This is actually very interesting.
I will say, while the product on the court has been a disaster at times, the business side of things have been major pluses.
We are getting a top notch arena, the practice court is incredible, the new corporate office. Overall the new branding is a success, bringing in good people like Suki.
And now this guy seems to be one of the top guys in the business. I love how he said he's not about just opening an arena on day 1 and that's the goal, but about how it looks in 2028. They have a vision and a road map, and they seem to really know what they are doing in terms of making this a real destination and very useful entertainment district. Also the idea of bringing in enough events & entertainment to attract Fib $$$. We will have to wait and see, but this guy's resume and experience look impressive.
http://ampthemag.com/the-real/long-read-qa-milwaukee-bucks-raj-saha/The Milwaukee Bucks’ Raj Saha is currently a GM without a building, but the situation isn’t close to a first for the industry veteran. Saha has taken part in the developing and opening of 10 venues over three continents throughout his substantial career.
Saha was born in London and raised in New York City. His mother was American and his father was from India, giving him a global upbringing that has made him the perfect person for traveling the world to bring new arenas to life.
“Both my parents were involved in the travel agency business,” Saha told Amplify. “So growing up I had the very fortunate experience of going to Helsinki, Finland on summer vacation at 12 years old. While everyone I was going to school with was talking about their summers at the Jersey Shore, I was talking about coming back from Mykonos and Athens. That’s where I caught the travel bug.”
Saha has worked at Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall in New York, O2 Arena in London, and Toyota Park Stadium in Illinois. He has helped operate and open facilities in Istanbul, Stockholm, and Sao Paulo, Brazil amongst others.
“I’ve never been smart enough not to raise my hand for things. That’s probably why I ended up in Turkey and Brazil,” Saha said. “It’s been a great experience and I love getting uncomfortable in your skin. I love going to places where you have the knowledge of how to run a building and how to do events, but you’re doing it in a language you don’t understand.”
A lot more at the link.
How did you end up in Milwaukee?I was doing the often replicated commute between London and Sao Paulo, Brazil because AEG was involved in four stadiums there. In 2012, I spent 75 nights in my own bed. The reason it was that high was because we had the Olympics going on in London. I made the decision that I wanted to be based in South America and went down and headed up the local AEG office for Brazil. Peter Feigin who is our team president convinced me that Milwaukee is indigenous language for Rio De Janeiro of the midwest, so I ended up with the Bucks.
Peter Feign is a better salesman that I could have ever imagined.
Yes, yes I get it, the actual meaning of both cities, but only Peter could find a way to compare Rio to Milwaukee and find some similarities.
Edit: I wonder if that's why he took the naming rights Internationally. Maybe he's talking to Alibaba in China and and telling them, "You get your name on our Arena, it will be amazing! Milwaukee is the Rio of the Midwest!!"
