Legendary sports executive Dave Checketts prides himself on turning losing teams into winning teams. He’s part-owner of multiple sports organizations and is the former President of the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz. He founded the WNBA’s New York Liberty and MLS’s Real Salt Lake.
Dave Checketts joined SportsJam with Doug Doyle to talk about his latest sports venture. He recently partnered with the Cynosure Group, a diversified private investment firm founded by the Eccles family in Utah to form The Cynosure-Checketts Sports Capital Fund. The new strategic collaboration is dedicated to investing more than $1.2 billion in high-potential sports opportunities. The partnership will have offices in both New York and Salt Lake City.
"We're looking to invest wherever the opportunities are. Leagues have certain rules about ownership and limitations on the amount of private equity in any franchise. I don't think we will be competing those fund that invest in franchises where they put in almost a debt-like instrument so that the owners of teams that have escalated in value can take out money to do these like estate planning or to buy another house or whatever they want to do with it. I think we're going to be more like investing alongside of owners as their partners, perhaps in their television property, perhaps in their real estate, perhaps in the technologies that underly professional sports, college sports, women sports. These are the places where I've just spent loads of time and where you have good teams and good markets with good operators. I think you'd be foolish not to believe that they will continue to escalate in value and that would be a good place to put investors money."
Checketts has always been able to create friendships and partnerships that have led to global success, establishing close relationships with people like the late former NBA Commissioner David Stern and Utah financier Spencer Eccles. What is Dave's best quality as a businessman?
"I do think it's the value I put in other people. My father was quite a businessman. He was mostly a salesman. During my childhood he sold everything. He sold cash registers. Then he went to work selling constructive canopies that you put on used car lots to cover the car inventory. Probably his favorite thing was he sold mobile homes. My dad didn't take out a lot of advertising but he actually had a tagline before taglines were very important. His tagline was "Clyde's Mobile Homes: Where every person is important'. I took a lot away from that. I felt like the ushers at Madison Square Garden were important. I felt like food workers were important. They were the people who treated your customers. If you treated them well, they would treat your customers well. I learned a great lesson at a young age."
As President and CEO of Madison Square Garden (1994-2001), Dave Checketts was in charge of The Knicks, The New York Rangers, the WNBA's New York Liberty, MSG Networks and Radio City Music Hall.
Now, Knicks fans are going crazy now as they need one more win to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. (Currently, the Knickslead the Boston Celtics three games to two) thanks to great play from a team lead by Jalen Brunson. Checketts has been enjoying watching the games, especially those played at MSG.
"I loved what Mike Breen said in the broadcast. He said if the Knicks win this game, which would have put them up 3-1 at the time, it will be the most important win in 25 years. I realized that the last time the Knicks had made the Eastern Finals was in the year 2000. That was my second to last year running the Knicks. Those were just great days and I'm really happy for (head coach Tom Thibodeau who worked for us back in that time and everybody that's affiliated with the team. Rick Brunson was on our club back then. Now his boy (Jalen) is the point guard and the best player. So, it's been fun to watch."
The Checketts family runs Gravity Media/EMG - a leading global provider of broadcast services and media solutions for the sports and entertainment industry, and Rhone Apparel, a performance activewear and wellness brand. Rhone is led by his sons Nate and Ben. Dave's daughter Lily (Shimbashi) is doing amazing things too. Lily founded Sports.ish, a sports media outlet that is in the business of both creating and empowering female fans.
While he's proud of his family's success, Dave gives much of the credit to his wife Deb.
"We met in high school (Bountiful High School in Utah). She's such a special person. She would not let those kids dog it. She's tried to instill a lot of motivation in them. Nate and his brother Andrew and his youngest brother Ben started a boys camp in our backyard when they were 12. They would bring these little kids in the summer, ages 4 to 7, into our backyard and they would play sports with the big boys, they would go swimming, they would do treasure hunts. These camps became so popular, people were fighting to get their children in them."
Dave earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah. He received his MBA degree from Brigham Young University. After never making his high school basketball team, Checketts gained great confidence is his abilities by making the BYU basketball team as a walk-on.
"I played better in those tryouts than I'd ever played. I was now 6-foot-5. I just had so much confidence that the coach had given me a chance. I got one of the two walk-on slots on the team."
You can SEE the entire SportsJam interview with Dave Checketts below:
