Dennis Mannion

Dennis M. Mannion is currently CEO & President of House of 7, LLC, a sports advisory company specializing in professional and amateur sports business consulting. Most recently, Mannion was CEO and President of Palace Sports and Entertainment where he oversaw Business Operations of the Detroit Pistons, The Palace of Auburn Hills, DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre and Freedom Hill Amphitheatre. He holds the rare distinction of having experience in all four Major League sports: : MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL.^[1]

Career

After graduating college, Dennis Mannion began his sports management career in Major League Baseball, spending 16 years with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1982 to 1997. He worked his way up through the Phillies organization to serve as Vice President of Marketing and Sales for eight seasons.^[2] In Philadelphia he developed a reputation for making major league baseball a fun activity for all fans, young and old, at Veterans Stadium. Mannion played a key role as well in bringing 1996 MLB All-Star Game to Philadelphia.^[1]

Mannion left the Phillies in 1997 for a position as Senior Vice President of Ascent Sports in Denver, Colorado. His duties included handling business operations for the Accent-owned NHL Colorado Avalanche and NBA Denver Nuggets. Mannion also oversaw the movement of both teams games and operations to the newly built Pepsi Center.^[1]

His next career move saw Mannion back on the east coast, working in management for the Baltimore Ravens, serving eight seasons as Senior Vice President of Business Ventures from 1999 until 2007. While working for the Ravens organization he oversaw the development of TV and radio shows focusing on the team, expanded Ravens branding opportunities and revenue streams. Highlights included the development of more than 60 Ravens sub-brands including TV Shows (Wired), fan affinity clubs (Purple) and events (Spring Football Festival). Mannion also led successful bids to bring marquee sporting events to M&T Bank Stadium ^[3] including the 2000 and 2007 Army-Navy Game, 4 Navy-Notre Dame Football Games, 2 ACC Lacrosse Championships and 4 NCAA Lacrosse Championships. Dennis Mannion was on the move again in November 2007, with a return to baseball as he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers. He worked as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer from November 2007 until March 2009 when he was promoted to President and CEO. Under his leadership the Dodgers led the league in game attendance, set a World Record for the largest attended baseball game in 2008 at the LA Coliseum (119,000), hosted the 2009 World Baseball Classic championship rounds, and reached the National League Championship Series two consecutive years.^[1] Off the field, he helped to spearhead efforts to create the club’s first ever ‘Sports Lab’ – an award-winning, innovative production facility designed to generate all forms of content; and pioneered the addition of experiential sections at Dodger Stadium including “Bleacher Beach”, “Mannywood” and “My Town”.

With a pending change in ownership of the Dodgers organization, Mannion took the position with Palace Sports & Entertainment in 2011. Mannion’s leadership role extended to all four PS&E operated properties – The Palace, DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre and Freedom Hill Amphitheatre. Under Mannion, PS&E experienced dramatic changes to the company’s organizational structure and culture with a focus on collaboration across revenue, operations, creative and communications teams. During his tenure, Mannion also led the planning and execution of $40 million in capital improvements ^[4] and renovations to the Palace and DTE Music Theatre, including new suites, clubs, concourses, concessions and technological upgrades.^[5] Those enhancements featured a wide array of fan-focused technological improvements including a “beacon” network to allow fans to receive push notifications for offers like seat upgrades or discounts on concessions and apparel; a new Pistons app that allows fans to purchase "VIP experiences" including the opportunity to watch pre-game warmups from the court or take a shot on the court after; and one of pro sports most innovative scoreboards, Palace 360.^[5][6] These innovative additions to the Palace combined to help the team win the NBA’s award for the #1 in-arena experience during the 2015-16 season.

Personal

A native of New York, Mannion graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in Business and Sports Management. He received the “Distinguished Alumnus Award” from his alma mater in 1998. Mannion and wife Pam are the parents of five children.^[1]

References

External links