In Good Company with Arthur Blank

Owner and Chairman – Blank Family of Businesses
Perhaps best known as co-founder of The Home Depot, Arthur Blank is now widely recognized for his diverse businesses. He has been distinguished by Forbes as one of the World’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds 2017, Sports Business Journal’s Executive of the Year 2018 and Sports Business Journal’s one of the 50 Most Influential People in Sports 2016, 2017, and 2018.

In addition to the Blank Family Foundation, Blank’s Family of Businesses includes the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United; the nationwide PGA TOUR Superstore; three ranches in Montana, Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, West Creek Ranch and Paradise Valley Ranch; and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which hosted the 2019 Super Bowl and is home to the Falcons and Atlanta United.

Blank believes in the importance of making a difference – professionally and personally. In addition to the company’s financial success, during his 23 years with The Home Depot the company donated more than $113 million to communities, while associates participated in hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer time. Blank is applying the same business acumen and values in building his competitive, successful and community-oriented businesses today.

Blank is dedicated to his own giving back. Since 1995, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has granted more than $560 million to support early childhood development, education, the arts, social causes, veteran-causes, and parks and greenspace. The foundation also leads giving programs for each of the for-profit businesses in Blank’s portfolio. Through his Foundation and businesses, Blank has donated nearly $7 million to COVID-19 pandemic relief.

A native of Queens, N.Y., Blank received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration with Distinction from Babson College. Blank resides in Atlanta, Georgia and is the father of six children and has six grandchildren. Consistent with the way he approaches work and life, his favorite T-shirt appropriately reads, “There is no finish line.”

Chief Executive Officer – AMB Sports and Entertainment
Stephen Cannon, among Atlanta Business Chronicles 2019 Most Admired CEO’s, serves as the chief executive officer of AMB Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE) assuming the day-to-day leadership of Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS), Atlanta Falcons Football Club, United Soccer Properties and PGA TOUR Superstore. AMBSE serves as a for-profit holding group under the Arthur M. Blank Family of Businesses. Prior to joining AMBSE in 2016, Cannon served as president and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) and was responsible for leading operations that generated record sales with annual revenues exceeding $20 billion.

Cannon has led the evolution of Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS) since its doors opened in August 2017. Home to the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, MBS has hosted a record-setting number of large sports and entertainment events including Super Bowl LIII in 2019, the College Football Playoff Championship game in 2018 and will host NCAA Men’s Final Four in March 2020. Under Cannon’s leadership, MBS was the first professional sports stadium in North America to achieve LEED Platinum Certification by the United States Green Building Council and MBS Food & Beverage Experience was honored as Sports Breakthrough of the Year 2018 by Sports Business Journal for its record-breaking, affordable fanfare pricing.

Cannon, the 2019 Atlanta Falcons’ Salute to Service Award nominee and among the top-three nominees across the 32 NFL teams, has led efforts to make the Atlanta Falcons’ military outreach efforts the benchmark in the NFL. In 2018, Cannon and Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn, spearheaded the first NFL team-directed USO Tour, visiting soldiers at various bases throughout Iraq and Kuwait.  A tireless supporter of America’s military and military families, Cannon alongside his fellow West Point classmates, founded the Johnny Mac Soldiers fund in 2014. The organization honors military service and sacrifice by providing scholarships to veterans and military family members, particularly children of our nation’s fallen and disabled. What began as a small effort to help one fallen classmate’s family has grown into an organization that has raised more than $17 million. Cannon also serves on the national board of directors for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors).

Cannon graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986 and was Airborne Ranger qualified and served as First Lieutenant in West Germany during the fall of the Iron Curtain. During his time in the Army he also served five years as an artillery officer. A two-time lettered wrestler at West Point, The National Wrestling Hall of Fame named Cannon the 2019 Outstanding American, an honor given to leaders who have used the disciplines of wrestling to launch distinguished careers in other walks of life.

Cannon and his wife, Ann, reside in Atlanta and are the parents of nine children.

President – Atlanta United
Atlanta United announced the appointment of Darren Eales as President on Sept. 10, 2014. He joined the club several months later, following a transition period with world-renowned English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur Football Club where he served as Executive Director. Since joining Atlanta, Eales has twice been named the Doug Hamilton MLS Executive of the Year.

Following a record-breaking inaugural season, Eales led Atlanta United to even greater heights both on and off the pitch in 2018. The club won its first MLS Cup in front of a record crowd of 73,019 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Atlanta United continues to set a new standard in attendance, breaking the single-game record (72,243) and single-season average record (53,002) for the second consecutive season. The club surpassed the one million mark for fans attending home matches in 2018, while also setting the record for a U.S. Open Cup match with 41,012 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. In all, Atlanta owns each of the Top 10 most attended matches in league history, and including playoff matches, its average attendance of 55,278 ranked 13th worldwide against the 2016-17 global season, surpassing teams such as Atletico Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool.

On the pitch, Atlanta United became the earliest expansion team to win MLS Cup since 1998. The club finished the regular season with 69 points, second-most in MLS history, and recorded back-to-back 70-goal campaigns, becoming just the second team in MLS history to achieve that mark. By virtue of accumulating the league’s highest two-year point total, Atlanta United qualified for the Concacaf Champions League for the upcoming season. After an extensive search at the conclusion of the season, Eales hired former Dutch International Frank de Boer to become the club’s second-ever head coach.  In 2019, Atlanta United went on to add two more trophies winning both the Campeones Cup and the U.S. Open Cup.

As the first President of Atlanta United, Eales led the club in its record-breaking 2017 inaugural campaign which is widely considered one of the most accomplished seasons in MLS history, both on and off the field. In addition to assembling the club’s front office and the development and integration of the club’s brand identity, Eales led its on-field progression, hiring integral members to join the technical staff, led by Vice President and Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra. Under this leadership, Atlanta United became the first expansion team to qualify for MLS Cup Playoffs since 2009 and just the second since 1998. In addition, Eales led the club’s development of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground – a $60 million training facility that opened in April of 2017 and is widely considered one of the best facilities in North America – as well as the club’s transition into its new home Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a world-class multi-use sports and entertainment complex. 

British-born Eales was raised by his father as a Chesterfield FC fan, and was immersed in soccer all his life. After playing in the Academy at Cambridge United FC in England, he moved to the US on a soccer scholarship playing for West Virginia University and Brown University, where he was named Ivy League Player of the Year and NSCAA All-America. Following his university play, Eales remained in the US, playing for the Hampton Roads Mariners and Hershey Wildcats in the USISL, and the New York Centaurs in the A-League.

When injuries cut short his professional playing career, Eales returned to England and earned a MA in Law at Cambridge University. In 2000 he qualified as a barrister specializing in sports law and spent six years practicing law at 2 Temple Gardens Chambers in London, where he is still a door tenant.

Eales served as in-house legal counsel, director and club secretary at West Bromwich Albion Football Club before joining Tottenham in 2010, where he touched on all major aspects of soccer operations.  He helped to negotiate and execute player transfers, including playing a key role in the 2013 world record transfer fee sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.  During his four-year tenure with Spurs, the team qualified for European competition every season, reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League in 2011, and reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League in 2013.

Eales lives in Atlanta with his wife Faith, and their two sons Edmund and James.

President and CEO – PGA TOUR Superstore
During the first 10 years at the helm of PGA TOUR Superstore, Dick Sullivan and his team have quadrupled the Company’s store count with expansion from coast to coast across the United States, along with a vibrant e-commerce store that ships worldwide to become the country’s leading golf retailer. The Company currently operates 44 stores in 17 states across the US. PGA TOUR Superstore continues to ‘drive’ nationwide expansion and company sales, announcing an astonishing overall three-year performance. Over the past three years, the country’s premier golf retailer experienced extraordinary growth, which contributed to an overall company sales increase of 46 percent since 2017.

Golf and Tennis Pro shop (GTPS), owner and operator of PGA TOUR Superstore, is a majority-owned subsidiary of AMB Group, LLC. AMB Group is owned by Arthur M. Blank and is also the parent company of the Atlanta Falcons Football Club, Atlanta United Fight Club and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.   Founded in 2004, the company has grown to 44  superstores across the United States.

Sullivan also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the National Golf Foundation (NGF). The NGF’s mission is to foster the growth and vitality of the game and the business of golf. The organization is the only trade organization that works with every sector within the industry and holds a unique position as the most trusted provider of market research, business insights and programs that support every segment of the golf business.  Sullivan is the first executive from the golf retail side of the industry to be elected Chairman in the NGF’s 82-year history. In addition, he also serves on the Board of Directors for Floor & Décor.

Prior to Sullivan’s current position with PGA TOUR Superstore, he was instrumental in helping build two of the most respected brands in America – The Home Depot and the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons – as the chief marketing officer for both organizations.

Sullivan was drafted into the NFL by Falcons owner Arthur M. Blank after spending a decade with The Home Depot, where he served as the senior vice president and chief marketing officer and was responsible for the efforts of the company’s well‐known marketing, advertising and sales promotion campaigns, as well as its global brand strategies.

In his seven years with the Atlanta Falcons, as Executive Vice President, Sullivan became known as one of the National Football League’s most respected marketing minds for the job he has done in transforming the Atlanta Falcons into one of the most fan‐friendly teams in sports. Through an aggressive marketing campaign spearheaded in Sullivan’s first year with the club, the Falcons set an 83 year‐old NFL record for the highest rate of increase – more than 100% -- in new season tickets sold.

During  his  tenure  at  The Home  Depot,  Sullivan’s  marketing  initiatives  delivered  a  number  of award‐winning campaigns. In addition, the company’s sponsorship of the Olympics and NASCAR were successfully started under his watch. And “Joe Gibbs Racing” led by NFL Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs, received its start through a The Home Depot sponsorship, a direct result of Sullivan’s handiwork.

Sullivan hails from Needham, Massachusetts and he graduated from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. He resides in metro-Atlanta with his wife Shanna and their children.

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer – AMB Group
Tim Goodly joined the AMB Group executive leadership team as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer in October of 2018.

He brings a wealth of experience including 16 years at Turner Broadcasting System where he led HR functions across multiple sports, entertainment, news and sales divisions. Prior to joining Turner, Tim had senior HR roles with PepsiCo, Mobil Corporation and spent five years in the service of our country with the Army Corp of Engineers. Most recently, Tim has led his own consultancy where he provided specialized executive coaching and management advisory services to colleges and universities, city and government agencies, non-profits and private firms across the country.

Tim holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an MBA from Tulane University and a PhD in Organizational Development from Benedictine University.