Chuck Greenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961 (age 62–63) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Tufts University (BS) University of Michigan Law School (JD) |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney Professional sports owner |
| Known for | Owner of the State College Spikes, Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Frisco RoughRiders of Minor League Baseball Former owner of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball |
| Children | 3 |
Charles M. "Chuck" Greenberg (born 1961 in Englewood, New Jersey) is an American sports attorney, chairman and founder of the Greenberg Sports Group, and owner of three minor league baseball teams. Greenberg was managing partner of Rangers Baseball Express, LLC, which on August 5, 2010, won court approval to purchase the Texas Rangers, a Major League Baseball team, from Tom Hicks and Hicks Sports Group. Greenberg served as Managing Partner and CEO of the Rangers from 2010 to 2011.
Greenberg was born to a Jewish family,[1] in Englewood, New Jersey, but his family moved to Pittsburgh before his first birthday. He is one of three sons of David and Barbara Greenberg. He graduated from Upper St. Clair High School in Pittsburgh in 1978 and went on to enroll at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
While at Tufts, Greenberg majored in political science and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in 1982. From there he went on to the University of Michigan Law School, where he received his juris doctor in 1985.
After law school, Greenberg began his law career in his hometown of Pittsburgh, as an associate and then partner at Cohen & Grigsby, where he practiced for 13 years. In 1998, he joined Pepper Hamilton as a corporate and sports attorney and a partner in the Pennsylvania-based law firm.[2] While at Pepper Hamilton, Greenberg headed the firm's sports practice and was a member of its executive committee from 2002 to 2008.
Among his most prominent work as a sports industry attorney, Greenberg was instrumental in a deal that landed NHL Hall of Famer, Mario Lemieux,[3] ownership of the then-bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team in 1999.[4] The deal is credited with saving the franchise for the city and Western Pennsylvania.[5] In 2007, Greenberg again represented Lemieux and the Penguins in successful negotiations with the state, the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County which resulted in a deal to build the new Consol Energy Center (now known as PPG Paints Arena) in downtown Pittsburgh and secured the future of the Penguins in Pittsburgh for another 30 years.
Beginning in 2002, Greenberg formed and led an ownership group that purchased the Double-A Eastern League's Altoona Curve,[6] a minor league baseball team in Pennsylvania. For six years (2002–2008), Greenberg acted as managing partner and president of the team. He is credited with helping the organization set fan attendance records,[7] while continually re-investing money to improve the Blair County Ballpark, which resulted in national recognition of the franchise as one of the most innovative teams in professional sports.[8] Due in part to Greenberg's contributions to the baseball industry and the local community, the organization was awarded the John H. Johnson Presidents Trophy in December 2006, given to the top franchise in all of Minor League Baseball for overall quality and performance.[9] During Greenberg's tenure as managing partner and president, the franchise won several other awards, including the Larry MacPhail Award, presented in December 2004 by the Minor League Baseball association as the top franchise in all of Minor League Baseball for marketing, promotions, and community service[10] and the Bob Freitas Award in November 2006, awarded by Baseball America as the top Double-A franchise in Minor League Baseball.[11] Greenberg was also a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 as a finalist in the Western Pennsylvania and New York Region for ownership and management of Altoona Curve and State College Spikes. Greenberg and his ownership group (Curve Baseball LP) sold the team to the Robert F. Lozinak family in 2008.[12]
While continuing to manage and operate the Altoona Curve, Greenberg and his investment group also purchased the former New Jersey Cardinals. He immediately relocated the franchise to State College, Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Penn State University. Greenberg worked with the university to create the area's first-ever professional sports franchise, the State College Spikes, which began play in the New York-Penn League in 2006. Greenberg's hard work associated with the unique relationship between the Spikes and the university has become a model in the industry for facilities,[13] shared by a major university and a professional sports franchise. Medlar Field at Lubrano Park was the first ballpark in America LEED-certified for leadership in environmental and energy design.[14]
Greenberg took over as president and managing partner of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in June 2006 when he and a group of investors purchased the Minor League Baseball team.[15] Greenberg worked to enhance TicketReturn.Com Field in Myrtle Beach, making it one of the most fan-friendly venues in Minor League Baseball.[16] Greenberg and his group of investors spent $2.5 million to enhance the Pelicans' ballpark including the installation of a state-of-the-art, 550-square-foot (51 m2) video board, a new Outfield Reserved Bleacher Seating section,[17] and the opening of Pelican's Beach, dubbed "the only baseball-front beach in America". As part of a stadium redesign, the franchise moved the visitor's bullpen from beyond left field to beside a dugout, and set up 500-seat bleachers in its place. The Major League-quality video board is the largest in the Carolina League and ranks among the largest in all of Minor League Baseball, while the outfield seating is unique within the Carolina League. The Pelicans also reached several attendance milestones, including setting the team's all-time franchise attendance record in 2008[18] and the all-time average attendance record in 2009,[19] a record that has since been broken in 2014 and again in 2015.[20] In December 2015, the Pelicans won Baseball America's Bob Freitas Award as the top Class A-Advanced franchise in Minor League Baseball.[21]
In August 2014, Greenberg, along with Scott Sonju, led an ownership that purchased the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.[22] The new ownership group has spearheaded numerous major franchise improvements, from a completely new team identity to massive additions and upgrades to Dr Pepper Ballpark, including a giant new 2,763-square-foot HD video board and nearly 2,500-square-feet of new or upgraded LED boards, a new state-of-the-art sound system, a newly designed and modernistic video control room, an open-air in-park sports bar, a relocated and expanded team store, known as "Riders Outpost", improved food service and menu, and a complete overhaul of in-game entertainment. The improvements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco "Best Ballpark Renovation" of 2015 by Ballpark Digest in the under $6 million category.[23]
Rangers Baseball Express, led by Greenberg and including former baseball great Nolan Ryan, won an auction to purchase the Texas Rangers on August 5, 2010, after hours of courtroom bidding. Greenberg described it as "a painful process ... it dispelled any notion that we haven't earned our way. We will deliver on our promises. And we want to deliver a championship."[24]
The two parties bidding for the franchise were the Ryan/Greenberg group and a group led by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Houston businessman Jim Crane. Hours of delays and bidding resulted in a final sale price of $593 million, $385 million cash and $208 million in assumed liabilities.[25]
Rangers Baseball Express, LLC, had earlier signed a definitive agreement to purchase the Texas Rangers team from Tom Hicks and Hicks Sports Group on January 23, 2010.[26] The Dallas Observer said in April 2010 that Greenberg "has the money and moxie to lead the Texas Rangers back to relevancy and into the playoffs."[27]
Greenberg served as managing partner and CEO of the Rangers, while Ryan continued in his role as team president. Greenberg's vision for the team included both a dedication to being the best at every aspect of the operation and a focus on creating a highly entertaining fan experience at the ballpark. Greenberg said, "[W]e're here to win. We love baseball. We have an unbelievably deep emotional attachment to the Rangers and Rangers' fans. We're going to do everything we can to win."[28]
Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels has praised Greenberg for his personal connection to the fans, noting "He's just a normal guy. Jeans and T-shirts. He's really in tune with fans and knows how to have his finger on the pulse of what they want. He's very impressive. He wants revenue, make no mistake about that. But above and beyond that comes winning."[27]
During the 2010 World Series Greenberg, as a guest on a local ESPN radio show, Ben and Skin, made negative comments about the New York Yankees fans during the ALCS.
I thought Yankee fans, frankly, were awful. They were either violent or apathetic, neither of which is good. So I thought Yankee fans were by far the worst of any I've seen in the postseason. I thought they were an embarrassment.
— Chuck Greenberg
Greenberg would later apologize publicly and to Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine of the New York Yankees.[29] The comments made by Greenberg followed an incident in Game 3 of the ALCS when Kristen Lee, wife of Texas Ranger pitcher Cliff Lee, told the media about the treatment her and other players' wives received by fans at New Yankee Stadium.[30] Misty May, wife of backup catcher Matt Treanor, posted pictures on her Facebook page of Yankee fans spitting from the upper deck down into the section where her family and other Rangers fans were sitting.
On March 11, 2011, Greenberg announced that he was stepping down as Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Rangers and that he would be selling his interest in the Rangers and will no longer be associated with the franchise.[31][32] Club president Nolan Ryan assumed the title of CEO, overseeing all aspects of the Rangers operations on both the baseball and the business side.[31][32]
In July 2017, Greenberg was reported to have signed a letter of intent to purchase the Carolina Hurricanes NHL franchise for approximately $500M.[33] Previously, Greenberg had expressed interest in purchasing the Dallas Stars in 2011 before the team was sold to Tom Gaglardi.[34] The sale of the Hurricanes to Greenberg would later fell apart and the team would be sold to Thomas Dundon in 2018.
In October 2008, Greenberg founded Greenberg Sports Group. The company provides management, consulting and marketing services to the sports industry. In 2008, he was elected to the Minor League Baseball Board of Trustees, which has exclusive power to determine policies and enact rules and regulations for Minor League Baseball. Greenberg also was named to the Sports Business Research Advisory Board at Penn State University, representing team owners in the work of the Center for Sports Business Research. He also serves on the board of directors of the Mario Lemieux Foundation (1994–present), the board of directors for the Carolina League (2006–present) and the board of directors for the Baseball Interactive Rights Company (2008–present).
Greenberg has had a long-time association with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. When they lived in Pittsburgh, the two were neighbors, and both attended the Temple Emanuel synagogue. Cuban said that Greenberg "puts the fan first, and he likes to make sure they have fun. I think he is going to be great for the Rangers, and I have told him I am happy to help in any way I can."[27]
Chuck has three adult sons; Jeff, Jack, and Ben, and he currently makes his home in Westlake, Texas.