Rick Burton - Sports Business Unplugged: Leadership Challenges from the World of Sports

SUPPORT FROM SYRACUSE UNIVERSITYS DAVID B. FALK COLLEGE OF SPORT AND HUMAN DYNAMICS TOWARD THE PRODUCTION OF THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED.

ALL AUTHOR PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS AT THE AUTHORS RESPECTIVE SCHOOLS.

Copyright 2016 by Syracuse University Press

Syracuse, New York 13244-5290

All Rights Reserved

First Edition 2016

16 17 18 19 20 21 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu.

ISBN: 978-0-8156-3476-8 (paperback) 978-0-8156-5392-9 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Burton, Rick, author. | OReilly, Norm, 1973author.

Title: Sports business unplugged : leadership challenges from the world of sports / Rick Burton and Norm OReilly ; foreword by David Stern.

Description: First edition. | Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, 2016. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016014359| ISBN 9780815634768 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780815653929 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: SportsEconomic aspects. | Sports administration.

Classification: LCC GV716 .B86 2016 | DDC 338.47796dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016014359

Manufactured in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Contents

Illustrations

Tables

Foreword

IT IS NOT OFTEN that magazines or newspapers covering the sports industry have the luxury of employing former league commissioners or national Olympic team advisers for their regular bylines. But thats exactly what SportsBusiness Journal (SBJ) discovered when it began to use regular opinion columns from university professors Rick Burton and Norm OReilly.

Rick, an old friend from my first year as commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), had ably served as the commissioner of Australias National Basketball League, and Dr. Norm OReilly had worked on numerous projects for the Canadian Olympic Committee. When they joined forces in 2009 (Rick at Syracuse University and Norm initially at Syracuse and now at Ohio University) and began writing regular columns for SBJ, they brought a unique insight to their observations.

Not only could they combine familiarity with the practitioner side of our industry, but they could also apply a research orientation that reflected their combined time in the ivory tower. Dont get me wrong, I use the term ivory tower not to diminish the value of academicians but to suggest that someone not living in the day to day of the sports industry can actually take the time to reflect holistically on what is happening. And thats what Rick and Norm did on a near monthly basis. I cannot emphasize enough how important such a dual perspective is when analyzing our industry, and I believe the readers of SBJ have benefited. I know I certainly have.

To that end, all of the columns you will find reprinted in this book ran in SBJ over the past seven years and have offered tremendous value to practitioners and students alike. But what I have always liked about Burton and OReillys work is that their commentary is never dated or out of touch. In fact, as I go back through the columns they have selected for inclusion in the book, I see added value that I certainly missed the first time around.

I would emphasize again that these columns offer huge value for practitioners and future practitioners in sport. As our industry continues to grow and formalize, I know firsthand that knowledge, learning, and competitive edge are vital not only at the league and club level but also at the individual level for those seeking promotions or entry as professionals into our complex field.

We all know that knowledge is power, and these columns offer great advantages to those who take the time to read them.

I encourage your consideration of the content shared in this book and hope you will enjoy some of the fine writing that graces the pages of the sports industrys leading trade journal.

David Stern

NBA Commissioner Emeritus

1. National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern (19842014). Courtesy of the National Basketball Association.

Acknowledgments

WE WOULD LIKE to note the support and help of a number of wonderful people in the publishing of this book. Without them, this book doesnt exist.

At Syracuse University Press

Suzanne Guiod, editor in chief; Alice Randel Pfeiffer, director; Vicky Lane, senior book designer; Mona Hamlin, marketing analyst; Brendan Missett, project editor; Kelly Balenske, assistant editor; and Deb Manion, acquisitions editor; as well as our copy editor in New Mexico, Annie Barva

At Syracuse University

Chancellor Kent Syverud, Falk College dean Diane Lyden Murphy, Sue Cornelius Edson, Margie Chetney, Renee Crown Honors Program director Steve Kuusisto, Hoang-Anh Tran, Falk College Department of Sport Management director Michael Veley, Michele Jachim Barrett, David Salanger, Gabe Nugent (in the General Counsels Office), and sport management graduate assistant Aaron Rudy

At Ohio University

Dean Hugh Sherman, Jess Storm Steele, Michael Stephens, Ben Siegel, Jennifer Daniels, and Jessica Gardner

At SportsBusiness Journal

Richard Weiss, publisher; Abe Madkour, executive editor; and the steward who selected and edited these columns, the very wonderful Betty Gomes

At the National Hockey League

Commissioner Gary Bettman, Jessica Johnson, and Melynda Pilon for the contribution of beautiful color photos

At the Atlantic Coast Conference

Commissioner John Swofford and Amy Yakola

At the National Basketball Association

Joseph Amati, Linda Tosi, and Emma Zingone

Our families

Barb, Stephanie, Andrew (particularly for his great photos), and Meredith Burton

Nadege, Emma, Kian, Thomas, and Leland OReilly

Our mentors

David Stern, former National Basketball Association commissioner and the provider of a wonderful foreword

Dick Pound, International Olympic Committee member and former World Anti-Doping Agency president and IOC marketing vice president

George Foster, Stanford University Graduate School of Business Management professor

Gene Laczniak, Marquette University marketing professor

And in particular

Gary Pasqualicchio, the graduate assistant at Ohio University who helped us pull all the manuscript pieces together and worked so closely with Syracuse University Press to ensure we hit deadlines and turned things in the right way

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