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Tampa Bay makes former Orlando Magic executive Steve Griggs their new COO

There’s something about the Tampa Bay Lightning and some variation on the name Steve/Steven.

First, there’s Maurice Richard co-winner and star of the present and future Steven Stamkos. Then there is a man who is just as important to the team’s success, new general manager Steve Yzerman. The fixation on successful Steve’s continued today as the Lightning announced that former Orlando Magic and Minnesota Wild executive Steve Griggs will be the team’s new chief operating officer.

Steve Griggs has been named chief operating officer of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Pete Times Forum, Chief Executive Officer Tod Leiweke announced today. Griggs joins the Lightning from the Orlando Magic, where he has served as executive vice president of sales and marketing since October, 2007. He will become the organization’s day-to-day operations leader, with an emphasis on revenue generation and brand management. Griggs will begin with the Lightning in November.

“Steve is one of the rising stars in the sports industry,” said Leiweke upon making the announcement. “His experience in the NHL, and most recently, with the NBA’s Orlando Magic and the new Amway Center, will serve us well as we work to transform the Lightning and the Times Forum under the leadership of owner Jeff Vinik.”

I understand that a lot of these front office moves are a bit obscure, so here is a little background on Griggs via the Lightning’s Web site.

In addition to overseeing all of the Magic’s sales and marketing functions, Griggs was also charged with developing and executing strategic sales and marketing efforts for the team’s new arena (Amway Center), which is set to open this fall. He established the Champions of the Community partnership for the founding partners of the building and created a digital signage platform which makes the arena one of the most technologically advanced in North America.

[snip]

Before joining the Magic, Griggs served the previous eight seasons as vice president of sales and marketing for the Minnesota Wild and its parent company, Minnesota Sports & Entertainment (MSE). While with the Wild he was responsible for ticket sales and service, corporate sales and service, suite sales and service as well as retail operations. Under his leadership, the club posted 284 consecutive sellouts, totaling more than five million fans in the Wild’s first six seasons.

That’s a pretty impressive resume, although it seems like selling NHL hockey in Minnesota is like selling bottled water in a desert. One interesting (actually, dorky) note is that Griggs has plenty of experience working for clubs with grammatically irritating team names: the Wild, Magic and Lightning all defy sports traditions of plural team names.

It’s been an outstanding off-season for Tampa Bay. Casual fans probably won’t be conscious of the impact a guy like Griggs can have on an organization, but it seems like another solid move for a rapidly improving franchise.