Jack Kent Cooke
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Jack Kent Cooke (25 October, 1912 – 6 April, 1997) was a Canadian entrepreneur who became one of the most widely-known executives in North American professional sports. He is remembered for owning the Washington Redskins and the Los Angeles Lakers, bringing professional ice hockey to Southern California in the form of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, and building the The Forum in Inglewood, the former home of the Lakers and Kings, one of the Los Angeles area's most recognizable landmarks.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Cooke started out as an encyclopedia salesman in the 1930s. He then ventured into broadcasting before expanding into sports. He successfully owned the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club from 1951 to 1964, being named Minor League Exeuctive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1952.
When a group of former baseball executives attempted to challenge Major League Baseball with a third major league, to be called the Continental League, Cooke joined them in the hopes of bringing big-league baseball to Toronto. The major leagues instead expanded for the 1961 and 1962 seasons, and the Continental League collapsed before it could take steps to getting teams on the field. Toronto did not reach the major leagues until 1977, with the Toronto Blue Jays, and Cooke had no connection to that team.
In 1961, he purchased a minority interest in the Redskins, becoming majority owner in 1974 and sole owner in 1985. In 1965, he purchased the Lakers.
Being a Canadian, Cooke's first love was hockey, and he was determined to bring the National Hockey League (NHL) to Los Angeles. To this end, when the Pacific Coast Hockey League, which maintained franchises in California, threatened to become a major league and compete for the Stanley Cup, Cooke paid the NHL $2 million to establish a team in Los Angeles. Thus, the Los Angeles Kings were welcomed into the League in 1967.
In order to accommodate his new hockey team as well as the Lakers, Cooke announced that he would be building "the most beautiful arena in the world". He delivered on his promise, unveiling The Forum in the L.A. suburb of Inglewood to rave reviews. The building was soon nicknamed The "Fabulous" Forum. The Kings struggled both on the ice and at the gate, however. Cooke had been told that there were over 300,000 former Canadians living within a three-hour drive of Los Angeles, and remarked, "Now I know why they left Canada: They hate hockey!" Cooke sold the Kings and Lakers in 1979, and as part of the sale price received ownership of the Chrysler Building in New York, one of the world's most renowned skyscrapers.
As owner of the Redskins, Cooke's team won three Super Bowls, under Head Coach Joe Gibbs. After Gibbs left the Redskins experienced some mediocre years before his death. In 1997, Cooke completed a stadium deal in Landover, Maryland (see also: Raljon), for a new home for his team. The stadium was posthumously named in honor of Cooke, but was later changed to FedEx Field. In his will, Cooke left the team and stadium to his foundation with instructions to sell it. Cooke's son, John Kent Cooke, tried to put in a competitive bid to keep the team in the family, but it instead went to local businessman Daniel Snyder and his associates for a record-setting $800 million.
Cooke is strongly disliked by the people of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Cooke fought hard to prevent Baltimore from getting an NFL team after the Baltimore Colts left for Indianapolis because Baltimore was declared Redskin territory after the move.
Cooke died of cardiac arrest in 1997. The provisions of his will established the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to help struggling people achieve the same success that he enjoyed. The stated mission of the foundation is "To help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. "
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