The Insider Interview - Stuart Fraser

The Majority owner of the Texas Brahmas talks candidly about the Brahmas organization, the new ownership group and Dan Wildfong

Unless you knew him, you probably wouldn’t pick Stuart Fraser out of a crowd at the NYTEX Sports Centre as the Majority owner of the Texas Brahmas Hockey Club. In fact, you’d probably peg him for another longtime fan, in his Fort Worth Brahmas jacket, jeans and tennis shoes. A very down-to earth guy, Fraser made his way around the complex last weekend, having lunch at Zuroma, joining a group of fans to say hello and pose for a photograph and then heading upstairs to the owner’s suite to watch his team defeat the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in the 2009 Southern Conference Semi-Final series.

Stuart Fraser has been involved in the Texas Brahmas ownership group since joining forces with former NHL goaltender Andy Moog in 1998, when the then Fort Worth Brahmas were a part of the Western Professional Hockey League. He has been the majority owner of the team since the 1999-00 season.

A close childhood friend of Brahmas general manager Mike Barack, Fraser's ownership of the Brahmas is the result of a lifelong passion for ice hockey. Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, Fraser and Barack were fans of the NHL's St. Louis Blues, one of the six teams to enter the league in the 1967 expansion. Attending games together at the old St. Louis Arena, one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, Barack and Fraser watched the likes of Garry Unger, Wayne Babych, Bernie Federko and goaltender Mike Liut. To this day, they remain fans of the Blues and continue to hope for a Stanley Cup championship for their team.

After finishing college at the University of Missouri in 1983, Fraser left for New York to begin his business career. Today, Fraser is the Vice Chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., and the Executive Managing Director of Cantor Fitzgerald Securities. Cantor Fitzgerald, a private partnership, is a global financial services conglomerate and the leading provider of business to business voice and electronic marketplaces in the world with offices around the world.

Fraser is the primary inventor on several U.S. Patents having to do with electronic trading systems and in 1999, Cantor used them to create eSpeed, Inc., the leading provider of real-time business to business electronic marketplace solutions.

Despite his busy schedule, Fraser gets regular updates on the Brahmas from Barack and watches games via Nifty-TV.

I spoke to Stuart during his recent visit to NYTEX. Here is our conversation.

Q: I know you and Mike grew up in Missouri; not exactly a hockey haven. What was it that drew you to ice hockey?

A: Well, you know St. Louis, it's like - I call it a little big town. There were the Cardinals, baseball, football and the Blues. And really, you weren't doing much unless you were going to those games. I mean, my parents got tickets. My Uncle knew Sid Solomon III (owner of the Blues at the time) and actually got us tickets the first year and then after that, we just started buying tickets. A lot of the Blues actually - Mike and I lived in a development, and the guy would give nine-month leases to the Blues players - so we had almost three-quarters of the Blues living directly in our neighborhood and that was really cool. When you're that close to people, and you see them all the time...that's what I love about minor-league hockey; they're accessible, they're friendly and that's the way it used to be in the old days. You know, it's just one of those great fast sports. And in the winter, we lost the Spirits - we used to have this basketball team - so there wasn't really anything else to draw you in. It's a fast sport. Its fun and you know, you didn't have to be an overly big guy. Almost anyone could play. So I think it appeals on a lot of levels. And we played a lot of roller hockey as kids.

Q: When the opportunity came up to purchase the franchise and get into the CHL, what was your motivation there? Owning a professional sports team - for some guys, it's a toy; for some guys, it's an investment. What is it for you?

A: A fun investment. Obviously, I don't go into anything to lose money. I thought that between me and Mike, we could figure it out. It's been difficult (laughing), to say the least. But the fun factor makes it a lot more exciting. You get to know coaches, you get to know players...It's kind of fun, on any level. I'm not going to own a big team (laughing). I don't have that kind of money.

Q: Maybe someday?

A: Yeah, I could always hope. I'm a dreamer. So yeah, I thought it was really cool. It's a sport we always loved. I have a lot of faith in Mike. It seemed like a good opportunity at the time. It's worked out pretty well.

Q: Now with respect to the organization, there have been some lean years. I went to my first Brahmas game in '98 and it's been a long, tough ride. So you’ve got fans who have hung on. What's driven you to hang on to the Brahmas? I mean, have you ever thought, I may want to consider dumping this?

A: Well, if I had an offer for the team, I'd consider it, obviously. And that's because I really believe that a home-grown person needs to be running the team... (long pause)

Q: There hasn't been anything that's made you say, forget this?

A: It was very difficult in Fort Worth because the city was the opposite of helpful. The opposite of supportive and it’s a different world here. And that kind of atmosphere just breeds a whole level of people as you walk around. We're finally getting that. And I think that's...for minor league hockey, it's not always about winning. It's about putting on a good show every day and a little bit of a circus mentality. But, it helps to win. The hardest thing is, you talk to coaches and you find a guy and you think you found the right guy for various reasons and the guy loafs, or he doesn't do the job or he does things without telling you. You know, Dan's been, for a coach coming off the bench, as he did the year before, in two years, he's won a hundred games and the guy's incredibly professional. And you know, he's really bought into the whole thing. I think that's the key. You find a coach that buys into it and buys into the sense of community that you need to develop - that's the answer. Unless you're lucky enough to be in Oklahoma City where there's nothing else going on and you get 9,000 to a game for no reason. But that's the hardest part, you need coach. And it's like hiring anybody. You go through a few. It's very difficult - especially at this level.

Q: So things go South in Fort Worth and you write a check to keep the franchise alive. Enter the Trazzera Brothers and the NYTEX ownership group. Was it a breath of fresh air to have a group of investors come in with a facility like the old Blue Line facility to provide a home for the Brahmas and to have the City of North Richland Hills...and take the situation that you had in Fort Worth and turn it around 180 degrees?

A: Yeah, like I said, when people care and they're involved, it makes a huge difference. Frank and Sal were key. They kind of backed into the deal in the beginning. When we took the year off, Mike was going around, looking everywhere. We talked to the Cotton Bowl people - they were going to do a re-build out there. There was I think another, in South Fort Worth, an old arena that they were talking about re-doing. We really went through every avenue we could. Then we finally had a guy who was involved with the hockey team on a sponsorship level very aggressively in Fort Worth. He said, well, what if I rent the team? I don't know if he knew the guys at Blue Line or Mike started setting it up because he had met with Frank and Sal, but that fell through. The guy tried to squeeze me at the last minute...so it fell through, and it was far enough along for Frank and Sal to say hey, this could be that thing that shines a light above our building that draws people here and they said well, let's talk about working this out. They decided to take the team for a couple of years and see what they could do.

Q: Now, outside of the change in the ownership group and having the facility, which corrected a lot of the problems that you had in Fort Worth, the next step was Dan Wildfong, who has absolutely turned out to be a blessing. Now Dan's coming toward the end of a two year contract. Do you and the owners feel that it's worth doing what you have to do to retain him?

A: Absolutely. I'd be very surprised if Dan isn't - hey, if a big team wants Dan, then you know, *%!# happens. It's probably too early for that. But we're going to do everything that we can and we've had some conversations, but he's so focused. He's so into what he's doing. We just let him know that, you know what, we care, and we’re here. We understand the issues. When you're ready, when the season's over, let's wrap this baby up and get moving forward. He's made roots here. Kelly, his wife, is a beautiful person. They really like it here. I mean, he's teaching kids on the ice. He's committed to fly with our junior team to Philadelphia for the tournament this summer and some other things so...it would be a shock, it would be an incredible shock if that happened (Dan not being re-signed) and I don't anticipate it at all.

Q: So, after the lean years and all of this time has passed and now you have a winning team. A team that I think was destined to go into the playoffs and be where they are right now before the season even started. I don't think anyone doubted that; many went into the season saying that the Brahmas are probably going to be a championship-level team this year and of course, they're proving that. How do you feel about that as an owner?

A: You know what, it seemed like for the last number of years, every time things are going well, something happened. I remember we had things going well for a while, and then we had a good weekend coming up and we had a Russian team coming in to play a game against us, and then we had that ice storm a few years ago (laughing), and those were the type of things that were happening to us. You know what, I think just doing things right and being on top of it, you make - I'm a believer in luck, but you make your own luck. I think to a great degree, we've been making our own luck here and it's just transcending the whole place. To think that they have like, 25 hockey teams here time 10 kids a team, I mean, what they're doing here - and then, the volleyball people. They get 10,000 people in a weekend. And the restaurant is really nice and good. So yeah, it's just a phenomenal thing and then to have the hockey team doing well...um, I'm very disappointed in the league this year for not giving us any accolades at all. I'm not surprised, because we are aggressive in the meetings.

Q: You don't fit into the Global model, right?

A: We don't. And when we go to the meetings, we ask real questions, and they don't always like that. And it's only to help. Yeah, you know what, the other side of me says that if we didn't get any awards or anything, you know what, let's just show them we're the best. I think it's kind of funny, you know, if no one has an award and the team wins, then the team wins. It is a team sport and I think a lot of people fail to recognize that in professional sports.

Q: The cup's what it's all about; it's not the awards...

A: Yeah, and with what Dan's done with the cups, I don't know, have you been in the locker room?

Q: Yeah.

A: Oh my God, with the things... the pucks they have (laughing); I mean he's really gone...I mean, that really shows how deep he's thinking about this; with the motivation and not just - it's one thing to put up a bunch of pucks, but he walks the walk and talks the talk. That's the difference. And he's really had discipline on the team. They understand what they all need to do.

Q: They buy into what he says, because he is a player. He is the coach but he's a player. He may not be playing actively but he's a player and I think you get an extra measure of respect because of that. I shoot photos from behind the players’ bench during many of the home games, so I see Dan up close, at his best and at his worst (laughing). But the players, they buy into it.

A: They do, they do and he's a leader and that's pretty clear. What's really nice too, is the assistant coach here. Not that last year, you know, we had a good assistant coach, but Dan was really carrying a lot of the load. I think he finally has a partner that going to help him do these things. So you know, I mean, at least we have another guy there as well, you know, and that helps on a lot of fronts. It's awesome.

Q: Last question; when the Brahmas get to the championship series, are you coming back?

A: Yeah, if we get to the finals, I'll be here. That will be a lot of fun.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith