Susan O'Malley (born November 7, 1961)
is an American sports executive. In 1991, she became president of the
Washington Bullets
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
team, a member of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA); then 29 years old, she was the first female president of an NBA franchise, and one of the first women to hold the top front-office position for a
major league sports team in North America.
[
]
Early life and education
Susan O'Malley grew up in a Catholic family in Clinton, Maryland
Clinton is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Clinton was formerly known as Surrattsville until after the time of the Civil War. The population of Clinton was 38,760 at the 2020 cens ...
(in Prince George's County
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...
), one of five children of Janice Karol and Peter O'Malley. Her father was an influential Maryland attorney who also served as president of the National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
team, the Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...
, when Susan was a child. The middle child of the five siblings, she expressed an early interest in sports, writing an elementary school essay on her desire to run a professional sports team, which a teacher told her was "unrealistic".
In 1979, O'Malley graduated from Surrattsville High School
Surrattsville High School or SHS is a public high school located in Clinton, Maryland, United States and is a part of the Prince George's County Public School System in Prince George's County, Maryland.
Surrattsville was the town of Clinton's o ...
. Like her father, she attended college at Mount St. Mary's University, graduating in 1983. She earned a J.D. degree at Georgetown University Law School
The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...
in 2007.
Career
Early career
As an undergraduate, O'Malley interned for the Washington Capitals as well as the National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
team, the Washington Bullets
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
(both owned by Abe Pollin
Abraham J. Pollin (December 3, 1923 – November 24, 2009) was the owner of a number of professional sports teams including the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL), the Washington Mystics in the Women's National Basketbal ...
). After graduating from college, she began her career working for the Earle Palmer Brown advertising firm, following the advice of another member of Pollin's organization who told her to seek experience outside the sports franchises because women had a better chance of attaining a senior role through a lateral hire than rising through the ranks from an entry-level position.
Washington Sports & Entertainment
In 1986, O'Malley joined Abe Pollin's Washington Sports & Entertainment group as director of advertising for the Washington Bullets (later renamed the Washington Wizards). She initially encountered some resistance and isolation in the organization, suspected of nepotism as her father had worked closely with owner Pollin. Some coworkers refused to eat with her and at one point her car was filled with trash. But O'Malley soon developed a close working relationship with then-Bullets vice-president and NBA Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld
Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld ...
, who was named coach of the team the following year, which helped to solidify O'Malley's place in the organization. She was promoted to director of marketing, then to executive vice-president in 1988. O'Malley's work on marketing and promotions boosted the team's ticket sales even as the team struggled on the court; between 1988 and 1992 O'Malley produced a 25% increase in attendance, with 1991–1992 season recording the team's highest average attendance in 13 years and the most sold-out games in team history.
In May 1991, Pollin appointed O'Malley president of the Bullets (O'Malley initially protested that she could not be team president because he was already president; he said he could find something else to be). Then 29 years old, O'Malley became the first woman to hold the position for any team in NBA history, and the third woman to be president of a major professional sports team in the US (the other two were Georgia Frontiere
Georgia Frontiere (born Violet Frances Irwin; November 21, 1927 – January 18, 2008) was an American businesswoman and entertainer. She was the majority owner and chairperson of the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams NFL team and the most prominent fema ...
of the Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
and Gay Culverhouse
Gay Culverhouse (February 5, 1947 – July 1, 2020) was president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1991 to 1994 while her father, Hugh Culverhouse, owned the team. Inspired by Tom McHale, a former Buccaneers player who suffered from chronic traum ...
of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
). As president, O'Malley oversaw the opening of the MCI Center
Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. It has been largely considered to be a commercial success an ...
(later renamed the Verizon Center, then the Capital One Arena) in 1997 in the Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, a project that spurred the economic redevelopment of the downtown area as well as set a new record for naming rights deals: MCI paid $50 million for a 10-year commitment. O'Malley also served on the panel that selected from fan proposals for a new name after Pollin announced that, to remove associations with gun violence
Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, a ...
, the team would no longer be known as the Bullets.
In 1994, Pollin named O'Malley and Unseld head of corporate advertising and sponsorship for USAir Arena
The Capital Centre (later USAir Arena and US Airways Arena) was an indoor arena in the eastern United States, located in Landover, Maryland, a suburb east of Washington, D.C.
Opened in late 1973, it closed in 1999, and was demolished in 200 ...
, home stadium for both his teams. Shortly thereafter he promoted the pair again to head of business operations for the Washington Capitals.
O'Malley served as president of the Wizards through 2007. On her announcement that she was stepping down, Pollin described her as his "right hand through the past 20 years".
Later career
O'Malley is senior instructor in the Department of Sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
and Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina.
Personal life
While she was with the Bullets, O'Malley's nickname La Sooz was popularized by ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' sports columnist Tony Kornheiser
Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for ''The Washington Post'' from ...
, accompanying his affectionately tongue-in-cheek French stylization of the team name as Les Boulez.
O'Malley resides on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
Sullivan's Island is a town and island in Charleston County, South Carolina, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, with a population of 1,791 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The town ...
. She previously lived in Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages.
Columbia began with ...
; Kent Island, Maryland
Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is sepa ...
; and Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...
.
References
External links
Susan O'Malley
on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omalley, Susan
1961 births
Living people
National Basketball Association executives
Washington Wizards executives
National Basketball Association team presidents
Mount St. Mary's University alumni
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
American Roman Catholics
American sportswomen
University of South Carolina faculty
People from Prince George's County, Maryland
People from Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
American women academics
21st-century American women