#36 | George Killebrew: From 11 Wins to a $4 Billion Franchise

His first season selling for the Mavericks, the team went 11 and 71. The next year, 13 and 69. He pitched Dallas on a 20 percent improvement.More on George Killebrew and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/george-killebrewNobody listened. Twenty-seven years later Mark Cuban's $280 million purchase sold at a $4 billion valuation, and George Killebrew had run sponsorship, ticket sales and arena revenue through all of it, including the American Airlines Center naming rights deal at $6.5 million a year for 30 years, the largest at the time.His real argument is that consistency, not championships, is where the money is: a top-five revenue team year after year in a market smaller than Los Angeles, New York or Chicago. He explains what a deep playoff run does to the cash register, why a sweep is actually bad for business, and why Cuban insisted on keeping $10 seats in the building. Also the 2011 run, Phil Jackson's last game as a head coach, and the lockout that arrived thirty days after the parade.Then two second acts. Being handed Major League Rugby as commissioner, where he added a shot clock and put names on jerseys and got called the devil for it. And pickleball, where Tom Dundon pulled him in, the association bought pickleball.com and Pickleball Central, 20 to 40 million people now play, and a franchise that went for $1 million recently sold for $16 million.George Killebrew is the chief revenue officer of the United Pickleball Association. He spent 27 years with the Dallas Mavericks, generating more than $500 million in sponsorship sales and earning 15 NBA awards, and served as commissioner of Major League Rugby.KEY MOMENTS00:00 What a chief revenue officer runs01:59 Cuban buys in at $280 million03:34 $290 million to a $4 billion exit07:44 The Lakers at $10 billion24:58 Sweeping the Lakers in 201126:10 Consistency, not championships28:25 $10 tickets and no price gouging30:33 11 and 71, then 13 and 6940:19 A shot clock, and being called the devil54:26 A $1M franchise sells for $16MNewsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connectLane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElWFollow The Deal Table: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, XThe Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media.Sponsored by Capital Southwest.