The new director of the financially-troubled Missouri Sports Hall of Fame began his job on Monday. KSMU’s Michele Skalicky talked with Rob Marsh in late December, shortly after he was chosen for the job.
Skalicky: "Rob, what exactly is the financial situation currently from what you understand, at both the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the Price Cutter Charity Championship Tournament?
Marsh: "Well, both of them had, obviously, struggles the last two years. I think that's been well documented. And with the, you know, whether it may be the economy or whatever indications, I haven't been able to dig into everything, obviously, just yet because I haven't started, but, obviously, rising expenses and lost revenues, you know, caused a, obviously, a deficit on the bottom line, and the tournament expenses on the Price Cutter side, Charity Championship side, came in a lot higher. There were some upgrades done. And, you know, at the cost of upgrades, you know, or to make things nicer, it came at a cost. And, obviously, the revenues didn't come in, I think, as they planned. And so that caused a deficit, but in a short amount of time we were able to realign some things, come up with some money. And as you saw, we put out, you know, over $300,000 to the charities. And my first order of business when I get going is to come up with a plan to get the remainder of the charities paid. And, the Hall of Fame side, we've got a great enshrinement coming up that all indications initially look really good as far as revenue and the people that we're awarding. And so it looks like we're going to start 2025 out on a very good, strong note."
Skalicky: "What has been done so far and what is planned, some specific steps, to get the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame back in the black?"
Marsh: "Well, as I mentioned, you know, I'm limited on on some things just because, like I said, I'm still working with Price Cutter right now. I'm, you know, fulfilling these duties. I start at the Hall of Fame on the sixth, but we're already putting the calendar together for 2025. And I've done this substantial, decent amount of research on the last 10 years of the events that they've held and what worked and what didn't work. And there were some events that were canceled the last two years that I think we're absolutely going to bring back, that were good events, and they were profitable events, to keep things going. And so you're going to see a much, much extended calendar and a lot more events going on in 2025, I promise you that."
Skalicky: "Have there been any staff layoffs? Is that a possibility going forward?"
Marsh: "No. The the current hat's there is a very talented group of people. There's four of them. There will be four of them, five, including the accountants, but, no — not planned on that. It's budgeted in and I believe in the staff that's there. Again, you know, I'm confident in myself and being 35 years in the grocery industry, we — I have a strong expense control background and in contract negotiations, and I plan on raising revenue and lowering expenses and absolutely get the Hall of Fame and the tournament back to where it was and has been for 27 years."
Skalicky: "Why did you take the job? It sounds like it's going to be a big challenge."
Marsh: "Well, on as transparent as I can be, I've got a lot of vested interest. I've been around the Hall of Fame for 20 plus years. I have been the conduit for Price Cutter, for the Price Cutter Charity Championship for 20 some years. If you ask anybody that knows me, I have always promoted and ensured that we help children's charities. I have a big passion in helping children and making sure that, you know, the funds have been there throughout the years from this tournament. I've always said it's not — I don't consider it — it's not about the golf, it's about the the program and the fundraising that we do that so many of these local charities depend on. And then when I saw that, that it was in serious trouble, the discussion started being having and I knew that with my background and my familiar, you know, so familiar with the Hall of Fame operation and that there wouldn't be any growing pains, in my opinion, that I'd be able to jump in immediately and start making an impact. So, yeah, am I taking a risk? Absolutely. And I knew that going in, but I believe in myself and the staff, and I believe that the community that we have here are going to rise up and, nobody wants to see the Hall of Fame go away, you know? That'd be a disservice to everybody that's been inducted and all the greats. And again, on the golf side, these charities depend on this. And so I'm going to make sure that we get back and, you know, everything's going well and we're still providing these charities for as long as I can do it. So that's — that's as honest and transparent as I can be. I believe in the goal and the purpose. And I'm going to make dang sure that we take care of these kids."
Skalicky: "You said that your first order of business will be to pay the charities the money they are owed from the 2024 tournament, which is, what, $417,000, from what I understand?"
Marsh: "Yes, yes."
Skalicky: "So that that's one of your goals and what are some other goals for the future?"
Marsh: "Well, again, to get, you know, the two entities, obviously the Charity Championship and the Hall of Fame, obviously, to implement some expense control, you know, and like I said, that's, I have a have a strong background in that and budgeting and put the plans and the, you know, the rules, so to speak, into effect to make sure that every event that we have, that it's a profitable event. And if it's not, what can we do to make it profitable, whether it be on, again, on the raising more revenues or working with and lowering the expense side. So, it's all a business and it all comes down to numbers and, and I'm going to ensure we don't spend what we don't have in the future, you know, and I'm going to be very transparent with everybody moving forward, including the public and the community and the charities. And I've had overwhelming support from people in the community saying they believe in me and how can we help? And I've had a long standing relationship with these charities, and they've reached out to me and said, 'we welcome your new leadership. You've always took care of us, and we believe in you,' so that that helps a lot. As you know that I want to sit down at the table and and meet face to face. And that's another one of my first priorities is I'm going to call in these charities and have a face to face meeting with them and let them know what I'm working on and stay in constant communication with where we're at. And then also working towards 2025. You know, I've had great conversations with the PGA. They have full support of me and want to continue on with this tournament. Price Cutter and Highland Dairy signed a five year agreement to keep the tournament here for at least another five years. So like I said, on top of the community outreach support I've received. I'm ready to get going on the sixth and start having these meetings and and get things going."
Skalicky: "I know visitorship is important to the Hall of Fame to bring revenue in. How important is that? Where does that stand now from what you've been able to determine. And what will it take to get those numbers up?"
Marsh: "Well, that's a part that I've got to dig into on what repairs are needed at the Hall of Fame to get it back open, you know? Revenue from people coming to the Hall of Fame is nominal. But I think the experience and the people that are traveling through or the local community that want to bring their children out and see all the exhibits in there is very important to me. So that's something I've still got to dig into on what needs to be done. And then I've got full confidence that some of the relationships that I have in the community on that will, that will get the necessary repairs done and get this thing back open. So but as far as what needs to be done, I still got to determine that."
Skalicky: "All right. Well, Rob, thanks for talking to me. And good luck with the new position."
Marsh: "Well, thank you."
