Menu
In-Depth

Meet the teams: Houston Roughnecks

From the Texans' J.J. Watt and Deshaun Watson to the Rockets' James Harden and Russell Westbrook to the Astros' Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, Houston is a city of megastars.

In a market chock-full of captivating stars and personalities — all on playoff-caliber teams — how will the XFL's Houston Roughnecks find their niche?

One Roughnecks executive who understands the uniqueness of the Houston market is team president Brian Michael Cooper, who has worked more than 20 years as a sports attorney, agent, executive and adviser, and who moved to The Woodlands just north of Houston in 2002.

"Historically in Houston, the love of sports figures and sports teams has been one where they make that community connection with the city," said Cooper, who most recently served as a partner in the Houston and Denver offices of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP and as a member of the firm’s entertainment, media and sports practice. "From the [NFL's Houston] Oilers to 'Clutch City' with the Rockets and then the Texans, they have great players and also great leaders who have made that impact. That's going to be important. Reciprocity is a word I keep coming back to."

Houston Roughnecks

 

 Brian Michael Cooper, team president

 Jennifer Germer, marketing director 

 June Jones, head coach and general manager

The prime example of that is what Texans defensive star Watt did in raising more than $37 million to help rebuild Houston after Hurricane Harvey. The greater Houston area, Cooper said, reciprocated with an outpouring of love and support specifically for Watt and also more broadly for the Texans. 

On a smaller scale, the Roughnecks want to create an environment where fans can connect with the players on a personal level. A recent example saw Roughnecks kicker Sergio Castillo wow a crowd of elementary school-age children with a poignant, inspirational speech about never giving up.

Cooper said media coverage of the Roughnecks has been "outstanding." All four local network stations attended the first news conference last spring as well as the logo unveiling, he said. Fox 26 Houston provided extensive coverage of the team's uniform reveal (an oil derrick is fused with the letter "H" on the helmet, a nod to the old Oilers logo).

The Roughnecks' community outreach has run the gamut. The team has developed relationships with the Special Olympics, Houston Food Bank, YMCA and Ronald McDonald House, among others. Cooper said they are taking part in Team Up Houston, which guides students toward careers in sports business. And the Roughnecks have a robust relationship with Houston's youth football organizations.

Since July, the Roughnecks have held periodic fan events, with the most recent ones each drawing more than 100 fans. The events include a question-and-answer session with fans, many of whom ask about gaining more access to players.

"We want to show the city of Houston we care about what they do," Cooper said. "I think they will reciprocate with great support."

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2020/02/03/In-Depth/Houston.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2020/02/03/In-Depth/Houston.aspx

CLOSE