[Feigen] Tilman's "style" as Rockets owner

This is all in the press conference, but I thought Feigen did a great job isolating the quotes well here, with regard to our main concern: How Tilman intends to run the Rockets.

First: Watch him answer the "Style of Owner" Question here (9:15 - 11:30 marks). Note how he says he'll still be very busy in the Landry's office on Post Oak.



New Rockets owner commits to building a long-term champion
By Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle | October 10, 2017 | Updated: October 10, 2017 7:21pm

Tilman Fertitta's indefatigable mind raced, bouncing happily between ideas and goals and his vision for the Rockets for the rest of his lifetime and well beyond.

Fertitta spoke of melding the Rockets, the team he had owned for five days, with the restaurant empire he built. He considered upgrades to Toyota Center. He talked of building a franchise that wins championships not just when a Hall of Fame caliber players happens to power them, but when his children take over and the Rockets add to the collections of banners.

As he spoke, he moved past the childhood dreams of owning his favorite team, past the disappointment of coming up short that drove him to spend the $2.2 billion it took to buy the Rockets from Leslie Alexander and even past the day he cried when Rockets CEO Tad Brown told him he was ready to start closing the deal. He moved on to what all that he believes will come next.

"I want people to talk about the Houston Rockets the way they talk about the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics," Fertitta said Tuesday. "And I don't want it to be one run of six years in eight years like the Chicago Bulls. You think of the Celtics or Lakers because they win championships every decade. I don't want to win three in a row and not win any for the next 20, 25 years. I want to be a competitive team every year.​

"We're going to make good decisions and we're going to do whatever it takes to win."​

He had spent more for the Rockets and control of Toyota Center than anyone ever had for a North American sports franchise. But Fertitta looked around and saw more ways to spend, from upgrading Toyota Center lounges and dining areas to potentially paying the NBA's punitive luxury taxes.

"I will not make any decision based on what I paid for the team, Fertitta said. "If I had to make a decision based on that, I shouldn't have bought the team.​

On Luxury Tax

"My own basketball people will tell me there is no reason to go into the luxury tax if you're not going to get to The Finals. If somebody tells me if you get this player you can win the championship next year, I have no problem losing money on this team because it all comes back to you.​

"I'm not going to own this team for just 10 years or 20 years. To build championships is the way to go."​

Regarding Basketball Decision-Making

Fertitta said he would not take over basketball decision making, would rarely even work from the owner's corner office at Toyota Center, intending to remain at his headquarters at The Post Oak. He said he expects to be front and center in free agent recruiting, but has no intention of evaluating players and weighing trades himself.

"I'm too old to do that," Fertitta, 60, said. "I don't have enough years to learn. These two boys (sons Andrew and Patrick) know a lot and they can have the opportunity to get there. I run a big company. But I can help make those big decisions."​

Fertitta repeatedly praised Brown and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, calling Morey unsurpassed as a general manager. He said he would be kept informed on the smallest details, but seeks to build consensus with his management team, rather than dictate to them.

"I know what I know and I know what I don't know," Fertitta said. "On the business side, I'll be a huge support to Tad, not that he needs it. I'm into details. I'm not into micromanaging. That's how I built a business as big as I have. I thought I knew a lot about basketball. I learned more about basketball in the last 30 days than I learned in the last 30 years.​

"Are there tough decisions to make? Absolutely. Does the buck stop with me when things are good and when they're bad? Yes. But I'm relying heavily, heavily, heavily on the people that get up and do this every day."​

Spoiler: More regarding details and thrill of his dream buy

Still, Fertitta said the thrill of purchasing the Rockets far exceeded every deal he has ever made. But he also said that it was not until Tuesday afternoon, after the press conference had ended and he thought about his triumph, did not realize why he had won and how that was driven by falling short 24 years ago.

"Now, that I think about it … I had to sit there for 24 years," Fertitta said after a long sigh and a longer pause. "Les has been a very nice man to me, but I still had to look at him and be very friendly to him. I had him at Thanksgiving at my house. But I lost. I just didn't want to lose this time and I wanted to own a team in my hometown. I wanted to own the Houston Rockets. I was just not going to lose again."​

Others, Feritta said, based bids based on what they thought the Rockets were worth. He bid based only on what it would take to get them, passing on Brown's offers to see some of the books others had examined and even on the protections investors usually include in offers.

"Everybody puts in a lot of contingencies," Fertitta said. "I put in $100 million, non-refundable, and no contingencies. And I said, "I want to close on the team before the season starts Oct. 17. Nobody else did that. I knew it was my last opportunity.

"There were a lot of people after this team. I got this team because I outworked everybody, I out-passioned everybody and just decided I would do whatever it took to get it.

"I just could not picture somebody else owning this team but me. I just couldn't fathom it."​

Now, he won't have to. Instead, he looked at his prized property and what he will do with it.

"Very few people in life get to have every dream come true," Fertitta said. "I get to have my dream come true when we come back here that next Saturday night and I get to walk on that floor and look at it totally different, even though I've walked on that floor 100s of times. This is my building and my team."​

 

Here he is on Consensus Building as his management style. Daryl describes Les being like this, too.

btw: I think he slightly misspoke when he says, "If everyone wants to go one way, and I want to go the other; we're going to go the other way." He meant, "I'm wrong" so he will go the other way with the consensus.​

Watch from 16:52 to end of answer at 18:06

 

Keep in mind, Tilman doesn't own the Rockets jersey -- the League does. The patch is League property, too. So, while the owner can sell the patch, it is part of league-wide revenue-sharing / BRI. Since it is part of rev sharing, the other owners (as well as the players) are going to expect their share, which in sum amounts to 75% of the sell -- players own 50% total (due to BRI rules), and owners share 25% and the owner who sells the patch keeps last 25%.

I really don't think Tilman can just put a patch on a jersey he doesn't own and not pay the league. I think if he wants a Landry's patch, he will have to pay market price for it, or the owners can vote it down.

So, I doubt he views it as a good promotional/marketing tool for the price. I think he'd rather capture the $6m/yr that he can sell it for.