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www.lawattstimes.com
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Richie set to take over as WNBA president BY VIN A. CHERWOO AP SPORTS WRITER
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
This April 13, 2011, file photo shows Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson talking to reporters about the Sacramento Kings possible move to Anaheim, before the Kings played the Lakers in an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif. Johnson is increasingly optimistic the Kings will stay for at least another year, a prospect that once seemed improbable.
Sacramento shows NBA the money, awaits decision BY ANTONIO GONZALEZ AP SPORTS WRITER SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The NBA left town Tuesday. There’s no guarantee it will be back. Mayor Kevin Johnson, business leaders and fans have done all they could in the past few months to prevent the Sacramento Kings from relocating to Anaheim. The final and perhaps most critical step came Tuesday, when the corporate community handed NBA representatives deposits on more than $10 million in sponsorship pledges for the Kings to stay at least another year. “Today is another historic day in Sacramento,� Johnson said. “The NBA had said to Sacramento, ‘Show me the money.’ And today, we’re doing just that. We’re making a down payment on the future of the Sacramento Kings and this being their permanent home.� Now the decision is out of the city’s control. The NBA relocation committee headed by Clay Bennett — who moved the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City three years ago as owner — will issue a final report to Commissioner David Stern later this week. Then Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof will finally decide the franchise’s fate. The Maloofs have until Monday to file a relocation request to the league, which fellow owners would have to approve by a majority vote. The Maloofs remain undecided. Sacramento has used the two extensions from the original March 1 deadline to rally the business community and convince owners that Sacramento remains a viable NBA city. Johnson, a former NBA AllStar, has been at the center of that effort. He promised additional revenue for the Kings from area businesses in a desperate pitch to NBA owners earlier this month in New York. The league first sent Bennett
and league counsel Harvey Benjamin to Sacramento on a fact-finding mission last week, and the two dispatched additional representatives to verify the mayor’s claims. Chris Granger, the NBA’s executive vice president who heads the Team Marketing & Business Operations division, was among those from the league who met with Johnson and some 30 business leaders at Golden 1 Credit Union in Sacramento. Among the businesses represented were local branches of McDonald’s, AT&T, AnheuserBusch, Jiffy Lube and Wells Fargo. All of those in attendance said the NBA representatives left impressed. “Three weeks ago many of us were thinking that there’s not a chance that we’re going to keep the Sacramento Kings here in Sacramento. They’re going to move to Anaheim,� said Matt Mahood, president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce. “But there was just this little crack, this little opening that the mayor saw to take advantage of. “And he called us to rally the business community to demonstrate the kind of corporate support that we have here that it takes to keep the NBA franchise. And we put the call out to the business community, and they answered the call loud and clear. They have put their money where their mouth is.� There are still major details that remain unsettled. The primary reason the Maloofs have explored relocation — several failed efforts to build a new arena in Sacramento — won’t be answered by the deadline. A feasibility study for a new arena in Sacramento isn’t scheduled to be completed until the end of May, and there has always been a divide between Kings fans and the broader public on how to finance a facility. There were already a halfdozen protesters standing a few feet away while Johnson and business leaders met at the credit union, See SACRAMENTO, page 11
NEW YORK — Laurel Richie acknowledged she doesn’t know a lot about the WNBA’s history. Still, days after being hired as the WNBA’s third president, she called it a ‘dream job.’ “I am learning along the way,� Richie said Tuesday on a national conference call with reporters. “I have been, as part of the interviewing process, spending lots of time with many, many people with the NBA and WNBA. I am on that learning curve.� A chance encounter with Seattle Storm CEO Karen Bryant at a luncheon in February led to the league’s interest in the veteran marketing executive for the vacancy created by Donna Orender’s departure nearly two months earlier. Richie, hired last Thursday to take over the league entering its 15th season, has more than three decades of experience in consumer marketing, corporate branding, public relations and corporate management. She has worked for Ogilvy and Mather, an international advertising company, and served most recently as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Girl Scouts of the USA. “This opportunity for me feels like a culmination of everything I’ve done at Ogilvy and all of the work at Girl Scouts,� Richie said. “It is an interesting opportunity that’s full of challenge, and it is a chance to sort of celebrate and recognize and elevate the great things that women are doing. “For me, it’s a dream job.� NBA commissioner David Stern downplayed Richie's lack of basketball background as a negative factor, citing her experience as a synchronized swimmer to show her interest in sports. “We found somebody who was adept with respect to sports ... culturally adept at understanding what impact the game and the players could have on the community, the global community.� Stern then used his personal history as an example. “My own basketball background was ripping up my ACL in a lawyer’s league,� he said. “So I don’t think it’s essential to have played the game at a high level at all.� Richie, who acknowledged she’s watched WNBA games on TV but never attended a game, will officially take over on May 16. She intends to immediately visit teams around the country to familiarize herself with the league’s owners, players and even fans. The WNBA season begins June 3. “I absolutely plan on hitting the road,� she said. “I start on the 16th and my bags are already packed. A priority for me is to really get into the market, to get to a game so that I can wipe that off my record, to
really meet with players, meet with owners, meet with fans, meet with sponsors, meet with the media.� Stern denied any notion the NBA was involved in the dayto-day operations of the women’s league, saying it would be run by Richie and Renee Brown, the senior vice president of basketball operations for the WNBA. Stern said Richie’s job will be to continue the AP Photo/NBA work of her predeThis undated photo provided by the NBA shows Laurel cessors, Orender and Val Acker- J. Richie. Veteran marketing executive Laurel J. Richie man, and that she was hired to lead the WNBA on Thursday, April 21, didn’t have any 2011, becoming the league’s third president as it enters special directives its 15th season. other than “to make all of our teams in the league last day on the job was Dec. 31, and very profitable.� Five teams have NBA vice president Chris Granger marquee jersey sponsorships, atten- assumed her duties in the interim. dance at games has risen, and the WNBA is in the midst of an eightyear deal with ESPN. “We’re doing OK, making a living,� Stern said. “Our teams are doing better than they’ve ever done. ... We’re getting to a point where we think this may be the season where it's break-even and better for all of our teams.� Richie hopes one way the league can do better will be to proactively target people like her who viewed games on TV but didn’t -# +0 '!( '-#" take the next step and buy tickets. +$ #'*% '!( '-#" She said her main reason for not going was “not necessarily being approached.� “So part of what I want to think
METHADONE about is how do we reach out to peo CLINIC ple and engage them versus assuming or putting the burden on them to come and grab us,� she said. “I feel like there’s a terrific product to work with, and that makes the job so much easier. It’s not without its challenges, but a lot
easier than a tough sale.� 7E .OW (AVE1# 7E .OW (AVE # +2 Richie’s hiring is historic as she # +2 1# 35"54%8 35"/8/.% becomes the first black woman to be 35"54%8 35"/8/.% in charge of a professional sports AND .!,42%8/.% AND .!,42%8/.% *" *" league, a distinction she doesn’t take lightly. “I do take the notion of being a role model very seriously, a role model for women, a role model for African Americans,� she said. “That is, in fact, a big reason of why this opportunity is so interesting and important to me.� #ALL OUR HR MESSAGE CENTER ANYTIME #ALL OUR HR MESSAGE CENTER ANYTIME Ackerman was the WNBA’s (323) 242-0500 first president, hired in August 1996
"&# # $$ !% # !'% #ENTURY 0ARK %AST 11900 Avalon Blvd. — a year before the league began 3UITE s #ENTURY #ITY Suite 200-Upstairs play. Orender replaced Ackerman in !%&#' # $% Los Angeles April 2005 and announced in the & % !%&#' %' (310) 553-9500 beginning of December she was
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