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HOUSTON DYNAMO MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 1, 2018

Houston, Texas

THE MODERATOR: Thank you guys all for being here today. It's an exciting day for us at the Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash organization. It's the start of a new chapter for us as an organization, and we've got some really exciting guests, really important guests up here to talk to you guys today. Joining us, nearest to me, is Dynamo and Dash majority owner Gabriel Brener, and I'm going to let him make the announcement. I'll turn the floor over to you if you want to let everybody know the news of the day today and introduce your guest up there, as well, please, sir.

GABRIEL BRENER: Thank you very much, and I welcome everybody to BBVA Compass Stadium. Today marks a new chapter in the history of the Houston Dynamo organization. It is my pleasure to introduce John Walker as the new president.

John is joining us from the Memphis Grizzlies, where he did an amazing job over the last three and a half years. John has tremendous experience in the sports industry, having worked at the Kansas City Royals, Phoenix Suns, tickets.com and Prime Sports prior to joining the Grizzlies, so he understands ticketing at a very high level and well how to generate new revenue streams.

John has a proven track record of delivering great results at every stop in his career. He has worked for several of the most highly respected leaders in the sports business. Therefore I am very confident that John will bring the leadership to the organization needed to get us to the next level.

With no further introduction from my part, I introduce you to John Walker.

JOHN WALKER: Thank you. And thank you all for coming. I'd like to start by thanking Gabriel, Chris from Brener International and the rest of the ownership group for their trust and their confidence in this exciting and just amazing opportunity for me and my family, and I can't wait to help you write that next chapter for the organization.

I'd also like to thank the Memphis Grizzlies organization, their leadership and ownership for the last three years. We had an amazing time there. I think we've done some things I'm very proud of, and they've been very supportive through this process, so I need to make sure that I tell them thank you, as well.

Finally, I'd like to thank my wife Lisa, who's in front here, and two of my four daughters, Audrey and Dakota. I have two older daughters who are Arizona based, and one is working in Tucson and the other one is in college in Phoenix, and so I'm hoping that she's in class, if she's listening.

I'm extremely humbled by this opportunity, and at the same time, super excited to take on the challenge, as I mentioned.

When you think about the future of the organization, everything within the club's sort of portfolio of business says the future is extremely bright, but before we talk about the future, I think it's important that we recognize that the reason the future is so bright is that we talk about the past, and all of our luck started here, and Chris Canetti has taken to this point is really amazing, the 13 years here in Houston, the amazing run of successful teams, the two MLS Cups, four Western Conference Championships, a US Open Cup this year. It's really remarkable. It set the stage for success, it's created a culture of success, but more than that maybe, the loyal group of core fans that have been developed over the years, under an amazing brand and this incredible stadium, where I just had the fortune of going out and standing at the center of the pitch. It's outstanding. It's an asset the city truly should be proud of.

But on to the future, when I think about the future of the club and how bright it is, it starts with this city, this amazing city. It's incredibly diverse. It's multinational, just like our club, and it's getting younger as the influence of high tech attracts millenials, many of whom have grown up playing and following the game of soccer. Some of those are our fans today, and those will be our future fans.

In addition, it's a great sports town, and although it's a competitive sports market, and I understand that, there's room in this market for everyone, and I'm a sports fan, so I'm happy to be in town.

The popularity of the sport in North America, participation levels are at an all-time high and the trajectory of MLS has never been steeper. New franchises are coming on year after year, other cities are lining up for those, and so to be a part of that and for this city to have a franchise, it's really a jewel.

Finally, with the World Cup and the announcement that it's going to be held here in 2026 with matches being played in Canada, the United States and in Mexico and hopefully here in Houston, all these things create a really exciting and compelling future for the Dynamo, the Dash and our fans in this market and frankly all over the world. It would be reasonable to think that this wave and momentum for the sport and the MLS would naturally grow interest and support for our club and revenues, as well, and we could just ride that wave over the next several years.

But what really sold me on this opportunity was Gabriel's vision, and it's a vision that I share, that this club shouldn't just ride the wave but actually should be creating and writing that narrative and be out front in leading the growth of sock correspond in North America. How do we do that? We do it two ways. One is creating sustainable success on the pitch, and one is creating sustainable success off the pitch.

Matt and Wilmer are extremely capable. We have great confidence in them, the team that they put together, very talented and exciting group of young players. They're fast. They're very skilled. They play with a lot of heart. The future is very bright, and it starts in February when we have CONCACAF Champions League games, so make sure you get your tickets. They're on sale now.

From a business perspective, I'll be working with the business team here to reshape the experience of what it means to be a Dynamo and a Dash fan. With all the different constituents, from community and civic leaders, to our corporate partners, our members, the supporter clubs and just our plain ol' fans, it's about creating deeper and more meaningful and lasting relationships, and each of those groups deserves a fresh look at how they interact with the club.

As I've said, I'm extremely grateful and excited about being here. My family and I are looking forward to becoming Houstonians, and I'm looking forward to getting a chance to meet and interact with all of you.

THE MODERATOR: As I mentioned before, we'll open it up to questions now. We are streaming this live, so we want our fans watching online to have a chance to hear the question, as well.

Q. Can you talk about what made this the right time and the right fit for you right now?
JOHN WALKER: Well, I've been in the business for close to 30 years, and I've had a few opportunities in the past to take a leadership role with a club, but there was just something magic about all of the components that I just mentioned with this club. And really, I know how important it is to have a great relationship with ownership if you're going to be in this seat, and Gabriel and I have really hit it off and I feel very comfortable with him telling him what I think, and I think he respects that, so all those things together I think made it the right time.

Q. Gabriel, looking at John's resume with the Sooners and major college sports with the Suns, with the Royals and also Memphis, how much did that attract you to him, given his diverse resume?
GABRIEL BRENER: You know, looking at John's past and all the different and great jobs that he has been able to accomplish and results in all the different teams gave me a great deal of peace of mind that he could come in and handle the situation of the Houston Dynamo, as well, because of the vast experience that he has in the sports industry. As you well said, he's been in different leagues, different teams, different sports. That was it pretty much.

Q. Mr. Walker, as the president of business operations, where do you see improvements needed for the Houston Dynamo and the Houston Dash?
JOHN WALKER: That's a good question. Thank you for that. I think there's so much for me to learn about the business and about the market that's yet to come, but in having conversations with Gabriel and the staff earlier this week, certainly we need to fill the building. That's the primary objective here. There are multiple ways to do that. We have to peel back the layers of the onion on our sales and marketing right now to understand what levers we can pull, what levers we can push to make that happen, but that's the ultimate objective is to fill the building and grow the business.

Q. Mr. Brener, Mr. Walker talked about building sustainable success. What do you as the owner define as sustainable success?
GABRIEL BRENER: You know, our motto here at the organization is to have a team that is competitive and that win us championships. Secondly, we want to have a business that is a viable business. And 3rd and perhaps most important is to be an organization that is socially responsible to our community. I believe that John and I share very much the same view in these aspects.

JOHN WALKER: What he said.

Q. Mr. Walker, if I had to evaluate your work in the next 100 days, what should I look into?
JOHN WALKER: In the next 100 days, it will be more internal facing, I think, and so I'm not sure you'd see anything from outside of the walls, other than you'll see me around town a lot. I'll be meeting with, as I mentioned, all of our constituents. The first group I think I'd like to meet with is our supporter groups, and I'd like to do that in week 1, so I've asked David Brady and the team to try and tee that up for me so that I can do that, but certainly the civic leaders, our business partners, and so there will be a lot of meetings around town, but I think as I mentioned, there's an awful lot of discovery that needs to happen internally, and so I'll be meeting with each one of our departments and each one of our areas to understand what it is that we do currently. From there, we can make some decisions on how we can evolve some of those things so that they create the kind of success from a business that we want to achieve.

Q. John, given your resume and the things you've done, how do you think that all translates into moving into MLS?
JOHN WALKER: Thanks, I appreciate that question. We actually talked about that a little bit over lunch, and I think it translates well, and the reason I say that is because, as Gabriel mentioned, we are a soccer organization, but we are also a professional sports business, and I have been involved in professional sports business for 30 years. I think the things that I've picked up along the way, learned from some great leaders, been a part of some great teams, are things that will be additive to here.

Q. Given that you were at MLB and the NBA, was it a difficult decision to move into Major League Soccer?
JOHN WALKER: Not at all. For this opportunity, not at all. I'm extremely excited to be part of the MLS family and the club here in Houston.

Q. Mr. Walker, you spoke of speaking with the supporters group. Do you have a vision for this club of what you kind of want to mold it into, either from your experience in the past or maybe from looking around Major League Soccer?
JOHN WALKER: Well, looking around Major League Soccer, there are many examples of clubs that have just tremendous support, and I think those can be a model for us. I know that in talking with the group here that some of that has fallen off a little bit just in terms of the numbers, not in terms of the spirit and the love for the team, but I think the opportunity to grow those is what most excites me, and so that's why I want to meet with them first is because I want to find out how we can inject the passion that those that are part of those groups now, we can double and triple the size.

Q. Mr. Brener, one of the concerns that has been over the years with the fan base is how much financial support will Mr. Walker have to achieve his goals. What kind of insight can you give the fan base as far as those goals?
GABRIEL BRENER: Well, we're going to continue to follow the business plan that we have of creating and nourishing young talented players. As you have seen through the years, we have actually pulled the trigger on more expensive players when the right situation comes about like was the case with DaMarcus Beasley was a VP or Cubo Torres is a couple of good examples. Most lately last year we pulled the trigger on Alberth Elis.

So we take the opportunities as they come. We analyze them as they come, and when it's something that makes sense, makes sense for the marketplace, we do it, otherwise we will continue to nourish and develop young players like Mauro Manotas or et cetera.

Q. John, what do you foresee as the biggest challenge coming into the Houston Dynamo and given -- unfortunately this year they didn't make the playoffs, and kind of what you hope to put into the team going forward?
JOHN WALKER: Yeah, I think the biggest challenge is going to be filling the building. I mean, that's the primary goal. I think at one point in this club's history, there was a full building all the time, so you know it can happen. As I mentioned, the market is ripe to generate, create new fans, and that's the goal. But there's no really easy answer for that. There's not a relevance button that I can push to suddenly make that happen. We're going to have to look at all facets of what we do from a business and the things we do in the community to be able to really drum up that interest, but that's the challenge.

Q. Mr. Brener, what qualities were you looking for during the search, and how did Mr. Walker fit into those -- into what you were looking for?
GABRIEL BRENER: That's a very good question. Actually, first of all, we had heard of John for a long time, and some very well-respected people in and out of Major League Soccer had mentioned his name and recommended him, that we take a look.

What we were more focusing on was a true rounded up executive that had the experience in the sports business to lead the team into the next level. Not so necessarily whether he were a soccer person or not. We're a soccer organization. We've got plenty of soccer people over here. Matt Jordan is a perfect example of a great soccer mind, Wilmer Cabrera, et cetera. So we were more focused on a well-rounded person. Ticketing and other types of revenue were very important. John has a tremendous background in ticketing, having been at tickets.com.

So those were the attributes that we were looking for.

Q. Gabriel, how does hiring John impact your soccer operations?
GABRIEL BRENER: It does nothing to our soccer operations. The way we were already established before, Matt Jordan used to report to Chris Canetti, Chris Canetti to me. All that's going to change now is Matt Jordan is going to be reporting to me directly because at the end of the day, the decisions, the big decisions were made by me, my fellow co-owners of the team and the board of directors. So I don't see any changes there.

Q. With that said, on the Dynamo side of soccer operations, where does that put the Dash, especially as they're looking for a new head coach?
GABRIEL BRENER: Good question. By the way, I think we are interviewing next week a new potential head coach for the Dash. Again, it stays the same. All the reporting of soccer will come to me.

Q. In your previous experience at other organizations, what kind of culture do you like to have within your organization so that that can translate to relevancy outside?
JOHN WALKER: Yeah, I'm a big culture guy. I believe very strongly that in order to perform well at your job, you have to like coming there, and so a couple of stops I've -- where I've been, I've been able to interject some things from an organizational development perspective. It starts with surveying the employees to find out what it is they like and don't like and some ideas that they have to make it a better place to work, and I intend to do that here.

I'm a pretty approachable guy. I like to have fun, and I think that will sort of translate through the organization and hopefully rub off.

Q. Mr. Brener, are you disappointed in the way the Dynamo maybe haven't punctured the Hispanic market, the African market, other soccer markets in this city, and more so, how much focus do you put on the Hispanic market with all the Hispanic players on the team?
GABRIEL BRENER: Yeah, I -- it is not enough what we have done, and it's not enough that we have penetrated the market, especially for me having been born in Mexico City and being of Mexican descent, it is a very important segment of the population that I want to attract, and I promise you we're going to be working very hard trying to better ourselves in that respect.

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