Ex-sports executive jumps aboard Brightline
For most of his professional career, Dave Howard tackled business development and management projects in the sports franchise and entertainment businesses.
So late last year when a client – the president of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA franchise — suggested that a top executive associated with a new passenger train project in Florida speak with him, Howard was puzzled.
“‘Why?’ I said,” recalled Howard, 57.
“No, no, Dave, you should hear about this. This is an amazing project,” countered the Bucks’ Peter Feigin, referring to Brightline, the express rail line preparing to kick off service this summer between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
“As I heard about it and as I learned more about it, I got more and more intrigued and more fascinated,” Howard said.
Fast forward to this summer. Howard is Brightline’s chief executive officer, overseeing all aspects of South Florida’s nascent high-speed passenger rail line, including operations and onboard services.
A lawyer who acquired the bulk of his executive experience by working for more than two decades with the New York Mets, Howard marveled at the possibilities for Brightline during a recent interview at the railroad’s Fort Lauderdale station.
“To be able in the heart of peak rush-hour traffic to get from Fort Lauderdale to Miami in a half an hour or from Miami to West Palm Beach in an hour, when by car it probably takes you more than twice that, that’s the game-changer,” he said. “That’s the difference and in a way, that’s actually pleasurable and enjoyable.”
Howard joined Brightline in March, arriving from New York where he spent the last three years in consulting. Prior to that, he served a year as president of MSG Sports, overseeing the operations of the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s New York Rangers and the WNBA New York Liberty. And he spent 21 years with the Mets, joining the team as its first general counsel and departing as executive vice president of business operations. His former boss at the Mets, chairman and CEO Fred Wilpon, said Howard has the passion and personality to excel at his Brightline duties, not the least of which is to persuade car-bound South Florida drivers to switch to commuter rail travel. Howard agreed.
“When you think about the business functions that we’ll be performing from selling tickets in a variety of formats [individual, 10-packs, weekend, weekly, monthly, annual and corporate packs] it’s very similar to the way you sell tickets to a sports organization,” Howard said.
Brightline’s Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach stations are just “days away” from completion and delivery to its operations team, Howard said. Trains are being tested as work continues to complete new tracks.
Over the next few months, Brightline plans to triple its workforce of just over 100 to about 300 as it readies for launch, Howard said.
By early fall, he expects service to extend into Miami. A line north to Orlando will come later.
The colorful Brightline trains with wide aisles will offer leather seats with individual power outlets, complimentary WiFi, food and beverage service and bicycle and luggage storage facilities.
Brightline will disclose its ticket prices when it launches its e-commerce website and mobile app, which is expected to available a few weeks before service starts this summer, he noted.
Introductory prices will be “deeply discounted” to encourage people to try the service, Howard said.
He’s not worried that Brightline might fall short of the estimated 3 million riders it’s anticipating in its first year.
“We’re confident we will see the numbers. We will deliver a better overall experience. It will be a fast, convenient, efficient, enjoyable, productive time,” he said.