Legendary sports marketer Max Muhleman, who was instrumental in the formation of Charlotte-based teams in the NFL, NBA and NASCAR, has died, the Charlotte Business Journal reported Thursday. He was 88.
Muhleman left a vast legacy in the sports business world as described in the report. It includes:
• Delivering the closing pitch to the NFL at the Oct. 1993 owners' meetings for the expansion Carolina Panthers
• Inventing the concept of a "personal seat license" — in which fans pay a one-time fee for the annual right to buy season tickets — which the Panthers used to help fund the construction of Bank of America Stadium and inspired copycat models in other professional sports leagues
• Developed the strategy and pitch that eventually helped Charlotte land an NBA expansion team, the Hornets, in 1988
• A market analysis of Los Angeles for the NFL as the league conducted research for the eventual return of pro football to Southern California.
• Advised Rick Hendrick, a North Carolina car dealer, during his "initial forays" into starting the NASCAR team that eventually became Hendrick Motorsports.
"He's not the guy who catches or throws the ball, or owns the team or drives the race car," Hendrick told the Greensboro News & Record. "But for him to be so well-known in the industry, he's got to be good. He's the guy that puts it all together and makes it work."
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Although PSLs eventually became reviled by fans as a money grab, Muhleman told Vice.com in a 2015 interview he never envisioned the licenses themselves becoming five-figure annual investments. Writes Aaron Gordon:
The idea of re-selling Charter Seat Rights didn't even occur to Muhleman until he saw a classified ad in the paper after the Hornets' incredibly successful inaugural season, when they sold out every game in the 23,000 seat arena. The ad read: "'Leaving town. Two charter seat rights. $5000." When Muhleman called the number, the person on the other end said they had already received about a dozen calls and they regretted not asking for $10,000.
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Muhleman was preceded in death by his wife, Jean, who assisted in the formation of Muhleman Marketing, Inc. when the couple moved to North Carolina in the 1970s.
According to the Charlotte Business Journal, who spoke to their son, Max Muhleman died of natural causes on Saturday.
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