As part of SportsBusiness Journal's 20th anniversary, many sports execs shared their memories of the magazine's launch in '98. THE DAILY will roll out some of these remembrances over the next few days.
* Former NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN: “For me it was hope over reason; I hoped it would last. I was rooting for you because you always could read others, such as Ad Age, Ad Week, Multichannel News, Amusement Business, Variety, Forbes, Fortune and Business Week. Here was the birth of the publication that would do it in more detail with regular assigned reporters who would know how to address new developments in context as opposed to the daily newspapers or sport magazines who dealt with current events without historical context. SBJ has brought the importance of sports into a central place for all the industry to gather around and made conferences a thing."
* CBS Sports Chair SEAN MCMANUS: “I had my doubts that there was enough of a need for SBJ and whether financially it was viable because of the relatively small amount of people in the industry who would be following it through SportsBusiness Journal. In retrospect, it seems like a no-brainer because the sports world and the sports business world has become such an enormous industry to the tune of billions of dollars. At the time, I thought that it was going to have a tough go to achieve the kind of distribution and the kind of readership that was necessary to support it. I give the founders and the current team a lot of credit for really covering our industry in a first-class way -- breaking stories, covering stories and really giving excellent content and perspective to the industry that we’re all involved in.”
* Turnkey Sports Exec VP/Stratgey TONY PONTURO, who also was the longtime A-B InBev VP/Global Media & Sports Marketing: "At first, everyone wondered what SBJ was going to be. It did serve this purpose nothing else did of recapping everything across an industry that was a bit disjointed. It brought everything together and created a voice, which ultimately made the industry smarter by sharing best practices. Soon, you had really prominent people battling for their spot in the top 50 sports executives. I can remember some irascible people saying, ‘Why does SBJ have this strong a voice?’ But ultimately, it has been real journalism, so people had to respect it. You only last that long as a publication if you are trustworthy, and credible. SBJ has been, so it deserves a pat on the back.”
* Delaware North Chair and Bruins Owner JEREMY JACOBS: “I hoped SBJ would be successful because its news is important to me and informative for my company and team. It’s one of the few publications that writes specifically for the industry.”
* Former Fox Sports Chair DAVID HILL: “From the start I thought SBJ was a stunning concept. All publishers had been focused on the fans, and, yes Virginia, fans can be fickle. By focusing on the business of the business, SBJ ensured their audience was loyal, growing and affluent -- not a bad customer base. What SBJ has done, though, in its ever-growing program of conferences has become an integral part of not only the U.S. sports business, but the world’s sports business.”
