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| G2 Strategic CEO
Marshall Glickman |
MARSHALL GLICKMAN has a unique perspective on the international sports landscape, having worked on both sides of the
Atlantic in various capacities. He started early in his career at the NBA, rising to Broadcasting Coordinator and Dir of Media Sales. He was President of the Trail Blazers and the Oregon Arena Corporation in
Portland, where he oversaw construction of the Rose Quarter complex and the renovation of
PGE Park. He has also owned and operated minor league baseball and soccer teams and is on the board of advisers for the Israel Baseball League. Since ‘95, Glickman has served as a consultant to NBA franchises, the Euroleague, the French Tennis Federation and Tennis
Canada, as well as to architects, developers and construction companies. As CEO of G2 Strategic (an acronym for Glickman Global), a consulting firm he launched in ‘04, he offers sports business development plans to clients in the
U.S. and
Europe. Glickman spoke recently with SportsBusiness Journal
New York bureau chief
Jerry Kavanagh.
| Date and Place of Birth: 9-22-59 in Portland, Oregon. |
| Education: B.S., English Literature, Lewis & Clark College. |
| Favorite music: Jazz (ART PEPPER, JOHN COLTRANE), Country (ALISON KRAUSS, Union Station, The Derailers), Pop (U2), Rock (Rolling Stones). |
| Favorite vacation spots: Venice, Tuscany, Paris and Spain. |
| Favorite author: RALPH ELLISON. |
| Favorite sporting event: The Euroleague Final Four. |
| Favorite movie: “The Godfather.” |
| Favorite underground movie: “Eraserhead.” |
| Currently reading: “The World Is Flat,” “The Case for Israel” and “Foul Lines.” |
| Pet peeve: Disorganization. |
| Athlete you most enjoy watching: CLYDE DREXLER. |
| Book you have read most frequently: “Invisible Man.” |
| Greatest extravagance: iTunes. |
| Fantasy job: NFL Commissioner. It’s not gonna happen. |
| Basic business/management philosophy: Don’t do what your head and heart tell you not to do. |
| Best professional advice you received: When I reported for work at the NBA in 1986, I ran into Commissioner [DAVID] STERN. He noticed that I forgot to put my collar stays in my shirt, so he lent me two of his stays and told me that I had to look professional. |
| Best decision: To accept the opportunity at a very young age to pick up and move to New York and go to work at the NBA. |
| Biggest challenge: Getting the Europeans to make prompt decisions. |
Q: What has history taught you about the sports business?
Glickman: Too many cooks spoil the stew.
Q: I read where you said, “The major difference between Euroleague and the NBA is that the owners in Euroleague are not motivated by profit.” What does motivate them?
Glickman: Winning, and with a heavy dose of tradition and nationalism.
Q: What can the Euroleague learn from the NBA?
Glickman: They should look closely at the NBA’s economic model and structure to find a balance between their business interests, the reality of working in a pan-European context and their determination to have a structure that respects European customs.
Q: What are the significant differences in the structures of the two leagues?
Glickman: The professional clubs that play in Euroleague, which is the pan-European competition of the elite, are 24 teams across 13 different countries. Those clubs also play in their national leagues. So, the interests of the national leagues in Euroleague are not always aligned. In America, the teams play in one league. In the NBA there is a draft, which is a mechanism to create competitive balance. In Euroleague there’s no draft because players don’t play collegiate basketball, so every player is effectively a free agent. And there is no salary cap or any other system that limits player payroll.
Q: What can the NBA learn from the Euroleague?
Glickman: They should pay attention to every factor that drives the level of passion and loyalty that are found among Euroleague’s fan base.
Q: Talk about the concept of relegation in Europe.
Glickman: Professional soccer is so dominant in Europe that most leagues in other sports have tended to follow their model. And one of the most important parts of that is relegation and promotion, based on competitive results. Last year, seven of the 24 Euroleague teams were relegated because their competitive results in their national leagues were not sufficient to play Euroleague. So, they were sent down to kind of the second division and seven other teams were brought up. That’s a great thing in many ways. But of course that wouldn’t work very well here in the States where television and sponsorships and most of our business is centered around markets. So, we have had relegations in Europe in places like Madrid, Rome, Milan, Berlin, and when you lose big markets, it’s more challenging to be successful on the business side.
Q: You have said, “Place your franchise where there is history. History is very important here [Euroleague]. We have teams in big markets, like Athens and Barcelona, but we also have teams like Treviso, with 88,000 people.” Should the major leagues in the U.S. place franchises where there is history?
Glickman: I don’t think so. I think it’s vastly different. Here, our business model is driven entirely by markets. That’s not to say there can’t be a range of market characteristics, because there can be. The NBA is operating quite successfully in places like Memphis and New Orleans -- at least pre-Katrina -- Charlotte, Orlando, in better days Portland, Sacramento and Salt Lake. These are relatively small markets, and when I say markets, it’s not necessarily driven by the size of the market; it’s a combination of the size of the market and many other characteristics.
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| Glickman Feels Next Big Step For
NBA Is Expanding Outside Of U.S. |
Q: Four NBA teams held a week of preseason training camp in Europe. Is European expansion next for the NBA? If so, what effect would that have on Euroleague?
Glickman: I can’t speak for the NBA, so I want to be a little bit careful. But I think on some levels, expanding outside of the United States seems like the next thing to do. There may be additional market opportunities in the States, but we’re running out of markets. I think the NBA is open to the idea, but David Stern has been very clear that Europe is not ready to support the economics of the NBA at this time because there is a lack of venues that meet NBA standards. The other concern that I would have is ticket pricing. There is potentially a robust market for premium seating in Europe, but I’m not certain there is a large enough market for other kinds of ticket products, let’s say, at NBA prices.
Q: What is the most urgent issue facing global sports?
Glickman: I think it has everything to do with community. Successful sports teams are built around an inalienable bond to their community. You have a lot of that going on in Europe over the years, and that’s what I meant by tradition. I think it’s very important that we get back to that. The ease of movement of franchises here in the States has created a sense from the fan base that “the team’s not ours.” And I think we have to remind our owners that although they legally own their teams, they also have to be caretakers for their communities. They have to see themselves as stewards of these franchises. I think the Red Sox are an excellent example of where new ownership came in from outside but really respected the idea that this is the Boston Red Sox -- not portable.
Q: What do you see in sports and sports business in the immediate future and farther down the road?
Glickman: The revenue pie is going to get more and more diverse, less dependent on any one segment. Traditionally it’s been gate receipts, national television money in many forms, local television money and other forms of sponsorships that have been the drivers, and in the last 10-20 years, venue-related revenue streams. With all the forms of new media now, and all the new ways to distribute our content to mobile devices and to other forms of media, that’s going to represent a sea change in where our revenue comes from.
Q: G2 Strategic has been retained by CSKA Moscow, the top basketball team in Russia, to assist with the development of a new indoor, multi-purpose arena and soccer stadium. You called CSKA “one of Europe’s most forward-thinking sports organizations.” What makes it forward-thinking?
Glickman: It sees itself in a global context, not in a Russian context.
Q: Which teams or organizations in the U.S. are the most forward thinking?
Glickman: I think there are many. I mentioned the Red Sox because they are my hometown team and I admire them from a distance. I don’t have any vested interest in saying that. They’re not a client. They’re an example of a very forward-thinking, well-run organization, and now they’re looking at investing some of the resources in ventures outside of baseball, which makes sense. They’re using their talent and their management team to apply it in other ways, and I think that’s very smart. There are several good examples in the NBA, where people are getting into very sophisticated database-driven marketing techniques. There’s less reliance on mass media and more reliance on one-to-one communication.
Q: You mentioned earlier that there is a lack of NBA-standard venues in Europe.
Glickman: There is a very good arena in Cologne that might meet NBA standards. And there is a new arena in Prague, but I’m not sure that Prague is a market that can work for basketball. But you don’t have venues in the other major markets. There’s a new venue being built by the Anschutz Entertainment Group in London, which I think is going to meet NBA standards in all ways, and they are also about to embark on construction on a similar but smaller-scale venue in Berlin. But they are the only two projects that I’m aware of that really meet that higher standard.
Q: You said that the CSKA Moscow complex will change the landscape of the European venue development industry. How will it do that?
Glickman: This is a very ambitious, mixed-use development that includes hotels, office buildings and various kinds of entertainment complexes and a soccer stadium together with a multi-purpose indoor arena. My view is that if it can happen in Moscow, which of course is a challenging market, then that is going to stimulate activity in many other major European capitals, similar to what happened in the venue-building boom here. As soon as Detroit did the Palace, people began to follow. We’ve had, what, 20 years of intensive development where virtually every NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL team, and now the major colleges, are playing in brand-new or renovated venues.
Q: Is there a projected opening date?
Glickman: It’s tough to say. It’s Russia. My guess is we’re looking at 2010 or 2011.
Q: Who’s the most innovative individual in international sports?
Glickman: David Stern.
Q: Which of the major U.S. sports leagues do you think has the best design (as far as revenue sharing, luxury taxes, salary caps, competitive balance, and so forth)?
Glickman: The NFL.
Q: In which professional league would you most like to own a team?
Glickman: (laughing) That answer could get me in trouble.
Q: That’s all right.
Glickman: The NFL.
Q: N.Y. Times columnist HARVEY ARATON said, “Our whole sports culture is predicated on the television rating. Everything is driven by, you know, Is the rating getting better? Is it holding its own? Is it winning its time slot?” Do you agree?
Glickman: No. I think it has a lot more to do with the demographic characteristics of the audience than the absolute number of people who are watching.
Q: Is sport itself in danger of being overwhelmed by the business of sport?
Glickman: Perhaps. It’s a concern that all of us in this industry should have. I think we all understand that the business of sport has in some ways caused some disconnect with our communities because there’s so much written about, and so much attention now, on money. And I think we’re trying very hard to reverse that, but it’s not easy. It’s a freight train going down the tracks. It’s pretty hard to stop.
Q: Is there a remedy?
Glickman: All of us who are involved in this industry have to take a lot more initiative to communicate to the community in a way that makes the community feel good about being behind a sports team. Because the reality is, only one team wins in every league. The vast majority of teams don’t win championships, and a significant number have a difficult time just being competitive. So we can’t rely on the competition results in order to sustain our business. That’s where you’ve got to give kudos to the kind of vision that David Stern and his people had when they created NBA Cares. That is the kind of global community initiative we need to see a lot more of.
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| Last Dance: Glickman Would
Not Miss Dance Teams |
Q: What in sports would you not miss if it were eliminated?
Glickman: Dance teams.
Q: Among the major pro leagues, is one a better investment than the others?
Glickman: No. It depends on the details -- on what is the deal, what is the market condition. There are so many factors.
Q: What’s the best buy in sports today?
Glickman: A distressed franchise.
Q: Is there a sports business story or angle you are paying particularly close attention to these days?
Glickman: I think we’re all following very closely all the various content deals that are being made, particularly with mobile device companies.
