Steve Donner is an American sports executive, team owner, and manager. He is the founding Commissioner of the Professional Box Lacrosse Association, and the co-owner of the Elmira Mammoth of the Federal Prospects Hockey League. He is the former president and CEO of the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, and the founder and CEO of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League, the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse and the Rochester Raging Rhinos of the United Soccer League. He has also served as chief executive of numerous other professional sports teams and ventures.
Early life
Steve Donner was born and raised in Rochester, New York where he grew up in the city's 19th Ward neighborhood. He graduated from Aquinas Institute high school in 1975 and attended the University of Dayton, where he played goaltender on the school's club hockey team.
After graduating from Dayton, he took a position in the front office of the reborn Dayton Gems of the International Hockey League for the 1979–80 season. When the Gems ceased operations after a single season, he returned to Rochester where he was hired in the marketing department by his hometown Rochester Americans in 1980. He worked for the Amerks for three years. After the team captured the Calder Cup championship in the 1982–83 season, he was hired as Sales Manager by the parent Buffalo Sabres. Eventually being promoted to Director of Marketing and Sales, he remained with the Sabres for nearly a decade, leaving after the 1991–92 season to join the NHL expansion Tampa Bay Lightning as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Faced with the challenge of selling a sport in an area that had never had major professional hockey before, Steve helped establish fan interest as the franchise debuted in their temporary home in the antiquated 11,000-seat Expo Hall on the Florida State Fairgrounds. After one season, the Lightning transitioned to the Florida Suncoast Dome, an indoor stadium on the opposite side of the bay in St. Petersburg. Originally built for baseball, the rechristened “ThunderDome” seated over 27,000 in its new hockey configuration. Donner was credited with establishing Fan Land, a fan interactive area in the ThunderDome Sports Complex which was the first of its kind in pro sports. With the help of numerous large crowds in the immense dome, the Lightning finished the 1993–94 season second in the NHL in attendance, with a per game average of 19,398, second only to the Detroit Red Wings.
Professional Team Ownership
Rochester Americans
In July 1994, Steve returned home when he was named president and Chief Administrative Officer of the Rochester Americans, who were owned at the time by Seymour and Northrup Knox of the Buffalo Sabres. The move was originally part of a three-year operations agreement giving Steve the option to purchase the franchise at the conclusion of the term. However, that timeline was shortened when the Sabres named Doug Moss as their new president. After examining the team finances, Moss offered to let Donner take control sooner. Within months, Donner assembled a group of six investors, and at the conclusion of the 1994-95 AHL season, Donner and his partners became the owners for the franchise. Donner would become the managing general partner of the new ownership group, and remain as president and CEO of the franchise.
Success came quick for Donner's Americans. Under the leadership of Head Coach John Tortorella, the 1995-96 Amerks captured the American Hockey League crown in the Donner group's first year as team owners. After a mediocre third-place division finish in the regular season, the Amerks swept the Adirondack Red Wings 3–0 in the opening playoff round and the Cornwall Aces 4–0 in the quarterfinals, and eliminated the Syracuse Crunch 4 games to 1 in the semifinals. A thrilling 2–1 victory over the Portland Pirates at the Blue Cross Arena on June 13 gave the Amerks a 4–3 series win and the franchise's sixth and most recent Calder Cup championship.