Hawks CEO STEVE KOONIN is "part of a trend in Atlanta sports -- executives from non-sports backgrounds running the businesses of the city’s pro franchises," according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. With Falcons Owner ARTHUR BLANK’s hire last month of STEVE CANNON from Mercedes-Benz, Atlanta’s three highest-profile pro sports teams have CEOs "who came to the jobs from other industries," including Braves Chair & CEO TERRY MCGUIRK, Koonin with the Hawks and, starting Feb. 1, Cannon with the Falcons. Blank: "Having the sports background is really not only secondary -- I would say it’s very secondary -- in the success of somebody filling this role.” Tucker noted Koonin "spent 14 years as an executive at Coca-Cola and another 14 at Turner Entertainment Networks, both much larger businesses than a pro sports franchise." After almost two years, Koonin "has found his current position a satisfying challenge." He said, “It’s the most complex job I’ve ever had -- by far. It’s 1/20th the size of what I did at Turner and it’s 20 times the complexity.” McGuirk said, "The modern CEO of a sports organization is maybe more of a generalist, with great experience in the sophistication of many different businesses and the financial activities that go on between them." Blank said that "just two of almost a dozen candidates seriously considered" for Cannon's position "had backgrounds in sports business." Blank said that of those two, "one worked in college sports and the other 'for a very short commitment in a sports industry.'" He added, “The higher up you get, the technical expertise in the industry becomes less and less important. And the ability to understand a (company’s) culture, to be a strategist, to plan, to be somebody that can follow up on execution, somebody that can relate well to associates and to the people you’re serving in the community ... those all become the driving factors" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/9).
