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| Ed Tapscott, president and COO of the Charlotte Bobcats |
Ed Tapscott steps off the elevator like a man who knows where he’s going and has plenty of time to get there.
It is 7:45 a.m., tip-off for another day of building the newest franchise on the NBA roster, and Tapscott, president and COO of the Charlotte Bobcats, is already sending a subtle message, one that he will reinforce throughout the day: Everything’s under control.
It’s an important message for an organization with so many goals and deadlines to meet. As if it weren’t enough to simply get an NBA team onto the court, the Bobcats are also building a new arena, trying to get the Charlotte Coliseum in shape for one more season, starting a cable television network and running a WNBA franchise. And they’re doing it carefully, taking pains to send a positive message every day to a city that still feels burned by the Charlotte Hornets’ departure for New Orleans.
“Normally, when you’re brand-new, everyone is giddy with delight,” Tapscott says. “Here there was a franchise that had left distaste in some minds, and ambivalence in others. There was no ticker-tape parade.”
The Bobcats’ game clock is ticking down fast. On this day, as Tapscott grabs a cup of coffee and looks at his calendar, the home opener for the Charlotte Sting is just three days away, there’s less than a month to go before the NBA draft, and a little more than five months before the start of the NBA season.
It’s enough to make any executive harried and frantic, except that there’s an important corollary to Tapscott’s first message: Even if everything isn’t under control, act like it is.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard the saying that there are two things the American people should never watch being made: laws and sausage,” says Tapscott. “Laws because if you saw them being made, you wouldn’t respect them, and sausage because if you saw it being made, you wouldn’t eat it.
“We add a third item to that list: sports teams.”
The messes created each day, Tapscott believes, should be handled behind the scenes quickly and efficiently, so that the only thing the customer sees is the facade of a near-perfect organization. That’s a word he uses — facade – but not in the sense of trying to deceive anyone.
“We sell a discretionary product,” he says. “It’s not gas or electricity. People don’t have to buy it. So our public image is very important to us, and we guard it jealously.”
He wants that image to be perfectly maintained. He wants his business to be perfectly operated. He knows that neither will happen.
“I don’t expect perfection,” he says. “I do expect the pursuit of it.”
Tapscott settles into his office, which, like the rest of the team’s space on the seventh floor of this downtown Charlotte building, displays none of the flash that people associate with an NBA team. It is functional, plain and small, with two narrow windows and mostly unadorned walls.
The only decor that stands out is a print of an Ernie Barnes painting called “In the Beginning.” Tapscott bought it in New Orleans in the late ’80s, when he was head coach at American University.
“I like it because it shows one guy, one ball and one basket,” he says. “It’s really a simple game. We’ve just added a lot of stuff around it.”
It’s all of the stuff around the game that takes up Tapscott’s time. When he was working in the ’90s for the New York Knicks, first as executive vice president of player personnel and business operations, then as interim president, he had a structure in place. In Charlotte, he’s creating a structure.
“Working on an existing team is like working on a weight machine — you push in one direction,” he says. “Working on a startup is like working with free weights. Not only do you have to push, you have to balance.”
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| Weiller |
Promptly at 8 a.m., Cheryl Brown, his executive assistant, is sitting in front of his desk with Chris Weiller, executive vice president for corporate affairs, who first thing that morning greeted Tapscott with a call of “El Presidente.”
Tapscott has heard a lot of that in the week since Bobcats owner Bob Johnson changed his title to president from executive vice president. He will hear it quite a few more times today. He laughs every time, occasionally joking about what he’ll do with his vast new powers. The reality, he says, is that Johnson added the title as an acknowledgment of the role Tapscott was already playing.
Five meetings are on the schedule for the day, but only one merits much discussion, a 9 a.m. senior staff meeting being held several blocks away at the Holiday Inn.
While he waits for the team’s new arena to be completed, Tapscott is presiding over a sports empire that is a lot more far-flung than he’d like it to be. The Bobcats’ staff of about 130 people is divided among five locations in and around the city. The company has no room big enough for the 30 or so people who will attend this meeting, so the Bobcats have rented a conference room.
Tapscott says the meeting is a hassle, but a worthwhile one. “Some of these people would never see each other if it weren’t for these meetings,” he says, adding that face-to-face communication is crucial.
“People send an e-mail and think they’ve communicated,” he says. “You didn’t communicate. You sent an e-mail. And I might not check my e-mail this morning.”
The meeting will include reports from almost every senior member of the organization.
“It’s going to be two hours and done,” Tapscott says emphatically. “I will be a time cop again today.”
One of the things he plans to talk about is a recent study conducted by the Seattle SuperSonics called “Why Customers Leave.” Some of them die, the study says. Others move away. But the No. 1 reason they leave?
“Attitude or indifference,” Tapscott says. “We don’t have a lot of impact on some of the other categories, but when it comes to attitude, we’ve got a lot of impact.”
Talk turns to other items on Tapscott’s list. A staff member has given him a report on team doctors that discusses the fact that many teams don’t pay their doctors, but rather have doctors pay for the privilege of being associated with the team.
Tapscott is doubtful. “If you were going to the dentist, and he had to pay you to sit in his chair, how confident would you be?” he asks. He wants more information.
Another staff member went to a concert at the Charlotte Coliseum and has given Tapscott a write-up on the experience.
“I ask everyone who goes to an event at the Coliseum to give me a report,” says Tapscott.
Says Weiller: “She’s probably the only person who’s ever gone to a Jimmy Buffett concert and written a three-page report on it. I think she may have missed the experience.”
Tapscott and Weiller go over a letter to Bobcats investors, asking them to join team owner Johnson in his Charlotte condo after the Sting season opener the next Friday.
Finally, they look at a report on hotel availability for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. The Bobcats want the game, but the bid deadline is less than a month away.
While they’ve been talking, Tapscott has been looking at a small gift basket on his desk that was sent by Midwest Airlines. He isn’t sure why it came to him.
The early meeting ends as scheduled at 8:30, leaving just enough time for a few phone calls before the short walk to the Holiday Inn.
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| Tapscott (with Executive Assistant Cheryl Brown at top) is active and animated during a senior staff meeting, and he gets his point across: The fans come first. |
The All-Star Game is the first topic at the staff meeting. The city is supportive, and various other organizations are willing to participate, but the bottom line is that there’s not enough time to get all of the commitments, financial and otherwise, that the team needs.
“We’ve just got to guarantee the fee,” says Weiller, “then go out and get the money.” It’s substantial money, he says, but he won’t say how much.
There’s a big discussion about what happens to suite holders and season-ticket holders if the game comes to town, and nervousness that the NBA would control virtually everything in the arena.
There will be a lot of negotiations, Tapscott says, but the bottom line is that the league awards the game, and the league controls the game.
The meeting moves on. Weiller shows the latest Bobcats PowerPoint presentation that executives are supposed to give when speaking to groups throughout the city. When he finishes, Tapscott asks, “Do we want to put the free seat licenses in the presentation?” Weiller adds, “Does everybody here know what a free seat license is?”
The Bobcats are promising that anyone who buys season tickets and keeps them for five years will get a deed to their seats.
Tapscott tells the group, “We were at an event talking to someone about a free seat license, and he said, ‘What’s the upfront payment?’ We said, ‘It’s free.’ And he said, ‘But what’s it gonna cost me?’ We said, ‘It’s free.’ Finally, we told him that the cost is loyalty. Stay with us for five years, and you get the seat license.”
There’s a lot of discussion about the June 24 draft. Fifty-six billboards are going up in the area touting what will, at that time, be the franchise’s biggest event, the day the team will get the player that Tapscott refers to as the Iconic Singular Player, around whom the team will be built. There will be ads on buses around the city just before the draft, as well as fliers and television ads.
There’s a discussion about research showing that 50 percent of potential ticket buyers won’t decide whether to buy until after the draft.
“A huge percent of fans are waiting to see what the product is,” says Tom Ward, executive vice president of business operations.
Kelly Chopus, Sting vice president of business operations, says preparations for the season opener are on track to do as well as last year. “We hope to sell out,” she says.
Naomi Travers, executive vice president of media rights and entertainment, says she’s trying to hire on-air talent for the cable network and keep those talks secret. “We want to keep control of announcements,” she says.
Weiller points out that a newspaper story had floated the name of one announcer just that morning.
“That’s not a done deal,” says Travers.
There is talk of ticket sales, employee reviews and health insurance before Tapscott takes another turn.
He wants everyone in the room to read the Seattle study.
“No matter what department you are in, you are here for our fans,” he says. “Without them, we have no reason for being.”
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| Bobcats promotion director Lisa Bowen talks with an attendee at the team’s Sponsor Summit. |
He talks about a new idea for game days. For each game, he says, there will be a different senior staff member in charge of making sure that everything runs right. He tells everyone to be ready for that responsibility. And, he adds, on game day, “If you get asked to do something out of the box by the executive in charge, you will respond, no questions asked.”
The meeting ends before 11, and Tapscott makes the walk back to his office. On the elevator, he introduces himself to a young man wearing an orange Bobcats T-shirt.
“Are you new with us?” Tapscott asks.
“I just started this week,” comes the answer. “I work on the sixth floor.”
“Well, we’re glad to have you,” says Tapscott, “and I appreciate you wearing the colors. You do know you don’t get paid extra for that, right?”
Out of the elevator, Tapscott notes the company’s growth. “I used to know the name of everyone who worked for us,” he says. “Now I run into people every week who I’ve never seen before.”
After a few phone calls, Tapscott and Weiller walk to the Capitol Grill to meet Tim Newman, president of City Center Partners, a civic group that promotes business in downtown Charlotte. There is one item on the agenda: the All-Star Game. The Bobcats are prepared to spend the money to get it. But they need commitments from the city.
The city will do what it needs to do, says Newman. It just needs to know exactly what that is.
Things will start happening soon, Tapscott promises. (A couple of weeks later, though, the Bobcats decide to wait a year before trying for the game. There’s just too much else going on.)
After lunch, Tapscott heads to his car to make the 15-minute trip to the Bobcats’ office near the Charlotte Coliseum.
Tapscott greets everyone he sees there, stopping for several short conversations on his way back for a 2 p.m. meeting with Bernie Bickerstaff, the Bobcats’ head coach and general manager.
On this day in late May, the Bobcats don’t know who they will take with the No. 4 pick in the draft. Bickerstaff was pressed on the point at a recent meeting with Johnson and other members of the ownership group.
“They had a Q&A with Bernie,” says Tapscott, “and the only thing he didn’t give up was who he liked for the No. 4 pick. I told him, ‘They’re the owners. They get to know before everybody else.’ He said, ‘I know, I’ve just got to make up my mind.’”
The team is bringing a player in for a workout later that week. Tapscott says Johnson’s car and driver are available to pick up the player at the airport.
“Are you sure?” Bickerstaff asks.
“We’re paying for that car,” says Tapscott. “We’ve got to use it. Besides, first impressions …”
One player wants the Bobcats to come to him, an idea Bickerstaff says is unacceptable. “We’re going to do this thing right,” he says. “The players are coming here.”
Tapscott is firmly behind the idea.
“We’re paying the salaries,” he says. “We’re building the team. Let them come to us. One of the things we’re looking for is a commitment to the franchise. We’re all about the team concept.”
Another player wants to come in mid-June. Bickerstaff just needs to set a date.
“Do me a favor,” says Tapscott, “don’t do it on the 18th. My daughter graduates from elementary school, and if I’m not there …”
“No problem,” says Bickerstaff. “We want to sustain the marriage.”
One player only wants to do a morning workout for the team, rather than two workouts in one day, another idea that Bickerstaff nixes.
“I’m trying to determine the work ethic,” he says. “Most agents don’t want that second workout, but we’re in the driver’s seat.”
Bickerstaff has been looking into charter flights for the team.
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| Tapscott tells the crowd that the Bobcats will build their team the right way. |
When he mentions that he’s been talking with Piedmont Airlines, Tapscott brings up the gift basket he got that morning from Midwest Airlines, slightly exaggerating the quantity and quality of the offerings therein.
“They were supposed to send that to me,” Bickerstaff says in mock anger. “They just lost out on that deal.”
Bickerstaff has been trying to find a top assistant coach, and Tapscott offers up that if Bickerstaff needs to, he can offer to pay a full playoff revenue share rather than the half-share discussed before.
Bickerstaff says he’s been planning to use that as an incentive, adding, “If we get to the playoffs, you’ll be happy to pay it.”
Before heading for the Bobcats Sponsor Summit, which is being held a few miles north of downtown, Tapscott stops at the office for a quick meeting on an issue that had popped up that morning. Some coaches need more office space, the IT department needs to move, and some storage rooms need to be made habitable. It’s a minor logistical problem, but because there are turf issues between two departments, Tapscott moderates. It’s handled quickly.
The sponsorship event is a success, especially considering that there is no intent for deals to be signed there. It is essentially a Bobcats trade show. Booths are set up to show the hundreds of ways that a company could leverage its association with the team, from community relations to product giveaways, signs and a presence on the cable network.
“We won’t close any business here,” says Tod Rosensweig, vice president of corporate partnerships. “This is to get our possibilities in front of sponsors and potential sponsors.”
There is a stage at one end of the room, and about an hour after the 4 p.m. start, Weiller, in his best overly excited P.A. announcer voice, introduces the key figures at the event. Tapscott, who is last, bounds onto the stage to Weiller’s exclamation, “El Presidente!” Among the other speakers is Donna Daniels, the NBA’s team marketing guru, who flew in to give a slide show illustrating how sponsors leverage their NBA relationships at the local level.
Tapscott spends a few minutes talking about the Bobcats’ commitment to their fans. “Bob Johnson has promised that we will have players on the team that this community can be proud of,” he says.
Tapscott tells the crowd that he’s leaving for the Sting scrimmage against the Chinese national team, then seems to think better of it and sticks around for the rest of the speeches. The event ends when Tapscott and former Hornets player Dell Curry, the Bobcats’ director of basketball relations, hold a drawing to award door prizes.
The scrimmage is at the team’s practice facility in Fort Mill, S.C., 15 minutes south of downtown Charlotte. Tapscott arrives for the last period. More than a thousand fans have shown up for the free event.
Tapscott relaxes. There’s little business that needs to be conducted here. It’s time to enjoy some basketball.
The team is pleased with the turnout, and with the fact that the Sting pounds the Chinese team, though acknowledging that the visitors are in town on the final day of an exhausting U.S. tour.
Coach Trudi Lacey asks Tapscott to speak to the team after the game, an idea he initially resists, but finally gives in to. When he walks into the locker room, veteran guard Andrea Stinson looks at him and says, “So. President.”
“You’ve been in this league a long time,” he responds. “You know what that means. No new contract. No new money.”
Outside the locker room, Weiller and Chopus, the Sting’s head of operations, are debating what to do about the fact that the orange coloring isn’t right in their warm-ups and T-shirts. The team hasn’t been charged for the miscolored product, but the question is whether it should pay for anything, including the uniforms, when the orders have been so clearly mismatched.
They debate just how tough they should be with their supplier, but decide to finish tomorrow when Tapscott comes out of the locker room, invigorated by his talk with the team and ready to call it a day.
Weiller hitches a ride with Tapscott, and the two men recap the day. A lot accomplished, no insurmountable problems, the Bobcats are another day closer to the draft, and the Sting ended its preseason on a high note.
There’s a lot to do tomorrow, they decide, and agree that the day might be best started with a meeting at their favorite coffee shop.
But today was a fine one.
“It’s always a good day when you end it with the team,” Tapscott says, “and when you end it with a win.”
