Steve Donner

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Steve Donner is an American sports organiser in the field of professional sports. He is presently Chief Executive Office of the Rochester Raging Rhinos and part of the ownership group of Carolina RailHawks F.C.

Donner is a principal owner of the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. He has helped the team achieve success on the ice and at the gate since acquiring the franchise in 1995. In his first year as President and CEO, the Amerks won the AHL’s Calder Cup Championship, earning Donner the league’s James C. Hendy Award as its top executive.

The Rochester, New York native also owns the National Lacrosse League’s Rochester Knighthawks, who have appeared in the NLL’s playoffs in all eleven seasons of their existence, winning the North American Cup in 1997.

Donner, along with partners Chris Economides and Frank DuRoss, then merged into the soccer world and formed the Rochester Raging Rhinos in the fall of 1995. They founded the team in the then independent A-League and quickly turned the franchise into a juggernaut in the minor league sports industry. The club was a league-leader in attendance from 1996-2004 and was named one of the Top Five Minor League Sports Franchises by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal. Their success at the gate is matched by the teams’ three league titles (1998, 2000 and 2001) and the 1999 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup title, in which they defeated three MLS teams en route to the historic championship. The Rhinos ownership trio was inducted into the USL Hall of Fame in 2005 as builders. Donner’s leadership and marketing savvy have helped earn the Rhinos national recognition both on and off the field, and his foresight and vision have made Rochester’s proposed multi-purpose outdoor stadium PAETEC Park a reality.

Donner spent twelve seasons in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres and the Tampa Bay Lightning, heading both franchises marketing and sales departments.

Donner’s creation of Tampa Bay’s “Fan Land”, an interactive amusement facility adjacent to the arena, is heralded as one of the most creative and acclaimed sports marketing tools ever.

A graduate of the University of Dayton, Donner has been instrumental in introducing seven expansion franchises – the Dayton Gems (International Hockey League), Buffalo Bandits (MILL/NLL), Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) and the Rochester Knighthawks (MILL/NLL), Rochester Raging Rhinos (A-League), Rochester Rattlers (MLL), Carolina RailHawks F.C. (USL First Division).

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