Dave Kaval
Age: 39
Team: San Jose Earthquakes
Title: President
Where born: Cleveland
Education: Stanford University (B.A., international relations); Stanford University (MBA)
Family: Wife, Maria; daughters, Stella (11) and Annika (9)
Favorite way to unwind: Cooking, especially BBQ on my 22-inch Weber Smokey Mountain.
Cause supported: Positive Coaching Alliance.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I’ve ever done: Start a professional baseball league.
Person in the industry I’d most like to meet: Kevin Plank.
If I could change jobs with anyone for a day, it would be: Elon Musk, because he is revolutionizing multiple industries.
2015 will be a good year if: The Browns go to the Super Bowl.
My fellow Forty Under 40 class members would be surprised to know that I: Wrote a book on traveling to all 30 MLB ballparks in 38 days called “The Summer That Saved Baseball.”
JOHN TODDfter San Jose Earthquakes President Dave Kaval graduated from Stanford in 1998, he and a friend took a trip to all 30 MLB ballparks in just 38 days. As they chronicled the experience for a book, Kaval said he realized how much a great stadium could affect how people enjoyed and connected with the team.
That experience has now come full circle, with Kaval playing a large part in the development of Avaya Stadium, the Earthquakes’ new 18,000-seat soccer-specific stadium that
{podcast}
SBJ Podcast:
Forty Under 40 editor Mark Mensheha and Executive Editor Abraham Madkour discuss this year's class, some of the more interesting stories in it and how the selection process works.
opened this year.
“What some people don’t understand about the Earthquakes is that we have a 40-year history dating back to the NASL, but while there has always been great passion for soccer here, the team has never had a true home,” said Kaval, who was founder and CEO of the independent Golden Baseball League before making the move to MLS. “When [Earthquakes owner] John Fisher initially spoke with me before I joined the team [in 2010], we discussed the business plan as well as a potential stadium plan, and the challenge of building that venue along with a real legacy in this area really appealed to me.”
Over the course of these last five years, Kaval has been a pivotal figure in the construction process of the new stadium, as well as in securing $100 million in private financing for the project. He also has overseen growth on the business side of the club, doubling the team’s ticket and sponsorship revenue as well as helping to secure the stadium’s naming-rights deal with Avaya.
“For our staff here, everyone feels like they are a key part of that next story of the Earthquakes in San Jose, and bringing something to the fans that is long overdue,” Kaval said.
— Ian Thomas
