Richard Evans (executive)

Last updated

Richard H. Evans is an American sports and entertainment executive.

Contents

Early life and career

Evans was born in Ogden, Utah. In 1966, he graduated from the University of Denver with a bachelor's degree in business administration. [1]

Evans held various management positions in the amusement park industry. He helped plan and develop Disney World for Walt Disney Productions, developed Marriott Corporation's two Great America amusement parks (now known as California's Great America and Six Flags Great America), and planned an amusement park in Orlando, Florida for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that was never built. [1]

Radio City Music Hall

In 1980, Evans was named chief executive officer of Radio City Music Hall Productions. Evans identified five areas that could operate inside the building as well as work outside the Hall. These were the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes , concerts (Radio City eventually controlled 60% of the New York concert market), a theatrical touring company, special-events, and television production. [1] Under Evans' management, Radio City turned a profit for the first time in 30 years. [2]

Madison Square Garden

Evans was named president and CEO of Madison Square Garden Corporation on November 3, 1986. In this role he was responsible for operations of Madison Square Garden, the MSG Network, the New York Rangers, and the New York Knicks. [2] After taking over, Evans reorganized the corporation into four operating groups - MSG Sports, MSG Entertainment, MSG Communications, and MSG Facilities Development & Management. Former MSG legal counsel Jack Diller was brought in to run the sports group. [3]

During his tenure at MSG, Evans oversaw the arena's $200 million renovation as well as the construction of the Paramount Theatre, which replaced the Felt Forum. [4]

New York Knicks

Following the 1986-87 NBA season, Evans fired Knicks General Manager Scotty Stirling and head coach Bob Hill. Evans was criticized for going to a speaking engagement in Venice while coaching candidates Rick Pitino and Larry Brown faced deadlines to re-sign with their college teams. [5] Evans stated that he planned to have a new general manager and coach in place by the 1987 NBA draft on June 22, however it wasn't until July 8 - 80 days after Stirling and Hill were fired and after five other teams had hired hire new coaches, that Evans hired Al Bianchi as general manager. [5] [6] Although Pitino had signed a new contract with Providence College two months earlier, he was able to obtain his release from the school and became the Knicks' head coach. [7]

Bianchi acquired Charles Oakley, Sidney Green, Johnny Newman, and drafted Rod Strickland. Mark Jackson, who was drafted by scouting director Dick McGuire in the '87 draft, won Rookie of the Year. [8] In 1988-89 the Knicks won their first division title in nearly twenty years. After the season, Rick Pitino chose to return to college basketball and was succeeded by assistant Stu Jackson. [9]

On December 3, 1990, Stu Jackson was fired and replaced as Knicks head coach by John MacLeod. On March 1, 1991, Evans fired Knicks general manager Al Bianchi and replaced him with Dave Checketts. Evans also demoted MSG sports group head Jack Diller by removing his oversight of the Knicks and naming him president of the Rangers. [4]

New York Rangers

After the 1986-87 NHL season, head coach Tom Webster resigned due to illness. Unlike the Knicks' coaching search, the Rangers, at general manager Phil Esposito's urging, quickly hired Michel Bergeron. Esposito acquired Brian Mullen, Chris Nilan, Bob Froese, and Kelly Kisio while Tony Granato, Brian Leetch, and Ulf Dahlen, who were drafted by Esposito's predecessor Craig Patrick, also joined the roster. [8] In 1989-90, the Rangers won their first ever division title. [10]

Resignation

On March 18, 1991, Stanley R. Jaffe became president of MSG's parent company, Paramount. According to Diller, Jaffe "decided he is going to shake things up". Many of Evans' top assistants, including Jack Diller, were fired and Paramount ignored his request for a long-term contract. On August 5, 1991, Evans resigned from Madison Square Garden. [4]

Gaylord Entertainment

After leaving Madison Square Garden, Evans became president and CEO of Dorna USA, a subsidiary of Dorna promoción del deporte. In February 1993 he was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Gaylord Entertainment, which owned the Grand Ole Opry, Opreyland Hotel, Opryland USA, TNN, and CMT. [11]

While at Gaylord, Evans led the effort to pass tax measures to build arenas and stadiums to lure professional sports teams to the city. He helped persuade Bud Adams to relocate the National Football League's Houston Oilers to Nashville. He also helped the city get to the top of the NHL's expansion list after attempts to have the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils relocate to the city failed. [1]

Huizenga Sports

In September 1996, Evans announced that he was resigning from Gaylord to become president and CEO of H. Wayne Huizenga's Huizenga Sports & Entertainment Group, which owned the Miami Dolphins, Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers, and Pro Player Stadium. [1] [12] Evans left Huizenga on April 15, 1998 "in order to pursue private business and investment interests". [13]

Real estate

Since April 1999, Evans has been the chairman of Evans Holdings, LLC, a real estate investment services company. On June 4, 2015, LifePoint Health named Evans its lead director of the company's board of directors. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Knicks</span> National Basketball Association team in New York City

The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, an arena they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City; the other team is the Brooklyn Nets. Alongside the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams still located in its original city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Square Garden</span> Multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City, U.S.

Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylvania Station. It is the fourth venue to bear the name "Madison Square Garden"; the first two were located on Madison Square, on East 26th Street and Madison Avenue, with the third Madison Square Garden (1925) farther uptown at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Pitino</span> American basketball coach

Richard Andrew Pitino is an American basketball coach who is the men's head coach for St. John's Red Storm. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA Division I and in the NBA, including Boston University (1978–1983), Providence College (1985–1987), the New York Knicks (1987–1989), the University of Kentucky (1989–1997), the Boston Celtics (1997–2001), the University of Louisville (2001–2017), Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague (2018–2020), and Iona University (2020–2023).

James Lawrence Dolan is an American businessman who is executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, and executive chairman of MSG Networks. As the companies' chairman, Dolan oversees all operations within the company and supervises day-to-day operations of its professional sports teams, the New York Knicks and New York Rangers as well as their regional sports networks, which include MSG Network and MSG Plus. Dolan was previously CEO of Cablevision until its sale in June 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richie Guerin</span> American basketball player and coach

Richard Vincent Guerin is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played with the National Basketball Association's (NBA) New York Knicks from 1956 to 1963 and was a player-coach of the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks franchise where he spent nine years. On February 15, 2013, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced that Guerin had been elected as one of its 2013 inductees.

The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation.

Sam Rosen is an American sportscaster and Hockey Hall of Famer, best known as the primary play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League's New York Rangers games on MSG. On June 8, 2008, Rosen was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. On November 14, 2016, Rosen was enshrined as the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winner for outstanding contributions as a broadcaster by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Rosen is currently the longest-tenured active broadcaster in the NHL.

Ronald Duguay is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1977 through 1989, and served four seasons as a minor league coach. As a player, he featured in the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals with the Rangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anucha Browne Sanders</span> American basketball player and executive

Anucha Browne is an American former women's basketball player and a former executive for the New York Knicks team of the NBA. She is also known for winning a sexual harassment lawsuit that she filed against former New York Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden.

MSG Sportsnet is an American regional sports network owned by MSG Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to cover the entire state of New York, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut and Northeastern Pennsylvania; MSG Sportsnet carries sports events from several of the New York area's professional sports franchises, as well as college sports events.

The NBA on USA is the de facto name for the USA Network's National Basketball Association (NBA) television coverage. The program ran from the 1979–80 season through the 1983–84 season.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. is an American entertainment holding company based in New York City. The company was established in 2020 when The Madison Square Garden Company spun off its non-sports assets as an independent, publicly traded company.

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. is an American sports holding company based in New York City.

The 1993–94 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 68th season. The highlight of the season was winning the Stanley Cup and hosting the NHL All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers clinched their second Presidents' Trophy and sixth division title by finishing with the best record in the NHL at 52–24–8, setting a then-franchise record with 112 points.

The 1988–89 New York Knicks season was the 43rd season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Charles Oakley from the Chicago Bulls, and selected point guard Rod Strickland out of DePaul University with the 19th overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft. At midseason, the team acquired Kiki Vandeweghe from the Portland Trail Blazers. In the regular season, the Knicks held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break, finished with a 52–30 record, and won the Atlantic Division title for the first time since 1970–71.

The 1987–88 New York Knicks season was the 42nd season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early in the season, the Knicks signed free agent and second-year forward Johnny Newman. The Knicks finished the regular season with a 38–44 record, and qualified for the 1988 NBA Playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, New York lost a best-of-five series to the Boston Celtics, 3–1. Following the season, Bill Cartwright was traded to the Chicago Bulls. First-round draft pick Mark Jackson was named Rookie of the Year.

Steve Mills is an American sports executive who last served as president of the New York Knicks.

The New York Knicks are one of the oldest teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA), having played in the league for over 70 years.

Hank J. Ratner is an American media, sports, entertainment and telecommunications executive. He was previously a Vice Chairman of Cablevision Systems Corporation, President and CEO of The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG), Chief Operating Officer of AMC Networks and President and CEO of Independent Sports and Entertainment (ISE).

John H. Krumpe was an American sports executive who served as CEO of the Madison Square Garden Corporation, New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and Javits Center and president of the New York Racing Association, New York Rangers, New York Knicks, and New York Islanders.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lebowitz, Larry (December 9, 1996). "Who is Dick Evans?". The Sun Sentinel.
  2. 1 2 Goldaper, Sam (November 4, 1986). "Evans Is Named President of Garden". The New York Times.
  3. "Garden Reorganizes". The New York Times. April 9, 1987.
  4. 1 2 3 Goldaper, Sam (August 6, 1991). "The Tumult at the Garden Reaches to the Top as Evans Leaves". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 Vecsey, George (May 15, 1987). "The Young President". The New York Times.
  6. Johnson, Roy S. (July 9, 1987). "Knicks Finally Sign Bianchi". The New York Times.
  7. Bunn, Curtis S. (July 14, 1987). "Knicks Get Their Man". Newsday.
  8. 1 2 Calabria, Pat (May 15, 1987). "Rockin' & Rollin': Under Richard Evans' master plan, Knicks and Rangers rise and return Garden to prominence". Newsday.
  9. Boston.com Tickets powered by (September 19, 2017). "Rick Pitino Biography". Boston.com. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  10. "1989-90 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  11. Ruddenach, Glenn (February 22, 1993). "Gaylord Entertainment Hires Evans For New Position of Operating Chief". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. Ruddenach, Glenn (September 5, 1996). "Gaylord's Evans Resigns to Join Huizenga Sports". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. "Richard Evans Resigns As President of Florida Panthers Holdings". PR Newswire. March 10, 1998.
  14. "Evans Named Lead Director Of Lifepoint Health Board". Melbourne. June 5, 2015.
Preceded by President of Madison Square Garden
1986–91
Succeeded by