AGENTS OF CHANGE All About 74 INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY | Spring 2019 INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY COPYRIGHT © INSIGNIAM HOLDING LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONFIDENTIAL SPRING 2019 AND PROPRIETARY. MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY ELECTRONIC OR PRINT OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF INSIGNIAM. VISIT WWW.INSIGNIAM.COM FOR CONTACTS. As CFO of a championship professional sports team, Frank Gumienny does whatever it takes to help the team succeed. BY JOE MULLICH quarterly.insigniam.com | INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY 75 GETTYIMAGES (2) INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY COPYRIGHT © INSIGNIAM HOLDING LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONFIDENTIAL SPRING 2019 AND PROPRIETARY. MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY ELECTRONIC OR PRINT OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF INSIGNIAM. VISIT WWW.INSIGNIAM.COM FOR CONTACTS. AGENTS OF CHANGE rofessional sports teams erected in 2003. One day, he might find himself may be for-profit organi- negotiating a deal for country singer Kenny zations, but they are not Chesney to perform at the Linc (as locals call like other businesses. For the stadium). The next, he might be across the starters, winning is the sine river in New Jersey, visiting the farm that grows qua non—the entire orga- the sod for the football field. nization is oriented around “The CFO role has become more strategic,” victory. Frank Gumienny, Mr. Gumienny says. “In the past, the role of senior vice president and accounting was to record transactions. Now CFO of the National Foot- we’re party to decision-making ahead of time.” ball League’s Philadelphia Eagles, has a pithy way of Building Connections saying all this. When he gives a speech or in- It was not this way when Mr. Gumienny joined terviews someone for a job, he calls the Eagles the Eagles two decades ago. After earning a an “almost business.” bachelor’s degree in accounting, he worked for “Most businesses make decisions around four years at PricewaterhouseCoopers. When the financial aspects,” he says. “We look at a friend told him about an opening at the Ea- how we can run the business to help prepare gles, he quickly updated his résumé. He was the team to be the most successful on the the first certified public accountant hired by field. Winning is our first priority.” the organization. You could say that winning has been their As a consummate team player, Mr. Gu- strong suit recently. After claiming their mienny often said “yes” when things needed first-ever Super Bowl championship in early to be done. That meant handling all sorts of 2018, the Eagles saw the team’s value rise more tasks that did not involve ledgers or spread- than $100 million to $2.8 billion, according to sheets. He volunteered to drive the team van Forbes. Despite the Eagles raising prices for the to the airport to pick up new players unfamil- 2018 season by $5 to $25 per ticket, more than iar with the city. And he spent 10 years as a 40,000 fans sit on the waiting list clamoring to spotter for the team’s radio broadcast (see “On get them. the Spot,” page 77). With his stocky build and down-to-earth per- He steadily worked up the ranks, becom- sonality, Mr. Gumienny blends right in with Ea- ing director of finance in 2003 and then CFO gles fans. Having grown up in Northeast Phila- in 2012. It was as director of finance that his delphia, he has always been one. He speaks with role began to expand beyond bookkeeping. authenticity and authority when he says, “What This was because the Eagles moved into the we sell is passion and experience.” state-of-the-art Lincoln Financial Field the year As CFO, Mr. Gumienny plays a multidimen- he was promoted. The team had previously sional role to create that passion and experi- played in the city-owned Veterans Stadium for ence. Beyond the traditional finance and ac- the past three decades. counting domain, he is in charge of ticket sales, “When we were a tenant at Veterans Stadi- IT, guest services, merchandise and booking um, we didn’t have to do much beyond collect concert and auxiliary events at Lincoln Finan- ticket revenues,” Mr. Gumienny says. “We cial Field—the Eagles’ multipurpose stadium didn’t even have to maintain the field.” Risk PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 76 INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY | Spring 2019 INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY COPYRIGHT © INSIGNIAM HOLDING LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONFIDENTIAL SPRING 2019 AND PROPRIETARY. MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY ELECTRONIC OR PRINT OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF INSIGNIAM. VISIT WWW.INSIGNIAM.COM FOR CONTACTS. On the Spot Back when the Philadel- phia Eagles played at the city-owned Veterans Stadium, Frank Gumienny did not have any duties on game day. So in 1999 he became the spotter for the Eagles Radio Network. Using hand signals, he would point out who made each play on the field to commen- tators Merrill Reese and Mike Quick so they could relay the details without pause. He would serve in that role until 2014. Mr. Gumienny resumed spotter duties for last year’s Super “The CFO role Bowl between the Eagles and the New England has become Patriots. After the game, more strategic. he ran out to the field In the past, and found his 15-year-old the role of son, Justin, a ball boy tasked with handing out accounting the Super Bowl champion was to record T-shirts. “We both put a transactions. T-shirt on as the confetti Now we’re was falling around us,” he says. “I went up to the party to stands to hug my wife, decision-making mother and daughter. It ahead of time.” was amazing.” —Frank Gumienny, CFO, Philadelphia Eagles quarterly.insigniam.com | INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY 77 INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY COPYRIGHT © INSIGNIAM HOLDING LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONFIDENTIAL SPRING 2019 AND PROPRIETARY. MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY ELECTRONIC OR PRINT OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF INSIGNIAM. VISIT WWW.INSIGNIAM.COM FOR CONTACTS. Building a Championship Team It took years for the Philadelphia Eagles to assemble the right people and build the right culture to carry the team to Super Bowl glory. n June 2018, a few months let them hire their staffs and after the Philadelphia Eagles hold them responsible for it. I won their first Super Bowl We have to let them figure out championship, the team’s exec- the vision and principles they utive vice president of football want to run that staff. operations spoke at Insigniam’s The way we did this is we annual executive summit. Howie started to meet more regularly. Roseman has worked for the Ea- We started to have open gles since 2000. In 2010, at age discussion about anything. 34, became the National Football Nothing was off limits—best League’s youngest general idea wins. When we did this, CAL SPORT MEDIA / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO manager (GM). After taking a we got everyone more involved Bowl, the pure joy of people in careless. So for us, going “gap year” to rethink the orga- and feeling more part of the the organization was because forward we have the same nization’s culture and strategy, team. And when they do that, they felt part of it, from day challenges. We have a good Mr. Roseman returned as GM. He and they see something that’s one. From day one when team, we’re trying to keep it and other Eagles leaders began not going right ... they feel a Coach Pederson walked in the together, and we don’t have as rebuilding the team around a vested interest to make sure building … from day one when many draft picks. new head coach and quarterback. that they’ll get it right. we started [the 2017 season] So we’ve changed our slogan, The rest is history. So over the last two years, … When we look back at it, and now it’s: “Don’t let what I can’t tell you how many not having a lot of resources you can’t do interfere with what There was a lot of micro- times we’ve had an employee … led us to be process-driven you can.” So what can you do? … managing the first time I was a come to me and say, “Hey, this and not get off track. And We’ve got to figure out the next GM. But the reality of it is, we happened. We took care of it. now the challenge is staying way to innovate. We’ve got to hire good people, and we have We got it covered.” that way—because you have figure out the next hidden edge to empower them; we have to When we won the Super some success, and you get that we can find. “In other management rarely came into play because eta Business School, the Eagles rank in the industries, there was not much risk to manage. league’s top five fan bases year after year for The Linc changed that. It has been a land- money spent on tickets and gear, and passion different mark football stadium in many ways. Consid- displayed on social media platforms—win departments ered one of the NFL’s greenest, the site has 14 or lose. Mr. Lewis was surprised that the in a company wind turbines and 11,108 solar panels. On the Eagles do so well in the survey considering might have Linc’s 10th anniversary, the stadium got a $125 they have not typically earned the national different million upgrade that included new high-defi- recognition of teams like the New England goals.