The Dallas Mavericks Hired a Chief Marketing Officer, Which Means the Real Game Never Ends
By the time most people hear that the Dallas Mavericks appointed James Ruth as Chief Marketing Officer, they imagine a man walking into an office carrying PowerPoint presentations, brand strategy documents, and enough buzzwords to power a small city. I imagine something else. I imagine a giant room full of executives staring at spreadsheets while someone points to a graph and says: "We need deeper fan engagement." Because that's what modern sports has become. Basketball still exists, of course. There are still players. There are still games. There are still fans screaming at televisions while referees make calls that seem to have been determined by a roulette wheel. But behind all of that is an enormous machine dedicated to turning attention into revenue. And now James Ruth gets to help operate one of the biggest machines in professional sports. The Mavericks announced that Ruth will serve as Chief Marketing Officer and report to President Ethan Casson. His res...
