Len Komoroski is the man in charge behind the scenes for all things Cavaliers, Monsters, Gladiators, and Charge.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Cavaliers and those three minor league franchises spoke at an event at JumpStart Inc., a Cleveland-based company that helps local entrepreneurs jump start their businesses.
In partnership with Chat Sports, where readers can find great content, including the stories seen here on NEO Sports Insiders, Komoroski spoke with Chat Sports founder and CEO James Yoder.
The pair spoke about what goes into running a major professional sports franchise, the behind-the-scenes work that it takes to run an NBA arena along with bringing a political convention to Cleveland, and what the journey was like on the road to an NBA championship to end a 52-year-drought.
After the event, I had a chance to ask Komoroski a few questions, related to the newly dubbed “Cleveland Monsters” and the possibility of an NBA All-Star Game coming to Cleveland in the future.
The team formerly known as the Lake Erie Monsters recently changed its name to the Cleveland Monsters. What was the reasoning behind the new brand and new name?
Len: “The thing for us was that we have a scenario where we have the Lake Erie Monster, which was a great name and sort of ties with “the legend of the Lake Erie Monster, but we have our tenth anniversary coming up. We’re Cleveland-proud. Being able to put Cleveland on our chest and proclaim it front and center to the rest of the world… the timing was right for where our market was.
People know us more as the Monsters anyway, but really to make Cleveland a more prominent part of that mix was the objective.”
You spoke about the Monsters and Cavs winning back-to-back championships in roughly a week’s time and seeing 20,000 fans fill up the arena for Game 4 of the Calder Cup. How much has the affiliation with the Columbus Blue Jackets helped the franchise?
Len: “It’s been hockey heaven. It should have been even years ago, but they’re phenomenal partners and we’re both building hockey in Ohio. (The Blue Jackets) care about winning at every level and this was an unbelievable first year. Tough one to top.”
You grew up in Pittsburgh and mentioned that you’re a die-hard Penguins fan. What was it like having the Cavs, Penguins, and Monsters all win championships in just over a week?
Len: “I was fortunate enough to be there (when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup). It was Game 6 out in San Jose. It was the day before Game 5 (of the NBA Finals) and it was spectacular. We look at it as good for our region. Pittsburgh’s 110 miles away so it’s great for our pocket of the world to have that type of success.”
There’s been a lot of buzz about the NBA All-Star Game recently. How much of a priority is it for you to bring that to Cleveland one day?
Len: “Well one day we’d love to absolutely have that. We’ve been working with the (Greater Cleveland) Sports Commission, as well. Our hope is one day to bring that back to Cleveland. We had it in ’97. There’s 30 teams in the league so we’d be jump starting it a little bit earlier, but we hope to make that happen still.”
If you would like to watch the full “fireside chat” with Komoroski and Yoder, check out the video below, courtesy of Chat Sports.
Recent Comments