I.Y Goes One-On-One With USA nastics' Steve Penny - SportsBusiness Daily SportsBusiness Journal SportsBusiness Daily Global

.fraid to speak up and share your ideas.
5: Golf, cooking, time outside.
,rstitions: Never challenge an Olympic medalist to a competition in their sport.
gatest (or most creative) achievement: It is always fun to come up with new initiatives,
Jspecially those that connect with sponsors. Most recently, one of our most successful initiatives is
our documentary series Gymnastics: Behind the Team," which airs on Blueroom.
Twenty-five episodes over two years leading up to the Olympics. It's been a great project that has
been well received by the gymnastics community and sports fans.
Fantasy job: Being a golf pro at Pebble Beach, a baseball relief pitcher, or MICHAEL 
Basic business or management philosophy: It is important to work with people that you trust.
Have good partners, and don't be afraid to work hard.
Biggest challenge: Convincing the sports marketplace that the Olympic movement is relevant
every day of our lives.
Business advice: Listen to people you respect.

Q: What will be different about these Olympic Trials in Philadelphia?

Penny: One of the great things about Philly is the combined history of that city and what it?s meant
to America. Being able to select a team and compete for the right to represent your country in one
of the most historic places in the country is important. The Liberty Bell. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. It's
hard to find a city more red, white and blue than Philadelphia. The Wachovia Center is a fantastic
venue for the event. We're going to have great crowds. We're planning a fan fest outside the venue
that a lot of sponsors will activate womb stuff is in store.

Q: What was your missio hen you joined USA Gymnastics?

 

Penny: My mission as always been to keep elevating the stature an brand recognition and
relevance of the ganization. The four primary goals are: win medals grow the sport, increase
visibility and provid' ,ts\t\anding customer service.

0: How do you feel you're WW. 

Penny: We're achieving a lot of those goals. It's import .tfor?ustowin medals in international
competition. We?re doing well in that. In the ar where?w ed to redevelop programs, we?ve
restructured. in and trampoline, e've found new We our athletes. We?re
working closely with the USOC to inc ase the amount of support we're givr to our program.
We?re working closely with spons, to increase the visibility of our program. lot of our sponsors
are really using gymnastics im 'ery and our athletes to distinguish themselve . Our biggest focus
right now is expanding the be of our sport. Membership has been very stea with slight
increases. it's grown at a stea y, modest rate, but given the economy we're cused on how we

educate people about the gra roots aspect of our sport. Gymnastic clubs rovide a great
environment for young people learn about fitness and that's a essage we're pushing.

 

 
   
 
 
  
   
 

Q: What is the most pressing issue facing the organization in the build-up to Beijing?

 

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is American Cup and the Naslia Li
,ar-ations for those events going?

kin ciip both take place in early March, How are

 

great. That's the American Cup and we expect it to remain that way, we Just need to tie up
some loose ends with them The north-east of the United States is really a bread basket pan ut'llie countly for
us. It's so densely populated with gymnastles fans and participants, clubs etc.

When we have an event in the northreastem part of the country we can look forward to good attendance and it
also allows us to work with those clubs on the collaborative marketing efforts that exist so that they can benefit
from us being in their backyard.

Both events are being broadcast on national television, What impact does that exposure have?

Coming out ofihe Games you want to keep your exposure at a pretty high level and we're so fortunate
to have NBC as a partner. We couldn't ask for a better broadcast parter, Some ofthe extensions ofNBc being
Sports and NBC Sports Network provide a very solid platform for us and our partners to be investing

in USA Gymnastics, fi

The other thing it allows us to do is adveltise the benefits oi'our sports, so that we can reinforce that back down
to the club level and those pe le can also benefit from some oftlie exposure that we provide As an example,
we've created eommereials ver the last few years for our clubs. They'll theitteuy airtime during gymnasties
broadcasts on their local afl liates for those commercials, so there a when gymnastics is on
television,

 

What's your overall ambition for USA Gymnastics ill the future and how do you hope to achieve it?

My goal for the organisation is to build on the success that we've had. Ifyou've got kids coming to these gnns,
how is USA nasties going to help them retain those athletes? Our r' ities have been iviiming medals and
We've done a good job with that and we're going to eontinue goodjobmth'ai,

but we really have to ook at how we integrate the community into our activities more we need to look at how
we continue to partner With the clubs.

 

[think our biggest success story in the next few years hopefully be how we've grown the sport in an
extremely measurable way and how we have served the sport at an even higher level than we are right now. It's
a little bit ofa shitt, and we don't want to lose anything in terms of visibility or medals, but i think we can pay a
little more attention to what's happening at the grassroots level,

.4 Olympic year, we have to take a number of things into consideration. The biggest is being inclusive of
.ympic trials. When you have that conditional event, and that event has to happen in a very specific time, you
end up having to realign the rest of your schedule the rest of year to culminate in the Olympic trials.

We?ve taken an extremely creative approach to working with NBC this time around. Where we?d normally have
a national championship for both men and women and then Olympic trials for both men and women, we?ve now
gone to having our men?s Championships and Secret U.S. Classic [June 3-5 in Hartford, Connecticut],
women?s championships at the men?s trials [June 23-26 in St. Louis], and ending with the women?s trials on
their own in San Jose, California [July 8 and 10]. We?ve completely restricted [our schedule] to maximize the
bene?t of the Olympic year, provide optimal training and competition for athletes, and give them the amount of
time they?re looking for between training and the games.

 

?My job is to make sure we keep the car on the track, in front of pace, and see to it that we?re racing to win. 
What makes an ideal host city or venue for a gymnastics event?

The most important thing you look for is reliable partners. From our perspective, that comes through years of
experience of working with people and knowing them personally, then putting the right mix of cities together so
you can succeed.

We also look for a strong gymnastics fan base wherever we go, making sure we have their involvement and
support. We want to know that when we take an event to a city, [fans are] going to be there.

Where are you headed next year?

We announced Anaheim [California] recently for the 2017 Gymnastics Championships, plus Prudential 
Center in Newark [New Jersey]. One of our goals is to support the LA. 2024 bid as much as possible, so being
in California in August 2017 will have a lot of advantages.

You joined USA Gymnastics in 1999 and became CEO in 2005. How have you seen the organization and
sport itself evolve over the last decade?

We?ve really grown to look at ourselves as part of the sports community in general, beyond just being a part of
the Olympics movement. We?ve tried to establish our brand in such a way that we?re recognized for what we do
around the country in a positive way, through a lot of outside?the-box thinking and becoming more marketing-
centric in what we do. It?s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day issues of running a sport. You really have to
spend a lot of time and energy on What you can do outside the normal boundaries.

What are your future goal

 
 
 
     

ice and increase
just launched a new

We have so ndamental parts?~win medals, grow the sport, improve customer se
visibility? nd our job every day is to decide if we?re meeting those measurements.
app recentl that allows parents to connect with meets in a whole new way.

    

We also have a fun lan we?ll roll out pretty soon, plus a of things to capitalize on the Olympic
year. We?ve invited every living 1a 3 as our guest, and we?re planning a fun evening
around that.

Do you have any single great moments in your job you can share?

thought what they really needed was a training camp before
the Olympics to have that time to come down off the trials.
Making the team is a big moment and there are a lot of emo-
tions both positive and negative when that happens. There

are a bunch of a guys that
aren?tgg?fmf?g??Mofanathlete?s life is built around ma 'ng the
tea our goals a winning medals The
gug?lstfelt like @an a] and motional pr para-
tion could have been better if they had a couple more weeks.
When we sat down with NBC and asked how could we do
this a little differently so that it works for everybody, we came
up with a model that we think really is going to be exciting.
One of your key events, the American Cup, will
be staged this year at Stadium, home of the Dal-
las Cowboys. Why a football stadium?

It started when we were there for the post Olympic tour in
2012. Matt Wood [Dallas Olympic bid leader] and the mayor
came to see us at the arena. We started talking about bring-
ing events to Dallas and doing some things. We had taken
our championships there in August 2009. But August is a
hard month to do anything in Dallas because everyone has
gone somewhere else because it?s so hot. It?s really hard to
get people to do a lot down there that time of year. We
thought a one-day event in the spring might be better. But
the challenge then is you?ve got an arena there that has
hockey and NBA teams. 80 we started looking at the stadium
and it kept getting better and better. We went to the Cow-
boys and they liked the idea, and Dallas was still an Olympic
bid hopeful at the time, so it kind of all fell together. But they
are genuinely excited to have us.

How many seats are you expecting to fill?

Our goal is to be somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 and
we'd be happy. You could fill 80,000 but that?s not the foot-
print we?re creating.

Do you think that could open the door for events in other
larger venues?

It?s got to be the right fit at
the right time for the right

 

THINK 

A REAL STRONG
reasons. When you look at
the fact it?s the A'l?rirT NEED TO BRING THE
Stadium in the city where
is headquartered, THE UNITED STATES
there?s a lot about it that IN THE 

makes sense. It?s a con-
tained environment, it has
a roof and it just offers an
incredible stage to showcase your sport. We?re always look-
ing at how we take it to the next level and that clearly is it.
Last year, Daytona Beach hosted the World Trampoline
and Tumbling Championships, the first time in 25
years the U.S. hosted that event. Would you like to see
more international gymnastics events in the 

Well, I would be careful with that. I think these international
federations have a huge issue in front of them. This goes back
to the Olympics decision. I cannot believe that these guys
allow these big events to be awarded based on politics. When
these things go into these voting environments and go to a
room full of people, half of them have no clue what goes into
hosting a big event. We?re not going to Stadium
because I went into a room with a bunch of people and said,
?Hands up, who?s in?? We?re going there because we?re mak-

DISTANT 



Steve Penny

   

in and out of any on rough a politica process. With
international events, these guys want you to pay for every?
thing, and the model is getting harder and harder to justify
economically. Then you get into a political situation and start
throwing stuff at it to buy votes--and I mean that correctly
and politely?but when you start offering free housing and
free ground transportation and all of these thin the
numbers through the roof. My 0' at, yes, there?s
inherent value to it. But ou
goal is to go win medals
wherever the events are
and we?ve proven we
can do too. I?m not as
nervous abou 

if I can go win medals
wherever they?re held.

For the last few decades,
budget cuts have caused
the number of NCAA
schools offering gymnas-
tics to decline, especially men?s programs. Is the USOC
doing enough to work with the NCAA on that issue?

It?s a priority and they?ve expressed that. The question is not
whether anyone is doing enough. The question is what?s the
right thing to do. And the answers are all over the map. I
think we could come up with a more concentrated effort that
has more of a step-by-step approach. But right now it? 5 really
hard to evaluate exactly what the right thing is. You can?t do
anything until the NCAA governance issue changes. And
every school takes a different approach to how it looks at its
programs. So many of these decisions are made at the institu-
tional level. You have to look at how you effect change at the
top with the NCAA and the next layer down with the confer-
ences and the next layer down with the member institutions
themselves. And each one of those layers has its own nuances
and its own challenges and its own way of looking at it.

April will mark your 10th year at the helm of USA Gym-
nastics. Not all NGB leaders have that kind of staying
power. What are your secrets to success?

I appreciate that you recognized that. The biggest thing for
me is you have to lead in a way that?s true to the mission of
the organization. Then you have to produce results around
that. It?s not easy. I didn?t come from the sport. When you
come from the sport, you have to demonstrate that you can
deal with the things that happen outside the sport. And
when you come from outside the sport, you have to
demonstrate that you can deal with things that happen
inside the sport, so it?s a dual?edged sword. The other
thing is you go by the mantra of don?t make the same mis-
take twice. And especially don?t make it three times. I think
at some level I?ve been able to meet some of those markers.
The results/demonstratetliat we?re doin a lot of good
thi . hen I look at this NGB now, is is wha
supposed to look like. We?ve won the medal count the
ast two world championships, our sport is growing??we
grew overall by about 12 to 13 percent last year?we are
ancially very healthy and stable, we?re serving and lead-
our sport and we?re increasing its visibility through all
'fferent channels we have. I look at these markers a
oing our job, let?s keep doing it.

  
    
 

GOAL [5 TO
GO WIN MEDALS
WHEREVER THE
EVENTS ARE HELD
AND PROVEN
WE CAN DO THA 

 

5"

   

 

 

   

February 2015

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