When speaking with leaders across sports about what it has been like to navigate these last two months, most readily concede that nothing they have been through compares to it. Still, the past does offer a few clues on how to proceed. In the most recent episode of “SBJ Unpacks: Weathering COVID-19," our Bill King speaks with Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment President Hugh Weber about his experiences leading the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets through crisis during, and following, Hurricane Katrina.
On similarities between dealing with Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19:
Weber: The community of New Orleans and the greater gulf of the United States in '05 was devastated. When I was in New Orleans, 80% of the homes were flooded, so you can imagine a world turned upside down from one moment to the next where everything seems to be “normal” and then the next day you literally don’t have a place to live or a place to go. … In that regard, the magnitude and the life choices that people had to make at that time were very similar to this moment. I hear people talk now in the language that fans and commentators use and it’s the same (and) … part of why sports are so important is it brings that sense of normality to community, to people’s lives.
On how leaders can successfully manage unpredictable catastrophes:
Weber: I would be telling you a fib if I said, "Yeah, we had this plan, and we had everyone’s cellphone numbers, and we knew exactly where everyone was evacuating to." We didn’t know any of that, and it took us days to track people down. … We go back to our core value. Our first thought was we’ve got to take care of people. We’ve got to understand, make sure they’re safe, make sure they’re connected and that everyone feels comforted to know that they’re part of something. Normal at the time was manifested in the point of literally getting people’s money in their bank accounts. We just said, "Listen, anybody who had automatic payment, just put money in their account."
On the mindset needed to stay focused and organized throughout a crisis:
Weber: Oftentimes our mind goes to getting through this and surviving. Leaders have to take a position that you’re running toward an opportunity. You have to create a vision of where you’re going and why you’re going there. For example, for this particular one, we’ve spent a lot of time in and around what the fan experience looks like when this all comes back to what we call the new normal. How is it that we’re able to engage our fans and make them feel confident in the environment that they’re in when they come to our arenas?
