(lively music) - [Announcer] This is "Carolina Business Review."

Major support provided by: High Point University, the premier life skills university focused on preparing students for the world as it is going to be.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, an independent licensee of the BlueCross and BlueShield Association.

Sonoco, a global manufacturer of consumer and industrial packaging products and services with more than 300 operations in 35 countries.

One of the great things about the holidays is it's it's a bit of taking our attention away to possibly lighter things, happier moments, if you will.

Certainly, some of the sacredness of what the holiday means have a lot to do with that, but also leisure activities that allow us to laugh a little easier, to smile a little bit more.

And if you're a live sports fan that checks a big box for fun, for sure.

On this executive profile, we will chat with someone who has made big league live sports.

Big business.

Charlotte Hornets president Shelly Cayette-Weston joins us.

Stay with us.

- [Announcer] Major funding also by: Foundation for the Carolinas, a catalyst for philanthropy and driver of civic engagement, helping individuals, nonprofits, and companies bring their charitable visions to life.

Truliant Federal Credit Union, proudly serving the Carolinas since 1952 by focusing on what truly matters, our members' financial success.

Welcome to brighter banking.

And Martin Marietta, a leading provider of natural resource-based building materials, providing the foundation on which our communities improve and grow.

On this edition of Carolina Business Review, an executive profil featuring Shelly Cayette-Weston, President of Busines Operations, Charlotte Hornets.

(bright music) You know, it's hard to believe it's been almost four decades.

Is that possible since the Charlotte Hornets became an NBA team?

Not just beginning.

Is an expansion team organically ground up in 1988, but then at some point leaving Charlotte, going to New Orleans, changing their name, coming back to Charlotte, changing your name again, so on and so forth.

Our special guest was a player herself at one point, but what she found was maybe she was better suited to be off the court and on the business side of basketball.

Prior to the Hornets, at least the Charlotte Hornets, she was at the Cleveland Cavaliers, where she had a track record of lifting the low ranking Cavs Ops operations into one of the league's top performing.

Now she is the president of the operations side of the Charlotte Hornets.

We welcome Shelly Cayette-Weston.

Madam president, welcome to the program.

Thank you for having me Chris.

Exciting.

Happy holidays.

Merry Christmas.

Same to you okay.

To say right.

Yes.

Yeah.

Shelly.

So hornets indigenous to Charlotte.

Been around for a long time.

I know we they had that that that kind of that little thing that happened down in New Orleans.

But, back in Charlotte now for, for quite a while.

You've got World Cup now coming onto the scene in the United States.

You've got the NFL, you've got the MLB, you've got MLS that is aggressively expanding.

Where does the NBA and not necessarily NBA, but where does the game itself of professional basketball see?

Where do you see it going and how do you see that the Hornets fit into that.

Yeah.

Well I think a lot of what you mentioned and all the leagues and teams, it's the passion and power of sports news and sports is where content is these days.

If you look at any from a media and the behavior of media, people are still following sports, news.

And so I think there's a strength there.

If you look at the NBA, we actually think as a league, we're in a very, very strong spot.

Partly it's one of the few leagues that's global and has been for quite some time, you know, the league, Adam Silver, Mark Tatum, our commissioner, deputy commissioner, have been investing a lot of time and effort and money, internationally.

And we're starting a league now in Africa.

You may have seen we're doing a lot more global games around the, the world.

And a lot of our players are international and our fans are following, it's a universal language.

Sports.

And so we see it's one of those languages that's easy for fans to, to, to participate in.

And it's continuing to grow.

NBA had a the probably the strongest start for the season monetarily in viewership in 15 years.

Yeah.

That's got to be a good harbinger for you.

It's great.

And I think what it shows is the one thing in BA has it's, it's it's entertainment and it's the intersection of culture, of music, a fashion.

Sports is not it's basketball, but it's so much more, right?

You get to see our players, you know who they are, you get to learn about their lifestyle.

And we see our fans wanting to know more of that.

And it allows us to have our fans to have more of a connection with our players, our organization.

So that's why I do think NBA has an advantage, of connecting and youth.

It really connects to youth.

We want kids to start playing basketball and get a basketball in their hands when they're really young.

Which also adds to the growth and connection of our game.

Yeah.

So you've got I want to get to your vision in just a second, Shelly.

But you just talked about the fan experience.

How do you personally wait the fan experience within the continuum of the operations of running an enterprise like that?

If you ask me, it's 100%, Chris.

And I'm sure an.

Answer.

And I say that listen, as we think about our priorities and our goal for the business, literally, number one is forgetting unforgettable, creating unforgettable experiences.

The fan experience means so much sports, the sports.

I don't care if you are, a franchise that has banners from championships, you know, you think of the Celtics, the Lakers, they have up years and they have down years.

And so you want to create a foundation, that has a connection with fans.

Regardless of what's happened, you don't you never want to have a losing, overall franchise.

But when you build a winning culture, you're going to have ups and downs.

And you I think the experience of the fan is everything.

And I think that is what's going to sustain franchises for the long term.

I'm actually go go through those ups and downs.

Yeah.

And as you talk about you talked about the Celtics.

But I think about the Buffalo Bills in the NFL that that for, for years and years and years did not have a winning season.

But they had such a loyal fan base.

How did they cultivate that?

How do you cultivate that?

You know, I think it happens over time.

I think the one great thing about the Carolinas, is there's so much nostalgia here.

You know, the team's franchise has been here since 88, even though there again, there's been that interim in the middle period.

But it's been here since 88.

People I still see come up to me and they talk about, Muggsy Bogues, they talk about Dell Curry.

You know, there is so much history here.

I had, someone talk to me about their ticket that they still have for their first date when they were 13.

That has nothing to do with on the court.

It wasn't about a win or loss.

Actually, the Hornets had the longest record of attendance.

Attendance record out of the entire NBA early in those years, over eight years in a row.

That speaks a lot about the Carolinas.

And so that's what we want to tap back into because it's rooted here.

And you can't always build that.

You know, I, my husband's actually from Cleveland, so I have to live through, you know, the Browns, as you know, it's passion, right?

Know, it's a saying, you know, you go through and there's a lot of passion there.

And they haven't won it right in a long time.

But there's still that passion.

And so we feel that there's a lot of passion here in the Carolinas for the Hornets.

And we feel that it's something that we can tap into.

And the pride of the people here in the Carolinas.

Yeah.

So when you go down the roster and I'm, we're not going to talk about the players, it's a completely different conversation.

But it is part and parcel to who the Charlotte Hornets are.

Yeah.

So whether they're having a winning season or a losing season, as you said so eloquently right before we started, you know, one one injury can derail an entire season for for a ball club.

What how how how do you factor the roster and the rest of what you trying to manage?

What's what is important to understand?

What are your communication?

What are your conversations with the players when you try to have them see what your vision is for the Hornets?

Well, here's where I would start with, it would start with our chairman, Rick Stall, and Gabe Plotkin, who brought the team roughly two years ago.

Have a very clear vision to build a premier NBA entertainment franchise.

They are very passionate.

They are very willing to commit to that and invest in that.

Right.

So that doesn't happen overnight.

To do that, you also have to build a winning culture.

So both on and off the court.

So this is where they're going to connect.

They hire Jeff Peterson, who was top at what he did at leading basketball.

Right.

And basketball operations coach Lee, we have our head coach, actually, Charles Lee has won two championships.

He knows what winning looks like.

So they're building a winning culture on the court that happens by.

That's a culture of organization.

It's not about one player.

It's about an organization and a culture of of winning.

And we're doing the same on the business side.

And so, you know, we actually won the Summer league championship this past summer.

And it was it's so interesting because, you know, summer League is about development.

That's what you get your rookies in.

We've got one of the best rookie classes in the NBA right now.

And you don't hear us talking so much about it because coach really wants to not focus on one particular player.

He wants it to be a team that's building a winning culture.

These are guys on their fourth round draft pick, had stitches in his head.

And when he played in the championship game, of which he was the MVP, we've got great, got great talent.

But it's really about building a long term winning culture is what we're focused on.

We're focusing on the long game.

So for us, it's about both sides knowing that, again, in the basketball operation, team understands we're building a winning culture on the business side.

We understand that and then we're investing in that.

So that's about investing in facilities and world class facilities.

So when we talk about that vision, we're investing right now.

We have a, Novant Health Performance Center.

We're building a state of the art practice facility right here in uptown Charlotte.

A brand new NBA practice facility is going to be one of the best out of all NBA teams.

That's that's going to create a winning culture.

It's going to help us attract and retain players.

Also, our business operations team is going to be they're going to have 300 employees in there.

And so we understand what it means to be premier, right.

And to continue to grow.

And those are just the foundational pieces we're investing in, the fan experience.

We're investing in talent and people and getting the surrounding ourselves and building off of a foundation of great people.

So all of those things are just areas of which we're investing and building a winning culture, both on and off the court.

Go back to the ownership for just a second.

They have made, a substantial investment in the Charlotte Hornets different.

It was a private equity firm.

And this is this wasn't a new transaction.

This happens a lot at the top of the league like that.

Do they have do you get the sense that they have a very very long term view.

Maybe even longer than most people think they do.

You know, I would say I quote, you know, when we were initially talking, he's like, look, you coming, you know, we want to build this thing.

We want you here for 20 years, 20 plus years.

Like he they are very passionate about this.

This isn't a private equity flip.

This is a franchise.

This is such a special market in the Carolinas.

Again, you talk about a market here.

And even, you know, as you think about the Carolinas and being a state here, number one by CNBC to do business having 157 people moving here every day in both North and South Carolina, the growth that they're both having, this is special.

You don't get to just take a franchise and put into that.

Right.

So you've got people here.

Legacy from the 88, from the 80s, that are legacy fans, basketball.

There's only one other place that actually probably has a deeper rooted connection to basketball, probably Indiana.

Right.

The Carolinas are known for basketball.

Collegiate, right.

Collegiate.

Oh, yeah.

And again, we've had record, from NBA attendance setting.

So there's a rooted, foundation of basketball here that we want to just tap into and build off of.

Reignite.

Yeah.

And so they are in it for the long haul.

They're doing this about passion.

And they really believe that with the right people, the right culture, that we're going to create a franchise that the Carolinas can be proud of.

Yeah.

And you and this is a bit of a leading question, Shelly, but I mean, you've got Michael Jordan is still a legacy owner.

He's still of course, he's one of Carolina's favorite son.

You've got you've got the dynasty of the Curry's the the two sons, and you've got Dell.

I mean, it seems like you've got a lot of things to leverage.

Will you not will you be able to, but will there will there be more of those legacy connections coming in to what the Charlotte Hornets will look like 12 months, 24 months, five years from now?

The answer is yes.

And I can say that, with confidence, because we're already seeing it, because we're tapping into people that may not have, you know, been to a game in a long time or Spectrum Center.

We're celebrating 20 years at Spectrum Center this year.

And so when you think about that, it's a facility that has opened its doors.

It's been the heartbeat of entertainment in the region.

Right.

So we have collegiate, we have ACC tournaments in NCAA tournaments, concerts events, Hornets games.

So we are actually going to celebrate on January 24th at one of our games, the 20th anniversary.

So we're going to bring back all of that legacy.

You're talking about nostalgia not only from the basketball side, but also from the community, from people that helped to build what it is today.

Again.

And we have we're lucky to have Mugsy and Dale on, on, right here in our house.

But but there's a lot of people that have been impactful over the years to help build this franchise to be what it is.

And we absolutely are making sure we tap back into.

That couple of financial parts on the business side.

And we're not asking you if players should do this or not.

That's that's not a question here.

Now that the betting has really become more of a thing, does that help the operation part?

Does that help a top line for for a franchise?

Well, I think the the reason that sports betting across any sports, helps the sport is because it forces people to be more engaged.

So everyone has fantasy games, right?

My husband certainly, you know, when he has fantasy time, I know take the kids and you know he's focusing on fantasy, right.

The fantasy gaming does is it makes people participate and you have to watch the games.

And so that's what sports betting does a little bit too.

Right?

And people watch and engage in the game.

And so that's across all leagues, all sports.

And so there is a level of engagement.

It has to be done responsibly of course.

But that level of engagement does enhance sports.

It enhance, people watching and getting connected to the game.

And when you talk about engagement, you mentioned the youth.

Why is youth in any in any market?

Cleveland, where you were Tulane, where you went to school or Louisiana?

Why is having the youth in there, and is there is there is there more than just an incremental increase in a youth engagement?

And how do you do something more than that?

I think it's definitely beyond just incremental.

I look at it in two ways.

As an operator, they are the future.

They are our future season ticket holders.

They are our future sponsors.

You know, you want to get them connected to the organization.

You also think about, you know, as you grow up, people saying who are their their team, who's their team, right?

People have jerseys that live in different states.

And you're like how there's some connection, whether they went to the game with their mom or their dad or they had an experience.

I have a nephew that is connected.

He lives in Ohio and is an intense Baltimore Ravens fan.

No one in the family is, and it's because he did a youth camp that was that were the Ravens.

It is interesting what will connect people right to to the passion of sports.

And so we want to create that connection early.

I want to create it in one season when they are in the hospital.

Right.

So Novant holds one of our partners.

We want them in onesies right out of the hospital connected to the Hornets brand.

So it does create legacy.

It, it creates, an affinity for the organization.

And then in general, you know, we want to get kids active.

We believe that sports has a way to help, youth grow, learn team, team concept, skill sets, that make them better leaders in the future.

And that that helps.

That helps our community.

So, you know, you've got you've got more than, a little bit passing knowledge of business operations in the Hornets.

Of course.

You were the Cleveland Cavaliers before that.

You went to school for it.

You got a business head.

So how do you be how are you sensitive to the conversation that we've all had about inflation, the cost of everything, including entertainment and hospitality?

How do you make sure you keep.

That is not just a oh, by the way, we've got to do something about that.

Yeah.

Well listen, we're if you're in sports and as a franchise and the same with Rick and Gabe buying the team, we're not buying it to make money.

That's not it's about passion.

It's about creating a team and a franchise that this market in this region can be proud of.

And you don't do that by gouging prices.

Now.

Yes, there are price increases.

I think for us, how we look at it from a business standpoint is we try to be responsible.

So there's a lot of data.

We know what market comps are.

So we look at market comps, we look at where we tend to other markets that are our market size that have same market roughly spend.

I mean there's a lot of factors that go into it.

And so we want to be, competitive with other markets.

Right.

And so that's important.

But we also want to be very responsible.

You know, one of the first things that Rick and Gabe looked at as we were talking about our food experience, and we want to elevate our food experience.

I remember so vividly on a call we're talking about raising food experience, which doesn't always mean lesser prices, right?

Of course.

Because, you know, our operator, we work with the partner that, you know, they now have to increase their prices if we're going to do that.

But there's their directive right back to us is how do how do we get, food options that are affordable that, that what's the conversation?

We're talking about elevating food experience.

And they're saying how can it be affordable.

And so that's something that we are going back and we're working with our food partner, with Levy on to create something, to, to make sure that every fan has the ability to have affordable food options and spectrum center.

Do you feel like you've made some headway on that?

Absolutely.

And not to give it away on the show.

And you breaking news here.

But, but absolutely, we are we are going to roll something out and we have options now, but we want to take a deeper dive into it to make sure that, it's a core part of our, experience when you come into Spectrum Center.

That's just an example of it's not just about the money, it's about the fan experience.

Which goes back to the first question you asked me when we sat down, which is how important is the overall fan experience?

It's 100% from an operation standpoint.

So drawing from your experience, Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron, one of the times he was in Cleveland, how important is it to him now?

Obviously he's he's something special.

But you one of your owners was something special.

Michael Jordan was something special.

How is important is it to have a marquee name in the roster to make a franchise successful?

Is it good to have is it critical to have is it nice to have?

How would you, prioritize that kind of, star?

Yeah.

Listen, I would say for any franchise.

So I've seen it all to your point, I've gone in New Orleans Hornets with Chris Paul, rookie year, David West, Tyson Chandler, remember those years?

Two Cavaliers that before LeBron that really had no names.

And we were certainly winning 19 games a year.

And to hear that we've got amazing talent on our team between LaMelo and Myles and Brandon, and the rookie class and con and Liam McNeilly and Ryan Colburn, that they literally by statistically are top performing rookies in the league this year.

So the answer I would tell you is I've seen all forms of it once again.

Again, you want to get fans connected to the overall organization, but you've got to show them the fact that you're building something and you're moving towards something special.

And I think we're doing that.

I think working can have committed to that.

Jeff Charles, you hear them and talk to them.

You see it in the draft class that we just, picked.

You see that we're moving.

You see how he's coaching?

You see how the guys connect to him more, they compete more.

I hear that all the time.

People come up to me.

Fans come up and say, you know, I know we didn't win this game, but this was a competitive game.

They played to the very end.

There's pride.

I can tell we're going in the right direction.

The direction is what's to me most important.

And yes, you have to have, you know, a solid foundation of top talent and you've got to have a great system and coach to build it.

But you can have all the talent in the world if you don't have the right leader to assemble it.

Right.

And we think we have absolutely the best leader in coach Lee.

He connects with the guys, they trust him, they buy into him.

And so we believe that we have all the pieces to build exactly what was needed.

And you see it done differently in Oklahoma, this past year that won the championship.

Well, you know, Shay is definitely a star, but he's not a standout that one.

Right?

It was a team effort.

Indiana.

Same thing.

And so we believe that we can do it from a team effort.

But we do.

We want the top.

We want top talent.

Do you get.

And this is not to be a theory of Shelby, but do you do you get chills when you watch some of the games?

Do you get chills when you're in those meetings and you're talking?

I do you have to.

We say, look, that's the beauty about not, and no offense, banking or insurance, but you know, we work long hours.

It's an industry you've gotta subscribe to.

It's a lot of sacrifice to family and a lot and holidays and all and all that.

But there is such, there's something special about being a part of something bigger, right?

We're all trying to win, right?

All together.

So on the court, even though we're not on there.

And, And I certainly can't move as fast as I did, you know, 30 years ago, but I would say, the.

Absolutely there, Charles, there.

Absolutely.

Charles.

And you know, what I love about this organization is that as much as we are invested in what goes on, on the court and with our guys and them as people and family, they're invested.

What goes on on the business side, grant Williams, one of our players every year, gives our entire business staff Christmas gifts and big Christmas gift, not little like last year.

He gave luggage to every single employee and he came in and he said, I know we don't see it all the time, but we know what you guys do and how it's important, to fuel, you know, the game is.

That put pressure on his teammates.

I know you got to be a little bit competitive, guys.

Let's face it.

They are competitive.

But you know what?

I believe with the group of guys that we have and what we continue to build, that they all have the same mindset.

And the reality is we in turn want to do our part.

So one thing is we have, 12% more increase in fans in our arena this year.

Attendance has grown.

When you come in the arena, you feel it.

And our record hasn't significantly changed year over year.

Again, we're building, we're still going through, but the energy is different and that goes back.

We are putting intentionality and our game experience, in the attendance in reaching more people to come in groups to get more people in and, and a diversity of groups.

And so we want more people to experience the arena, the game experience.

And that goes back to your first question about connecting.

So we want to do our part because we want them to have a home court advantage when they're playing too.

We've got, less than two minutes left.

You miss playing.

Do you play pickup games?

Do you do anything like that?

I don't, so I actually have my doctors.

I said, don't play.

So I have no cartilage in my knee.

So I was going to say, is that a knee thing?

Yeah.

It's your knee thing.

But listen, I do miss the game.

I miss the competitiveness of the game.

I miss being around 15 other players with one common goal.

I miss physically being in that.

But that's why I love my job because I get to be in that now with 1100 people.

And is.

That how big the organization.

Is with roughly 300 full time staff on Hornets sports and entertainment?

And then we have significant amount of part time staff that help to operate and put on that building.

We have a significant honor.

Employees that have been with the organization for over 20 years, guest services, and people talk about them.

They know them by name, their know their families.

But that's that's the special piece that we get to create.

What are some of your friends in 30s?

What are you, some of your friends?

Not necessarily at the Cavs, but some of the other ball clubs say to you.

About.

About anything about you being at the Hornets and watching what's going on.

They love it.

You know, listen, I would say when I went to Cleveland, people thought I was a bit crazy because they're like, what are you doing?

Right.

I came away from that with the championship because I, thankfully saw something special.

And what was going we were going to build it before anyone else did.

And I feel that here.

I feel that with the leadership of Rick and Gabe, I feel it with the people that I get to work with every day.

I feel it with the community that has embraced me and this organization and such an impactful way throughout the Carolinas, which we are invested in.

We don't want to.

We're not just Charlotte, we're throughout the Carolinas.

This team we want everyone to be proud of.

I think Rick and Gabe probably are pretty happy with their pick, so we're glad to have something to say.

Thank you.

Merry Christmas to you.

Same to you.

Thank you so much.

Thanks for watching our program.

We certainly hope that your holidays are merry and bright.

Thank you for supporting this dialog.

We'll be watching the Hornets Go Hornets until next week I'm Chris Wood I'm going to.

(gentle music) - [Announcer] Gratefully acknowledging support by: Martin Marietta, Truliant Federal Credit Union, Foundation for the Carolinas, Sonoco, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, High Point University, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright music)