Mighty Ducks Get Wilson to Direct Sales, Marketing

The Mighty Ducks added a key executive to their growing list of employees Monday, naming sports management consultant Ken Wilson as vice president for sales and marketing, Team President Tony Tavares announced.

Wilson, 34, an Idaho-based consultant, formerly was president of the Boise Hawks, the Angels’ affiliate in the Class-A Northwest League, and previously was broadcast sales manager for the Portland Trail Blazers. Wilson is not related to the Angel broadcaster of the same name.

“Not only does he have a strong background in professional sports marketing, but he is also a creative and energetic person,” Tavares said. “He will play a major role in helping us achieve our goal of building a tremendously successful hockey organization, both on and off the ice.”

The NHL, long a laggard in professional sports marketing in the U.S., is eagerly welcoming the marketing wizardry of both the Walt Disney Co. and Blockbuster Entertainment, which is tied to the expansion Florida Panthers through team owner Wayne Huizenga, the CEO of the video store chain.

But while Tavares has said perhaps 50% of the Ducks non-hockey employees will come from Disney, he said it was important that the team’s marketing chief have a professional sports background.

Wilson, saying he wants the Ducks to become “the best sports franchise in history” stresses some of the ideas of Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, who has said he wants to create “a hassle-free entertainment/sports experience.”

“Fans buy tickets for entertainment value and I believe that whenever fans come to a game, they should have a good time, win or lose,” Wilson said.

The hiring of Wilson, whose areas of expertise include broadcast sponsorship and ticket sales, is also another indication of Disney’s plans to maintain control over most aspects of its NHL expansion team.

While Wilson was with the Trail Blazers, the team began overseeing production of its radio and television broadcasts, with the team selling the commercial time itself rather than simply selling the broadcast rights to a station. While he was in Boise, the team oversaw production of 10 live television broadcasts of the minor-league team’s games.

The Ducks will control their broadcasts as well, Wilson said, allowing them to sell sponsorships that might include not only advertising along the boards or on the scoreboard, but on game broadcasts as well. In a further illustration of Disney’s pervasive involvement, an agreement is expected to be reached under which a number of games are televised on KCAL (Channel 9), which Disney owns.

Wilson, who starts work this week, said his priorities include hiring a sales staff for sponsorship and ticket sales as well as negotiating broadcast agreements.