In the afterglow of the 2010 Winter Games, VANOC CEO John Furlong was lauded as an organizational genius who could pretty much go anywhere and have almost any job he wanted.
But he chose to stay in Vancouver and, more importantly, decided to stay in the area he knows and loves best: sports.
Furlong was recently appointed executive chairman of the Vancouver Whitecaps. With the Whitecaps now in their second Major League Soccer season, Furlong spoke to Business in Vancouver about his plans for the team.
A I did have lots of opportunities, and I took on some things. I saw it as an opportunity to build on something that we stood up for during the Olympics, which is the power of sport to change a life, to touch a child, to alter the course of history in a way.
A After the Games were over, I didn't go knocking on anyone's door. I decided to stand back and let my life settle back. I think a lot of people thought I was an Olympic lifer. But it was never what I wanted to do my whole life.
A At the moment, I'm trying to understand the organization. It's a complicated league. Canada's got three clubs, and the United States has 16 clubs. There's a lot to learn. It's my job to constantly look for ways to make us more efficient, stronger, look for new opportunities.
A There's a couple of things about an opening year. We have a new team, a new franchise. In the first year we struggled, but it was not an unexpected year. People would have liked to finish further up, but I think overall the organization found its feet, figured out where it was in the league. But if you look at this year, we've played eight games, we've had six shutouts – we've had 10 bad minutes. So there's been a big leap from where we were last year, with a young team. We have a great new coach. When I talk to Martin [Rennie], I'm reminded very much of the book Moneyball, because he sees the game as part coach, part scientist.
A It is a key part of what we have to have to be great at what we do. I think it would be fair to say that there will be various partners involved in it, which is the way we did the Olympics.
A I think there's a very good chance for Vancouver. We have the best stadium in the country, the culture for soccer in British Columbia is extremely strong and many of the top women [players] are here.
A I'm hoping that what will happen is that the fans will be so strong and so supportive of the Whitecaps that when another team comes into our building, they're terrified – that we put the wind right up their backs.
A Among the first meetings I'm planning to have are with the downtown business community and with Tourism Vancouver and with the hotel association and try to have everybody see what the opportunity is to find a way for everyone to be able to feel when the Whitecaps take to the field on Saturday night, everyone's got a role to play, that they all feel like they're part of it. If the stadium is full, and the team is strong, and the community is following it, it's good for business, it's good for downtown.
