 |
| Suns Owner Robert Sarver |
Two years after graduating from the
Univ. of
Arizona,
ROBERT SARVER, at age 23, founded the National Bank of
Tucson and built it into the largest independent bank in the state. He spent over 20 years owning and operating commercial banks and investing in real estate before spending an NBA-record $401M in ‘04 for the Suns, the team he has cheered for since its inception in ‘68-69. Under the passionate Sarver, who describes himself as a fan first and an owner second, the Suns made an immediate turnaround, from a 29-53 record in ‘03-04 to 62-20 the following season. The team’s fan-friendly playing style has translated into business success: Forbes, in its annual review of NBA franchise valuations, ranked the Suns No. 7 with a value of $395M. Sarver spoke with SportsBusiness Journal New York bureau chief
Jerry Kavanagh.
| FAVORITES |
| Piece of music: “Let’s Get It Started.” |
| Vacation spot: Cabo San Lucas. Our family goes there every year for Thanksgiving. Two years ago, we went around the dinner table to all the kids and asked them what they were thankful for. My 4-year-old said: “Mommy, lasagna and STEVE NASH.” |
| Author: DICK FRANCIS. |
| Movie: “The Godfather.” |
| Last book read: “My Dad and Me,” by LARRY KING. |
| Management philosophy: I spend a lot of my time trying to recruit and motivate people and to encourage out-of-the-box thinking and entrepreneurialism. I try to encourage teamwork. I’d like to have an environment where people work hard and share in the success of the company and at the same time have fun. |
| Biggest challenge: Trying to win a championship, which Phoenix has never had. We’re close. |
| Best professional decision: I was trying to start my first bank in 1983 and I wasn’t having a lot of success raising the capital, so I applied to graduate school. I did not get accepted and I decided to just keep plugging away to try to raise some capital. I got my first bank started November 26, 1984. That perseverance to get my first business started was probably the best decision I made. |
Q: What’s the best professional advice you ever received?
Sarver: It was from LOU POZEZ, an investor in the bank who was on the board when I first started. He and his cousin founded Payless Shoe stores. He told me to over-hire. He said that if he was looking for someone to supervise ten stores, he’d try to find someone who had experience running 100 stores. And he said to overpay. In the banking business, that’s real contrarian because typically banks don’t pay much. So, when we went looking for certain positions to get our bank started, we went out and overpaid and brought in more experienced people. That turned out to be a successful formula for me that I used in the banking business for a long time.
Q: THOMAS JEFFERSON wrote, “Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.” Is your work dangerous?
Sarver (laughing): I don’t know what he was thinking about that. Maybe they used to have a tough time collecting loans. But, no, it’s not real dangerous.
Q: Do you have a favorite quote, or words that you live by in business?
Sarver: PETER DRUCKER said that as a company you can generate more profit in revenue by exploiting your strengths vs. trying to fix your weaknesses. I use that a fair amount. Instead of focusing on what you don’t do well, focus on what you do well.
Q: You try to implement that with the Suns?
Sarver: Yeah. On the court, instead of focusing on trying to get bigger and go more inside, we often try to get smaller and faster. And in business I do the same thing. Instead of trying to get at things that aren’t a strength, we try to exploit what we’re good at.
Q: What are you good at?
Sarver: Our banks focus on business banking and responsiveness and high customer service. What we don’t do is have products for everybody. We don’t have a lot of consumer banking. We’re not everything for everybody, so we have kind of a targeted niche.
Q: What are the strengths of the Suns’ business?
Sarver: We have really good leadership on the business front. We have owners who are active in dealing with sponsors. We show the sponsors that we care about them, in the attention we give them and in the product we try to deliver for them.
Q: How is the business health of the Suns?
Sarver: The Suns are in really good financial shape. We’ve done a fantastic job with our marketing staff, taking advantage of our success on the court, really strengthening our season-ticket holders and our corporate sponsors.
Q: MARK CUBAN said it was difficult trying to gauge what’s different in the NBA vs. what’s worked in other businesses. He said, “There will be far more scrutiny than you’ve ever had to experience in any other business.” Did you find this to be true?
Sarver: The business part ... I’m not sure. Successful principles in business carry into basketball. You’re still trying to create a product and a service that exceeds the customer experience. You have to motivate your staff and employees. You’re accountable financially for your actions and results. But, yeah, the scrutiny is totally different because it’s a daily scrutiny. In business, my numbers are looked at quarterly by investors and analysts, and I’m held accountable for my results. But in the sports business you’re scrutinized on a daily basis.
Q: What in your business experience has been most instrumental in running the Suns?
Sarver: In the banking business we sell service. It’s somewhat similar to basketball in that [both are] highly regulated. And so everyone is on a fairly level playing field. My dad was in the hotel business, and I just was brought up with the idea of trying to exceed your customers’ expectations for the product and service you are selling. For me, in the banking business, the customers come first; in the basketball business, the fans and sponsors come first.
 |
Sarver Says Every One Of His Players
Could Be A Role Model To Kids |
Q: What is the biggest thing or initiative you have done for the fans?
Sarver: The Suns have had a history of being very fan-friendly. But when you look at the type of basketball we play, and at the individuals we’ve signed, these are players the fans can really get excited about and get behind. Every one of our players could be a role model for your kids. And the arena itself and the staff in the arena create a very fan-friendly environment. We spent over $1M putting in the Verizon Jungle, which is a kids’ entertainment playground area in our upper bowl.
Q: Do you get any inspiration from the other major professional sports or facilities, or borrow ideas from them?
Sarver: Yeah, I did. My dad passed away when I was 18, so I never really had one role model. It was my mom and then a combination of other business people. So, I’ve learned to look at other people who’ve been successful and at franchises like the Patriots, the Pistons and the Spurs. Not only have they been able to win championships, but they’ve been able to have sustained success. And that’s really what I’m after.
Q: Why the NBA and the Suns, of all directions in which to go?
Sarver: We spend our lives doing things we should do and things we like to do. I’ve spent most of the last 22 years doing things I should do, working very hard. This is something I wanted to do. I do like watching basketball, and the Suns happened to be a franchise that was available when I started inquiring. And it was in an area that I’m pretty familiar with: I lived in Arizona for 35 years.
Q: This sounds like a fantasy job.
Sarver: Oh, it is. I pinch myself all the time.
Q: Did you make any rookie mistakes?
Sarver: Probably. The rookie mistakes, I think, were more about how I conducted myself, in terms of being a fan first and an owner second. There were times I wish I were a little calmer at the arena, wasn’t as animated. But from the business of basketball standpoint, I don’t know that I did.
Q: Enthusiasm is a great virtue.
Sarver: Yeah, it is. Sometimes it cuts both ways. I’m no different from everybody else: Sometimes my greatest strength is also my biggest weakness.
Q: You recently said, “I’m not sure I have the patience to deal with some of the agents, the ones that are jerks.” What’s the most difficult thing in dealing with agents?
Sarver: It’s kind of the opposite end of the spectrum from banking, from what I’m used to. In banking, your word is kind of your bond, and it’s just more of a straight-up business. In dealing with agents and contracts, it’s a lot more convoluted. There’s a lot more gamesmanship. Some of the agents are upfront and direct and they are enjoyable to deal with, and others aren’t. Part of the reason I got into this business was to enjoy myself and have fun. Those that I don’t enjoy dealing with are probably better off ... that I don’t get in the middle of the negotiations. It won’t be as successful.
Q: What’s the most innovative thing you have done with the Suns?
Sarver: I don’t know if I did so much innovative. We did promote MIKE D’ANTONI, our coach, to also be general manager. I know that’s been done before, but it’s not the norm. Mike has a very innovative style of playing. He thinks outside the box. Our signing of Nash wasn’t innovative, but it was aggressive, considering the amount of money that the current owner was willing to pay him. I think the way we play and the way we put our team together, without focusing on the traditional group of seven-footers, has been kind of outside-the-box and a little contrarian to typical thinking in the NBA.
Q: If you could change one thing about the game, what would it be?
Sarver: I’d make the season a little bit shorter. I don’t know if my heart can handle that many games. Last year we played 110 games, including preseason and postseason. If we could find a way to either lower the players’ salaries 20% or increase the revenues 20%, and maybe shrink the season 20%. I find the game very entertaining and exciting.
Q: How did the Suns make such an immediate improvement: from over 50 losses in 2003-04 to over 50 victories in each of the next two seasons?
 |
Sarver Feels Nash’s Leadership Main
Reason Behind On-Court Turnaround |
Sarver: Steve Nash was the difference. A leader can make a tremendous difference in any organization, and has the ability to bring people up. What Steve did was elevate everyone’s game around him. That’s the difference, because the team was pretty much the same without Steve the year before.
Q: Where is the imagination in sports today?
Sarver: Some of it is in marketing. Teams market a little bit differently, but a lot of the imagination has to be how you put your team together, and how you can envision them functioning as a team. I think most franchises select individual talent and then try to have the coach put them all together and be successful. In reality, you’ve probably got to do it the other way. You've got to try to figure out how to put a team together. There are so many variables with a team -- in terms of talent, ego, strengths and weaknesses and chemistry -- that I think that’s where you have to use your imagination and sometimes be willing to do things that people may not think are the right thing but in the long run create a better team vs. the best group of individual talent.
