
ECHL Hires Lisk As VP Of Marketing/Business Development
October 21, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that it has hired Rich Lisk
as vice president of marketing and business development.
He will be responsible for the overall marketing and branding of the ECHL
as well as sponsorship sales and league partner relationships.
"Rich brings a wealth of sports and entertainment sales and marketing
experience to the ECHL. In addition, having operated a team will make him
uniquely qualified to understand our teams' needs and growth
opportunities," said ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna. "We are fortunate to
have Rich leading the marketing efforts of the ECHL."
"I'm very excited to be back in the ECHL," said Lisk. "For the last 20
years the league has grown itself into the Premier 'AA' Hockey League and I
look forward to being part of that growth over the next 20 years."
Lisk joins the ECHL after three seasons with Philadelphia of the Arena
Football League where as the only general manager in team history he built
the Soul into one of the premiere teams in the league. Philadelphia
received the Commissioner's Award as outstanding organization in 2007 and
was recognized by the PRISM Award committee for fan appreciation and
customer service. The Soul increased ticket sales every season, up 37
percent from their first season, and in 2008 they sold out four of their
eight home games. Philadelphia won Arena Bowl XXII in 2008 and Lisk
received a Telly award as executive producer of webisodes on ESPN. He
served as treasurer of the Soul Charitable Foundation and was also a member
of the AFL Team Marketing Advisory Board.
He was hired as the first vice president of marketing and sales for the
expansion Trenton Titans, who led the ECHL in ticket revenue their first
season while averaging 7,000 fans in the 7,500-seat Sovereign Bank Arena.
He was named the ECHL Marketing Executive of the Year in 2001-02 and was
promoted to president and general manager of the team in 2002. During his
tenure, Trenton hosted the most successful ECHL All-Star weekend while
playing its first international game and the first game between the ECHL
and the AHL. Lisk served as the team's Alternate Governor and was a member
of the ECHL Marketing Committee and the Kelly Cup Playoffs Committee.
Before joining the Titans, Lisk worked for Busch Entertainment Promotions,
Sesame Place where he managed media buying, special events, marketing plans
and budgets while also overseeing the marketing and public relations
efforts for the launch of Vapor Trail which was the first dry land roller
coaster in the park's history. He was also selected to be a member of the
Busch Entertainment National Promotions Committee which oversaw and
consulted on marketing efforts for all of the Busch Entertainment theme
parks.
Lisk began his career with World Wrestling Entertainment rising from
pay-per-view marketing representative to director of pay-per-view where he
oversaw the marketing and advertising for 12 WWE pay-per-view events. He
then worked at Comcast Spectacor and was the marketing manager responsible
for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Philadelphia
Phantoms of the American Hockey League, the Philadelphia Wings of the Major
Indoor Soccer League and select family shows. During the Phantoms inaugural
season his efforts helped produce five sellout crowds of 17,380 and
Philadelphia led the AHL averaging more than 9,000 fans per game.
Lisk, who received his degree in economics and finance from Rutgers, The
State University of New Jersey, is a board member of the National Sports
Marketing Network - Philadelphia Chapter and in 2008 he was selected as a
member of the Philadelphia Business Journal's "40 Under 40" list. He is
co-founder of the Character Project, an organization that helps
underprivileged children in tutoring and athletics, and is co-owner of
Competitive Edge Hockey School while also serving on the Board of Trustees
for Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation.
Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts
- The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is the
third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National
Hockey League and the American Hockey League.
- ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be
a coast-to-coast league with 23 teams playing 828 games in 16 states and
British Columbia in 2008-09.
- The Reading Royals, the City of Reading and the Sovereign Center will
host the 17th
Annual ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 21, 2009 and the 12th Annual All-Star
Skills Competition on Jan. 20, 2009.
- The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to
ECHL on May
19, 2003.
- Affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League
marking 12th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with
at least 20 teams in the NHL.
- 359 former ECHL
players have played in NHL.
- 103 have played their first NHL game in the last four seasons.
- Four former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former
Wheeling Nailers and ECHL All-Star defenseman Paul
Bissonnette (Pittsburgh on Oct. 4), former Charlotte Checkers
defenseman
Steve MacIntyre (Edmonton on Oct. 15), former Las Vegas Wranglers
defenseman Adam
Pardy (Calgary on Oct. 9) and former Gwinnett Gladiators center Jared
Ross (Philadelphia on Oct. 11).
- There were 72
former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters.
- Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2007-08, including
six who played in both the ECHL and the NHL as goaltender Chris
Beckford-Tseu (Alaska and St. Louis), Adam
Berti (Pensacola and Chicago), Joe
Jensen (Wheeling and Carolina), Dan
LaCosta (Elmira and Columbus), Jonathan
Quick (Reading and Los Angeles) and Danny
Taylor (Reading and Los Angeles).
- Record 51 former ECHL players played their first NHL game in 2005-06.
- ECHL has been represented on last eight Stanley Cup champions.
- Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are
Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals, Scott
Gordon of the New York Islanders and Peter Laviolette of the Carolina
Hurricanes. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the
Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named
NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach
to receive the award. Laviolette, who began his coaching career with the
Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006.
- There are 15 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in
the ECHL.
- There are 18 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL
officiating team in 2008-09 with referees David
Banfield, Chris
Ciamaga, Ghislain
Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan
O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin
St. Pierre and Ian Walsh and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim
Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Barton, Joannette, Leggo, McCauley, Nowak, Pollock,
Rooney and Sharrers all worked the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- ECHL has affiliations with 25 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey
League and for the past 19 years there has been an ECHL player on the
Calder Cup Champion.
- In the last six seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than
all other professional leagues combined with over 2,000 call-ups involving
more than 1,000 players since 2002-03.
- Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.
ECHL Stories from October 21, 2008
- Lynx Come from Behind to Earn First Win - Augusta Lynx
- Salmon Kings Welcome Leavold Back - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Gwinnett Falls to Augusta in a Shootout, 3-2 - Atlanta Gladiators
- Bombers Assist Habitat for Humanity Project In Englewood - Dayton Bombers
- Condors Goalie Mask Giveaway this Saturday - Bakersfield Condors
- ECHL Hires Lisk As VP Of Marketing/Business Development - ECHL
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Luke Lynes Reassigned to Amarillo of CHL - Stockton Thunder
- Daniels Named In Glas CO ECHL Player of the Week - Phoenix RoadRunners
- RoadRunners Daniels Named In Glas Co Player Of The Week - ECHL
- Pre-Season Jerseys Available for Purchase - Fresno Falcons
- Johnstown Chiefs To Host President's Day Invitational Youth Hockey Tournament - Johnstown Chiefs
- Checkers Jakaitis Named Goalie Of The Week - Charlotte Checkers
- Rays Have Second Largest Opening Night Attendance in the ECHL with 7,962 - South Carolina Stingrays
- Checkers Jakaitis Named Rbk Hockey Goalie Of The Week - ECHL
- Wheeling's Lord Suspended One Game - ECHL
- Wranglers Weekly - Las Vegas Wranglers
- Blades and Walgreens teaming up to offer flu shot to fans - Florida Everblades
- Capitals Recall Former ECHL Defenseman Sloan - ECHL
- Brown Recalled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - Wheeling Nailers
- Wheeling Nailers Week In Review - Wheeling Nailers
- ECHL Today - ECHL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
