The New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn announced that he has hired Paul Mott '80 as the new team president. Mott, a longtime professional sports executive, will oversee all business aspects of the franchise, such as strategic planning, business development, sales, marketing and branding and day-to-day operations.
Mott has been working as a senior director of team marketing and business for the NBA since December 2001. In this role, he advised eight different NBA franchises, including the Hornets, on key issues relevant to each respective team, serving as their account manager. "On each visit, I would meet with Paul and I became very, very impressed with him, with his demeanor, his intelligence and all the positives that you need to move a business forward," said Shinn on the Hornets' new president.
Mott's appointment is the latest of several top front office changes in New Orleans. "I believe I hired the best coach in Byron Scott, and now I've added the best front office executive in Paul Mott. I think I got one of the best people to help me guide this franchise. Paul's remarkable experience in professional sports and the leadership skills he has exhibited throughout his career as an executive, an educator and a coach will help us enhance the position of our organization both locally and nationally," commented Shinn on the recent appointments.
"I've been studying this market and working closely with the Hornets over the past 17 months and have developed my own passion for New Orleans," said Mott. He also added that he shares owner George Shinn's desire to make "the Hornets part of the fabric of New Orleans."
Since they moved from Charlotte, N.C., three years ago, the Hornets have struggled to fill the New Orleans Arena. They finished the regular season with the worst record in their franchise history (18-64) and averaged only 14,221 spectators per game, the lowest attendance in the league this season.
During his time at Dartmouth, Mott earned All-American honors as a senior and was twice named to the All-Ivy squad. Even though Dartmouth only managed to claim the sixth and eighth spots in the 1978 and 1979 Ivy League standings, Mott was voted an All-Ivy player both years
In 1978 he was one of the two Dartmouth players in the All-Ivy midfield, while in 1979, when he captained the soccer team, he was the only Big Green player to make the selection. He was also promptly named the team's MVP player. In addition to his national success, Mott also received local recognition, being a three time All-New England selectee.
Mott was the first selection of North American Soccer League team the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1979 and joined the team after he graduated with a bachelor's degree in government in 1980. Four years later, in 1984, he was inducted into the Dartmouth College Hall of Fame after finishing his career as the school's 10th all-time leading scorer.
After spending just one year at his soccer club, Mott decided to begin a career in administration and started off as an admissions counselor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., in 1981. However, his love for sports was ever-present and he managed to combine working as a director of college counseling and a varsity soccer coach at St. Mark's School of Texas from 1985 to 1996.
In 1996, Mott joined Major League Soccer and worked with the Dallas Burn (who have since been renamed to F.C. Dallas) in a variety of executive roles. Mott became senior vice president after only three years at the club and everyone expected him to pursue the team presidency. However, he decided to accept an offer to become vice president of club services at the MLS league office.
In addition to his work with MLS, Mott also has extensive experience working with international soccer competition. He served as a field producer in Dallas at the 1994 World Cup and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (for both the preliminary round games and the medal round games). Mott also spent many years assisting U.S. Soccer with men's and women's national team games and was an enthusiastic member of the World Cup Dallas speaker's bureau.
