SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Michael White got a call a few weeks ago from someone in Italy who was offering to provide any insight he could about how the Florida Panthers do business.
The caller was Bill Zito, the Panthers' hockey operations president.
And that's when White knew he'd fit in as the team's business operations president.
The Panthers officially announced White, who has spent a 25-year career working in the technology and guest experience worlds, as their new business chief on Tuesday. He will oversee “all business aspects,” the team said, of its four facilities — Amerant Bank Arena, Baptist Health IcePlex, Panthers IceDen and War Memorial Auditorium.
White said the idea to work alongside Zito, the architect of the team that won Stanley Cup titles in 2024 and 2025, was a major factor. Zito called him last month from Italy, where he was part of the leadership for the U.S. men's hockey team that won gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics. They've been off and running ever since.
“We clicked automatically. Our first meeting was supposed to be 30 minutes, went an hour and a half and we probably could have talked another two hours," White said. "And we just stayed in touch throughout the process. I would say that we’re off to a really great start together and he was one of the primary reasons I came over here. He's one of one, a legend, but also somebody that you want to partner with.”
White came to the Panthers after most recently serving as Chief Product Officer at Amazon’s autonomous vehicle company, Zoox — helping to develop an autonomous robotaxi. Zambonis still require drivers when they touch up the ice at hockey rinks, but the Panthers said White's ability to launch strategies in many ways helped set him apart.
“After a diligent and comprehensive search, we are confident that Michael is the right fit to lead our organization into continued success,” said Michael Viola, part of the Panthers' ownership family. “He brings to our club a proven record in consumer experience, partnership growth and product development for some of the world’s most successful companies and invaluable capabilities of organizational leadership and visionary innovation."
It won't take long for White to tackle one key issue for the Panthers' future. The team has until the fall of 2028 to propose development plans to Broward County officials for property that surrounds Amerant Bank Arena, where the team plays games.
White has also worked for The Walt Disney Company in several senior leadership roles, even playing a role in the execution of the restart of the 2019-20 NBA season that was played in a bubble on the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida, after the COVID-19 pandemic essentially stopped the world in its tracks.
He introduced himself to the majority of the Panthers' employees on Monday.
“The organization is world-class," White said. "My previous job was great. Then I met the Violas and I’m like, ‘Wow, this is fantastic. Unbelievable ownership.’ Obviously, the winning that the team has done, and Bill’s done, the culture ... it just permeates through. I just met 300 of the front-office folks and everyone literally introduced themselves and you could just feel the culture. For me, it’s a little bit of a listening journey to start and then we'll see what we can do next. It's a fantastic foundation and we’ll look for areas where we can amplify that.”
White is replacing Matthew Caldwell, who stepped down as Florida's business head in August to become CEO of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx.
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