Bill Daniels
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Robert William Daniels Jr. (July 1, 1920 – March 7, 2000) was an American cable television executive and owner of professional sports teams. He was a pioneer in building the cable television industry and was known as the "father of cable television." Having an interest in sports, he co-founded the
Prime Ticket Prime Ticket may refer to: * Bally Sports West, a regional sports network that was known as Prime Ticket from 1985 to 1995 * Bally Sports SoCal Bally Sports SoCal is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint v ...
sports network and was a co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and was a founder of the
United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
as the owner of the Los Angeles Express. He also owned the
Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...
of the American Basketball Association


Early life

Daniels was born in
Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, Weld County, Colorado, ...
and shortly thereafter moved to
Hobbs, New Mexico Hobbs is a city in Lea County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 40,508 at the 2020 census, increasing from 34,122 in 2010. Hobbs is the principal city of the Hobbs, New Mexico micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of L ...
. There he was enrolled at the
New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports to the G ...
(NMMI), a distinguished educational institution located in Roswell, New Mexico. In 1941 he won the New Mexico State
Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...
Championships (later in 1969, he financed an amateur boxing team called the Denver Rocks, and supported the International Boxing League.) In 1941, he joined the Navy and became an accomplished fighter pilot both in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, retiring with the rank of full commander. Not long after the war, on his way home he happened upon a bar in
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
that was showing a boxing match from out-of-state, and he became interested in the technology that brought television over long distances.


Founding an industry

Daniels took a chance on this long-distance television market by setting up a
microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...
feed that delivered Denver programming to Casper, Wyoming in 1952. It was the first broadcast signal sent by microwave feed. His television feed had only one channel and polled his viewers every 90 days on what they preferred to watch. He later shifted his focus towards brokering and investment banking for the growing industry. In 1958, he founded Daniels and Associates to specialize in this field. By 1965 his company, Daniels and Associates had brokered in excess of $100 million and this represented about 80 percent of the year's transactions. Daniels owned cable systems as well, with 31 cable systems in 10 states by 1986. When selling his cable systems, he often distributed a portion of the sale proceeds to his employees. One such sale of a system in Alaska resulted in $8 million in payouts to Daniels employees. With Lakers co-owner
Jerry Buss Gerald Hatten Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 l ...
, Daniels started the Prime Ticket sports programming network in 1985, which he sold in 1994, sharing $12 million with his employees. In 1990, he sold 49% of Daniels & Associates to company executives. Daniels died in 2000, and in 2006 Royal Bank of Canada acquired Daniels & Associates, renaming it RBC Daniels.


Sports

A lifelong passionate fan for sports of all sorts, Daniels supported the Denver Grand Pri

was a co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and owner of the American Basketball Association's
Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...
franchise, and a founder of the Los Angeles Express in the
United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
. Daniels sponsored the United States Auto Club, USAC
Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...
campaigns of Texan
Lloyd Ruby Lloyd Ruby (January 12, 1928 – March 23, 2009) was an American racecar driver who raced in the USAC Championship Car series for 20 years, achieving 7 victories and 88 top-ten finishes. He also had success in endurance racing, winning the 24 Hour ...
both in 1970 under the Daniels' Cablevision banner and in 1971 while promoting Daniels's
Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...
franchise and backed boxer
Ron Lyle Ronald David Lyle (February 12, 1941 – November 26, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Kno ...
in a championship fight against Muhammad Ali. He acquired the
Los Angeles Stars LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
in 1970 for about $850,000 and moved it to Utah. The Stars proved to be successful on the court, winning the ABA championship in the 1970-71 season, but unsuccessful financially, losing $400,000 that season. In total Daniels estimated that he lost $3.1 million operating the team. In December 1975, 16 games into the season, Daniels announced that the team could not pay the players, who included future
Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cen ...
. He initially tried to sell the team in 1974 to focus on his campaign for Governor of Colorado. Later, he tried to merge the team with the
Spirits of St. Louis The Spirits of St. Louis were a basketball franchise based in St. Louis that played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1974 to 1976. This was the third and last city of a franchise that had begun as a charter member in 1967 as the ...
, but that team received enough support from the city that it did not go through with the merger. The league ultimately folded the team and dispersed its players. The bankruptcy left season ticketholders without a team or a refund on their tickets. In 1980, he made amends, by paying out a total of $750,000 to 3,000 former season ticketholders which included their ticket price plus interest. He was one of the few owners to make money in the USFL. After the teams began signing increasingly lucrative player contracts, Daniels elected to sell his team to J. William Oldenburg for $8 million.


Politics

Daniels became active in politics, winning a seat as a National Committeeman from Colorado for the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. Political action committee, political committee that assists the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republi ...
and running for the Republican nomination for
Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...
in 1974. Daniels faced incumbent Governor
John Vanderhoof John David Vanderhoof (May 27, 1922 – September 19, 2013) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Vanderhoof served as the 37th Governor of Colorado from 1973–1975, assuming the office from John Arthur Love, who was a ...
in the primary election and was defeated in a 60% to 40% landslide. Vanderhoof would subsequently be defeated in the general election by a 53% to 46% margin against Democrat
Richard Lamm Richard Douglas Lamm (August 3, 1935 – July 29, 2021) was an American politician, writer, and attorney. He served three terms as 38th Governor of Colorado as a Democrat (1975–1987) and ran for the Reform Party's nomination for Preside ...
. defeated Daniels in his only attempt at elective office. He remained active in the Republican Party, donating more than $100,000 to the party in 1988. He also provided a job in the cable industry to
Neil Bush Neil Mallon Bush (born January 22, 1955) is an American businessman and investor. He is the fourth of six children of former President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (née Pierce). His five siblings are George W. Bush, the 43rd President o ...
, a son of Vice President George H. W. Bush after Neil's company, Silverado Savings and Loan, failed in the S&L Crisis.


Later life

In 1987, Daniels founded the Young Americans Bank, a special bank with a unique
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cr ...
-insured state charter. The bank caters only to patrons under the age of 22 and teaches young people about banking and related financial matters. In 1998, he founded Prime Ventures, which owned six cable networks and added Prime Networks, a sports channel for his cable systems.


Personal life

Daniels was married four times and had two stepsons but no children of his own. His brother
Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
was a member of the
New Mexico House of Representatives ) is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature. There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , ...
and ran for Governor of New Mexico and United States Senator from New Mexico. His niece
Diane Denish Diane Daniels Denish ( ; born March 7, 1949) is an American politician, who was the 28th Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico, lieutenant governor of New Mexico. She was elected in 2002, running on the same ticket as Governor Bill Richardson, and wa ...
was elected as the 28th
Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico The lieutenant governor of New Mexico ( es, Lista de Vicegobernadores de Nuevo México) is an elected official in the state of New Mexico that ranks just below the governor of New Mexico. The lieutenant governor is the first person in the order of ...
in 2002 and later became a board member of the Daniels Fund. Daniels died on March 7, 2000, at his home in
Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and locate ...
after a long illness. In his will, he donated his mansion,
Cableland Cableland is the official residence of the Mayor of Denver, Colorado. To date, no Denver mayor has ever lived in the mansion. It is made available for use to certain non-profit organizations for special events and fundraising purposes. It was don ...
to the city of Denver for use as the official residence of the
Mayor of Denver This is a list of mayors of Denver, the capital and largest city of the state of Colorado. Mayors of Denver can serve three four-year terms.https://www.westword.com/news/denver-term-limit-mayor-colorado-voters-15109617 List References {{ ...
. As of 2010, no mayor has used the home. It is primarily rented for events and the city has considered selling the property to raise money.


Philanthropy

Daniels had problems at times with alcohol and both patronized and supported the Betty Ford Center and helped found
Cenikor Foundation The Cenikor Foundation is a nonprofit drug rehabilitation and mental health organization based in Houston, Texas, operating residential treatment centers and outpatient services for adults and adolescents in Texas and Louisiana. They have faced se ...
, a rehabilitation center in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. With his private
Learjet 35 The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet. When used by the United States Air Force they carry the designation C-21A. The aircraft are powered by ...
, he sponsored a successful challenge to the world speed record which raised money for
Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning ...
. While attending a college graduation, he asked a graduate about the business ethics coursework, only to be told that for that school there were no ethics studies as a part of the business school program. This, in turn, led to Daniels's eventual endowment of what became the Daniels College of Business at the
University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...
, as they shared a like-minded vision and included ethics studies in their program. He donated $22 million to the school over a period of years. Daniels decided to use his fortune to continue helping others by forming a foundationBill Daniels, Philanthropy Hall of Fame.
/ref> that supports issues relating to aging, alcoholism and substance abuse, amateur sports, disabilities, education (early childhood, K-12 reform, and ethics and integrity), the homelessness and disadvantaged, and youth development. This foundation, the
Daniels Fund The Daniels Fund is a private charitable foundation based in Denver, Colorado. It was founded by Bill Daniels, a decorated fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War, who went on to become one of the early pioneers of the cable television in ...
, received over $1 billion from the Daniels estate making it one of the largest private foundations in the United States.


References


External links


Daniels Fund

Daniels and Associates

Young Americans Bank and Center for Financial Education

University of Denver Daniels College of Business
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Bill 1920 births 2000 deaths Utah Stars executives Los Angeles Lakers executives Los Angeles Lakers owners National Basketball Association executives National Basketball Association owners Prime Sports United States Football League executives 20th-century American businesspeople Colorado Republicans New Mexico Military Institute alumni People from Greeley, Colorado People from Hobbs, New Mexico People from Rancho Mirage, California 20th-century American philanthropists