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Bob Wagner has more than 20 years of experience in sports marketing, primarily in the Southern California market. He is beginning his second year with Anaheim Arena Management, LLC (AAM). He added a dual role as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for both the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on June 20, 2005. As such, Wagner leads all aspects of business operations including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticket sales, marketing, community relations, fan development and communications.
Wagner started his career with Fluor Corporation in Irvine, California, as a human resources manager. Changing direction in 1984, Wagner joined the sales and marketing team of the then California Angels. After nearly 10 years, he left his position as director of sales and marketing to start the National Hockey League’s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. In 1996, he returned to baseball when Anaheim Sports, Inc., purchased the Angels. In his role directing the sales and servicing of each club’s corporate advertising clients as well as all matters related to broadcasting, Wagner successfully built both teams relationships with local and national partners. Among his many accomplishments during that time, were securing title sponsorships for both the recently completed arena and renovated baseball stadium. As a member of the Mighty Ducks inaugural staff, he was charged with launching the sponsorship, advertising and broadcast sales efforts of the expansion team. On the Angels side, he developed and implemented the club’s first freestanding, in-mall retail store while designing and bringing to market a new logo and jersey for the club.
In 2000, after 16 years in Anaheim with professional baseball and hockey, Wagner joined the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) as vice president of sales and business development. He secured title and presenting sponsors for 24 national events, coordinated the sale of broadcast inventory with ESPN and ESPN 2 and worked with the marketing department to develop and implement sales and marketing strategies. Four short years later, in July of 2004, he returned to Orange County and the Arrowhead Pond as the vice president & chief marketing officer.
A native of Seal Beach, California, Wagner began his career in sports with the California Angels in 1984, quickly rising through the ranks before taking his first post with the Mighty Ducks.
An advocate for the sports and entertainment industry, Wagner has taught sports management courses at the graduate level for four years, three with University of San Francisco at their satellite campus in Orange and one with California State University, Long Beach. He also serves on the Steering Committee of the National Sports Forum and is a member of the advisory board for Long Beach State University’s Sports management program.
A California State University, Long Beach graduate and native of Southern California, he currently resides in Dove Canyon with his wife, Debbie, and their three children, Ryan, Amanda and Nick. | 