Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/564353
t m c ยป p u l s e | s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5 28 28 Q | Sports teams become part of the DNA of a city. What are some of the most important components of a successful sports franchise? A | There are a couple of things that I think stick out as being incredibly important, and the first is that you have got to focus exclusively on what you can control. When I first came here to Houston, they told me it was real easy: you win and the fans come, you lose and the fans don't come. That's the way it has always been in Houston. And I said, 'Well, we aren't going to accept that.' So we eventually got folks around the table that all bought in that we can consistently have capacity crowds and have a wonderful fan base, regardless of our record. We were going to just let the chips fall where they may on the field, because we could not control that. If you take all of the sports teams of all time and put their records together, they're a combined .500, because every game has a winner and a loser. You have to mentally separate yourself from wins and losses. You are connected as an organization, but we have a job to do, regardless. Whether we win or we lose, we have a job to do. We have to create raving fans, build loyal customers and fulfill our responsibilities to our community. And whether we won or lost on Sunday, all of these things still have to happen. The challenge that some teams get into is you kind of hook your wagon to, 'When we win, we will go after it. When we lose, we won't.' And that's just not productive. We have to go after it all the time. We are always in the pursuit of championships, because people have to believe with every ounce of their being that we're here to win a championship for the city of Houston. But we also have to create memorable experiences and do great things for Houston. It's not just about watching a football game. If it was just about watching a game, you could stay home and watch it on your TV. It's about engaging with something that really is so meaningful to you, some- thing that is bigger than yourself. It's about tailgating and the bonding and family time that happen there. It's about rituals and traditions in the stadium that you remember for a lifetime. People say to me all the time, 'I've been a season ticket holder since the beginning,' and they go on to tell me all the wonderful things they enjoy about the Texans Experience. I get a big smile on my face because I know we've created a raving fan. And then the third piece of our purpose, which I think has been so incredibly important, is do great things for Houston. It's not a line or a check the box for us. We're here to do great things for Houston. We have world-class athletes that are wonderful ambassadors that can inspire people. Our brand is so powerful that when we get behind something, we lead. We show people the way. We do not do it because we have to. We do it because it's an integral component of what our mission is as a franchise. Q | What excites you most about the Super Bowl coming to Houston? A | It's part of our opportunity to do great things for Houston. And that's why we were so inspired to make it happen. For us, it is an interesting opportunity for our staff to get involved with a new level of the game, but the real beneficiary is the city of Houston. To see the renaissance that's going on downtown, there's $3 billion of capital investment going on in down- town Houston that will be completed in advance of the Super Bowl. There's a rebirth happening in the Convention District. The work that's being done to beautify the Broadway approach to Hobby Airport is so exciting. I've always thought that we need to have a more beautiful entryway into our city from Hobby airport. It's happening all over the city. What a wonderful opportunity for us to get our community ready for the world to visit. The Super Bowl brings three billion media impressions and $500 million in economic impact. Those are all tremendous benefits and certainly we are part of a very large team that is making it happen for Houston. It fits in perfectly with the purpose of our organization. We host the Advocare Texas Kickoff, The Advocare V100 Texas Bowl, the Battle of the Piney Woods and we brought international soccer to Houston. Now we have the Dynamo and BBVA Compass Stadium. We pursued all of these things because we're here to do great things for Houston. Certainly there's a business aspect to it, because we take risks and hopefully get rewards and all that. But we got involved because doing great things for Houston is part of who we are as Texans. (Credit: Houston Texans)