Josh Bartelstein

Josh Bartelstein

CEO, Phoenix Suns & Phoenix Mercury

by Josh Bartelstein

Q: What most notably stands out about your leadership style or what is an example of leadership success you can share with our readers?

I lead with a people-first mentality; our team members are what define our organization. I believe communication and collaboration are essential in order to be successful. We have to come together to accomplish our goals and to become the best franchise in sports, on and off the court. I encourage our team to dream big and accomplish even bigger.

Q: What do you feel we can be doing as a business community to empower economic growth here?

Phoenix is a destination market for many reasons, including the incredible business community we have here. The Suns and Mercury continue to elevate the city as a premier sports and entertainment destination by collaborating with city partners to bring major sporting events to the Valley, like the upcoming 2024 WNBA All-Star Game and 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four. Every year we welcome business leaders and fans from around the world to the countless games, concerts and events we host at our arena.

Q: What is new and notable for your company’s near future that will impact our economy?

Our organization is focused on four key pillars: fan experience, team member culture, community impact and winning. Everything we do, whether it’s a new-player signing or announcing a new broadcast partnership to make Suns and Mercury games available to all fans across Arizona, centers around these pillars and our commitment to our team members, our community and our fans.

With that said, we have a lot of exciting things coming in 2024 that demonstrate our organization’s commitment to these foundational pillars.

Led by owner Mat Ishbia, we recently announced a $100-million investment to develop a new team-member campus and state-of-the-art practice facility for the Mercury. The 123,000-square-foot development marks a significant contribution to the ongoing revitalization of downtown Phoenix. The campus will be strategically located within Phoenix’s Warehouse District downtown and will be one of the largest developments for a professional sports organization in the country. This is a testament to our goal to make the Suns and Mercury world-class organizations on and off the floor. The Mercury’s new dedicated practice facility will be one of the best facilities in all of women’s professional sports and the team member business headquarters will be designed to make the Suns and Mercury the best organization to work in, in sports.

We are also preparing to host the WNBA All-Star game in July 2024. We cannot wait to welcome fans from around the world and show them everything Phoenix has to offer. This will mark the third time that Phoenix will host the midseason showcase, having previously hosted in 2000 and 2014. Hosting the WNBA All-Star Weekend will be a full team effort alongside our city partners, our local businesses and our fans. We can’t wait for what is surely going to be an unbelievable experience.