General Management Club tailgates with Sixers executives
Chris Tanzi, WG'06
Issue date: 3/28/05 Section: Insider
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Lara Price, Senior Vice President of Business Operations for the 76ers, began the Q&A session. Price, a graduate of Colorado State University, is in her ninth season with the 76ers. In her role, she coordinates day-to-day activities of the 76ers business operation closely with 76ers President and General Manager, Billy King. Price also assists in overseeing the team's marketing and communication department, which includes Communications, Community Relations, and New Media, as well as Game Operations.
Of interest to all aspiring Media, Entertainment, and Sports Business executives, Price stressed the importance of persistence and networking as she recounted her experience of breaking into the industry. Price started her career in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). While the entry point into the CBA was not ideal, it enabled her to learn the business from the bottom up and understand multiple facets of basketball operations. Price credited much of her success to pure drive and initiative. She noted how critical it was for her to get involved with as much as the business as possible. She did it without additional titles or salary - she did it out of initiative fueled by a strong willingness to be in the business. On moving from the CBA to the NBA, Price again made it clear that persistent networking (in addition to a drastic pay cut and demotion) opened the door to the 76ers.
Price also spoke about the 76ers recent acquisition of Chris Webber. Although Webber has not performed well on the basketball court yet, Price has been pleased with the immediate effect on the business. Price attributed the trade to increasing ticket sales by an additional 11,000 and increasing television ratings from a 2.5 to 3.3 share.
Finally, in the wake of bad press for the NBA coming from the infamous Detroit - Indiana brawl, Price also fielded questions on how the 76ers manage public relations to control their image in the community. Price explained that with careful management the 76ers will be viewed as an upstanding partner in the community. As a result, they would enjoy a growing fan base and less fan dissatisfaction in year to come. Price described the efforts of 76ers executives to manage PR through "asset allocation". Since the NBA's collective bargaining agreement limits the amount of team mandated player appearance, Price maximizes the impact of player appearances by matching community activities with player interests to generate player commitment and enthusiasm.