Jimmy Pitaro: “We’re going to get through this. As I said before, and as I’ve learned from Bob [Chapek, Disney CEO], it’s important that we stay calm. That we try to be realistic, but at the same time be optimistic. Again, admittedly it’s not an easy task right now, but it’s critical. I would say, let’s take care of our families. Let’s take care of our colleagues, and know that at some point we’ll all be helping millions of sports fans out of our current circumstance, and to a much happier place.”
Scott O’Neil: “Appreciate the role that you have in building communities. And as I was talking to Hugh Weber, about what the reboot in New Orleans looked like, and we started talking about: Who are we going to connect with in the community? Who in the media can help drive this messaging? What partners would be the smartest, most creative and most interesting to activate alongside? How do we leverage the reach of our fans? Not only to reach our fans but the reach of our fans to drive this kind of sense of love and community and education. … We want to see you. Your people want to see you. Your friends want to see you. … You are the ones who run this business, this industry. You are the ones that we look to when things are good and when things are bad, and right now we need a lift, we need some education, we need something to keep our minds going. We need structure and we need hope. … It’s our time, let’s go lead.”
Nick Kelly: “I think the biggest word is patience, and it’s across the board. I think it’s being patient to figure out what the best time is and the right messaging to get these big events and venues back up and running. I think it’s also patience with all your partners and all your fans that, the ability for them to roll over and buy another year of season tickets after they may be directly impacted economically, may not be as easy. The ability for partners to come in and grow their investment may not be as easy. … I want to make sure that they look at it like we’re all in this together.”
Mark Coughlin: “I think they can provide distraction and entertainment as best they can, and not to think about how are we going to monetize it and everything else. Athletes, personalities, entertainers on every level, from the smallest little influencer on YouTube or gamer on Twitch — if they can make another person forget about this for a little while. … It’s got to be about people. We’ve got to try and make people feel a little bit better about things.”
Geoff Reiss: “More than anything is there’s strength in numbers, and use this as an opportunity to reach out to somebody that you haven’t spoken to for a while and just shoot them a text, shoot them an email, ‘How you doing?’ Use this as a means of connecting with people across your industry. … And use this moment to not get isolated, but to actually get hyperconnected with each other.”
Ishwara Glassman Chrein: "Be kind to one another. There are a lot of people who are going to come out of this and need help, be they students who are graduating and are going to have a tough time finding a job or people who got laid off through no fault of their own, or people who are contractors or freelancers or entrepreneurs. If you have a little bit of time during this period, can you spend 30 minutes a day taking a call from a student or an entrepreneur who needs advice or help?”
Bryan Perez: “Be sure to take care of yourself. Health is really important, but not in the way I think we’re all referring to it. It’s just as important to keep your mind right as it is to keep your body right. So to the extent you can exercise, not focus on stock market swings and focus on the things that you can control. We’re all going to get through this together.”
Tom Glick: “Stay solid and take care of your people, your teammates. … Remember what sports do best. We are a community asset in the cities and regions where we exist and play our games. We are a big part of people’s lives, what they think about. Continue to be that in whatever the right way is at this time. … Be prepared, because when we come out of this crisis people are going to be looking to us to return to playing games and doing the things that they love about our industry.”
