Behind The Scenes: Game Operations
March 4, 2006

Next time you’re at a Bobcats game, take a look at center court on press row and you’ll see a guy with a goatee wearing a headset staring intently at everything that is going on around the arena.

That’s John Leach, and he’s got the seat that most hardcore basketball fans can only dream of having -- for 41 games a year.

But there’s a catch. Yes, he’s got arguably the best seat in the house. It’s just too bad he doesn’t get the time to enjoy what is actually going on with the Bobcats once the game tips off.

“I don’t remember the last time I had the opportunity to watch the game just for the game,” Leach said. “There are just too many other things going on I have to worry about.”

Leach is the Bobcats director of game operations, and it’s his job to make sure Bobcats fans enjoy the show that goes on every night at Charlotte Bobcats Arena when the team isn’t on the court.

Everything you see and hear that might grab your attention from the moment you walk into the arena, aside from the actual basketball game, involves the game operations department.

The P.A. announcer, the mascot, the dance team, the Rhythm Cats, the Rally Cats, the national anthem, the halftime entertainment, the entertainment at timeouts, all the video production you see as well as the messages that come across the message and matrix boards, the cameramen, everyone in the video room, the graphics guys, the replay guys and the in-arena hosts are all linked in one way or another to Leach via that headset.

“It’s basically like putting on an elaborate wedding for each game,” Leach said. “It’s a big production, and we do it 41 times a season, so that’s a pretty big undertaking. My main job is to create a vision for the presentation. I make sure everything is delegated and oversee the quality of what is put out. I have to make sure we are giving the fans what they want.”

That means Leach and his crew, headed up by game operations managers John Woodman and Yaa Obeng, can’t just show up on game days and expect to be able to put on a flawless show. There is a lot of time and effort put in to making sure that everything will run smoothly once the games tip off.

“We spend days, sometimes several weeks preparing for a single home game,” he said. “Some people think the events just automatically happen, but there is a lot of planning that goes into it. Take a halftime act for example, you have to book their travel, put them up in hotels, get them to and from the airport as well as their hotels, costume needs, the timing of music in their routine. When you look at a single performance, there are many different elements surrounding each individual thing.”

So how do Leach and his crew decide what skits work and what ones don’t, what halftime acts to bring in, who gets to sing the national anthem, what scoreboard video to put up at certain games?

“Research -- we listen to the fans and as well as use our gut feelings and experience,” he said. “We observe how the fans react to certain events, and if it’s something they respond well to, then we will do more often. Then again we don’t want to do the same things every game, so we mix things up a bit to try to keep it fresh. However, there are some things we do on a frequent basis, such as the Kiss-Cam, which is very popular and never gets old.”

As things evolve by way of off-the-court entertainment at games, Leach is fully aware that this is still just the Bobcats second year here in Charlotte, and as the team continues to grow on the court, so to will the entertainment and excitement that surrounds each game.

“I think it’s coming together,” he said. “We’re still dealing with a few minor things that are normal with a second-year team. We’re still building a fan base -- which we take every opportunity to listen to through focus groups and fan surveys -- and trying to discover what fans want.

“We’re a new team, so we have to adjust accordingly when we get that feedback. Once we’ve been here a few more years, we’ll know better who are fans are and what they want.”

For now, all Leach wants is for each and every fan that enters Charlotte Bobcats Arena for a Bobcats game to walk away feeling entertained both on and off the court and wanting to come back to do it all again and be incredibly loud for their Bobcats.

“As long as our fans recognize our entertainment and it’s of value to them, then we are doing our job,” he said. “We just want to make the fans feel like they’ve spent their money well and there is value in coming to a basketball game besides just the on-the-court action. We want everyone to come back, so we’re trying to provide something for everyone -- young and old, male and female -- who comes to a game."