Golden Opportunity: Vegas Golden Knights president Kerry Bubolz pays it forward
Friday, June 6, 2025
Media Contact: Stephen Howard | Director of Marketing & Communications | 405-744-4363 | stephen.howard@okstate.edu
Kerry Bubolz summoned the nerve to call a stranger after reading an in-depth article in his home city’s newspaper.
Bubolz was shifting between phases of life in the late 1980s, no longer playing community college baseball in Arkansas and instead working toward a bachelor’s degree in marketing at Oklahoma State University. He had a vague idea of the career he wanted but didn’t know how he would get his foot in the door — or that he would someday hoist the Stanley Cup as the president of a sports franchise that didn’t yet exist.
Around the time Bubolz was preparing for his senior year at OSU, a source of inspiration practically jumped off the Tulsa World’s pages. With a spontaneous dose of gumption, Bubolz found a phone number and reached out to the person he had just read about: Joe Preseren, the then-general manager of the Tulsa Drillers.
“It really was fortuitous because I finally found exactly what I wanted to do,” Bubolz said. “And I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Bubolz has learned the ins and outs of the sports industry, launching his career in Minor League Baseball and rising to leadership roles in professional leagues across several sports. He has two championship rings to show for it, one with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and another with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, the flourishing franchise Bubolz continues to build as president and chief executive officer.
None of this would have happened without Preseren listening to an unknown, eager college kid and taking a chance on him, offering Bubolz a summer job. As a 1989 marketing graduate and a member of the Marketing Academy at Spears, Bubolz wants to be that champion for today’s students.
“Whenever young people reach out and they want to learn more about the business or the industry, I take the time to do it just because I think it’s the right thing,” Bubolz said. “So, when I was asked to be a part of this academy and spend some time to come to Stillwater and meet some of the other graduates from the university over the last 20 or 30 years, it was really a nice opportunity. But more importantly, it’s about paying it forward and helping young people with opportunities.”
OSU’s School of Marketing and International Business selected 24 accomplished alumni as members of the Marketing Academy at Spears, inviting them to contribute to the future success of graduates.
Bubolz advises students not to be afraid of starting small. In fact, he recommends it.
Rookie years
Bubolz, a Tulsa Memorial High School graduate, attended OSU at the same time as several famous alumni.
Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders were etching their names in college football history. As a former baseball player, Bubolz found comfort in Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, where Robin Ventura crushed home runs and records. Sports surrounded Bubolz, and he wanted to keep it that way. He imagined the excitement of working for a business like Nike with iconic athletes Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan appearing in popular commercials.
Bubolz’s first job in the industry related to sports and sales, but it had less to do with trendy sneakers and more with ballpark snacks.
Preseren invited Bubolz to meet in person after their initial phone conversation. This led to Bubolz spending the summer after his junior year at OSU as the Tulsa Drillers assistant concession manager. He managed inventory, placed orders, arranged event staff schedules and checked employees into the ballpark on game days.
It wasn’t a flashy job, but Bubolz worked with the unsung heroes who gave the franchise its heartbeat. Food and beverage operations accounted for a significant portion of the team’s gross revenue.
“I learned a lot about that part of the business,” Bubolz said. “And then, of course, over time, I started to learn the whole business.”
Bubolz continued to work for the Drillers as an OSU senior, living in Tulsa and commuting to Stillwater to earn his degree. After two years with the Drillers, he went to another Minor League Baseball organization, the Iowa-based Quad City River Bandits, before landing his first general manager position in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association.
Bubolz then added a third sport to his résumé, working in minor-league hockey.
His decade in minor-league sports showed him the scope of moving parts within a franchise, from ticket sales to sponsorships to operations and field maintenance. Bubolz proved himself as a savvy marketer, drawing upon his OSU education and opening the door to his big-league breakthrough.
After working as the vice president of sales for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, he kept climbing with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003-16, eventually becoming president of business operations. Bubolz had new responsibilities, navigating huge national television sponsorships and international interest as one superstar forever changed the franchise.
“We drafted a player by the name of LeBron James,” Bubolz said. “He was a pretty big deal.”
The extraordinary events were far from over.
Making it big
Although Bubolz doesn’t usually wear fancy jewelry, he made a couple of exceptions.
In 2016, the James-led Cavs won their first NBA championship. In 2023, the Vegas Golden Knights secured the Stanley Cup, a remarkable feat for a 6-year-old expansion team. After each of those special seasons, Bubolz sported his new ring when he mingled with fans, inviting them to hear the behind-the-scenes details.
“Each ring has seven or eight stories that were built into it creatively,” Bubolz said. “That’s what I like about wearing the ring is sharing the stories.”
Red and white gemstones on the Cavs ring represent the wins and losses, respectively, in the championship series against the Golden State Warriors, when Cleveland famously rallied from a 3-1 deficit. The phrase “Cup in Six” is inscribed on the Golden Knights ring, a nod to franchise owner Bill Foley’s bold but correct prediction about the Knights needing only six years to rise as champions.
Bubolz shared these stories with fans because his business philosophy relies on the power of community — the lifeblood of the small, local franchises where he established his roots. He saw it on a larger scale, too, when Cavs fans collectively rejoiced Akron native James’ 2014 homecoming from a stint with the Miami Heat.
Building a close-knit, family-like sports community in Las Vegas, a glitzy tourist scene brimming with casinos and eccentric performers, presented a new challenge.
Nevertheless, Bubolz was determined when he assumed his position as the Golden Knights’ first president in 2016.
He and the team achieved the goal in Vegas style.
“When you come to a Golden Knights game, it’s an experience,” Bubolz said. “It’s a show. It’s not just hockey.”
Taking inspiration from Vegas performers and NBA teams that include the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden Knights experience starts half an hour before the game. This is “Knight Time,” an array of festivities surrounding warmups, which motivates fans to fill their seats early.
With lights, music and a cohesive brand identity Bubolz describes as a “modern medieval theme,” the Golden Knights’ atmosphere receives notable praise. In 2018, Sports Business Journal distinguished the Golden Knights as Sports Team of the Year. They accepted their third Game Presentation of the Year Stanley Award from the NHL in 2024.
Behind the pomp and pageantry, there is authenticity. The Golden Knights engage in various community outreach programs, and Bubolz frequently joins the team for those events.
“We really wanted to be a connector of this community, utilizing the team as what we called the golden thread that connected the community together in a really unique and different way,” Bubolz said.
Heart of gold
If the Stanley Cup could talk, it would never run out of compelling stories. It’s a long-standing NHL tradition for champions to each spend a day with the Cup, which means the trophy has served as a drinking vessel, boarded boats and visited sentimental places in players’ hometowns.
Bubolz started his day with the Cup at a cemetery.
The franchise president was honoring the request of a fan who lost her husband to COVID-19. Soon before his death, the man told his wife he wanted the Stanley Cup to visit his grave if the Golden Knights won. Although Bubolz had never received a similar request, he didn’t hesitate.
“For me, it was just like, ‘Hey, it’s the right thing to do,’” Bubolz said.
That phrase motivates many of his actions.
Jerry Rackley, assistant department head of OSU’s School of Marketing and International Business, sees the impact.
“Under Kerry’s leadership and vision, the Vegas Golden Knights have attained remarkable success in a very short time,” Rackley said. “Kerry and his staff know they can’t control what happens on the ice, but they can orchestrate almost everything else, and they do so superbly. They produce an innovative fan experience that rivals any show on the Vegas Strip.”
Because Bubolz is in charge, it’s a Vegas spectacle with Cowboy hospitality.
Bubolz recently welcomed Rackley and lecturer Kinda Wilson to the Golden Knights’ facilities, working with the faculty members to develop content for Spears School of Business marketing courses.
As Bubolz sat down to record videos for case studies, Rackley found inspiration in the franchise president’s priorities.
“Part of the team’s success is the result of investing in the community,” Rackley said. “The year the Golden Knights debuted; there were less than 100 kids enrolled in first-year youth hockey programs in the city. Today, there are over 6,000, and many of them play on the same ice the Golden Knights practice on. The team is living out part of the Knights’ code that states, ‘Like hockey, community is a contact sport.’”
As Bubolz sat in his office in January and reflected on his time at OSU, a group of kids maneuvered across the ice behind him. For only $10, visitors can skate at City National Arena, the Golden Knights’ practice venue and headquarters, giving youngsters a direct connection to the game.
Everyone has to start somewhere.
The same applies to business, and Bubolz is helping students build a foundation of career readiness as a member of the Marketing Academy at Spears.
He knows one opportunity or piece of advice could change a student’s trajectory for the better. It happened to him.
Bubolz continues to honor the memory of the late Preseren, the former Drillers manager who made that difference.
“He took the time to allow me to come meet him,” Bubolz said. “I always remember that. You have to pay it forward.”
Story by: Hallie Hart | Engage@Spears magazine
Photos: provided by Vegas Golden Knights and Jerry Rackley