{image1} From bat boy to president of a pro sports franchise. That might seem like a fantasy story, but it's Jon Greenberg's life, after he recently was named president of the Milwaukee Admirals hockey franchise.
Greenberg started as a bat boy for the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1980s and worked his way up to public relations director. He was comfortable in a job he loved, but then Harris Turer, one of the Brewers' owners and the soon-to-be principal owner of the Admirals, gave him a call.
With that phone conversation, the 37-year-old Greenberg received a big promotion and inherited a bigger part of the responsibility for turning a proud franchise around. Turer says the deal might not have gone through if Greenberg had not accepted his offer to become president.
His former UWM journalism professor, Gregg Hoffmann, caught up with Greenberg in this latest Milwaukee Talks.
OMC: Describe how you received the offer to become the Admirals president.
JG: It was in spring training, and I had Harris (Turer) call me on the phone. I had known Harris for a long time, and he was one of our (Brewers) owners. He said he was going to be buying the Admirals, that he had put together a group and it definitely was going to happen. He wanted to have a president on board. I thought he was calling me to get some names of people who would be good choices. I was certainly willing to offer some people, but then he said, 'No, no, I want to talk to you about doing it.'
I had a long pause, as I tried to process that information, because it certainly was more than I had anticipated out of the phone call. I told him I was flattered. We talked about some things, and I saw it as a golden opportunity in my career.
OMC: A big jump for a former bat boy. How did you get into the Brewers' organization?
JG: I was the Brewers' bat boy in 1984-85 and 86. My dad and I went to spring training, just as a fan fun trip. I went to see Tom Skibosh and Mario Ziino (Brewers' PR people at the time) and told them I was interested in breaking into PR and was willing to help out. They remembered me as a bat boy.
I essentially volunteered because at that time they had no formal internships. I did it for six semesters. As I look back now, I realize what an opportunity I had, because under a formal internship I would probably have had one semester and moved on.
It got my foot in the door. At the same time, I was finishing up school. Thanks to Drew Olson (now Journal Sentinel baseball writer and a former UWM student with Greenberg) I was able to work at the newspaper for a year. I was able to see both sides of the process.
I learned a lot working for the Brewers and working through things that worked out positively and negatively. All the relationships I was able to build with the media and others. I think it gives me a great jumping off point here. By no means do I think I know everything at all. It's been a great learning experience here in the first two weeks.
OMC: You were PR director during the development of Miller Park. That had to be a challenge.
{image2} JG: Miller Park was an experience, the actual construction of it and the politics of getting it done. It opened up doors I would never have imagined. I know more politicians than I probably should. I came out with good relationships with various entities. I think that's important having a relationship with the mayor, county exec and others. They know this (hockey franchise) is a community asset.
OMC: What about working for the Selig family?
JG: I learned a lot working for the Seligs. One of the biggest things is how they dealt with their own people. It will be a big part of my management style. They were so loyal to their staff. When I got this offer, I called Wendy. She was fantastic. I know I can call her and she will always be there for me.
There are only two people in sports that I know and only address them as "Mr." One is Mr. Selig (Bud) and the other is Mr. Hackett (Dick Hackett, former Brewers' exec). They are people who taught me respect for the job and for the people you work with.
OMC: So what are your priorities in turning things around with the Admirals?
JG: We want to raise awareness of this organization in the hockey community. People in hockey in this community have told us repeatedly they haven't heard as much from the Admirals in recent years. Youth hockey, high school teams, men's leagues. Those groups are core for our organization. We are going to do a lot of grassroots work with them. We want to work more with our alumni. We want to re-engage them. We will increase our advertising budget and reach out to fans through a variety of vehicles.
We have a strong product on the ice. We have no control over the hockey product since Nashville makes the personnel decisions on who is here. But, Craig Leipold (Nashville owner) has said player development is very important to his franchise. They are very similar to Milwaukee in baseball. They don't have a huge payroll so they have to do it with player development.
What we have to focus on is once we get the people here we have to give them a great entertainment package - promotions, giveaways, other things along with the hockey. Once we get them in the building we have to give them something that will make them want to come back.
OMC: What's the sports market looking for in Milwaukee?
JG: The market here is looking for entertainment in the winter. We think we can be a big part of their entertainment choices. The problem the last couple years is that we could have been a big part of their choices, but nobody knew about us. We won a championship, but unless you were a core fan you didn't even necessarily know when the Admirals were playing. We have to change that in every way we can, whether it's increasing the advertising budget and getting whatever free advertising we can. We're going to throw everything on the table. Some things will work and some won't work.
The price of Admirals' hockey will remain family-friendly. The price of tickets is less than it was five years ago. It's important to us to get the word out.
OMC: Phil Wittliff is staying with the organization. How has it been working with him?
JG: Phil's been great. He is our main conduit to Nashville. He's the guy who knows the hockey in the building. He's been very, very valuable. He wants to be re-engaged with the hockey community. When Phil goes out to hockey groups, he commands respect. He is "Mr. Hockey" here. We will utilize him in contacts with our alumni and out on speaking engagements.
OMC: What's been the reaction of your family?
JG: My wife (Shannon) knows me primarily through baseball. We met at County Stadium in 1985. My daughter (Caroline) still says 'Daddy Work' whenever we drive by Miller Park. We've told her Daddy moved downtown. I gave her the ceremonial first puck we dropped on the night we made the announcement. She is bringing it to bed with her now. So, we're immersing her in hockey.
OMC: What about the Bradley Center? The Bucks have some problems with it, but how about the Admirals?
JG: If you would go around the league, this building would be right on top of the list. Mrs. Pettit built it. Our goal is to make this the best place in the league to play. We don't have a desire to play anywhere else. We don't want to play next door (U.S. Cellular Arena). We believe we can draw the crowds that won't make playing next door feasible anyway. This building can definitely work for us.
OMC: Has it completely sunk in that you are the president?
JG: It's amazing to me to think I'm the president of anything, not to mention a sports franchise. It's a great opportunity. It's also a whale of a responsibility. If anybody involved here didn't think we could get it back to where it once was we wouldn't be involved. To have the charge to get it back to that is exhilarating. I feel I'm capable of doing it. I believe I will get a lot of help. I think we can do something huge.
