Q&A with new CCO Mike Murray

The following is a transcription of a Q&A with the Aces new chief commercial officer Mike Murray, conducted by Aces communications manager Kevin Bass.

KB: So first off, can you just introduce yourself to explain who you are, what you're doing what you've done.

MM: My name is Mike Murray, I am the chief commercial officer for the Reno Aces, which basically means I help out with corporate partnerships, ticket sales, sponsorships, all kinds of front-facing reaching out.

KB: That's awesome. Can you talk a little bit about just your baseball background, as a fan and working in it a little bit prior? Just what got you interested in it?

MM: Well, I always wanted to play it. That was always my goal. And I was really great up until I was about 13. I mean, I was awesome. But then I couldn't hit the curveball. And I had never really had a dream of everything, I never really thought it was possible that I could work in baseball. I had an opportunity to work in radio for the last 30 years, and really learned a lot about that industry. So to make the shift over here to something that really was at best a pipe dream when I was growing up, to stay within professional baseball, it's just incredible to be here.

KB: So when this job came around and you applied, was there something in particular that caught your eye and was like, this is the one the role I have to take? Or was it just you had been waiting to work in baseball, and this was a no brainer?

MM: I had never actually considered it. It was never really in my head. I had reached my dream job in running a group of radio stations and I thought I'd retire from that position. The opportunity to come into baseball, just through a chance conversation, struck up and the more we discussed it, the more sense it made to try to make that move. And you know how you do that Ben Franklin list the pros and cons of everything. When I did that, I found out that the pros of making a jump, was really something I had to do. I had to do this, I had nothing to lose, to move over here. And I get to work with an incredible group of people.

KB: So obviously, you didn't fully expect this to happen, or at least not in this way. But you were here before, you were you were in the press box as the PA announcer in the early years. Can you talk a little bit about that role?

MM: I never saw anything like this happening. That role was that role. I had done public address for the University of Nevada for their football and basketball programs. Baseball being my favorite sport, when the Tucson Sidewinders mentioned that they were coming to town I started tracking that, that job and trying to go for it. And then of course, they became the Reno Aces that are now here. This is our team now. But I was able to track them down and say ‘hey, I'm an announcer. I've worked in radio. I've done this I've done public address. I want to do it for you guys.’ And really that was the start and finish of it.

KB: So shifting gears a little bit, you’re not a Reno local, but you've been in Reno for a long time. What drew you to the area back when you came here the first time and then what has kept you here?

MM: Work brought me out here. I knew nothing of Reno in the year 2000. The job came about in 2001. And I moved out here and I'll be frank, I did not care for my first year out here. I didn't know anybody. I was shy. I was not outgoing in the least. And I was here and I was determined that I wasn't going to go anywhere until I succeeded at something. And that was my goal. 20 years later, I've fallen in love with this area. I met my wife here. I have some great friends and we put down some great roots and this area. It sounds corny, but you know when people say Home Means Nevada, this is home.

KB: That’s a really good soundbite “I wasn't going to go anywhere until I succeeded at something.” What does that success look like for you?

MM: So success has changed for me over the years. For a long time, it was a bigger paycheck, and if I made more money, I'd be a success. Or a title, and that would be a success. Today, I measure success almost daily. Am I better today than I was yesterday? Can I be better tomorrow than I am today? And if the answer is yes, then I did my job. And that's a success for that day. But every day, I have to look at it as can I be better? And tomorrow? Can I learn more?

That's awesome. Shifting it from you and from the past towards the 2022 season, what are you most excited about? And what are you really looking to bring to the fans and to the to the area?

MM: What I'm really most excited about is every season at the beginning of the season, it's just renewed hope. Everything is about hope. And it's going to be a great year after the last couple years, I think all of us could use a little bit of hope for something to turn. What I'm really looking forward to is coming into this ballpark. And I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time staying focused with you standing there, because you're standing right in front of the field. And that grass behind. That, to me is one of those things that just screams peace. Hope, you know, it's all that. I cannot think of a better place to be in the summer than right here. This is where I want to be every single day and I've been fortunate enough to have a job of a lifetime presented to me and man, I'm going to make the most of it because I want to be here every day.