What: first major American sports executive to publicly come out
Before 2011, Rick Welts was best known for his sharp marketing skills (he conceived the campaign for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics “Dream Team”), being the third-highest ranking executive for the NBA for a time, and serving as the president and CEO of the Phoenix Suns for nine years.
In 2011, he became notable in another way. Rick Welts came out as gay in an interview with the New York Times, making him the first major American sports executive to be publicly out.
Though only in 2011, the move was meaningful in the business world, as well as the sports world. There are still few openly gay CEOs and executives in the business world, and the professional sports players have generally steered away from the topic. In the years following Mr. Welt’s announcement, Jason Collins became the first openly gay player in the NBA and University of Missouri lineman Michael Sam became the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL in April. The NFL, NBA, and MLB all added a sexual orientation nondiscrimination clause to their policies in 2011.
