On this episode, Host Krish Kumar sits down with Dewayne Hankins, the President of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Dewayne Hankins enters his tenth season with the Trail Blazers and Rose Quarter in 2022-23, and first full season as President of Business Operations. Hankins was named to his new role in November 2021 and oversees all aspects of the Trail Blazers & Rose Quarter business operations while working closely with General Manager Joe Cronin and the basketball staff. Additionally, Hankins serves as an Alternate Governor for the NBA Board of Governors.
Since starting his new role in November 2021, Hankins has reshaped the senior leadership of the organization to streamline revenue, lead with data-informed decision making and focus on the fan experience. Throughout the past two years, Hankins was critical in leading the organization through the various waves of the COVID-19 pandemic both internally and externally.
Hankins served as Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President since 2020, he oversaw the team’s Brand Marketing, Broadcast, Content, Commercial Partnerships, Creative Services, Esports, Fan Development, Game Operations and Retail departments. Under his leadership, the organization’s critically acclaimed social media team won the NBA’s Digital Innovation Award five times, with social engagement and web traffic performing higher than ever year-over-year. Hankins also played an instrumental part in utilizing the Trail Blazers’ data-driven digital strategy to achieve franchise records in ticket sales and corporate partnerships, specifically in digital media revenue.
By providing the marketing strategy for Rose Quarter events, Hankins assisted in bringing in an increasing number of concerts to the campus. He was named as one of the International Leaders Under 40 Class of 2018 by Leaders in Sports, based in London and was selected to speak at South by Southwest (SXSW) on three occasions, including 2020, 2017 and 2016.
In 2021, Hankins played a key role in two major deals for the organization, bringing in StormX as a jersey patch partner and finalizing a broadcast deal with ROOT SPORTS. StormX marked the first Cyptocurrency company to sign an NBA jersey patch deal and the organization’s first International Rights Partner. Meanwhile, the ROOT SPORTS carriage agreement brought Trail Blazers games to more fans than ever before across Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Hankins was also integral in hiring the team’s broadcast talent, with the Trail Blazers consistently finishing in the top five in the NBA in TV ratings overall.
Before joining the Trail Blazers organization from Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Hankins oversaw the digital efforts of AEG’s sports properties worldwide, including the LA Kings and LA Galaxy, most notably the Kings’ cutting-edge social media initiatives from 2010-13. Prior to joining AEG, he spent time with the Minnesota Wild and Miami Marlins. Hankins currently serves as a Director on the Oregon Business Council, Sport Oregon’s Board of Directors and as board member of the Trail Blazers Foundation. He also serves on the board of All Hands Raised, a local nonprofit focused on racial equity in Multnomah County’s education system. A native of Lockport, Ill., Hankins is a 2002 graduate of Iowa State University, where he majored in Journalism & Mass Communications. He and his wife, Gloria, and their sons, Hudson (10) and Grady (8), reside in Northwest Portland.
Recorded and Edited by Shiv Govil.