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Inside the decisions on SBA nominations

Selecting the nominees for our annual Sports Business Awards grows more and more difficult. The SBJ/SBD editorial staff studied and debated hundreds of companies and submissions over the past two months to come up with this list. It’s not the staff’s favorite exercise. But we grind through the categories looking for the companies and people successfully experimenting, innovating and executing. We obviously need a lesson in self-discipline, because this year we have 89 nominees across the 17 categories, a record number. We expect disagreement with our selections; but I can assure you they are made after serious deliberation and with conviction. Here’s a glimpse into our decision-making and some of the more difficult judgments we had to make.

TEAM BUILDING: Two teams were easy selections: Atlanta United and Vegas Golden Knights both had historic launches. Recently one top sports executive called what the Golden Knights have done one of the most impressive team debuts ever, while MLS Commissioner Don Garber admitted that he clearly missed the potential of the Arthur Blank-led United. “We didn’t see this one coming,” he said at a conference at Stanford Business School.

After those two, the discussions were dominated by one theme: Warrior fatigue. Golden State would be nominated for the third straight year and the fourth time in the last five years. But again, we couldn’t ignore their business success — from a record-breaking jersey patch deal to leading the NBA in many business metrics while capturing the most awards at this year’s league sales meetings. But it’s not just on the business side; they are a cultural force and provocative organization comfortable taking stands on difficult issues and making a difference in the community. Listening to co-owner Joe Lacob speak at Stanford recently, I could see the reason for their continued success through his mission statement. “It’s being relentless in your pursuit of winning,” he stressed. He pushed back on the notion that the organization has done one big thing — from hiring Steve Kerr/Bob Myers, developing Steph Curry or signing Kevin Durant. “It’s not about one big thing. It’s doing every little thing right,” he said. “It’s a relentless pursuit of excellence every day.” It’s also about ownership being present. “You have to be visible. It’s hard to run a franchise from 2,000-3,000 miles away. It’s 365, 24/7,” he added. Finally, he offered a brash ambition: “Our goal is to be the No. 1 business organization in all of sports all over the world.” It’s hard not to respect this organization’s moment in time. 

But we also couldn’t overlook the model-changing approach of the Houston Astros, the business success of the Toronto Raptors, who have one of the most underrated front offices in sports and the dynamic and dominating performance of the Predators in taking over the Nashville market during their Stanley Cup run. We also gave a close look to the Minnesota Lynx, Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Rockets and the New York Yankees, but they couldn’t crack into this fun, competitive group.

 FACILITY OF THE YEAR: A very competitive category sees perhaps one building conspicuous by its absence: Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But the committee couldn’t get past the fact that while the building is truly grand, its opening was delayed, the much-hyped roof isn’t fully operational, the building has had issues with ingress/egress and is even looking to bring on a consultant to address it. There was too much to shore up to be considered for Facility of the Year. Each of the nominees had an impressive year: SunTrust Park broke the model, especially with The Battery Atlanta; Little Caesars Arena is changing downtown Detroit; T-Mobile Arena had a big event year on boxing and a smash hit around the Golden Knights, U.S. Bank Stadium gets its second straight nomination after obtaining LEED status and having a very successful Super Bowl showing, while Target Center and Notre Dame Stadium underwent massive and historic renovations. The buildings in Atlanta and Detroit may be the early favorites, but I’ll be interested to see the view from the judges.

MEDIA BATTLE: Every year, we have trouble with this category. How do you compare Fox Sports to Facebook? What about the Olympics on NBC versus the NFL on Amazon? This year, we focused our Best in Sports Media category on legacy sports media companies and our Best in Digital Sports Media category on native digital companies. We could not ignore how Amazon, Facebook and Twitter are creating, using and distributing sports content and enhancing fan engagement.  We left these meetings with pounding headaches and vowed to make changes to more clearly define the categories next year.

BREAKTHROUGH: This has become one of the most popular categories. While we can be bold and take some chances, it also is very broad. We liked the five we put forth, but it wasn’t without great debate over the efforts made by companies such as SeatGeek, The Athletic, breakthrough franchises like Nashville SC, FC Cincinnati, the successful sports branding program of Marvel Entertainment and even the success of the U.S. women’s gold medal-winning hockey team. We loved the players’ successful demand for pay equity before the 2017 World Championships, their thrilling victory in South Korea and advocacy for women in sports, but we found less to honor on the business side of USA Hockey.

ON CAMPUS: When we began studying the field for Athletic Director of the Year, the FBI investigation into college basketball added a layer of complication on the selection process unlike anything we’ve had to navigate in the past and prompted some deep, lively discussions about how much that should factor into an AD’s performance. But we kept coming back to a final five: Sandy Barbour, who has revitalized Penn State’s athletic program; Jeff Bourne has led James Madison to unprecedented success; Boo Corrigan’s “warrior ethos” has made Army a winner on and off the field; Jim Phillips of Northwestern has won where many thought it was impossible; and Danny White brought Central Florida its own version of a national title.

FROM THE SPONSORS: Sponsor of the year nominees all had a good story to tell, but overall, we found much to be desired when it came to creativity and detailed return-on-investment/objectives in this category. Some interesting approaches nearly made the cut: We liked what insurance company Zurich did around the Zurich Classic, where it worked with the PGA Tour to create a team event; we also liked what Mastercard did in its tribute to Arnold Palmer around the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And while some lauded Gatorade’s title sponsorship of the G League as an incubator for research and development, many dismissed it as not enough to halt declining market share for the brand.

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: The biggest takeaway this year: no commissioners. While NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had a lot of support to make the final five, our panel was swayed by the stories of the owners, entrepreneurs and media leaders outside of the league offices in 2017. Our five finalists took big bets and were involved in the biggest events on the biggest stages. While we think these five represent the best in the business this year, we continue to be disheartened by the lack of diversity in this category.

OTHER TAKEAWAYS: The category for Property Consulting is a matchup of the heavyweights with CAA Sports, Legends and AEG the easy favorites. … The most difficult category to sort through was again Best in Corporate Consulting, as more than 25 submissions resulted in strong nominees. … Tom Brady was easily the athlete the editorial committee felt most effectively executed an authentic social media strategy and message. … Two first-time nominees for League of the Year, as the SEC parlays broad success on the field and smart business moves into a nomination while Michael Whan’s progressive leadership of the LPGA pays dividends as a global strategy, stronger event calendar, enhanced purses, and increased sponsorship has that property enjoying among its best days ever.

Now come even harder decisions, and a group of independent judges will select the winners in all but two of the categories. You’ll want to be in New York City on May 23 when the winners will be announced as part of the 11th annual Sports Business Awards, where we will also honor Michael Eisner as our Lifetime Achievement Award winner. We’d love to have you join us on May 23!

Abraham D. Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.

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