Admirals President Johnson Nominated for ECHL Executive of the Year
May 30, 2023 - ECHL (ECHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release
NORFOLK, VA - Norfolk Admirals Professional Hockey Team President, Billy Johnson, has been nominated for the 2022-23 ECHL Executive of the Year award following the completion of his first full season at the helm of the organization. The ECHL Executive of the Year Award is Johnson's fifth nomination with previous awards including being named the Atlantic League (baseball) Executive of the Year in 2000.
Johnson joined the Admirals in November of 2021 after previously leading the 2003 ECHL expansion of the Las Vegas Wranglers from 2003 through 2014. Upon arriving in Norfolk, Johnson made some key changes. The first was making the decision to schedule games earlier in the evenings to match the operating hours of downtown businesses and accommodate families with children. Johnson also introduced the team's wildly successful marketing centerpiece - The City Series - last season, which celebrated each of the seven Hampton Roads cities.
Johnson's immediate impact resulted in The Admirals breaking both attendance and all-time gross revenue records, with paid attendance rising by 34% and ticket revenues rising by 41% for the 2022-23 season. Several games also ranked in multiple team-high Top 10 lists of all time since the team's inception in 1989.
The ECHL Executive of the Year Award will be announced and presented next month at the ECHL June meetings in Las Vegas but Johnson's plans to keep up this momentum go far beyond that.
"The Admirals revealed it is very much in the community's DNA," he said. "It's unique and quite special. It's up to us to do smart things to reconnect. We are well on our way."
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