Susan O'Malley

As the first female president of a professional sports franchise, Susan O’Malley is a pioneer in two fields: sports and business. She knows what it takes to be a leader in a tough business environment and how to create an organization from the ground up. Once an intern with the Washington Capitals and the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards), O’Malley joined the organization full-time in 1986 as director of advertising. Since that time, her ground-breaking business ideas and proactive approach to customer service brought her – and Washington Sports and Entertainment – to the top of the sports business world.

Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Susan O’Malley speaks about leadership and thriving in a male-dominated field, calling on anecdotes and lessons learned from her life of unprecedented success. Legitimately funny during her speeches, her warm sense of humor, self-described “folksy” style, and entertaining stories make her lessons easy to digest, leaving her audience with practical takeaways.

A First in Sports. O’Malley joined Washington Sports and Entertainment during lean times, and under her guidance the company improved both its bottom line and its winning percentage. In her first season handling off-court activities, the team experienced the largest ticket revenue increase in the history of an NBA franchise to date. That year, the club also achieved the highest renewal rate of season tickets ever by the franchise, including the year following the 1977-78 Championship season.

O’Malley’s magic has helped attract over 21.2 million patrons through the turnstiles of the Washington, D.C.-based facility through August of 2006. In the eight and a half year history of Verizon Center, the arena has been host to more then 1,788 concerts and sporting events. The 2005-2006 Wizards season saw the franchise tally 14 sellouts, averaging over 17,000 fans per game en route to their second consecutive trip to the NBA playoffs. Due to her expertise in connecting with employees, transforming organizational culture, and hiring the right people for the right positions, O’Malley was able to blaze a trail for herself and others.

Reaching Lifetime Goals. From a young age, O’Malley identified her career goals and was supported strongly by her mother. As a grade school student, she wrote a paper declaring her intention to run a sports franchise. Her teacher deemed the goal “unrealistic,” but O’Malley was not swayed. With this kind of family support and with strong female influences, O’Malley’s life and career have been an example for women who want to break into male-dominated industries. Her message is influenced by her family experiences and the management and leadership lessons she developed in her unprecedented career.

Since leaving Washington Sports and Entertainment, O’Malley earned her law degree from Georgetown University. For two years, she also taught a sports business marketing class at the Georgetown University Business School, where she was awarded the Adjunct Professor of the Year Award. She currently teaches St. Joseph’s University, serving as its first sports marketing professor.