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Bobcats Executive Staff Bios
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An NBA legend who virtually rewrote the league’s record book, Michael Jordan joined the Charlotte Bobcats ownership group in June 2006 and will use his basketball expertise while serving as the team’s Managing Member of Basketball Operations.
Jordan enjoyed a stellar 13-year career with the Chicago Bulls and topped the NBA in scoring a record 10 times. His career scoring average of 30.1 points is the highest in NBA history and, with 32,292 points, he ranks third on the all-time scoring list.
Jordan led Chicago to six NBA Championship titles and was named NBA Finals MVP during each of those series. A five-time NBA MVP in the regular season, he became the only player to win back-to-back regular season and Finals MVP awards when he accomplished the feat in 1990-91 and 1991-92.
A native of Wilmington, North Carolina, Jordan burst onto the national stage as a freshman at the University of North Carolina, leading the Tar Heels to the 1982 NCAA Championship with a dramatic game-winning shot against Georgetown.
Following a standout college career during which he was a two-time College Player of the Year and First Team All-America, Jordan was chosen by Chicago with the third pick of the 1984 NBA Draft. Jordan is a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner, most famously as a member of the 1992’s “Dream Team.”
Off the court, Jordan has also proven to be a successful businessman. Since its creation, his Jordan Brand (an elite division of Nike) has been an innovator of athletic shoes and apparel. Brand Jordan has grown to become a market leader under Jordan’s creative design input.
As one of the world’s most popular and recognizable figures, Jordan’s endorsement portfolio includes Gatorade, Upper Deck and Hanes, among others.
In 2004, Jordan formed Michael Jordan Motorsports as a result of his passion for motorcycle racing. Among Jordan’s other business ventures are several thriving restaurants. Jordan supports many charitable causes including the James R. Jordan Boys and Girls Club in Chicago, the Jordan Institute for Families at the University of North Carolina, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and many others through the M & J Endowment Fund. His annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational golf tournament has raised more than $2 million for several worthy charities since its inception.
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A talented sports executive with experience as a player, coach, agent, basketball operations administrator and sports marketer, Fred A. Whitfield was named President & Chief Operating Officer of Bobcats Sports & Entertainment in July of 2006. In his role, Whitfield oversees all business operations for the Charlotte Bobcats, Time Warner Cable Arena and the Bobcats Youth Foundation.
A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Whitfield brings a portfolio that includes Brand Jordan, a division of Nike, Inc., Nike, Inc., Falk Associates Management Enterprises (F.A.M.E.), Achievements Unlimited Basketball School, HoopTee Celebrity Golf Classic and the Washington Wizards.
Whitfield most recently served as Director of Business and Legal Affairs for Brand Jordan, where he managed endorsements and sports marketing strategy and execution for the elite division of Nike. Brand Jordan’s clients include some of the top athletes in professional sports, including Ray Allen, Carmelo Anthony, Marvin Harrison, Richard Hamilton, Derek Jeter and Roy Jones, Jr.
From 2000-03, he had his first tenure with an NBA team when Whitfield served as Director of Player Personnel and Assistant Legal Counsel for the Washington Wizards. While there he was responsible for the team’s salary cap administration and contractual issues.
Prior to that position, Whitfield served as director of player development for Nike Basketball, where he was responsible for negotiating endorsement contracts and overseeing all business relationships for over 150 NBA players. His start in sports began with F.A.M.E. – one of the industry’s most prestigious sports management firms – as Director of the Carolinas Region, during which time he lived in Charlotte.
True to his Carolina roots, the Southeast Guilford High School graduate is the Founder and Director of Achievements Unlimited Basketball School, a camp in Greensboro started in 1985 that combines teaching fundamental basketball skills, stressing the importance of academics and living a life free of substance abuse. Annually numerous sports celebrities visit, including Michael Jordan, Bruce Bowen, Dell Curry, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Antawn Jamison, and Alonzo Mourning.
A 1980 graduate of Campbell University, Whitfield was an all-conference basketball player and entered the school’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. He earned a B.B.A. (Economics) and then completed his M.B.A. (Marketing) at Campbell in marketing while serving as Assistant Basketball Coach for the Camels.
From there, he graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from North Carolina Central School of Law where he served as Student Bar Association President. He established a private law practice in Greensboro prior to joining F.A.M.E.
Whitfield and his wife, Mary, live in Charlotte.
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Pete Guelli begins his first season with Bobcats Sports & Entertainment after being named Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer in April, 2009. In this newly created role, Guelli will be responsible for revenue generation and branding, and oversee the ticket sales and services, luxury products sales and services, corporate partnership sales and services, game presentation and production, broadcast, and marketing departments.
With 20 years experience in sales and marketing and eleven with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, Guelli is uniquely suited to handle the dual role with the Bobcats. In Buffalo, Guelli oversaw team revenue generating properties and the continued regionalization of the organization’s business strategies while spearheading the development of the team’s business model in Toronto. He was responsible for the organization’s business-to-business sales operations including sponsorships, general advertising, luxury suites and stadium events, and the sales of all team-controlled inventory for television, radio and internet.
A native of Rochester, NY and graduate of SUNY Brockport, Guelli currently resides in South Charlotte with his wife, Patty, and sons, Gunner and Grayson.
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Seth Bennett joined the Bobcats in September of 2006 as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and moved to Vice President of Experiential Marketing in December of 2006. Bennett is responsible for the Bobcats event presentation, special events, grassroots marketing, arena marketing and technical operations.
Prior to joining the organization, Bennett was the Owner and Founding Principal of The Event Authority, where he produced 400 live events and negotiated corporate partner contributions for college and high school athletic programs and various entertainment events. He also established a national client and sponsorship base that included Nike, Burger King and the Kings of the Courts national tour, Brand Jordan, Geico, FBR Inc., Foot Locker, Nationwide Insurance, ALLTEL and Boost Mobile.
Bennett has produced nine Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Football Classics; the Jordan Brand All-American Basketball Classic, held at Madison Square Garden in New York City; and the corporate entertainment for the widely popular PGA Tour FBR Open in Phoenix. Bennett also produced the HoopTee Celebrity Golf Classic and major college football games featuring the University of Southern California and Virginia Tech.
Prior to his jump into entrepreneurship, Bennett spent eight years in intercollegiate athletic marketing, promotions, event/game operations and advertising at North Carolina A&T State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Bennett, who is a member of the board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Charlotte, was a football player at N.C. A&T and earned his B.A. in Public Relations in 1993. Bennett and his wife, Michelle, have one son, Seth Michael.
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Ed Lewis is the Bobcats’ representative for developing local and state government relationships.
Before joining the organization, Lewis was Vice President of Corporate Affairs for BET on Jazz: The Jazz Channel. Lewis also worked in the cable industry for Telecommunications, Inc. (TCI); District Cablevision, Inc; and District Cable Advertising. Lewis joined BET Networks in 1993 and served roles in network operations, consumer affairs and marketing.
Lewis is on the boards of directors at Discovery Place and WTVI Public Television, and serves on the advisory boards of the Mint Museum and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design. He is also a member of the Charlotte Rotary, as well as a member of the Business Committee on Higher Education for the Institute for Emerging Issues.
Lewis earned his B.A. from Howard University and an M.A. from Occidental College. He has four children -- Todd, Kimberly, Derek and Barry -- and five grandchildren.
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Kay Lowery joined the Bobcats in April of 2003 and is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s human resources practices, including recruiting, compensation, benefits and employee relations.
Before joining the Bobcats she served as Human Resources Manager for J.D. Edwards in Charlotte, where she facilitated the human resources function during the company’s acquisition of YOUcentric. She was part of YOUcentric during that company’s beginning and implemented the company’s benefits and human resources policies.
Lowery previously worked for Berenfield Containers as human resources administrator and also worked for the Daily Herald Newspaper’s human resources department in suburban Chicago after graduating from the University of Iowa. She holds a professional human resources certification.
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Michael Wandell joined the Charlotte Bobcats in August of 2009 as the Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. In his current role he is responsible for overseeing all sales and service of the Partnership department. In his first year with the organization, Wandell welcomed 30 new corporate partners to the Bobcats family utilizing fully integrated marketing programs incorporating TV, Radio, In-Arena Signage, Print, Digital Media, Drive to Retail, Community platforms and Hospitality among others.
Wandell started his NBA career with the Indiana Pacers before joining the Phoenix Suns. During his tenure in Phoenix, Wandell made history when he signed LifeLock to a groundbreaking partnership that featured the first advertising space on WNBA uniforms. The jersey deal was the largest in WNBA history. Wandell also developed the first ever hybrid-marketing partnership in NBA history with Verve Energy Drink, and was the first to create a partnership between an NBA franchise and a major record label (Epic Records). Wandell also sold the naming rights to the first-ever modern outdoor NBA game, the AutoTrader.com Open, in Indian Wells, CA.
A native of Champaign, IL, Wandell graduated from Northwestern University. Prior to his career in professional sports, Wandell lived in Los Angeles and worked in the new media space overseeing all music content for MXG Media.
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