July 18th, 2008

Logan Steps Out

by Toni Reavis in News and Views, USATF, Uncategorized

New USATF CEO Doug Logan held his first teleconference today as he was introduced by USATF President Bill Roe, who has been serving as acting CEO since Craig Masback’s resignation in January.  Logan will assume his new job on Monday morning when he arrives in Indianapolis from his current residence in south Florida.

“I’m delighted to be in this position,” the 64 year-old former Major League Soccer CEO told the teleconference.  “As the staff will learn, I keep a picture on my desk from 1980 of me dressed in clown makeup.  It’s a reminder not to take myself too seriously.”

Yet he takes over an organization with serious problems and challenges, including a mandate by the USOC to fundamentally change its governance model and streamline its bloated board of directors.

“The reorganization will not be comfortable,” said Logan forthrightly.  “There will be those who will feel disenfranchised.  The challenge to me through this process is to open the lines of communication within USATF to create a mechanism which empowers them to have their voices heard, and turf protected even if they have no go-to member on the board.  But we have to reorganize to accommodate the 21st century with the ability to grow the sport.  It’s a huge job, and I pledge myself to it, and walk into it knowing not everyone will be happy.”

Among Logan’s first concerns was the issue of performance enhancing drugs, which he called “a horrible, horrible plague on all sports these days”.  He hopes to become “a passionate messenger in the battle against performance enhancing drugs” along with others who have stewardship of other sports.

Logan listed several other goals he hopes to achieve in his tenure, which is contracted through December 2013 at a salary and benefits of just over $400,000 (approximately the same as Mr. Masaback’s compensation).  His focus will include improving the USA medal count at the Olympics and World Championships, being a fair but firm agent for change during what will be an uncomfortable and stressful restructuring of USATF governance, increasing grassroots membership, improving relations with the IOC and IAAF, creating growth in events and TV outreach, and creating a customer service culture at the USATF office.

“Sports is entertainment,” said Logan.  “But to be successful it has to be entertaining.  Track is a rhythmic, pastoral experience which is hard to translate on TV.  We have to create norms far more conducive for TV while maintaining the authenticity of competition.  We also need a regular time slot on TV, destination TV like every Friday night for ten weeks, whatever.  And then some form of ascendant competition.  Tennis is doing it right with events leading to the U.S. Open.  The (PGA Tour’s) Fedex Cup is brilliant.”

Logan, whose full name is Douglas George Logan y Gonzalez de Mendoza, was born in the U.S. in 1943 to an American father and Cuban mother.  His dad left for war in the Pacific when Doug was 10 months old, and his mom returned to Cuba to live with her parents.  The family returned to the USA when Doug was six years old.

“I knew very little English ,” he said in his unaccented voice.  “I got into fights every day in the playground, and the ice cream truck guy called me Garcia for months.  But I was raised in a multi-cultural fashion, and I’m comfortable in foreign settings.  And I’ve managed an organization in Mexico three years.”

He has also lived in the Indianapolis area before.  In 1974 and `75 he worked for an engineering firm in Carmel, Indiana.  “I have many friends in Indianapolis.  I’m sure I’ll wear a Colts sweater.”

Mr. Logan came to the attention of the USATF search committee through Chris Pepe, who is VP for Global Event Marketing and Sponsorship for Visa, sponsor of USATF’s Visa Championship Series. Mr. Pepe had been a client of CEO search headhunter Cathy Griffin.  He called Ms. Griffin suggesting Mr. Logan with whom Pepe had worked at both Major League Soccer and  Ogden Entertainment.  With Logan’s unique international experience in the fields of sport, entertainment, and business, along with his previous tenure as VP for the US Soccer Federation, he quickly became the leading candidate of the 100 originally considered.    

Now with all the different constituencies presently under the USATF umbrella, from track to roads to mountain running, it will require all of Mr. Logan’s expertise to maintain collegial relations in his new family.  Yet he sees commonality in their purpose.

“For most activities it’s one foot in front of another, then hurdle, or jump, or throw.  They may be separate constituencies, but there’s a rational way of saying that we can help each other flourish inside the same organization. The industry needs leadership.  A compelling case needs to be made that a collective will can take the sport forward.”

Logan will take his first 30-60 days to meet as many of his staff, constituencies, athletes, volunteers, and sponsors as he can.  He calls himself “a quick study”, who sees road racing as a natural fan base that hasn’t been given a good reason to watch track.

“What we as sports marketers have to do is make the competitions entertaining.  We have a natural fan base which is only mobilized every four years.  Our job is to fill in the calendar.”

As  the first commissioner of Major League Soccer (1995-1999), Logan signed long term agreements with many top international sponsors and brought ABC, ESPN, and Univision into the MLS family.  Before that his business was music where, as head of Ogden Entertainment from 1985 to 1993, he promoted top acts at Chicagolands’s Metro Centre in Rockford, Illinois. 

“I’ve had a blessed career, first in music, and now in sports.  I have had successes and failures.  Soccer and track are both worldwide sports which don’t have a following in this country as in other nations.  But as opposed to soccer, track and field is seen as a native and red-blooded American pastime.  It’s an easier sell than soccer, especially with writers of a certain generation to whom soccer was considered foreign.”

Mr. Logan attended three days at the recent Olympic Trials in Eugene, and though a long-time recreational runner - “if road running is the grassroots, I’m at the dirt roots” - he hadn’t been too an Olympic Trials before, much less one in Eugene, Oregon.

“From drama and involvement of the fan base, and festival atmosphere, it was as magical as any World Cup, Super Bowl, or U.S. Open I’ve ever been at.  It was marvelous.”

There is much ahead for the new CEO, including a trip to Beijing where he and USATF president Bill Roe will sit with IAAF president Liame Diack to discuss bringing world championship events to the U.S.  Remember, it was the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. which kick started the current soccer craze and MLS creation.  That model is another which he hopes to take from soccer and duplicate in Indianapolis.

Bill Roe acknowledged that the USATF search committee and head hunter Cathy Griffin of The Griffin Network were so impressed with Mr. Logan that his was the only name forwarded to the board of directors for consideration after a three month search.  Last night the USATF board concurred with the search committee’s conclusion.  Now there is a new ball in play, and we shall see if Mr. Logan can score his goals.

END

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