FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Leslie McKinley
(805) 756-2219
Warriors’ President to Speak at Graduate
Commencement
For Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business June 12
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly alumnus Robert Rowell,
president of the
Golden State Warriors NBA team, will be the keynote speaker at the June
12 commencement ceremony for those receiving master’s degrees from
Cal
Poly’s Orfalea College of Business.
Rowell is entering his second year as the Warriors’ president after
being promoted to that position in June 2003 by team owner Christopher
Cohan. The 36-year-old native of Alton, Illinois, is the youngest
executive to occupy his position in the NBA His responsibilities include
directing all aspects of the club’s management team in its day-to-day
business and basketball operations. He also represents the organization
as a member of the NBA Board of Governors and serves as the team’s
NBA
chief marketing officer.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism in 1989 and
a
master’s degree in business administration in 1993, both from Cal
Poly.
Prior to joining the Warriors, Rowell worked for Cal Poly’s
Intercollegiate Athletics Department for six years. He spent three years
(1989-91) as business manager before being promoted to assistant
athletics director in 1992, and an associate athletics director in 1994.
During his tenure, Cal Poly moved from an NCAA Division II athletics
program to NCAA Division I-AA status.
He will speak to some 100 master’s degree candidates from the Orfalea
College of Business and their families and friends at 6 p.m. June 12 in
the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
About Robert Rowell
During his two seasons as chief operating officer with the Golden State
Warriors, Rowell continued to serve as the catalyst in the Warriors
steady resurgence in the Bay Area sports business community, while also
playing a major role in the in hiring Special Assistant Chris Mullin and
Head Coach Eric Musselman.
Those decisions helped spark a renewed excitement of Warriors
basketball, both locally and nationally, as the 2002-03 Warriors team
finished with the most improved record in the NBA (17-plus wins), and
Musselman finished as a runner-up for NBA Coach of the Year honors.
Rowell initially joined the Warriors management team in August of 1995
as assistant controller. He also served as director of
finance/controller for two seasons. His responsibilities included
handling day-to-day business operations and fiscal management of the
club’s renovated $110 million arena and $10 million practice facility.
Other business accomplishments under Rowell’s leadership include:
·Expanding the club’s
season ticket holder base by more than 20 percent over the last three
years.
· Establishing an all-time single-season franchise record in home
attendance during the 2002-03 campaign.
· Increasing online sales at the Warriors’ Web site (www.warriors.com)
by more than 200 percent since July of 2002.
· Increasing traffic to the Warrior’s Web site by 30 percent
over the last year, one of the top figures in the NBA.
· Creating the “In The Paint” program to increase season
ticket holder retention rates through customer service. The program calls
for every employee in the organization to establish a relationship with
designated season ticket holders via personal contact.
· Spearheading the creation of the marketing arm of the Warriors:
Great Time Out Entertainment. The team’s new branding campaign,
“It’s A Great Time Out,” helped the Warriors earn the
NBA’s highest regular-season attendance increase mark (17 percent)
during the 2000-01 season.
Following the 2000-01 season, Rowell was named one of Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Award winners from a field of 600 nominees. The annual Forty Under 40 Awards recognize the achievements of the top 40 executives in sports under the age of 40.
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