Some of the greatest sports business minds in The Valley participated in a unique collaboration in Scottsdale earlier this week, including a member of The Pack.
Arizona Coyotes President and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez joined an esteemed group of colleagues at the Phoenix Business Journal’s Business of Sports seminar at Scottsdale’s Western Spirit Museum on Tuesday, discussing sports-related business practices and collaboration efforts within the state of Arizona.
The event featured two panels, one regarding college sports and one regarding professional sports, and the two-hour event highlighted both how and why sports are such an imperative business within Arizona’s economy.
Gutierrez was joined by Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein, Phoenix Raceway Track President Latasha Causey, and Arizona Diamondbacks Executive Vice President of Business Operations and Chief Revenue Officer Cullen Maxey in the day’s second session, which was narrated by the Phoenix Business Journal’s Editor in Chief, Greg Barr.
“Sports are important to Arizona,” Gutierrez said. “Corporate leaders, community leaders, and elected officials all come together to support the sports industry and see it as such a valuable part of the brand of Arizona. These gatherings are important to highlight and talk about how we are at the forefront of a lot of the innovation going on in sports.
“I’m really grateful that the Phoenix Business Journal put this together.”
The professional sports session covered a wide variety of topics, including the current television landscape, the engagement strategies of current and future audiences, content generation across all platforms, the use and evolution of technology and artificial intelligence, and sponsorship opportunities within the shifting landscape of how audiences are reached.
All four panelists shared lessons learned and best practices, highlighting how their similar interests and collaboration efforts contribute to one of the country’s most vibrant sports landscapes.
“There’s always a lot of lessons learned that we love to share, but I also love to hear them,” Gutierrez said. “Sports is such a dynamic business. I’m on the record saying I didn’t know if I’d like the business of sports when I made my career transition, but it has been absolutely transformative.”