Johnson GS '72 buys into NBA

Many of the prominent Princetonians in the sports world were once Tiger athletes themselves: Sacramento Kings executive Geoff Petrie '70 was a basketball standout, while U.S. men's national soccer team coach Bob Bradley '80 led Princeton in goals as a senior.

Robert Johnson GS '72 always loved sports, but his turn would come much later.

Johnson, who earned a masters degree in international affairs from the Wilson School, has made his own impact on the sports landscape. In January 2003, the NBA board of governors awarded Johnson ownership of its newest expansion franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, making Johnson the first African-American majority owner of a major professional sports team.

Johnson is better known, however, as the founder and longtime leader of Black Entertainment Television, which he started in 1979.

Raised in Illinois, Johnson arrived at Princeton from the University of Illinois. His interest in international affairs stemmed from a longtime love of history, specifically European diplomatic history.

"I decided that if I were going to pursue higher education it would be in foreign affairs," Johnson said, "and perhaps one day I could serve in the foreign service or even as an ambassador. That led me to look at schools with courses and curriculums in international affairs."

Johnson moved from Princeton to Washington, D.C., where he became involved with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and eventually the Capitol Hill lobbyist National Cable Television Association. From there he was able to start BET. By the time he sold BET in 2003, it reached 75 million households and was the leader in African-American media and entertainment.

What helped guide Johnson to his success were skills he developed throughout his education and perfected at Princeton.

"The one thing I mastered at Princeton was the understanding of how to think and act analytically," Johnson said. "When you study foreign affairs one thing you learn very quickly is that events are driven by a number of things. It's not just one cause or one person or one institution that drives a nation's behavior."

"You apply that process to business, and you look for what motivates people to do things," Johnson added, "so that you can take advantage at the right time with the right kind of message."

After his success in the entertainment industry, Johnson wanted his next business venture to be in an area he had always loved: sports.

"[Sport is] competitive," Johnson said. "It builds spirit, unity and identity. It's entertainment and it has an urban focus, so it has a lot of parallels to BET and I've always been interested in sports competition and the individual ability of athletes to perform. And it's really exciting to watch athletes when they do."

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Johnson's experience at BET uniquely qualifies him to lead as the only African-American owner in a predominately African-American league.

"I've got a lot of players who are 21 or 22 who are just coming out of college," Johnson said. "When I introduce myself they know BET because they watched it for 16 years of their lives. So it's a connect point ... they know I speak their language. But at the same time, these guys play the game professionally based on their own ability and commitment to be the best. They'll play just as hard for me as they would playing for another owner."

While Johnson's status as a minority owner makes him especially visible in the sports community, he believes that most social barriers to ownership have been knocked down.

"It's really a financial issue," Johnson said. "All the teams and leagues ... would welcome a minority owner if there were a team being sold and there were a minority owner with the financial wherewithal to buy the team."

Furthermore, Johnson thinks opportunity, not ability, is the key to African-American leadership in sports, as exemplified by the most recent Super Bowl, which featured the event's first two African-American coaches.

"In the case of [Indianapolis Colts coach] Tony Dungy and [Chicago Bears coach] Lovie Smith, these are two guys who are simply affirmations of what most black people already believe," Johnson said. "It's 'Give us a chance, and let us fail or succeed on our own merits.' They were judged like every other coach — on the field, win and loss records, and to motivate a team to the Super Bowl. And they succeeded. It's the same in business ... give a young African-American an opportunity, and they will succeed."

In reflecting on his successes, Johnson had an important piece of advice for today's Princeton students: remember to be a person.

He is confident in the intelligence and capabilities of each Princetonian, but he emphasized that students must maintain their own identity.

"The world is not made up of all Princetonians," Johnson said. "They don't all think alike and they don't all give total deference to a Princeton diploma. Embrace everything that Princeton can give you, in terms of developing yourself, but always remember that first and foremost you are a person, and you should not let anyone or any institution mask that fact. Lead with what you believe in fundamentally, with that character that you develop long before you walk down the streets of Princeton ... if you can do that, I am confident that you can be successful at what you want to achieve."

Johnson's own unique and successful career would suggest that this advice is well-worth taking.