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(l to r) Host, Colangelo, Ponturo,
Lopiano, Labinski And Pilson |
The IMG World Congress of Sports presented by SportsBusiness Journal/Daily closed its first day yesterday with a panel of sports legends who tossed aside industry terms like return-on-investment and rights fees in order to impart lessons about leadership and success. The panel was made up of the first class of "The Champions" -- Suns Chair and USA Basketball Chair Jerry Colangelo; Host Communications Founder Jim Host; Populous co-Founder and former Managing Partner Ron Labinski; Sports Management Resources President Donna Lopiano; Pilson Communications President Neal Pilson; and Ponturo Management Group CEO Tony Ponturo. "The Champions" is a new award that recognizes sports business pioneers and innovators.
FAITH-BASED BUSINESS: Believing in yourself and supporting good ideas with hard work are the cornerstone of success, the panelists agreed. Host said, "I have always had immense faith in myself. I never questioned whether I could make it work. I never communicated defeat. I never communicated lack of faith in my own ability." Colangelo used an anecdotal example of leveraging opportunities to illustrate this point, saying, "In 1992 when we opened the America West Arena, Phoenix was the 19th market in the NBA, yet Phoenix led the NBA in total revenues that year." While with Anheuser-Busch, Ponturo said, his conviction that sports properties were valuable marketing vehicles was critical to creating partnerships. He added: "I am most proud of the fact that we stood up internally, believed in these properties." Both a motivator and a cause for sacrifice, passion played a critical role for panelists as they shaped their career. For Pilson, this meant that his wife raised their children largely without him. He said, "You manage expectations, not only of your boss and your staff but also your family. It's not easy." For Colangelo, passion was inherent to being a good leader. He said, "Be passionate about what you do, lead by example and what happens is that you earn respect. You can't demand respect, you earn respect."
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"The Champion" Award Winners Discuss
The Roots Of Their Success |
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME: Timing and networking were two common refrains echoed by each of the panelists. Ponturo said, "It is about hard work and having good people around you. I think if any of us thought that we did this all by ourselves that would be stupid." Lopiano felt that in her case hard work was necessary in making it as a female in sports business because there were no second chances. Labinski said networking should be a practice because "knowing someone is probably the single most important thing that you could do." Additionally, many of the panelists felt that one important aspect of sports business that young people can overlook is the value of that first impression and how that can build an individual's brand image. Pilson: "It isn't batting averages. It's skill sets. The most important thing about getting a job in sports is not being interested in sports. We are all interested in sports."
FUTURE PICK'EM: Lopiano said her career was driven by a search for the next best thing. She added that her success was rooted in her effort to "never make the same mistake twice." When discussing their predictions for the future, the panelists used the example of potential changes to the format of the NCAA basketball tournament. Host took a firm stance against a move to 96 teams, saying, "To some degree it is about money, but sooner or later that issue has got to stop and we have got to think about the student athletes." Pilson echoed that money would drive the NCAA's final decision. He added he was concerned about ESPN's growing power in the sports business, saying the network has reached a point where it "can basically price out all of the broadcasters on any given negotiation." That could be a problem, Pilson added, because ESPN could decide "they don't need to spend any more money because they pretty much have all the major properties that they need to have to maintain (their per-home subsidy)."
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