The Man Who Helped Make Dallas a Sports Town | Brad Thomas | Ep 248

Long before Dallas became the sports city we know today, Brad Thomas was helping prove what this market could become.
On this episode of Your Dark Companion, Mike Rhyner sits down with longtime sports marketing executive Brad Thomas for a trip through some of the wildest chapters in Dallas sports history — beginning with the rise of SMU football and Mustang Mania.
Thomas came to Dallas alongside legendary sports marketer and SMU athletic director Russ Potts in 1978, when the Mustangs were determined to make football matter again. What followed was an era of massive promotions, packed stadiums, Mustang Mania bumper stickers seemingly everywhere, the rise of the Pony Express and, eventually, the scandal and NCAA “death penalty” that changed SMU football for decades.
But Brad’s influence on Dallas sports didn’t end at SMU.
After leaving the university, Thomas and business partner Michael Brooks took a gamble on an idea plenty of people thought was ridiculous: bring Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers to Dallas. Their 1986 exhibition at Reunion Arena sold out and helped demonstrate that North Texas really could support NHL hockey — years before the Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars.
Brad also shares some of the stories that could only come from a career in sports promotion: getting SMU penalized because he and the San Diego Chicken were still picking up silver dollars at halftime, losing serious money promoting Olympic volleyball, and taking John McEnroe for a haircut on the day of a match.
Today, Thomas remains connected to the sports business world through consulting, work with college athletics and international soccer, and his longtime Sports Business commentary on The Ticket. His career has taken him from SMU and Dallas sports to English Premier League clubs — with Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and a few other adventures thrown in along the way.
It’s a conversation about Dallas sports history, taking risks, building relationships, thinking big and occasionally finding yourself on your hands and knees picking money off a football field with the San Diego Chicken.
Welcome to Your Dark Companion.
Chapters
0:00 — Only on Your Dark Companion
A little Rangers talk, a missing ring and the usual pre-show chaos.
1:56 — Episode 248 & A Birthday Tribute
3:41 — Meet Brad Thomas
Mike introduces the man who has spent decades behind the scenes of Dallas sports.
6:12 — How Brad Thomas Found His Way to SMU
Russ Potts, the University of Maryland and the move to Dallas.
9:15 — When SMU Decided Football Was Going to Matter
10:55 — What Was Really Happening Behind the Scenes at SMU?
12:02 — Did SMU Ever Recover From the Death Penalty?
13:33 — The Birth of Mustang Mania
How consistency, creativity and a whole lot of bumper stickers built a brand that people still remember.
15:29 — The Day Mustang Mania Became Real
17:17 — Putting Mustang Mania Everywhere
20:03 — When the Promotion Worked a Little Too Well
A packed Texas Stadium leaves thousands of ticket holders outside.
22:47 — When the Bottom Fell Out at SMU
24:31 — Why the NCAA Death Penalty Never Happened Again
25:44 — College Football’s New Wild West
28:03 — Life After SMU
29:11 — “Hockey in Dallas? You’re Crazy.”
Brad and Michael Brooks begin their campaign to bring Wayne Gretzky and the NHL to Reunion Arena.
31:15 — Betting Big on Wayne Gretzky
32:43 — The Night Gretzky Came to Dallas
34:30 — Did Brad Thomas Help Bring Hockey to Dallas?
37:39 — Fantasy Football at Dudley’s
42:54 — The San Diego Chicken Got SMU a Penalty
Yes, this actually happened.
44:18 — When Sports Promotion Goes Very Wrong
46:02 — Taking John McEnroe for a Haircut
47:36 — What Brad Thomas Is Doing Today
48:30 — From Sports Marketing to Kilimanjaro
49:35 — Why Relationships Still Matter
53:41 — Apparently Handwriting Is Harder Than Kilimanjaro
54:09 — What’s the Next Adventure?
59:23 — The Story Behind “Sports Business”
1:01:28 — Closing Thoughts with Brad Thomas
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