The OSC interview: Austin Wranglers President Doug MacGregor

by Fran Stuchbury
Published on February 20, 2005 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Austin Wranglers


OurSports Central contributor Fran Stuchbury recently had the opportunity to interview Austin Wranglers President Doug MacGregor. After spending much of his career in the high tech industry, MacGregor joined the Wranglers this season and now manages the second-year Arena Football League team's daily business operations.

Fran Stuchbury: What interested you in getting involved with the Wranglers?

Doug MacGregor: I had some friends who were early investors in the Wranglers and as the organization matured to the point that it needed operational management expertise, they asked if I would help out. When I looked at the AFL and the Wranglers, I was struck by the exciting potential and agreed to join the investor group.

FS: What skills that you use in the high tech industry have you been able to apply with regards to your new role as President of an Arena Football team?

DM: The primary area of my contribution has been in general management. Ensuring that we have a strong strategy (on the business side), that we have a good execution plan and then we implement that plan well.

There are some aspects of the AFL that play well into my technology background. Key among these is the internet. One of the basic notions of the AFL is accessibility. We can use the internet to extend that accessibility in ways that sports hasn't really seen. We can provide the fan with a unique behind-the-scenes view.

FS: Did you establish local contacts, (media, business) while at Dell Computers that you now utilize with the Wranglers organization?

DM: My interactions with the local community were fairly limited while I was at Dell. Most customers and suppliers were global or outside of our region.

After retiring from Dell in 1999, I got more involved in the community through my community service and with my private equity investment activities, but these too were limited. If I were to rate areas of my weakness, this would be one. Our strategy calls for us to immerse ourselves and to be fully engaged in the community and it's an area where I've had spend extra time on. It wasn't an area that I was well prepared for.

FS: What are some of the biggest challenges you face with a small market Arena Football team?

DM: There are pluses and minuses with any market. While the central Texas region isn't a major market, there are a number of advantages.

1) We have little local competition for the sports attention (at a professional level – naturally we have UT).
2) This region loves football
3) The value proposition as well as the values of the AFL fit well in Austin.

The challenges that I see are:
1) Raising awareness of AFL football and the Wranglers (not just a small market issue)
2) Distinguishing the AFL from the myriad of semi-pro and minor league leagues
3) Getting deeply involved with the community in our entire region (and with the entire community).
4) Building a strong and loyal fan base

FS: Do you wish the Wranglers were in the same division as the Dallas Desperados since they would be an instate rival? What team in the Southern Division do you feel the Wranglers will develop a good rivalry with?

DM: We're in a very tough division and I'm sure that the rivalries will develop. I think that all of the teams in our division recognize that the way to get in the playoffs starts with winning the division. Since we play each other twice, we're building on those rivalries. I'm not sure that I can pick out a particular team. I view them all as rivals.

Whether Dallas is in our division doesn't really matter. New Orleans isn't much further away. We're playing Dallas in March so we'll see how that turns out.

FS: Are you happy with the job Skip Foster has done was the head coach?

DM: I'm very happy with Skip and the job that he's done. I respect his values and philosophy. We're disappointed with an 0-3 start, but we have a very good team and we need to have confidence that they will improve execution throughout the whole game. Skip has worked with the team to make sure that this happens.

We are very lucky to have both Skip and Glyn Milburn, our general manager. Without these two professionals, there is no way that I could have taken on this job. They make the football side of the business run and I'm sure that it's going to run well.

FS: How involved are the Wranglers in the community? Have they gotten involved with charities?

DM: Unfortunately I got involved too late in the season to fully implement some of the plans that I'd like to see with our community involvement. There are so many things that we can do that we need to prioritize carefully. Here are some of the areas that we are going to focus on:

1) Recognize the contributions of our military and their families. We have 50,000 solider and their families just north of us at Ft. Hood and a large number at Ft. Sam Houston. We have dedicated our season to those serving our country and their families.

2) Schools. We are defining a program in which our players can go into schools and teach lessons of inspiration, about making good choices in life, and raising self esteem. This should be ready for the 2005-06 school year.

3) We have the Pardner Program whereby any non-profit can sell tickets as a fund raiser and 20% of ticket sales will go to that non-profit. So a group like a school band could use the Wranglers to raise funds by selling tickets.

4) Charitable activities. We don't have money to spare, but our players and front office care about our community and we help where we can. We attend a number of charitable events.

FS: Where do you see the Austin Wranglers in three years in terms of its place in the market?

DM: I believe that in 3 years we'll have a very solid team that will be an active and respected member of the community. We will have raised the awareness significantly and we'll have a strong and active fan base of Wrangler fans. We'll be deeply embedded in the community.

If you have any questions or comments about this interview feel free to drop me an email at arenazone@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to get back to you.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 20, 2005


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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