ANDY DOLICH has nearly 45 years worth of experience as a member of the front office of professional sports teams, having stints with the Capitals, A’s, Warriors, Grizzlies, 49ers and more. Now, Dolich hopes he can use that experience to help the new Fan Controlled Football League get off the ground, passing on his knowledge to the number of other projects, organizations and groups he is involved with. Dolich took some time to walk THE DAILY through a day in his life of sports management.
5:45-7:30am: I don’t want people to go “wow that guy gets up early.” That’s my wife, who has her schedules, so when the alarm goes off, I go off too and I might as well get up. That’s my "up and at 'em" time. Morning news shows, checking my email, and I have some friends and clients on the east coast I talk to.
8:00-9:30am: I write a weekly column for a publication called the Ultimate Sports Guide. I’ll also check in with a new podcast I’m doing called “Life in the Front Office,” which I do along with former Dodgers exec FRED CLAIRE, and PAT GALLAGHER of the (MLB) Giants. We just started this about a month and a half ago with a young sports careerist JAKE HIRSHMAN, who was one of my co-authors on a book that came out a few months ago called “20 Secrets To Success For NCAA Student-Athletes Who Won't Go Pro."
10:00-11:00am: I get on the phone again and talk to my colleagues in the world of sport, and tell them the story of the FCFL and our plans for the future. Luckily, since I’ve worked in a number of different sports, it gives me the ability to assess their knowledge of what we’re doing, and also get feedback on what’s happening in their businesses.
11:00am-12:00pm: I do some teaching for and am a product of the first sports management program in the U.S. at Ohio Univ. There are 375 sports management programs in the U.S. today which is sort of mind-boggling. In all of the places that I’ve been, the ability to talk to people has helped, and I try to use myself as a poster child. It’s very hard for young people who are trying to manage their careers to get time and pretty much understand what’s happening in the industry in the nano-second pace that it is at these days.
Dolich (second from l) brings many years of sports management experience to the FCFLFCFL
12:00-1:30pm: We have a weekly conference call with SOHROB FARUDI and GRANT COHEN of the FCFL and the team that has been assembled. It’s a great vehicle, and I’ve always been a big believer since we have people working remotely around the country, not just at HQ in Southern California, to keep the entire team aligned on what our key initiatives are and the launch progress for '19. It really is a teamwork operation.
1:30-2:30pm: I’ll usually check in with various members of the team like PATRICK DEES, JEN ROTTENBERG, RAY AUSTIN, JASON CHILTON, based upon some areas of the call, because we move pretty quickly, and just circle back with them on offline types of ideas that we might be talking about. Somebody remarked to me, “Do you ever eat?” Yeah, but eating is somewhat boring, so I’ll grab something early in the morning like a coffee. I’m a sweet tooth guy so something to go along with my coffee in the morning and then a quick lunch someplace.
3:00-4:30pm: I sat on the bench of a D-I basketball team (American Univ.) as a non-scholarship player wasting my parents’ money, but I actually earned a letter. I still play half court and full court hoops, and proudly not with people my age. If there’s not a game, then I’ll work the machines at the 24 Hour Fitness that I belong to. Everybody says, “Oh you shouldn’t play, you’re going to snap your Achilles or rip your knee apart." Knock on wood, it hasn’t happened yet. If it does, it does. But at least I’ll be in shape the day it happens.
5:00-6:00pm: I’ll call and check in with boards and committees I'm involved with. One is the Northern California PGA Foundation, and it’s focused on a national initiative called PGA Hope, which is for wounded combat veterans. I’m also involved in an entity called the Business of Diversity in Sports & Entertainment, which is a part of the National Sports Forum. We create a cohort of young men and women at all levels of diversity in sport, and bring them to the National Sports Forum, and bring in a number of speakers who’ve built careers.
6:00-7:00pm: I sit down with my wife and partner of 45 years, ELLEN, and have dinner. She’s an incredible chef and cook, and then we’ll FaceTime with our children (Timbers and NWSL Portland Thorns Senior VP/Business Operations CORY DOLICH; Eventbrite Dir of Strategy CARYN DOLICH; and Stanford professor LINDSEY FELT) and talk about the exploits of our four grandchildren, the latest of which arrived 10 days ago.
7:00-9:00pm: To turn down the hyper dial, I try to binge watch a TV series. My favorites would be "THE AMERICANS" and "FAUDA," which is pretty amazing, "SEAL TEAM," "WICKED TUNA" because I’m a deep-sea fisherman, "RIVERMONSTERS," and then any "SNL" I’ve missed.
9:00-11:00pm: I try to catch the end of live sports events or highlights. We’re an incredible beneficiary here in the Bay Area with all the sports teams we have. Then from about 10:30 to what I call “nod-off land,” I try to read an actual book with paper pages. I’m reading a biography of ULYSSES S. GRANT, which is heavy enough to be part of a weight-lifting program; “Who Is Michael Ovitz,” the uber-agent by none other than MICHAEL OVITZ; and then a book called “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind." If I can read a book for 15-20 minutes, the next thing I know the book is on my face and I’m sleeping.
Know of someone who should be featured in "A Day in the Life"? Send a note to jcarpenter@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
