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Photo by: COURTESY OF STEVE SCHANWALD
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STEVE SCHANWALD
Former executive vice president
of business operations, Chicago Bulls
Steve Schanwald retired in June after spending 40 years in the industry, including the past 28 years with the Chicago Bulls, where he worked as executive vice president of business operations.
Schanwald, a Long Island, N.Y., native, also worked for the Chicago White Sox, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Air Force Academy.
During his career, Schanwald became best known for his role in building the Bulls into a global brand during the Michael Jordan glory years while ushering in a new era in sports marketing.
“The thing I am most proud of is that there was always the axiom of when you win, you draw and when you lose, you don’t. But once the music stopped after [Michael] Jordan retired after the 1997-98 season, we led the NBA in attendance over a six-year span. Our game entertainment was the gold standard in the NBA. As we enter the 50th Bulls season, the Bulls are a global brand and recognized around the world.”
■ I grew up on Long Island and I loved sports, but I didn’t have the ability to play beyond high school. I went to the University of Maryland and while I was going there, they had created a sports marketing office. I walked in and asked for a job.
■ When I graduated, I was offered a job as director of sports promotions at the Air Force Academy. I was a one-man gang doing group sales, selling advertising on the radio network, selling ads in Falcons Stadium. Bill Parcells was the football coach. He needed to get cars for his coaches so I had to go out and get a courtesy car program started. The assistant basketball coach was Gregg Popovich. I was able to get some great mentorship.
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Schanwald with Michael Jordan, Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman at Scottie Pippen’s jersey retirement ceremony in 2005. BELOW: A winner at the 2008 NBA draft lottery.
Photos by: NBAE / GETTY IMAGES
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■ I started working for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, and we won the World Series in my first year working in professional sports. Willie Stargell would play the “We Are Family” song in the locker room after wins and we started playing it on the PA system. It started at the grassroots level and caught on.
■ Jerry Reinsdorf hired me in 1981, and I began a more than 34-year association with Jerry. I worked for the White Sox for six years. Then Jerry bought the Bulls and he moved me into the job that I just retired from.
■ When I got here, we had four people in the entire marketing department and no full-time ticket sales staff. We were a tenant in the Chicago Stadium and had no revenue from concessions or parking. We had no radio or TV networks. Our sponsorship revenue was $681,000 in 1987, and courtside seats cost $40. We had one computer.
■ It was a blessing to watch the greatest player who ever lived at close range. Our longest sellout streak [had been] eight games, and it would grow to 610 games over 13 seasons.
■ We used the leverage that Jordan provided to be a 50 percent owner of a new facility and we built the United Center and paid for it in full in six years’ time. To pay for the building, we had 216 suites, which was the most in the NBA. We grew a database of more than 1 million people to keep the band playing.
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The Bulls’ popularity drew high-profile guests like Tom Cruise, Muhammad Ali.
Photos: COURTESY OF STEVE SCHANWALD
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■ I played golf with Michael and one day we started at 8 in the morning and ended at 8 that night. We played 54 holes in one day. He had more energy than any man I ever knew, and he still does to this day.
■ Eight years ago I had a heart attack, and Jerry arranged to have three meals delivered to me for an entire month and he called me every day. That is the kind of thoughtfulness he has. He is a person of great kindness and heart, and I wish people could know him the way I know him and not as a businessperson who every so often has to make tough decisions. He has had an impact on so many lives.
■ You never knew what kind of game you would get, but you knew you had control over the game entertainment. It was, How do we appeal to kids and adults alike and all demographics and to make sure that the person who had little interest in the game had a good time? We put a lot of effort into the in-game entertainment.
■ Drive and persistence is the first [key to success], along with a belief in oneself and trying to be a person of honor and integrity. Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it. I was fortunate to be doing something I love every day.
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NBA titles meant multiple White House visits.
Photo: COURTESY OF STEVE SCHANWALD
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■ If I could go back, it would be “Michael Jordan Night” in 1994 at the United Center. The arena was sold out, but instead of making it an arena event, it became a made-for-TV event. The mistake was that I allowed the tail to wag the dog. It should have been an arena event and it became the opposite.
■ When I got into the business, to buy a ticket you had to get in a car and drive to get a ticket. Now every handheld device is a ticket outlet. Yes, analytics are huge now and you have more informed decisions rather that gut feel. But I worry about the industry getting away from the basics of customer service. The essence of success is the relationship with the customer.
■ I will spend my winters in Florida and summers in Chicago. I am certainly open to teaching and consulting. I spent almost 30 years with the Bulls and I’m quite happy right now. If an opportunity came along that excited me, you never now. I am content and happy to walk away.
