Q&A: New Knights president excited to lead team into future

John Penhollow has had varying roles in the other three major sports leagues in North America.

The chance to join the Golden Knights wasn’t about completing the superfecta of MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL. It was the opportunity to propel the business side of the franchise into the future.

Penhollow was named the Knights’ president of business operations on June 17 after spending the past 12 years as the executive vice president and chief revenue officer of the Minnesota Vikings.

Before that, Penhollow had stints with the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins and New York Yankees. He also worked in marketing with the NBA for two years.

“It was really hard to not have this dream of, if there was an opportunity to somehow lead an entire NHL organization, what would that be like? Where would it be? Who would it be for?” Penhollow said. “When the call came in to have a chance to talk directly with (Knights governor Bill Foley) about this opportunity, I sort of had to pinch myself.”

Penhollow replaces Kerry Bubolz, who is transitioning to a new role as chief civic affairs and government relations officer. Bubolz was president for the Knights’ first eight years.

Penhollow spoke with the Review-Journal to discuss his new role, and what the future has in store. (Answers have been edited for clarity and length.)

RJ: You’ve been involved in the other three professional leagues in different capacities. Why did you feel now was the time to transition into the NHL?

Penhollow: I think I’ve been pretty intentional over the years at looking at what the opportunity is, who you’re going to do it with and who you’re going to do it for, and less about what the sport might be. Because I think, ultimately, a lot of us operate in a similar fashion. There are some nuances to the different sports, but the business itself, some things can translate well, regardless of what the sport might be.

Now, that’s my business answer to you. In my heart, as a former hockey player, I grew up in a hockey family just outside Buffalo, New York. Two of my kids still play, I still get on the ice. … You have an owner that’s dedicated. He’s committed to winning. He’ll find the resources to make sure the staff does its thing. I started learning more about Bill, and I thought he was fascinating. He wants to win. He wants his business to drive forward. He wants to do it in a fashion with integrity. It’s everything of who I am, and then it was ultimately, is this the idea where I can come in and help us get on a track that helps us build for the future? And that’s exactly what I’m prepared to do. I’m honored and humbled.

RJ: Other than the team’s success, what attracted you to this job?

Penhollow: When you’ve been doing this long enough, phone calls tend to come in, especially if you’ve done it at a high level. But it’s usually, who’s the owner? What does the team look like? What does the market look like? If it’s a yes to all those, is this going to be that challenge that can stretch you? Or could we have an impact? Could we help?

Bill asked a series of questions, we got to the end of the conversation, and it’s like, I can help right now. With what I’ve done over 30 years, I can help. It’s an incredible challenge. Now, for me, I have to come in and help find the ways that we can drive it forward. To take on a challenge this incredible with a premier organization … that’s what draws me to something like this.

RJ: You helped usher in new eras with the Vikings with U.S. Bank Stadium and the Yankees with Yankee Stadium. Propelling this team into a new era, does it make it more a unique challenge than what you’ve done before?

Penhollow: The best way to honor the success that the team has had so far is to raise the bar and then work alongside these great linemates to get there. That’s not for everybody. I think the easy thing is, the shine of an NHL team can get some people attracted to this without any substance or depth.

To me, I look at this as, if you peel back some things, it’s quite possible that there’s another level. My job is going to be on day one to assess, where can we go as a unit where we are the team that is literally No. 1 across the board in every metric? We are the team, even 10, 12 years in, that we are the sports team that everyone is looking at VGK as, ‘That’s the franchise we need to replicate.’ I think it’s impressive everything they’ve done, no doubt about it. Now it’s, how do we take it a step further?

RJ: You stated that you were hoping to raise the bar with fan experience. Do you have any ideas in mind as to what that potentially looks like?

Penhollow: I think some of it is going to be born out of how much do we truly know about our fans. I would tell you that (in Minnesota), we were prepared to open the stadium 12 years ago and we didn’t know much, actually. We had all these great accounts and loyal renewal rates, but we would send the tickets and not be sure where they were going to.

How do our fans fit together? It doesn’t matter if it’s male, female, young, old, tall or short. It’s about Fan A that goes to 10 games a year and it’s a social experience. Fan B, they go to every game and they live and die by how the team does. Then Fan C might be one that’s there because their friends are there. There’s no wrong answer to these fan groups, but it does allow you all the other divisions in the company to start looking at things differently.

You can start to see this information, if used in a strategic way, can open doors on how you might operate. The more you can know allows you to introduce other things in the organization. It’s going to take time to understand that, but right from step one, one of the areas to dig into is get a good understanding.

RJ: You used to play hockey. What kind of hockey player are you?

Penhollow: It’s been a long time (laughs). I really loved the sport. I played with my three older brothers. I was able to get pretty good at a really quick rate. I played for some pretty good teams in New York, went to some state tournaments. I went to Kent State. … It was the best thing. I could still be a student, I could still prepare for what was ahead, but I still got to play.

When I got into the real world and had to earn a living, I just really played adult-league hockey with friends in leagues. I’m embarrassed to say I can finally go into the above-50 leagues, but it’s awesome (laughs). I can still skate pretty well.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.