First, let me know how you get started in the entertainment business as a member of a sports-oriented family?
I was in a rock bank in high school – The UFOs! I got the bug from that I think.
I really started out as a newspaper guy but the paper I started at folded a year after I started working there. I could have gone to the Press or Post-Gazette after – in fact I covered local high-school sports on the weekends for the Press as a freelancer.
While I was doing that the editor of the local Washington, PA paper called me and told me that the Meadows needed some PR help. They needed someone to write some articles for the horse racing trade magazines. They liked my articles and offered me a job.
I looked at the newspaper industry and saw it was shrinking with FM radio and TV coming on…. I looked at it from the 30,000 feet level. The newspaper business was probably not where I wanted to be.
So I went to work for the Meadows. I could have gone to work in Vermont at their racetrack or in Connecticut. But I went to a convention and spoke to a publicist of the venerable Roosevelt Raceway in New York. He told me that unless I really love what I’m doing, I should get out now before I get typecast and have to do this for the rest of my life.
So what did you do then?
Shortly after that Paul Martha called me – I was 31 then. He wanted to set up a concert promotion company and offered me a job with him. Later the Steelers also offered me a job to help them promote concerts in Heinz Field, but I thought it would just be repetitive with what I was already doing. I just wanted to work promoting live entertainment.
What are some of the big changes you’ve seen in the industry over the years?
The biggest change was when the industry started to move towards single-purpose venues from multi-purpose venues. The Steelers and Pirates shared Three Rivers; the Reds and Bengals shared Riverfront; the Browns and Indians Memorial Stadium. They all decided that their teams needed their own venues specific to their sport.
Why did that move happen?
There are compromises you make when you share venues. Having a venue specific to your sport gives you more control over how the venue is built around your sports’ needs.
Technology is also a big thing. One thing I will never forget is the DC E-Sports venue we did – as you can imagine it needed a lot of web access! When we worked on the Rose Garden in Portland for the Trailblazers the big thing was having a port in every seat. That seems so obsolete now!
How have you considered technology in what you do now and how will venues change as a result?
When people go to games they don’t need to look at the scoreboard anymore for the stats – they look them up on their phones. We look to bring technology in to compliment the live experience. That extends to even ordering food at your seat from your phone.
In terms of the future, I think new venues will be smaller but have more amenities. It’s tough to beat the in-home experience. Football was made for TV – hockey I think was made for watching it live. Beano Cook used to say that he didn’t think anyone ever saw a puck go into the net. I’m not sure any sport has benefited from the use of technology more than hockey.
We called the pre-Mario time the “PM period”, and after the “AM period”. In the “PM” days we just wanted people to go to a game – we thought once they did we thought the experience would sell itself. When you watch those early telecasts and hockey highlights from Channel 53- the quality was pretty bad to watch. It was primitive.
How did you help the Steelers get into the concert business?
Art II called me after they opened up Heinz Field. He asked me why they weren’t getting concerts there. I told him he needed a voice. He needed to write a check. Not to me – but promoters have nests to feather. That’s how I helped the Steelers get into the business. They needed a third-party to secure the acts and set the rent deals. We actually became the buyers of the shows for them. When you write seven-figure checks, that brings artists in. That gives you a voice!
How do the various Pittsburgh teams work together, if at all?
They more compete for sponsorships. Sponsors have options – and each team has their own events and things going on.
Any events teams have had issues with – who do you enjoy working with?
I don’t think Dan was as crazy about the Marilyn Manson show. But he believes in free speech. We just didn’t invite him to that show! But Art II is a player – he’s low-key, but the wheels in his head are always turning and looking for the next big idea.
We tried to work with Froggy Radio early on. They were one of only two country music stations at the time in the area and were working at the grassroots level to develop artists. They brought us Taylor Swift actually. She was the fourth act for a Washington Wild Things game when she was 15 – that was her largest venue she sang at before she sang the National Anthem at Heinz Field the next day.
Joe Grushecky has been good to work with – we worked with him when we developed the stadium cruises. And we like working with Kenny Chesney – his manager – Louie Messina – he has been good to work with and we started with them early on.
Any other thoughts on your earlier days and experiences with the teams?
I remember when the Steelers and Penguins were modest teams. When my dad worked in the ticket office in the 60’s. On Friday’s he’d come home and give me tickets to the Steelers to give away on my paper route. I’d get beaten up trying to give them away! He would go to to the mills and try to sell the tickets to guys as they left work.
When I was older I was an usher for the Penguins – I saw just about every game for four years. The great thing about the Pens players is that they were all modest, young Canadian kids then. They were my favorite of the athlete set – the most normal of them! And they were always in their helmets – you couldn’t recognize them when they went out!
And Rocky is a close friend of mine. We’re trying to get a recording of his show – we worked with him on a number of projects too.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
