The Business of Sports
Craig Leipold
October 2008 // Interviewed by David Gee
State of hockey: Everything I thought this market
was about proved true. I have to admit I did come
into this with just a tiny bit of skepticism, figuring
there was going to be something we would find
out that was not going to be as good as advertised.
Know the biz of sports: I understand how the
sports world works and the value of the asset and
the value of the brand. That’s the most significant
thing we have here. It’s bigger than just hockey.
Too good to pass up: To be honest, as I was
selling the Nashville team, the last thing I thought
would ever happen is that I would get back into
hockey. I was kind of moving on and ready to do
something else, but this is one of those special
markets where you just have to look at it.
Carl Pohlad
November 1996 //
Interviewed by Anthony F. Giombetti
Buying the Twins: It was really
out of a perceived obligation and
commitment to the Twin Cities com-
munity and the Upper Midwest that
gave rise to me buying the Twins. I
felt it was important to retain Major
League Baseball, which continues to
be very important to the economy of
the entire state.
Asked if he would do it again:
Probably not—mostly because it
brought me from being a low-profile
banker to a high-profile business
man.
FROM ThE ARChIvES
The Art of the Deal
I LOOK AT what it’s going
to cost me and ask myself
if there is a significant
opportunity here. i try
to weigh each situation
differently.
In nEGOTIATInG, i’m not
willing to borrow a lot of
money or pay a real high
price for a business.
THERE IS MORE to negotiating a deal than just
the money. the seller has to have the confidence
that i will treat the employees fair and honorably
and all those types of things. that’s important.
—Glen Taylor; October 1994, interviewed by
Anthony F. Giombetti
I DOn’T THInK anybody
deliberately tries to take
advantage of you, they’re
just trying to get the best
deal they can.
WE’LL ALWAyS BE
PRIvATE. i’ll always have a
certain degree of control. if
i don’t go into a deal where
i’m in control, i might as well go out into the
stock market.
I DOn’T MInD if a deal gets away for me, i just
don’t want to do a bad deal. unfortunately, we
did do a not-so-good deal that subsequently
went into bankruptcy. but that’s all part of the
game. —Carl Pohlad; November 1996, interviewed
by Anthony F. Giombetti
Glen Taylor
October 1994, interviewed by Anthony F. Giombetti // January 1998, interviewed by Anthony F.
Giombetti // May 2007, interviewed by Elizabeth Millard
Buying the Timberwolves
as business: I had always
assumed that people who
owned a sports franchise
just spent millions of dollars
of their own money for the
satisfaction of owning the
franchise. I wasn’t willing to
do that. So before the nego-
tiations took place, I analyzed
the financials and realized
that money could be made.
Buying the Timberwolves
as emotion: They weren’t
the best at the time, but I
said back then that I didn’t
do it just for the business
purposes. It was emotional.
in sports ... You won’t know
if you were right until two to
three years into the contract.
A problem: There seems
to be too much me, me, me
and not enough us, us, us. If
you could sit down privately
with a player, things could
probably be worked out. But
in this business you’re deal-
ing with agents, who play a
significant role in the league
and, for the most part, think
only of today—not last year
or tomorrow.
THE ART OF
nEGOTIATInG is to know
what the needs are of the
other person and if you can
fulfill those needs. perhaps
not every need, but at least
what that person really
needs from you to make
a deal.
In THE ART OF THE DEAL you have to posses
as much psychological skill as financial skill. you
have to be able to understand that everybody
isn’t the same, everybody’s needs are different,
everybody has hot buttons. —Irwin Jacobs; January 1997, interviewed by Anthony F. Giombetti
