Draft:Jac Sperling

Jac Sperling

Jac Sperling (born June 23, 1949) is an American sports, entertainment and real estate executive, dealmaker and investor. Sperling is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grit Rock Ventures.[i]

Sperling grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, until at age 18 in 1967, he was accepted and attended the University of Virginia where he received college (B.A. with Distinction 1971) and law school degrees (J.D. 1975). Upon graduation, Sperling moved to Denver, Colorado to pursue opportunities in law.

Prior to becoming a sports executive in 1997, he practiced law in Denver at Hogan Lovells(previously as Hogan & Hartson) and prior at Fairfield & Woods, where he focused on professional sports team and facility transactions.[ii]

Coors Field. Sperling was chief legal counsel to the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District when it led the efforts to attract a Major League Baseball expansion franchise to Denver, including the passage of a public referendum approving a six-county sales tax for the financing of a new ballpark.[iii] The Colorado Rockies were granted an expansion franchise by Major League Baseball to start play in 1993 (Mile High Stadium) until Coors Fieldopened in 1995. The District financed, developed, and built Coors Field and leased the ballpark to the Rockies.

Phoenix Coyotes (now Arizona Coyotes). Sperling represented Richard Burke (Founder of United Healthcare) and Steven Gluckstern as the lead advisor in their acquisition of the Winnipeg Jets, a National Hockey League team, and the cross-border relocation of the team to Phoenix in 1997.[iv]

Miller Park (now American Family Field). Sperling advised the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District in the development stages of American Family Field for the Milwaukee Brewers, a Major League Baseball Club.[v]

Minnesota Wild. In 1995, Sperling was engaged by then Mayor Norm Coleman (later to be elected U.S. Senator) of St. Paul, Minnesota, to bring a National Hockey League expansion team back to Minnesota.[vi]Coleman and Sperling organized an ownership group for an NHL expansion team, which was lead by Bob Naegele, Jr., who had owned Rollerblade. In 1997, the NHL awarded an expansion franchise to the Naegele ownership group for the Minnesota Wild. Sperling joined Naegele as co-General Partner, Vice-Chair of the Board, CEO and Alternate NHL Governor.[vii] The team’s new arena in St. Paul, now Xcel Energy Center, is operated by the ownership group but it was financed, designed and constructed  in a cooperative effort with the State (Governor Arne Carlson), the City of St Paul (Mayor Coleman) and the team ownership group.[viii]

Tod Leiweke was selected as the team’s first President, Doug Risebrough its first General Manager and Jacques Lemaire its first coach. The team began play in the Xcel Energy Center in 2000 to a long-run of sell-out crowds welcoming the National Hockey League back to the State of Hockey[ix], and has had similar success with non-hockey events such as concerts and family shows.[x]

In Minnesota, Sperling was selected as the Sportsman of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune (2000) and as the recipient of the Service to Humanity Award by the United Hospital Foundation (2002).[xi]

Sperling was elected to be the Chair of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce from 2003-2005.[xii]

Grit Rock Ventures. In 2004, Sperling formed Grit Rock Ventures to advise buyers and sellers in professional sports team transactions, while continuing to stay on with the Wild as co-General Partner, Vice Chair of the Board and NHL Alternate Governor.[xiii]

Anaheim Ducks. In 2004 and 2005, Sperling was the lead advisor to Susan and Henry Samueli (Co-Founder of Broadcom) in their acquisition of the Anaheim Ducks National Hockey League team from Disney.[xiv]

Toughest Cowboy. In 2005, Sperling formed Grit Rock Rodeo to produce television broadcasts of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association regular season and playoffs (CBS and Fox Sports), and to produce a live event known as World’s Toughest Rodeo Tour.[xv]Sperling selected Tommy Joe Lucia, an experienced rodeo operator, to be President of the venture.[xvi] Anschutz Entertainment Group, owned by Phil Anschutz, joined as a partner in 2007. Grit Rock Rodeo developed Toughest Cowboy in 2007, a unique rodeo televised tour series that combined competition and reality elements, and Mark Burnett Productions joined as a partner of Toughest Cowboy in 2009.[xvii] Toughest Cowboy’s broadcast partners were Fox Sports and Spike TV. World’s Toughest Rodeo was sold in 2016.

Minnesota Wild-Sale. In 2008, Sperling acted as the lead advisor to the Naegele ownership group in the sale of the Minnesota Wild to Craig Leipold, who was the former owner of the National Hockey League Nashville Predators.[xviii] Sperling stayed on as a Board Member and as an NHL Alternate Governor until 2017 when he became an NHL Alternate Governor for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning. In 2009-10, Jeff Vinik selected Sperling to be his lead advisor in the purchase of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a National Hockey League team.[xix] Upon the completion of the transaction, Vinik asked Sperling to stay on as Interim CEO until a management team was hired later that year (Tod Leiweke as Chief Executive Officer and Steve Yzerman as General Manager).[xx] The Lightning has consistently been one of the best performing teams in the League since 2010 (on and off the ice), and Vinik is regarded as one of the best owners in professional sports.[xxi] Sperling has remained as an advisor to the Vinik and the team, and an Alternate NHL Governor for the Lightning.[xxii]

Strategic Property Partners and Water Street Tampa. After the acquisition of the Lightning in 2010, Vinik asked Sperling to quietly acquire the surface parking lots surrounding the team’s arena in Tampa (now Amalie Arena).[xxiii] By 2013, almost 50 acres had been assembled.[xxiv] In 2013, the real estate was placed in a separate entity, Strategic Property Partners  (SPP) and later in that year Cascade Investment (controlled by Bill Gates and managed by Michael Larson) became a partner with Vinik in SPP.[xxv] Sperling is an investor and Board Member of Water Street Tampa and was the Managing Member of the development company from 2013-2023.[xxvi]

From those surface parking lots, SPP developed Water Street Tampa (WST), the single largest private real estate development investment in the history of Tampa Bay.[xxvii] Phase One (12 buildings, $2 billion, 5 million square feet) was all completed essentially during the same time period, and Phase Two (of comparable size) is in the planning process currently. WST has changed the face of downtown Tampa, has contributed to the renaissance and growth Tampa is currently experiencing, and has been recognized with a number of prestigious awards.[xxviii]

From December 2021 until the hiring of Josh Taube in 2023 as the new Chief Executive Officer [xxix], Sperling had been active in the day-to-day management of SPP along with Taube.

In 2023, Vinik sold his interest in SPP to Cascade. Sperling handled the transaction for Vinik, and Sperling remained a Water Street Tampa  investor and Board Member after the sale.[xxx]

Vinik-Private Equity. Sperling has assisted Vinik in some of his private equity investments.

Fenway Sports. Sperling represented Vinik in the sale of his interests in Fenway Sports, which, among other assets, owns teams in Major League Baseball (Boston Red Sox), the English Premier League (Liverpool FC), and a regional sports network (New England Sports Network).[xxxi]

Mandalay Pictures. Sperling represented Vinik in an investment in Mandalay Pictures, a movie production company headed by sports and entertainment entrepreneur Peter Guber.[xxxii] Sperling is a Board member and co-investor in Mandalay Pictures.

Axiomatic Gaming. Sperling represented Vinik in an investment in aXiomatic Gaming[xxxiii], which controls Team Liquid, one of the world’s top esports teams which alsoowns other related investments. Vinik is a co-chair of the Board along with Guber, Ted Leonsis and Bruce Karsh. Sperling is a non-voting Board Member and co-investor in Axiomatic.[xxxiv]

New Orleans Hornets. After the National Basketball Association purchased the New Orleans Hornets in 2010, Commissioner David Stern asked Sperling to act as the NBA Governor of the team. The mission for Sperling and President Hugh Weber was  to turn the team  around financially, secure a new lease with the State, and find a local buyer--- all with the goal of keeping the team in New Orleans.[xxxv] In 2012, the team was successfully sold to Gayle and Tom Benson, owners of the New Orleans Saints National Football League team, and they changed the team’s name to the New Orleans Pelicans.[xxxvi]

New Vikings Stadium. In 2012, a group headed by Richard Davis (then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of US Bank) and Doug Baker (then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ecolab) retained Sperling to act as the deal maker between the Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s Office, the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority and the Minnesota Vikings National Football League team, to resolve a deadlock in reaching an agreement regarding the financing and construction of a new stadium. A deal was successfully reached and the new US Bank Stadium opened in 2016, and it is ranked as one of the top NFL stadiums.[xxxvii]

Icon Venue Group. Sperling was a Member of the Board of ICON Venue Group, which was owned and founded by Tim Romani, who advised sports team and facility owners regarding sports facilities development projects.[xxxviii] The ICON Venue Group was sold to Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 2016, and CAA/ICON is now one of the world’s leading managers of development, design and construction of sports and entertainment facilities.[xxxix]

Fresno Grizzlies. In 2017, Sperling represented a group headed by Ray and Michael Baker and Jim Coufus to purchase the Fresno Grizzlies, a Minor League Baseball team.[xl] Sperling also became an investor and in 2023 advised the group regarding the sale of the team to Diamond Baseball Holdings.

Memphis Grizzlies. In 2018, Sperling represented one of the three owners of the National Basketball Association’s Memphis Grizzlies in a complex 3-way buy-sell which concluded with Robert Pera, the existing control owner, buying out the other two owners.[xli]

Seattle Kraken. In 2018, Sperling represented a group composed of some of the prominent Seattle investors making a minority investment in the National Hockey League expansion team that became the Seattle Kraken and in the related Climate Pledge Arena.

Seattle Sounders. Sperling has advised the Major League Soccer Seattle Sounders FC on a variety of matters.[xlii]

Lightning—Sale of Minority Interest to Private Equity Fund. Sperling also was an advisor to Vinik regarding the recent investments made by Arctos Partners in the holding company which owns the Tampa Bay Lightning.[xliii]

Sperling married Mary Griesedieck in 1979 and they currently reside in Colorado. They couple have two adult children, Jay and Teale, and one granddaughter, Marley. Jay is a college student, and Teale and husband Nic Novicki, are both in the entertainment industry.