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Staying Alive

June 9, 2015

It has been said by others more clever with a phrase than I am, “Travel has its dangers, but routine can be deadly.” 
World travel is something I'm passionate about and it has added adventure and perspective that have enriched my existence; but I do not dare pontificate on how other people choose to live their personal lives. That's each person's personal business and none of mine.  
However, at this stage in my career, I do feel comfortable suggesting that this travel metaphor is a healthy way to think about one's professional life, and a productive way to nurture the life of organizations. Many executives and their boards may get too comfortable with routine, emphasizing risk management more than innovation, reducing the chances of failure and criticism rather than seeking the adventure of new ways of thinking and acting that could lead to new ways of serving.  
I say, with massive respect for the traditional core values of school sports, that fear of doing big, untested things – risky adventures – has caused school sports organizations to miss opportunities for so many years that they have become close to irrelevant in the youth sports experience of this country. We have failed to travel, or taken such safe trips that we are dying rather than thriving on behalf of students, their schools and our society.
For the past half-dozen years, and especially in 2015-16, the MHSAA is in a traveling mode. In doing so, we add some danger to our lives, but at least we stay alive. In fact, we may never, ever have been as vibrant as we are right now.

Priming the Pump

November 28, 2014

Today and tomorrow bring an end to the MHSAA’s fall tournament season that, overall, experienced the worst weather I’ve witnessed in my 29 years of watching our fall events. We are grateful to those hearty fans who followed their favorites through wind, rain, ice and snow.

The MHSAA’s “bread and butter” is its season-ending tournaments. Try as we might to diversify our revenue, all our non-tournament revenue sources combined continue to account for less than 15¢ of every $1 the MHSAA generates. Sponsorships, broadcast rights fees and officials registration fees make a contribution to our enterprise; but the MHSAA operates without membership dues, fines and tournament entry fees.

That leaves gate receipts (ticket sales) as the largest (by far!) source of revenue; and it’s the football and basketball tournaments that pay the way for the many tournaments that the MHSAA operates at a financial loss (we call it an investment).

Because of this narrow flow of revenue, I asked a team of MHSAA staff to take a comprehensive look at the MHSAA’s marketing of its tournaments. Over a series of energetic meetings, these imaginative staff members have compiled a list of ideas to promote MHSAA tournaments by better using existing means and opening up new avenues to generate interest and increase spectator support.

The MHSAA Representative Council will soon vet and vote on a wide variety of ideas generated by our in-house task force. The objectives are a growing customer base enjoying an improved customer experience.