How Four Sports Business Executives Make the Tough Calls

Stanford Business School Alums Share Lessons and Experience Working in Sports Management and Leadership

Inside Sports Management With:

• Joe Lacob, Owner & CEO, Golden State Warriors
• Paraag Marathe, Chief Strategy Officer, San Francisco 49ers
• Dave Kaval, President, San Jose Earthquakes and Oakland A’s
• Ari Segal, COO, Arizona Coyotes (former President of Business Operations, San Diego Gulls)
• George Foster, Professor of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business

There is an audacity required in this industry, but it’s a measured audacity. — George Foster

Don’t mistake that these are real businesses that require hard skills. — Ari Segal

I only have two jobs. One is to create a vision for the organization. The other is to hire the very best people you can hire. Have them hire the best people they can hire. That’s Management 101. — Joe Lacob

You’ve got to be all in. There’s no way to have one foot in the canoe. — Dave Kaval

What success means is completely different for every single stakeholder in the ecosystem. — Ari Segal

You simply have to ignore the noise. — Paraag Marathe

You need to fail at some point. You need to know what it feels like, how horrible it feels to fail, to not succeed, to be criticized. — Joe Lacob

This is an industry where the unexpected happens. And you will be praised sometimes, and you will be booed sometimes. — George Foster

You’ll have a nice run of success, and you’ll have your droughts. And you just have to continue to plant the seeds during the drought. — Paraag Marathe

Sports brings people together across socioeconomic lines in ways that you rarely see. And I think that’s a very special thing. I think our society and community needs more of that. — Dave Kaval

Note: Originally posted by Stanford Graduate School of Business on November 14, 2016. Dave Kaval was named President of the Oakland A’s on November 17th and will continue his role with the San Jose Earthquakes.