Season 2 Episode 22: Derrick Hall, President & CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks - podcast episode cover

Season 2 Episode 22: Derrick Hall, President & CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks

Apr 10, 202437 min
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Episode description

In Episode 22 of Let’s Talk Business Phoenix, Derrick Hall, President & CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks, joins us as we wrap up Spring Training and head into the regular season after making it to the MLB World Series last year. Hear how the Diamondbacks World Series appearance influenced the Valley’s economy and how the organization as a whole contributes to the economic development and growth of the local business community. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear from one of Arizona’s top sports leaders! 

Transcript

Todd Sanders:

Well, welcome back to the podcast. We are really excited today to have Derrick Hall, the president and CEO of our Arizona Diamondbacks with us. Derrick, thanks for taking the time.

Derrick Hall:

Todd, it's good to be here. Good to see you, my friend.

Todd Sanders:

It's awesome to see you.

Derrick Hall:

How are you?

Todd Sanders:

You obviously have some formula where you don't age which is good, I guess.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah, right.

Todd Sanders:

That's pretty cool. Well, obviously, I think 99% of the people here know you. But maybe talk a little bit about yourself and then something that we wouldn't know about you that's not on your bio, for instance.

Derrick Hall:

Sure. Yeah. So I've been in baseball now over 30 years. Hard to believe. I always wanted to be in baseball. I was actually going to go to West Point. I had the senatorial appointment. I was going to West Point. At the last minute, I panicked and I went to Arizona State University so I'm-

Todd Sanders:

Good move.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Came here, went to ASU. My dad at the time was so upset that I was doing that rather than go to West Point and he said, "Well then, you're on your own." I said, "Okay." And several years later he said, "Okay. I know why you went there. It was to meet your wife, Amy," who-

Todd Sanders:

He got over it then.

Derrick Hall:

I've been with for... Yeah. Over it. And we've been married 32 years, we've been together 36 years. We have three kids. Adult kids, 28 year old who's an morning anchor in LA and a reporter. A middle guy who started a company, educational technology. He moved it to Salt Lake. And then, our daughter who just graduated from Emory University where she played soccer. She's out here and she's actually working for us which is a lot of fun.

Todd Sanders:

In the family business.

Derrick Hall:

In The family business, exactly. So I left school, went to grad school in Ohio, got my master's in Sports Administration. Went off to work for the Dodgers for several years before getting here and I couldn't wait to get here-

Todd Sanders:

You upgraded.

Derrick Hall:

I wanted... A total upgrade. I mean, you can imagine. Every time I went to Chase Field or Bank One back then, I kept thinking, "How do I get back in this market? How do I get back to this city that I love so much, my home?" And so, we did. And what is something unique about me? I love animals. I love dogs. And I've got... They were raised during the pandemic. That I've got two female labs right now who I just love.

Todd Sanders:

Oh, nice.

Derrick Hall:

Ivy and Maisie and they are my world right now.

Todd Sanders:

And grandkids yet?

Derrick Hall:

No grandkids yet. My son was engaged. He's now very serious relationship again so we'll see. I think we'd get there but no rush. We're okay.

Todd Sanders:

Nice. Okay. In the batter's box.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Right.

Todd Sanders:

All right. Awesome. Well, I'm thinking about ten years ago. We were opening up in Australia. I think it was ten years ago-

Derrick Hall:

That's right. That didn't go so well.

Todd Sanders:

Well, it didn't. But what I was thinking about that, from that time, ten years, think about how much has changed. A very wise man once told me, "If you look in the rear-view mirror of your life, all you see is change." Talk to us about this last ten years.

Derrick Hall:

It's been incredible. I mean, as a sport and as an industry and then as an organization. I mean I look at our sport and what we've done the last couple of years, we have transformed it. I was worried about the popularity of our sport. I heard several years ago, it was good, Todd. Someone said, "If you went back 75 years, and you asked anybody what the most popular sports in the world were in no particular order, they would've said horse racing, boxing, and Major League Baseball." Today you ask and they say, "NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA."

It's up to us to make sure 75 years from now, MLB is still in those Top 3. And it didn't look like we were going to be. I mean, we were losing popularity, losing fans. We had the strike several times, work stoppages. And then, you think pandemic, we're playing baseball in front of cardboard cutouts, right? There's no baseball really. And then, we had smaller crowds, we had limited crowds, we had shorter seasons. And then, it all changed. Before last year, you talk about change, we had the World Baseball Classic which you saw it, of course, downtown. The people were-

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. It was amazing.

Derrick Hall:

Jerseys, Mexico and USA and Canada. And we had sellout crowds and energy and noise and music. It was unreal. But we also had, for the first time, really no constraints, no restrictions, crowds were back to normal. Fans were excited about the rules changes. They thought they were going to be okay and then they loved them and fell in love with them and they worked for us.

Todd Sanders:

Were you nervous?

Derrick Hall:

I was very nervous. And because the players weren't even sure like, "Are these going to work?" And then, they realized we had a team that was built for those, a very energetic, active, fast, base running team. And so, that all worked. But then, I look at our organization and what we've done. We've grown. We recommitted ourselves to a farm system and building from within. We've always been so good with fan experience and taking care of our fans.

I think we're the best in the game. We have a top culture when it comes to the industry. And we are a place people want to work and a company people want to work for. So I've seen a lot of great change, the impact we've made on the community. And then, just the growth and the local leaders, business leaders, civic leaders like yourself and what you've done to cultivate from small business to enterprise. And I couldn't be prouder of the growth that I've seen downtown but throughout all of Arizona.

Todd Sanders:

It has been astounding. And you're right, just that in that ten-year period, so much has changed. So I think for people who obviously know your title but what does it look like to be Derrick Hall? What does it mean to be the president, CEO of such an incredible organization that, obviously, we're at the World Series twice now?

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Well, it means you don't sleep much and your emotions go up and down with the wins and losses. But I've got really every department that would report to me, including baseball and the business side. So it just depends on the day of the week. There's times where I'm more engaged with leaders like yourself or I'm working on government affairs or it's more PR and communications related. It just depends what fire we have to put out or what we're doing marketing-wise in the community.

But we've got 450 full-time employees. And across the world, we've got about 2000. When you look at scouts and part-time. It's a large enterprise and a big business but we've had a lot of employees that work for us from Day 1. They're entry level positions or they were interns and now, they're VPs so it's very family feel. So when you're a president and CEO of an organization where you really feel like everybody's on the same side of the rope and I do and there's no silos and people don't work in their office with the door shut. It really is family in interaction and engagement. I couldn't be more proud.

Todd Sanders:

It's interesting when you walk around the organization, it's not a fear-based mentality. It feels like people... Like they belong there and that they have a role.

Derrick Hall:

You're right. That's exactly right. And I think people know they have an opportunity. They do have a role but they know that they can make an impact. They know that they can give suggestions. They're going to be listened to. They're going to be. It's not I, it's always we. I encourage people to be innovative, be pioneering, make mistakes. It's okay to make mistake, learn from that mistake, and don't make it again or improve upon it. Borrow an idea from another team. But don't just lift and shift it, make it even better. So that's really the environment and the culture there.

And it's been one that has worked and it's one that I think is starting to be duplicated and I'm really proud of that. The other thing I've seen is just reaching across the aisle to the other teams and how we're all working so well together now too. And the Suns have new ownership. We're excited about them. We're doing a lot again with the Suns. And my counterpart there, Josh is doing such a great job. I'm proud of him. We all have to mentor each other and help each other and make sure that all boats rise.

Todd Sanders:

Coyotes?

Derrick Hall:

Coyotes. Yeah. I mean, we need to make sure they stay here. I mean, this is a city, a community, a state that can definitely support the big sports. So if we were to lose one, I think that would be a ding. We don't want that because we have the fans, we have the land, we have the right community, we have the support. We need the Coyotes to succeed. We need us to stay right where we are and the Cardinals to continue to flourish. As we talked about the Suns and Mercury, they're doing great.

Todd Sanders:

Absolutely. And we're going to come back to that in a minute.

Derrick Hall:

Sure.

Todd Sanders:

And maybe this is a little nuanced from the first question which is, tell us, what's your leadership style?

Derrick Hall:

I'm more of engagement, communication, transparency, vulnerability, total honesty, and open book. I've always got an open door as well. I feel like as a leader, people have to trust you. They have to... And trust is a big word, that's why I go back to transparency. I'm open book with our organization. We have monthly meetings with the entire company. I have weekly meetings with my leadership team. And I think it's at that time where I have to let them know what's happening behind the scenes, everything. Not so that they learn about it a month from now in the paper, but that they know everything because I trust them too and what we all talk about stays there.

I lean on them for emotional support but also occupational support because I think there's so much capacity intellectually there. But my style has always been one of support, of friendliness, of encouragement, motivation, reward. That's very important to me too. I mean, recognition. I'll never take the credit. I want others to. But I want to make sure that people feel promoted, rewarded, invested in, developed. And that's what not only my leadership style, but now... And I don't want a bunch of Derricks out there but I want to make sure that's also our culture too.

Todd Sanders:

Well, it seems like obviously you are a pretty important person in our country when you think about sports. But what I get, the sense I get, and obviously, I know a lot of your leadership team is that you empower people and you're also not afraid for one of your folks to be out in front on something.

Derrick Hall:

Oh, it makes me more proud, right?

Todd Sanders:

Right.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Absolutely. Too many people want to... They don't do a good job delegating or they just want to do it all themselves and I'm not about that at all. Let someone else grow. Let them get the recognition. Let them promote themselves or go get another job elsewhere so we can be proud. And what we do find, we let them... We'll clip the wings and let them go but we find that they want to come back and work for us again. So the grass is not always greener but it says a lot when someone leaves and they can't wait to get back with you. That's a big nod to their coworkers, the workplace that we've created, and that they've created because the culture's really created by the people. But let them get out in front. Let them get that experience. Let them get the recognition and the accolades.

Todd Sanders:

So looking at it from the other perspective, from a fan perspective, I think one of the first times I went to the stadium and you gave us a tour, one of the things you talked about was the idea that even if you have to say no, you have find a way to say yes.

Derrick Hall:

That's it. You got it.

Todd Sanders:

How do you actually accomplish that in a business that's really customer-centered?

Derrick Hall:

Good memory, Todd, by the way. Yeah. That's a big part of who we are. That's a big part of our daily and game day experience is FAWTSY and that's Find A Way To Say Yes. And we have it on a button and every game day staff member has that button that says FATWSY. And that's what we preach so you're going to have to find a way to say... Now, there's some departments like security where it's a little more difficult to say yes all the time. There's an art in saying no but it still sounds like yes because we have to earn every single fan we can.

There are some markets you go to New York, Chicago, LA, big markets, their marketing, all they have to do, Todd, is put their promotional schedule out or their schedule for the season and open the gates. We have to earn every single fan. It's tough. And we have hot summer months and you compete with air-conditioned malls or movie theaters or the mountains or San Diego. People are leaving. And so, we have to get them here, get them to the ballpark, get them in the habit of going to games, and enjoying it and wanting to go back the next day. And so, that's really been a big part of it. And so, you can't say no. I mean, you can but you really can't. And for us, every fan matters. It's one fan at a time and it's access and communication and honesty and listening.

Todd Sanders:

One of my favorite stories related to that was the fan that wanted his seat to be a different color.

Derrick Hall:

Yes. So that's an emotional one.

Todd Sanders:

That's a special story.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Yes. His name was Bob and we were changing our uniforms back in '07. And that was the first time we were going from purple and teal to red to Sedona red and Sonoran sand and people were upset. My wife was upset too that we were doing it. And so, Bob was one of them. And so, Bob was... He was at this meeting that we had with season ticket holders and we had them all around the table and I thought, "Okay." And they were pretty upset about the uniform change so we invited them in. We used to have these meetings. We still do periodically where we'll talk about everything from game time starts to the food to the pricing and we want feedback from all our fans.

So Bob was there and he was upset about the uniforms. And I had former players come in like Matt Williams, Mark Grace come in wearing the uniforms, and I'm, almost like a fashion show, I'm saying, "Yeah. And here's Matt Williams wearing the Sedona red with the Sonoran sand. You see the trim here on Mark Grace with red..." And Bob stands up and said, "Oh, enough is enough." He said, "I'm so tired of this. Sedona red? Red is red," and I said, "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way." And I said, "I take it, you don't like these jerseys?" He said, "No, I can't stand it." I said, "Well, if we win the division this year and I give you one, will you wear it?" He says, "If you win the division," and he said, "Yeah," because we were supposed to finish last. Well, we win the division, we have Bob come back. We give him the jersey, he actually wears it. We have a party, a celebration, the whole deal.

We became very close and he got very sick and he had a terminal form of stomach cancer. And his wife called me one day from the hospital. He hadn't spoken in a week. And so, Todd, she says, "Bob just woke up and he wants to talk to you." I get on the phone and he says, "You know, I just had a dream and I was flying over the stadium." He said, "And I realized the roof is open so I fly down a little closer and I look down and I see all the green seats, the ballpark green seats." He said, "And I fly even closer and I see there's one red seat." And he said, "And as I get even closer, I realize that's my seat." And he said, "I just want you to know, when I pass, I want that red seat that was my green seat. I want a plaque there that says my name and, 'Red is red.'" So I said, "Well, Bob, you're going to be around a long time." Unfortunately, he wasn't. He passed quickly. Today, we have one red seat with that plaque. Yeah.

Todd Sanders:

I love that story. I think it speaks to the culture.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah.

Todd Sanders:

I've been told that you're a big fan of Disney and meaning the way that they manage what they do and the product that they sell. Are there some similarities and do you take some of that and bring it into your philosophy?

Derrick Hall:

I absolutely do and I do go to Disney a lot. In fact, we have our employees of the month. They're called team players of the month and they're actually part of our president's council and we take them on a trip once a year. Usually, Disney. And the thought is have a little fun but also observe because that is the epitome when it comes to customer service and cleanliness which is a big part of our experience, right?

Todd Sanders:

That's true. Yeah.

Derrick Hall:

It's cleanliness, customer service, pricing, safety. And so, we go there and I used to always tell the story and I would say, "I want you to watch. When someone drops popcorn, some little guy in all white is going to come over, sweep it up, and be gone, in no time." And so, sure enough year after year we'd go and I'd go, "Watch, man." I'd drop a little popcorn and they'd come and do it.

Well, I used to preach that to our facilities folks. Like, "Listen, do the Disney method. When someone drops popcorn, pick it up." And one day I'm in the office early and we have a day game because it's a Saturday game of the week and I'm in my office looking out and it's all glass from floor to ceiling. I could look down on the concourse and it happens. And someone drops popcorn and out of nowhere someone comes over and cleans it up. I went, "Oh my goodness." I go over my laptop and I write real quick to my VP and my director of facilities. I said, "It just happened. Someone dropped popcorn. They came over and swept it." And a few seconds later they wrote back, "Yeah. We know. We staged it." But still, they were thinking about it, but they were thinking about it.

Todd Sanders:

At least you got the message across.

Derrick Hall:

That's right. They got it.

Todd Sanders:

Well, it is an incredible organization. And you're right, that all happens in customer services, what that's all about, which is reflected in the work that you all do.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. And that is Disney. I mean, you go to Disney and it's about making memories. That's what baseball is. We're in the business of creating memories and we want it to be memorable. You're not going to win every game, we know that. And when you're having a bad season, how does a family still leave with a smile on their face? Are the kids asleep over their shoulder? Which is my favorite picture on the way out. And you can't wait for them to get back the next day or within a week or whatever it takes.

Todd Sanders:

One of my earliest memories was... I think it was maybe 2000 and we just started the season and everyone started chanting, "Open the roof," which of course we don't do that anymore. And so, you open the roof. It was probably like the fifth or sixth inning. And then, being Phoenicians were like, "It's cold," so we started closing the roof-

Derrick Hall:

Close the roof.

Todd Sanders:

You close the roof.

Derrick Hall:

I had a fan... This is so good. I had a fan. We had one of our haboobs, the whirlwind and all that. But the roof is open, it's batting practice. And I went upstairs and I was going from portal to portal before the gate was open to tell all our game day staff thank you and give them a hug. Thank you for treating everybody well. Well, the gate opens and now the clouds have turned and it's dark and now the wind's picking up. And I'm like, "Oh boy, this is one of those." And here's hot dog wrappers flying around and I'm walking, trying to close my eyes. And this guy goes, "Mr. Hall." I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "Don't you think you should shut the roof?" And I said, "Well," I said, "in Atlanta right now, it's humid or it's rainy. They're okay." I said, "In Pittsburgh, it's rainy and humid. They're okay." And he said, "Yeah. But if they had a roof, don't you think they'd be smart enough to close it?" I said, "Good point. Get on-"

Todd Sanders:

Close the roof.

Derrick Hall:

Close the roof.

Todd Sanders:

It is a nice luxury.

Derrick Hall:

It is. No, having a roof is great, especially here. And even when there's talk of a new stadium like if there's, "Do you need to build a new stadium? And if you do, should you have a roof?" Well, you have to have a roof. I mean, our game is played in the summer months and so it's really nice to have that. And I think that's also why the maintenance and the number of issues that we have that need to be addressed, it's because of that wear and tear in a stadium that's been there already 26 years.

Todd Sanders:

And we forget. Honestly, 2000 feels like just yesterday and you do keep it beautiful. So people forget that there's wear and tear. Thinking about a 26-year-old car wouldn't be a good situation.

Derrick Hall:

That's right.

Todd Sanders:

So let's talk about that a little bit. Obviously, we're going to need to do something on that. What's the thinking right now?

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. We're having lots of conversations with county, city, state. We're county-owned. And if you could have gone back, say, 30 years ago when this thing was being negotiated, you would've tried to have found... And it's nobody's fault, but you want to find a pathway or a pipeline of revenue that could go back into the stadium. Perfect example, ASTA and the Cardinals. It just works so well. Sure, they've got some taxes like rental car and hotel tax. But the income tax from the players and the staff and the sales tax, it's recaptured. It goes back into ASTA and then a portion of that goes back into the facility. So there's always upgrades because it's an asset. It's owned by a government entity.

Well, same with us. Ours is owned by the county but they don't have the ability to really raise money to put back into their stadium. So we're trying to find what that public-private partnership would look like where, "What can we do with the city? What can we do with the state and the county to make sure that we create some funnel to help out the stadium?" Which by the way, we don't own, the county owns, so it's not going in our pockets. All that money would go into improving the building which would improve the fan experience, which would drive more revenues and more taxes. So we're trying to figure that out right now, Todd, and we want to stay right there.

Todd Sanders:

Okay. That was the question. You want to stay downtown?

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. We want to stay right there. We want to stay downtown, we want to stay at Chase, and we're willing to put anywhere from 200 to 400 million of our own money into it. We just want a little bit of partnership. When you look around, there are teams right now like Milwaukee that are getting $500 million. The Texas Rangers just got $500 million for their ballpark. Over 300 in Cleveland and Baltimore's getting money and Pittsburgh's getting money. And those are not cities as powerful and productive as we are so I think... And we're not asking for that.

But there's got to be something that we can do that can help that building and our fans can continue to be proud of their home. And we can bring in new premium areas and do more kids areas. And just, we need to keep it as modern and as state-of-the-art as possible. Even this year, we just put in a brand new sound system, we put in brand new sports lights, LED lights that are going to be great for the experience. As you mentioned, we're going to keep putting money into the stadium but we need to do something much bigger because we've hit that point where it's time for a... We're one of the oldest buildings. It's hard to imagine-

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. We're the fourth oldest in the National League. It's crazy. And you've got Wrigley and you've got Dodger Stadium, it's crazy.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah.

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. So there's been a lot of talk about the number of seats being reduced. What are some of the things we might see in a stadium?

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Good question. And I don't think we'll ever do that. And there was... A long time ago, people really focused on the number of seats. And is it too cavernous? Is it too big and not intimate enough? I say, yes. If you were going to build it today, you probably want it to be 33 to 38,000 seats total for capacity. We're at 50. But we don't want to change that because when you're there at opening day or when you're there for the playoffs like we just were, you look around and you say, "Thank goodness we have 50,000 seats," right? Because we pack that place. It was great. The home field advantage was unbelievable. Concerts-

Todd Sanders:

Or Elton John concert. Yeah.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Sir Elton John-

Todd Sanders:

That was awesome.

Derrick Hall:

Bad Bunny was the largest concert we ever had and it was huge. We had back-to-back nights of a country concert. That was Morgan Well. That was unbelievable. So that's when you're really happy you have that big capacity. There's other things we need to do and we need to fix a lot of infrastructure first. Probably-

Todd Sanders:

People don't see.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. We got to fix the HVAC to make sure it stays cool in that building. We've got to fix a lot of the pipes where we've had leaks throughout the building. We want to redo a lot of the seats, make them larger and more comfortable, redo some of the suites, and add more club areas. If you go to a new ballpark today, you'd be amazed at how different it is from ours. And they are now generating revenue, not to mention outside and around the ballpark as well. You want 365 days a year, you want activation, you want restaurants and retail and hotel, and we need to do that.

The Atlanta Braves almost tripled their revenue because they built The Battery outside. It's called The Battery which is retail and hotel and business and restaurants outside of their ballpark and they are just crushing it. That's what we're all hoping to do. Even if you have a ballpark village where it's a nice restaurant, bars, you have to have that. And we've done great for the businesses around. I look back to our playoffs this year and the numbers were... They were amazing. I think it was, of our sellout crowds, 10% of those large crowds went to a restaurant or bar before the game and 16% went after the game. So think about that spilling out and spilling in-

Todd Sanders:

Huge.

Derrick Hall:

We need to continue that. We have a huge impact on all those businesses.

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. And I think ten years ago, probably downtown and the surrounding areas, weren't really ready to support something like that just because of the population. Now, it's in such a different place.

Derrick Hall:

We're growing up. We have a lot of single-family housing. We have condos. We have apartments and we have ASU and U of A downtown. It's a great place to have a ballpark and it's only going to get better.

Todd Sanders:

So let's talk about that. Because obviously, you don't live in an economic bubble. There's an impact to what the Diamondbacks do here, not just game day but everything else. Salaries, all the expenditures. What's the economic impact that the Diamondbacks have?

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. They're big numbers and you have them in buckets. I mean, I look alone at the original investment which I think was 238 million from taxpayers. And then, we put roughly the same in. Not at the time but we have since. It's been like for every dollar that taxpayers put in 26, 28 years ago, it's been a return over $22. So I think it's 22.50 for every dollar. So at the time, you look at a $238 million investment, it's well over 800 million now. And you look at the taxes that we're able to generate. This past year, sales tax alone for county, city, state was $25 million. And we're able to do so much more now because we now book the building which has really helped. So that's why the concerts you referred to, whether it's Billy Joel or Elton John, the country concerts, the bowl games, all of that generate-

Todd Sanders:

The Stone which I'm going to be going to.

Derrick Hall:

There you go. So all of this is good and I'm really proud of that. You look at the World Series alone, not just the World Series, the playoffs. This year was $107 million for state GDP just from the playoffs. The World Baseball Classic, that was ten games in five days. That was $7 million. When we had the All-Star Game in 2011, that was 60 to $70 million. So there's huge impact from having a baseball team and-

Todd Sanders:

On a year-to-year basis.

Derrick Hall:

It's an acre on a yearly basis.

Todd Sanders:

I was thinking about these things in terms of, "What if it wasn't here?" So what would be the loss on a yearly basis or the unrealized gains that you wouldn't get on a yearly basis?

Derrick Hall:

That's right.

Todd Sanders:

And it's pretty significant.

Derrick Hall:

It is significant. Or what would we do as a community if we didn't have a baseball team to try and attract one? If we had never had one, we'd say, "We want one of those." It's what we're going to do.

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. We would.

Derrick Hall:

And we would. Yeah. For sure. And then, to your point about the community too, regardless of how we play, we know we're not always going to win, we know we're not always going to have great seasons, but we know we're going to get back to the community. We're at over $80 million now that we've given back. It's all-time highs. We've given back more to the community than all of the other local professional sports teams combined. And so, that's our biggest point of pride. We understand our social impact, we understand our social responsibility, and it starts at the top. Our players are all involved, our coaches are involved, our front office is involved. Give something, every day if you can.

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. Well, and I think you all are maybe a little too humble about that because a lot of people that aren't in these circles don't know it-

Derrick Hall:

Well-

Todd Sanders:

That you're doing that.

Derrick Hall:

And you don't do it to pat yourself on the back so I appreciate you saying that.

Todd Sanders:

Right. I know. But it is true.

Derrick Hall:

But it is and we're all involved in one way or another, everybody in the organization. And we give people time off to go volunteer and give them time off to go work at the Food Pantry, go to St. Mary's, go to St. Vincent, give something. That's the message, give something.

Todd Sanders:

Well, I wanted to talk about the World Series but as I... Speak about that. Let's talk about that impact, the economic impact that the World Series had. I mean, what an incredible timeframe for us here in Arizona.

Derrick Hall:

It was amazing. And we look back to our season and we backed into it. I was thinking, if you asked me a year ago, Todd, "Are you guys going to be in the playoffs?" I'd say, "Oh, I hope. These are very young players. I hope so." This year, if we don't make it, I'd be disappointed. Because we did get as far as we did. We barely made it in the playoffs. And then, we just got hot. And I remember thinking, "Okay. We have to go to Milwaukee. We're going to have to face Burns and Peralta. That's going to be tough. We'll probably get swept but what great experience for these young kids," and we sweep them. Well now, we got to go to LA and we know the Dodgers crush us anytime we play them but it's still going to be a great experience. And we didn't only beat the Dodgers, we walloped them to the point where-

Todd Sanders:

They did so good.

Derrick Hall:

They did. But we poked the bear and they spent a billion dollars on two players in a week like, "We'll show you, little guys." And then, we had to go play Philadelphia which is unbelievable to have to go there and win Game 6 and 7 which we did. So now, you come back and you're playing Texas and I can't compliment the Rangers enough for just how good of hosts they were and how great we all got along. All their fans, they were just classy as could be. And I congratulate them.

But those five games were still magical. And we, of course, played 3 and 4 and 5 here. And I thought if we could have gotten back, it would've been amazing. But the energy and the support that we felt and saw throughout the state, that last month where we were battling with the Cubs and the Reds and the Marlins and, "Are we going to get in? Are we not?" And we do but it was unlike I've ever seen the state rally behind a team. Like '01, sure. '07 and '11 and '17 were special times. '01, of course. But this was unbelievable and the crowd was as loud as I've ever heard. And that Dodger series, when we hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs, those four home runs-

Todd Sanders:

That must have just been so chilly.

Derrick Hall:

It was crazy. And it was Gabby Moreno that hit the fourth one and he hits the home run, the place erupts. And I'm screaming, I go, "This is the loudest I've ever heard this place." And then, the umpires get together and they say, "Foul ball." And we went, "Oh," and we said, "That would've been so cool." He gets back up to bat, the first pitch, hits it out so he still hit it out. Then, it got even louder.

Todd Sanders:

That must have been so incredible.

Derrick Hall:

It was great. But World Series pride, I mean, to see everyone wearing shirts around town and World Series gear and just... I get chills because that's where you want to be. And when I was holding that trophy in Philadelphia on stage and the fans were still booing us, and I'm holding that trophy and I'm thinking, "Wow. This is all you work for, for your fans and your employees to be able to get to the Big Fall Classic."

And we go back to the hotel before we're going to... We had to go to Texas. But before we go to Texas, we go back to the hotel in Philadelphia. And I had my wife and one of our adult kids with us and a bunch of folks from our leadership team. And as we pull up, we're going to have this big party in the ballroom. And I get out and I told my wife and son, I said, "You guys go ahead. I'm going to be right there." And I go up to my room and Todd, I open up the door. In the dark, I sit down on the couch and I just start bawling. It's amazing.

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. I totally get that. And it must've been the next morning waking up and realizing what happened.

Derrick Hall:

Wow. Yeah. Wow. Did we really just win Game 6 and 7 and now we're going to go to Texas and play in the World Series? It is so cool. And then, you've got, of course, all your media there and they're beaming, right? You see these guys every day and you know who they are. But now, they're traveling with you and they just felt like a part of the family. And deep down, they have to be credible broadcasters and reporters. But deep down they're like, "This is our team. We want to win too." It was very special.

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. I think for us too. And by the way, tested some marriages. My wife, she got a ticket and I'm like, "Where's mine?" And, "You're on your own."

Derrick Hall:

That's so good.

Todd Sanders:

Are you serious?

Derrick Hall:

That's so good.

Todd Sanders:

Yeah. Yeah.

Derrick Hall:

I love it.

Todd Sanders:

I think everybody just wanted to be there. So a couple other things. You mentioned how baseball has changed and the rules changed. Thinking about the next ten years, what else can we expect?

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. I think the game is going to continue to progress. I mean, first off, you've got to attract the younger audience and they have so much competition and it's all about access to the game. You see the models already changing. We used to have... Our regional sports networks were the biggest deal. We were on Fox Sports Arizona and then we were on Valleys Arizona. Well, that went away.

Now, we're still regional sports of our own with Major League Baseball. The way we view the game in the future is going to change. It's going to be about watching anywhere you go on your handheld or on your phone. Kids are going to be able to watch. Streaming, that's where we're going.

 

Todd Sanders:

That's true.

Derrick Hall:

Is there the kind of revenue that you had in the past with linear TV? Not at all. But that's okay. We want people to be able to get your games, watch your games, become fans for life. I think technology is always going to change as well. You're going to have more technology in ballparks. You're going to have AI. You're going to have eye or facial recognition as your ticket to get into a ballpark. The way you're going to order your food, the way you're going to consume the game. The sports betting and gambling is already so different on your handhelds in the game. It's changed the game and it's kept people really attached, whether it's 10 to nothing or 1 to nothing. And I think from a rule standpoint, you're going to continue to see changes because we are sampling and testing all those at the minor league level. Automatic ball strike zone. If you have the technology, why wouldn't you get it right? And it's going to happen.

Todd Sanders:

That's true. Yeah.

Derrick Hall:

You'll still have an umpire there because he or she has to make sure that the play at the plate was called.

Todd Sanders:

Correct.

Derrick Hall:

But you're going to get the technology on your side. And they're also sampling and testing right now, at the minor league level, challenges. It's almost like the tennis challenges, right? I thought that was out. Let's look real quick. Doesn't take a lot of time. Boom. That was a ball. Get back in and-

Todd Sanders:

The batter's like, "I know for sure where things were."

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Absolutely. So those are the changes and I think you're going to see changes to the CBA. Hopefully, we're going to have labor piece and you're going to... I think it's good for the game in lots of ways but I think you'll see expansion one day too where we may have a couple more teams in cities that are viable right now. You see cities like Salt Lake City are ready to go. They just got legislation just passed for $900 million towards a new baseball stadium. Mexico City's always wanted a team. Nashville wants a team. Charlotte wants a team. That's good for the game if we can expand.

Todd Sanders:

It is good. And you mentioned Mexico City, I mean, this is truly a world game now.

 

Derrick Hall:

World game. It is... Between soccer and baseball, they've always been really the most popular. If you go to Asia, it's baseball. You go to Japan and watch a game there, the energy, the noisemakers, the loyalty to their teams, the bands they take on the road. It's amazing. Mexico is that way. Dominican Republic is that way, Venezuela. So we have to continue to grow the game worldwide and we've done that with the WBC a little bit. The Olympics, we'll see if we participate in the Olympics. But yeah, Mexico City, we were going to play there. We were going to play... Oh, boy. We went and saw AMLO. We went to his palace and got to meet with the president. He was excited. We were excited. We took a tour of the stadium. And then, the plug was pulled. So I can't wait to get back in the queue there which we will to go play in Mexico City and represent us. And take folks like you so you can shake hands and tell them why Phoenix is such a great place.

Todd Sanders:

Well, one of the things I like about your international work that people don't know about is what you do in the DR, in the Dominican Republic, where you're scouting kids. And like most clubs, you make sure that they're getting an education. The difference, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, is a kid that doesn't make it all the way through, your commitment to them is they're going to get all the way through high school.

Derrick Hall:

You're exactly right. It's really unique and we're proud of that and it's worked. And even if we cut a kid or if he quits and doesn't want to play baseball anymore, we are still committed to him. He's got that laptop. He's got our curriculum. He's still going to graduate. And when they leave the academy at the Dominican, because they get to come here and play for one of our affiliates, the program goes with them.

So they continue to study and they're going to continue to get their graduation and get their diploma. And it's worked well. And there's nothing like going to the academy and seeing a kid that may be 24 years old and just got his high school diploma or someone that is 17 years old and just sped right along. And for them to say thank you. Because we have to tell them, "Not everybody's going to make it in baseball, most don't. So if you're not going to be a scout or a coach one day or playing one day, we want you to be a banker or a doctor or own your own business or be a chef. And you need your degree," and they buy in.

Todd Sanders:

And I know that's not common and I hope the other clubs are looking at your example in doing it because it's such a game changer.

Derrick Hall:

We've had a lot of teams ask us how and ask for the playbook which is great because I hope every team and every academy does it eventually.

Todd Sanders:

You bet. Well, let me switch gears a little bit. Prostate Foundation, you talked a little bit about that. Obviously, you have a very strong connection to that. You founded it.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. So in 2011, at the time, I was about 42 years old. And by accident, I had blood work done that showed that I had prostate cancer and had my prostate removed. And very fortunate that I'm doing okay today. My wife as well, a few years back, had triple negative breast cancer which was very scary and it's been in the rear-view which is good. Obviously, it's good. But prostate, what I found over time was if you could just talk to a man, men are scared to go to doctors, they don't want to, or they're too manly, right?

Todd Sanders:

Don't want to know.

Derrick Hall:

I know. I know. I get it. But if they just go and so many guys just, "Can you tell me your story?" And so, for me to be, again, transparent and just open up through our website, it has saved lives which is wonderful. And today, it's so much different than it was ten years ago. You're talking about how quickly things change, Todd. Medicine, it changes and the options that people could go through. And so, there's a lot of alternatives and I'm just trying to educate people and drive awareness.

Todd Sanders:

Well, and to think about if you hadn't done it. If you hadn't made the call and gone in-

Derrick Hall:

Oh my goodness.

Todd Sanders:

What's a different... We wouldn't-

Derrick Hall:

I wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be having this conversation. No doubt.

Todd Sanders:

Right? And for a man to take that example and the example of your wife and to say, "Go get checked out."

Derrick Hall:

Exactly.

Todd Sanders:

It makes such a difference. Well, as we're wrapping up, I want to throw a date out at you in Spanish, Tres de Mayo.

Derrick Hall:

Yes.

Todd Sanders:

Tell us... 3rd of May, it's an important date for you but what does it mean?

Derrick Hall:

It's an important one for me. That was the day that my wife and I were married. And so, May 3rd, 1992. And Tres de Mayo, we went on a trip to Argentina and we visited a winery and we had an opportunity to buy a little acre there and have our own. So we actually bought a winery at the time. We named it Tres de Mayo. And our label, which was beautiful, was a waterfall because we got married in Tucson at La Paloma-

Todd Sanders:

Oh, nice.

Derrick Hall:

In front of the waterfall. So we have this waterfall and we have the backs of our kids' heads, so it's two boys and our daughter, and that's Tres de Mayo. So it's meant a lot to us. And 3rd of May is a day that's very special to me. We're a close family. We're a great husband and wife team and I'm proud of where we've gone as a family.

Todd Sanders:

Oh, and the pride certainly shows.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah. Thank you.

Todd Sanders:

Well, one, I want to thank you for spending so much time with us and for everything you do in our community. We're going to do a quick lightning round here.

Derrick Hall:

Okay.

Todd Sanders:

First job?

Derrick Hall:

My first job was at a newspaper and I was actually... It wasn't delivering paper, but I was more of going to pick up ads and go pick them up at agencies and take it back to the newspaper.

Todd Sanders:

Okay. And what did you learn?

 

Derrick Hall:

I learned that I wasn't a very good driver of a truck. I did get in an accident. But I also learned that my father, who was in the newspaper business, worked really hard. I was able to observe him and then went off and did a few jobs on my own. There was one time I had three jobs. I worked at a video store. It was like a-

Todd Sanders:

Like a Blockbuster? Oh, yeah.

Derrick Hall:

It was Blockbuster and a fitness center at the same time and a monthly magazine. I was doing all that, trying to figure out how to get into grad school so I could get into sports.

Todd Sanders:

Wow.

Derrick Hall:

Yeah.

Todd Sanders:

Okay. So obviously, a lot of learning there.

Derrick Hall:

Yes.

Todd Sanders:

Okay. First car.

Derrick Hall:

First car was a Dodge Dart. Yeah. Dodge Dart. Nice one, right? And it was brown. Pick your dates up in that car-

Todd Sanders:

You were popular. Okay. And usually when I ask this question, this is what I say, "So Derrick Hall calls you and says, we're going to put you in the lineup, what would be your walk-up song?" Clearly, you are Derrick Hall. What's your walk-up song?

Derrick Hall:

Well, my favorite song is Earth, Wind & Fire - September. So I would have to go with it. Do you remember... Yeah.

Todd Sanders:

That's actually the right answer.

Derrick Hall:

Oh, it's a great song.

Todd Sanders:

Derrick, thank you.

Derrick Hall:

Thank you, Todd.

Todd Sanders:

Appreciate all the time.

Derrick Hall:

Thanks for having me. Yeah. Sorry I spoke so much.

Todd Sanders:

No, it was great. We appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Derrick Hall:

Thank you.

Todd Sanders:

All right.

 

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