When Lou DePaoli took over the Worcester Ice Cats in 1994, he had just four months to build a hockey team, a fanbase, and a brand in a city known as "a graveyard for minor league sports franchises." What happened next offers a masterclass in sports business strategy that would shape his approach across three decades working with teams from the AHL to Major League Baseball, the NBA, and beyond.

Picture this: You've poured everything into your franchise's opening night. You've got 10,300 fans in the seats—not quite the sellout you hoped for, but respectable. Then ESPN calls. The NHL is locked out, and they want to broadcast your game instead.

The problem? Your second game has barely 2,000 people in a 12,000-seat arena, and it's about to be on national television.

"It was embarrassing," DePaoli recalls. "You could see vast empty seats every time they panned down the ice."

But rather than panic, DePaoli made a counterintuitive decision that would become his signature strategy. Instead of trying to fix every game, he focused all resources on just two games: numbers 22 and 30-something.

The result? On February 10, 1995, they packed 12,311 people into the arena—the biggest crowd the league had seen since 1972. They did it again a month later.

This experience crystallized DePaoli's core philosophy: create scarcity to drive demand. It's a strategy he would later apply across every sport and market, from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers.

"I asked one owner during a job interview: 'If you could average 30,000 fans a game, would you rather have 30,000 every night, or half your games at 40,000 (sold out) and half at 20,000?'" DePaoli explains. "He said 30,000 every night for consistency. I said the opposite—I want the sellouts because when people try to go to Saturday games and can't get tickets, they start buying earlier, buying more frequently, and eventually buy season tickets."

This isn't just theory. DePaoli has deployed this strategy across different sports, markets, and decades—from the 1990s through the 2020s—and it works every time.

What many fans don't realize is that professional sports franchises are essentially split into two distinct operations: the sporting side (what happens on the field) and the business side (everything else). Outside the NFL, "sports just don't really sell themselves," DePaoli notes.

For a Major League Baseball team with 81 home games and 40,000-seat capacity, you're looking at 3.24 million tickets to sell annually. Success requires mastering not just marketing, but understanding when to spend your precious dollars.

Perhaps DePaoli's proudest achievement isn't any single franchise turnaround—it's his "coaching tree" of executives who learned under his mentorship and now lead sports organizations worldwide.

"At the NBA league office, we built something that's still looked at as best-in-class 25 years later," he says, referring to Team Marketing and Business Operations (TMBO), an in-house consultancy that worked with every NBA club.

His approach to hiring reveals another key insight: hire for attitude and teachability, not just résumés.

"I truly believe that if you can hire someone who's coachable and they have some aptitude, we can teach them this business," DePaoli says. He shares the story of a rough-around-the-edges college graduate whom other leaders wanted to dismiss after three months. Within six months, that person became the top seller and eventually a senior vice president.

Whether launching the Worcester Ice Cats or managing two teams simultaneously in Atlanta (the Hawks and Thrashers), DePaoli understood that successful sports franchises are built on stories, not just statistics.

This storytelling approach extends to understanding different fan bases. NBA fans will show up "at 4 a.m. on Monday with 12 hours' notice" if the Lakers and Kobe Bryant are coming to town. Hockey fans care more about what day of the week it is—weekends drive attendance regardless of the opponent.

In an industry where there might be only 122-124 CMO positions across the top four North American leagues, DePaoli emphasizes that reputation is everything.

This network effect has been crucial to his current work at General Sports Worldwide, where his team's operational experience differentiates them from traditional search firms. "Most other recruiters in this space have never even worked at a sports team. We've operated and run these businesses."

Today, DePaoli's definition of success has evolved from growing revenue to "growing people who can grow revenue." Through initiatives like The Clubhouse—a mentorship platform with 145 active mentors from across the sports industry—he's focused on developing the next generation of sports leaders.

While DePaoli's stories come from sports, the principles apply far beyond stadiums and arenas:

Whether you're launching a startup, building a team, or trying to fill seats in Worcester, Massachusetts, success often comes down to understanding your community, creating genuine value, and sometimes having the courage to let some games stay empty so others can become legendary.

Lou DePaoli is President of General Sports Worldwide and has over 30 years of experience in professional sports. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or learn more at generalsportsworldwide.com. The Clubhouse mentorship platform is available at theclubhousecareers.com.

Guest: Laura Patterson | Episode 20

They told her she was running marketing. He told her she was failing.

In one brutal moment, a Motorola exec shattered Laura Patterson’s illusions — and forced her to rebuild everything from the ground up.

If your strategy feels like a frantic game of budget pinball, or you’re spraying AI content into the void hoping something sticks… this one’s for you.

Laura’s insights will save you from wasting time, money, and reputation.

Listen now → Spotify | Apple | YouTube

David Lovejoy

Find me on X, LinkedIn, or YouTube

Ready to Level Up Your Own Game?

Lou DePaoli's journey from managing empty arenas to building championship-caliber business teams didn't happen overnight—it required strategic thinking, mentorship, and the ability to make tough decisions under pressure. Whether you're navigating a career transition, leading a team through challenging times, or looking to sharpen your strategic decision-making skills, the right coach can accelerate your growth.

Discover your perfect coaching match at CoachFinder.ai

Get matched with top-tier coaches who specialize in:

Just like DePaoli learned to focus resources on the most winnable opportunities, find the coach who can help you identify and capitalize on yours.