Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

SportsBusiness CAlLV Coke names Bea Perez CMU Coca-Cola reorganized its leadership ranks in North America, moving Katie Bayne from her post as CMO for Coca-Cola North America to president and general manager of sparkling beverages in North America. Bea Perez, who most recently served as CocaCola North America senior vice president of integrated marketing, replaces Bayne as CMO. Gavin (left) and Joe Maloof havenew titles as part of the restructuring. Kings buy out Thomas The Sacramento Kings have bought out team President John Thomas, ending an often contentious 11·year relationship as part of a shake-up within business operations. Joe Maloof will assume the title of CEO, while Gavin Maloof will become president. Celtics sign playoff sponsor The Boston Celtics signed the Arbe1laInsurance Group as presenting sponsor of the team's 2010playoff run. Arbella, already a team sponsor; replaces the Massachusetts Lotteryas theteam's postseason presenting sponsor. Moorad boosts Padres stake San Diego Padres Vice Chairman and CEO Jeff Moorad's ownership group has made a $45 million payment that effectively makes Moorad a co-owner with Chairman John Moores. Moorad has four years to complete a deal to buy the team from Moores. Fortheseand other stories, visitsisterpublicationSportsBusiness Daily at www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. II I MARCH 29 -APRIL 4 , 201 0 Athletes seeing strength in Hope BYBRU CESCHOENFELD e:tFREsPONJENT They lin ed up for a u tographs and photos like grade-schoolers, eage r to meet th eir hero. At the San Diego Padres' fan -friendly training com plex in Peoria, Ariz., such sessions are hardly a rare occurrence. Except th at this time the major leaguers were the ones waiting patiently,chatting nervously, paper or baseballs in hand. And at th e end of th e line sat Muhammad Ali. Ali and his wife, Lonnie,visited the Padres camp earlier this month on behalf of the nonprofit org anization Athletes for Hope. Founded three years ago by former SFX exec u tive Iva n Blumberg and a gro u p of h ighly vis ible current and former a thletes th at included Andre Aga ssi, Lance Armstrong, Mia Hamm,Tony Hawk,Jeff Gordon , Mario Lemieux and Cal Ripk en J r.,Athletes for Hope aims to help individuals and teams make a positive contribution to their communities, and to society at large. "You'd be surprised how many want to do good but don't necessarily have the vehicle: ' Blumberg sa id. It seemed critical to include Ali. He constructed the template for social involvemen t by an athlete by refus ing to serve in the Army duringthe Vietnam War;though it meant the loss of his heavyweight title and his license to box, and has spe nt the last two decades championing social causes. Fortunately, he agreed."Wedidn't have time to do this," Lonnie said. "But it was too im portant not to." Athletes for Hope has 1.000 member s Athletes for Hope's Ivan Blumberg joined Muhammad Ali and wife Lonnie at a recent gathering. Fine, stand over th ere . Ca n a rookie make as big an impact as a superstar? Is time less important,as important.or more important than writing a check? "There are no right answers," Blumberg would say lat er. "The beauty of the interaction is th at th e athletes com e to th eir own conclus ions . It's not a workshop, it's a conversation." Athletes for Hope's immediate goal is to get athletesmore involved in communityservice and charity work. Occasionally,it happens thro ugh th eir own foundat ion s, thou gh Blumberg discourages that. "The leagues would tell you that too many professional a thletes have foundations but don 't operate them efficiently," he sa id. "For 98percent of the athletes out th ere , it's a bad idea ." with kids and worked in prisons in Washington, D.C., wh ere he was pla yin g for the Wizards. All of those were fulfilling, but th ey still felt like obliga tions. It was only after Thomas underwent surgery to re pa ir a leak in his aortic valve th at he developed a strong interest in the Am e r ican Heart Association. Athletes for Hope fac ilita ted the match, Thomas filmed a public service announcement, and has since helped with fundraisers. If asked, he says he'd agree to be a national spokesman. "I've worked for Athletes for Hope now with a lot of different things, and th ey've been able to ma ke connections for me," Thomas said. "It's definitely not all talk. I would recommend th em to anybody." In a few small but tangible ways, Athletes for Hope appears to be changing th e culture of sports philanthropy. Soon afte r it launch ed , the organization pitch ed th e U.S. national women'ssoccer team. Hamm, Brandi Chastain.and the team's few oth ercelebrity names had long since retired,and the players who remained figured th ey weren't famous enough to make much of a difference. Perhaps individually th ey weren't, but Blumberg sold them on the value of th e national team brand and the concept of doing charity work together. Ii Now each time the team travels, someone !J! calls the Athletes for Hope stalT asking to be paired with a need y local charity. That validates Blumberg's contention that it isn't Padres players and staff w ere all smiles with The Champ in attendence at training camp. just superstars who can aid a cause. "Over time, we'll have th e ab ility to moInstead, he tries to match players with exacross 50sports, but the Padres presentation bilizethou sands of athletes :' he said. "The isting organizations in ho pes of find ing one was th e first time it had met with a Major next time th ere 's a Hurricane Katrina or a League Baseball team. Ali was on hand to that inspires a lasting relationship. "Most of catastrophe in a place like Haiti, the ability to give it cred ibility, to ca pture th e atte n tion our guys defin itely want to do something," communicate with and mobilize th ousands of players early on a ch illy morning, and to said Bud Bla ck, th e Padres manager and of athletes will make a difference." provide an object lesson in what it can feel a is-year big leaguer. "I th ink finding that His long-term goal is even more am bitious: like for an ordinary fan to gain access to a niche,something they feel passionate about , to weavea sense of community responsibilis th e challenge." favorite athlete. ity in to the fab ri c of you th sports. He'd like When he entered the room, helped by LonAthletes for Hope is full y funded by five every Little League or Pop Warner season revenue streams, including private a nd n ie and an aide. th e entire team stood and to include so me service compo ne nt, and for applauded. For the hour they spe nt in h is cor porate donations and th e seed mon ey high school te ams to volunteer regularly. presence,at least, none of th ese millionaire fro m the founding athletes . All Blumberg That program is being ro lled out this sumballplayers seemed the sli ghtest bit jaded or as ks from a player is perm ission to have a mer in six markets in a nticipatio n of a nastalTer make a 15-min ute follow-up call in cynical. Instead, it was as th ou gh th ey were tionallaunch in 2011. order to create a database of his interests, as 9 years old again. If it works, th e next generation of major well as ways in wh ich he feels comfortable " It' s suc h a thrill:' said pit ch er Mike lea guers won't need to see Muhammad Ali Ada ms , wh o stood in line for 10 minutes contribu ting. After th at , th e organization -or even Ivan Blumberg - to understand for a photo with The Champ. will work - in conjunction with each team's and apprec iate th e opportunities they have Ali is one of th e tools th at Blumberg uses comm unity re la tions staff. in th e case of to make a positive impact on ordinary lives; to get athletes to engage with the idea of phiteam sports - to unite him with an approthey'll have been doing it since ch ildh ood. lanthropy. Another is an audience-participapriate charity. "We believe that with in a decade we'll have tio n exercise that has th em mo ve around It isn't always eas y.Etan Thomas of the moved the needle on tha t s ign ific antly," NBA:s Oklahoma City Thunder started th e roo m in re sponse to qu estions. Do you Blumberg said. "Ultimately, we hope, it will think th at giving back to the comm unity is with a per sonal appearance on behalf of be part of every sports team's DNA." Kaboom!,which builds playgro unds in hi s an obligation for a majorleaguer? If so,stand Bruce Schoenf ldisa writer in Colorado. e over here. Or is it merely an opportunity? native Harlem .Then he did poetry readings I www.s ports bus inessj ourna l.com I Street & Smith's SportsBuslnees.JOURNAL

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