SPORTS NEWS YOU CAN USE

Issue 16--Facilities Management

This issue of Sports News focuses on facilities management. Some facilities involve more sport management than others. Team-owned facilities are usually more sports-oriented than publicly-owned facilities (which may have been constructed to serve a wider constituency).

But even when a stadium or arena's primary purpose is to provide playing space for a home team, it is increasingly seen as a multi-use facility. According to Gordon Wood, vice president of Ellerbe Becket Sports Group, a Kansas City architectural firm, "The sports venue has become an entertainment venue.

"Everybody expects to be entertained, so [developers] are looking for ways to enhance entertainment of spectators. The higher the level of amenities for the spectator--increased toilet facilities, food courts, specialty restaurants, wider concourses, more area--the higher the perceived value." (1)

New arenas are being built with features which will appeal to a wider variety of users: conference rooms and computer-equipped executive suites to attract corporate users; IMAX screens to convert arenas to theaters; bigger loading docks to facilitate concert setups.

The goal is to keep facilities in use as much as possible. Examples: ARCO Arena, home to the NBA Sacramento Kings, hosts approximately 200 events a year--including home games for the Knights (a Continental Indoor Soccer team) and the River Rats (a Roller Hockey International team), and several dozen concerts. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis has something going on 350 days a year, including public session rollerblading. Other arenas have hosted supercrosses, monster truck shows, and drag racing.

Another trend in facility management is privatization. Cities are hiring management companies to operate local facilities. These companies offer economies of scale, provide professional managers, and insulate facility operation from local politics. The three biggest companies are Spectacor Management Group of Philadelphia, Leisure Management International of Houston, and Ogden Entertainment Group of New York.

Some examples of sports facility managers:

When Silberman was a teenager living in St. Louis, he unsuccessfully looked for work with local teams. "It was apparent that you had to be in the right place at the right time and you had to know someone. I was never in the right place and I didn't know anybody." (2)
 
As an alternative, he enrolled in Ohio University's sport administration program. He attended as an undergrad (1968-72) and as a graduate student.
 
In 1973 he was an intern at Capital Center in Landover, Maryland. Since the arena was brand new, Silberman approached management with the idea that they use a "Disney-like" staff and put him in charge. He became director of guest relations. "I was basically like the head usher." (3)
 
He learned through trial and error. "I tried to hire college kids that were young, vibrant, perky kids. I found out that what worked for Bullets and Ice Capades didn't work for concerts. They could still be pleasant, but they had to be more forthright in getting certain messages across to concert crowds." (4)
 
In 1975 he became the arena's director of operations after the former director died. Again Silberman learned through trial and error, often booking unusual events.
 
Next he moved up to vice president of arena administration and, in 1988, became president of Centre Management, a company formed by the same individuals who had hired him as an intern and had overseen his work during all his years at Capital Center.
By high school he knew he wanted a sports-related career. His father pointed him toward the sport management program at the University of Massachusetts. While in college, Luukko realized there were actually more opportunities in facility management. "At that time teams were still very much a family business, and it was hard to get in the door." (5)
 
An internship at the New Haven (Connecticut) Veterans Memorial Coliseum led to a full-time job there. Luukko was 22, halfway through his internship, when he was named director of marketing, a position he held from 1981 to 1983. "My internship started with running the scoreboard and marketing a couple of shows. When they hired me I was still in school, and I actually had to cut a deal with the school to get a degree." (6) He got credit for returning every two weeks to talk to students about the facility industry.
 
He moved to the Providence (Rhode Island) Civic Center and then went to work for Spectacor Management. He managed a number of facilities for them including the Richmond (Virginia) Coliseum, Three Rivers Stadium and the Civic Arena (Pittsburgh), Reunion Arena (Dallas), the Kellogg Center (Battle Creek, Michigan) and the Hartford (Connecticut) Civic Center.
 
In 1988 he moved to Los Angeles to run the Coliseum and the Sports Arena (home of the NBA Clippers). He generated excitement for the Arena by booking the hottest rock acts. "What was satisfying was when we started to read in the paper that the Forum people [the arena across town and home of the NBA Lakers] were taking shots at us: 'The security is not as good there, they don't have as many seats, they don't have the Lakers.' " (7)
 
Luukko found that he enjoyed the entertainment side of his work. "I started out on the sports side, but then I became interested in the rock and roll side of things--the agents, the deals, marketing and booking. I had always enjoyed music, but wasn't really into it until this business." (8)
 
He also discovered that he enjoyed producing his own events. "If you create something you certainly have 100 percent of the risk, but you also have 100 percent of the reward. You can't live for today. You have to create for tomorrow and you can't be afraid to fail." (9)
 
In 1993 he became president of the Spectrum in Philadelphia. He also took over operation of the CoreStates Complex when it opened in 1996. It's a state of the art facility with a microbrewery, 126 luxury suites, on-line kiosks, and a virtual reality booth.
 
A typical day for Luukko includes a wide variety of tasks: "You could be dealing with labor issues with the 11 unions we have here. One of my discussions today is when we're going on sale with a third KISS date. I met with the VIP services people to discuss how we're going to serve all these club box and luxury suiteholders. I've been talking to the concessionaire about some of the issues of food service." (10)
He played football and wrestled at Brigham Young University, and also helped organize a number of sporting events on campus. "I liked the excitement and the atmosphere. For me it wasn't just the event itself, but what goes on behind the scenes, and even now it's hard to me to sit through an entire show or concert without walking around to see what's going on in the concourse and out in the parking lot, to see how people handle the big rush of crowds." (11)
 
After attending graduate school and then running a crowd management company, he was hired in 1976 by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to develop and run the school's sports and entertainment center. He also served as assistant athletic director at UNLV, which gave him the opportunity to visit arenas and stadiums around the country as he traveled with teams. "I learned a great deal about other facilities. I saw behind the scenes. I saw the front of the house. I saw things I liked about different arenas and stadiums and things I didn't like, but more important than that, I was able to talk to the people who ran those facilities and found out what they liked and didn't like about their buildings." (12)
 
In 1991 he was hired as the school's interim athletic director. Then in 1992 he went to work as vice president of special events for the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. His job was eliminated in 1995. Then he worked as a consultant until signing on for the Riverside project.
Sauers felt there was an opportunity to manage small and medium-sized venues. "We're responsible for booking the acts, negotiating the contracts, hiring ushers, ticket takers, and making sure the hot dogs are sold properly." (13) Globe also offers its consulting services when facilities are being planned, designed, and built.
 
 
1 Amusement Business, June 24, 1996.
2 Amusement Business, February 21, 1994.
3 Amusement Business, February 21, 1994.
4 Amusement Business, February 21, 1994.
5 Amusement Business, January 10, 1994.
6 Amusement Business, January 10, 1994.
7 Business Philadelphia, October, 1996.
8 Amusement Business, January 10, 1994.
9 Amusement Business, December 13, 1993.
10 Business Philadelphia, October, 1996.
11 Amusement Business, July 29, 1996.
12 Amusement Business, July 29, 1996.
13 Tampa Bay Business Journal, March 10, 1995.
Copyright 1997 Suzanne Lainson/SportsTrust

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