark, which makes the relationship more meaningful when the fans come to the ballpark. For instance, we do a thing with Coke: Family Day With Coke. With a 20‑ounce Coke bottle, fans can turn it in and get game tickets and caps. I think putting those kinds of packages together is really the way of the future and works for all the people you are dealing with: all your customers, your sponsors, and it extends you outside the ballpark.
Q: Your background, prior to the Astros, was in entertainment. You studied vocational rehabilitation at University of Wisconsin and worked for a PR firm in Chicago, where you later became VP of the entertainment division. Much has been written about the convergence of sports and entertainment. How do you see it?
Gardner: I think people are looking for things to do and be entertained. An interesting thing for baseball is our fan base is about half and half [men and women]. Obviously it's family‑oriented. We're able to offer dollar tickets, five‑dollar tickets, so families can come in and enjoy. I think that entertainment is a huge piece of it. You have to have some value added to everything that you do. It's the environment that we live in. People use a credit card to get miles on the airline. Everything is value‑added. How can you get the most for your money and have the most enjoyment? I think that's a fact of life now and that's the way we have to think and move. You do have your baseball purists and you always will, and then you have the folks who come out and want to eat the food and go to the kids' zone. There are just different things for different folks and you've got to give something for everyone. So I think it's critical to where we're headed.
Q: RALPH NADER sent a letter to BUD SELIG criticizing the advertising patches on the players' uniforms during the Yankees-D'Rays series in Japan. Is sports overcommercialized?
Gardner: Sports is a business. And 15 and 20 years ago, sports was sports. But it is a business and it has to be run like a business, and the financial pieces of it make it so. Those are some of the realities of the game. Is it overcommercialized? What's done is what's necessary to keep the game flowing in a good way. You can always look at new ideas and say ... 'I'm a purist and it should be like that.' But if you don't ever try anything new, I don't think you ever develop any forward progress. So, I'm not judging any specific thing here, any specific initiative. I'm just saying you have to have discussion about those or we would all stay in the same place.
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| Dugouts Have Housed Ads For A While |
Q: Where would baseball be without advertising?
Gardner: That's a chicken‑or‑egg question. It's necessary. We have to have it. It's part of our livelihood. As I said before, baseball used to just be a sport, but it's a sport that's become big business, and so baseball probably wouldn't be without advertising.
Q: What is the one thing you would change if you ran baseball?
Gardner: That's a good question. As TV has progressed, they've given you different looks at the game, and I would like to be able to do a little more of that in the park.
Q: The composer John Cage said, "I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." What's been the best new idea in baseball?
Gardner: One of the things that I think has really revitalized baseball -‑ and I'm not sure you can call this the best new idea, because it's an old idea that's come back to us ‑- is what's happened with the stadiums. They've become unique again. People go to a ballpark because each one is different. We went through a period there in the '70s and '80s where they all looked alike. They were all round with the same dimensions. And we've come back to a place now where the facility itself is interesting. And I think what's happening with these new stadiums has really put baseball out front in the vein of the experience. I know that sounds like a basic, but, you know, it feels good to be in a ballpark.
Q: The Astros' RSN: Where does that stand?
Gardner: We have a CEO in place and he's hiring a staff. We are prepared to launch in the fall of 2005 with the Rockets and with the Astros in the spring of 2006. That's been an exciting project, and we're really looking forward to doing some things that can showcase Houston and showcase the Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets and take our destiny into our own hands and hopefully move it forward a little bit more.
Q: BILLY MARTIN said, "There is nothing greater in the world than when someone on the team does something good, and everybody gathers around to pat him on the back." What do you consider the best thing about working in sports?
Gardner: Exactly that: When one person does well it raises everybody up. We have a very team‑spirited operation here. We've got a group of folks who work together and come to a consensus, and that's how projects are done. And it's really great when you get wonderful, creative people and hatch a project and it all comes together because everybody does their part. That's the most thrilling piece of the business part of the game.
Q: What is a typical day off like?
Gardner: [Laughing] A day off?
Q: Everyone laughs at that question. Does anyone in sports business take a day off?
Gardner: Away from the job, typically I run. I try to get physical exercise in. It's important to burn off that energy that you have. I spend a lot of time with friends. I like good food. I like to eat ‑- that's why I have to exercise.
Q: What are you reading?
Gardner: I read a little bit of everything. I just read "Corrections," which was fascinating. I belong to a book club, like everybody in the world, and so I get to read things that I probably wouldn't pick up all the time anyway. I read what everybody's reading -‑ "The Da Vinci Code" and all those good things. But every once in a while I try to read something that has me think a little harder. I read Katherine Graham's biography recently.
Q: Favorite piece of music?
Gardner: I like a lot of the old female artists, like Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris. I'm showing my age now. But I like to have that on when I'm reading or doing something around the house. It's more peaceful than what you get at the ballpark.
Q: Oscar Wilde said, "We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars." Do you have a favorite quote?
Gardner: Do the right thing. It's a good way to live your life and it's a good way to do your business.
