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Michael Tatoian is the president and general manager of Dover Motor Speedway. l PHOTO COURTESY OF DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY[/caption]
DOVER — Michael Tatoian didn’t know he would help bring the 106th NASCAR Cup to Delaware when he started his career in the sports industry – or that his three grandchildren would be present to witness his success.
“That’s the cool thing about life. You just don’t know,” he told the Delaware Business Times.
Tatoian moved to Delaware in 2007 when he became the chief operating officer (COO) for Dover Motorsports. Prior to moving to the First State, he graduated with a degree in public relations and marketing from the University of Northern Iowa and worked in a variety of roles in the sports industry.
“I was part of a company that owned and operated minor league baseball teams, football teams and arenas, minor and major league hockey teams. . . In the late 80s, back then, they called my role ‘a telemarketer.’ I would just pick up the phone and call people using phone books. I would smile and dial to sell tickets,” he recalled of his time living in Tulsa, Okla., where his career began while working for the Tulsa Drillers ‘AA’ minor league baseball team.
He moved up the ranks with the team and started his career in management as the director of stadium operations and, soon after, director of media relations. His career took another turn when he returned to his hometown of Bettendorf, Ill., as the assistant general manager and later general manager of the Quad City Angels, an affiliate of the now Los Angeles Angels.
Tatoian would go on to launch the Fort Wayne Wizards baseball team in Indiana in 1993, a farm team for the Minnesota Twins. That organization has since become the Fort Wayne Tin Caps and is now a minor league affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
He continued the upward trajectory in his career by accepting a position as COO for United Sports Venture and later launched Victory Sports Group. Over time, opportunity struck when he was called to join Dover Motorsports, a challenge he said he was ready to experience.
“In our industry, whether it’s NASCAR or the NFL or NHL or minor league baseball, the underpinnings or the structure of the business is actually quite similar,” Tatoian told DBT. “The events are different, cars on a track, balls and players on a field, but all of the revenue categories like sponsorships and merchandise, public safety, it’s the same. It’s all about creating memories for the fans. It was actually an easy transition.”
When he began his role as the COO for Dover Motorsports, Inc. in 2007 under then-CEO Denis McGlynn, the company owned and operated four racetracks including the Dover operation and tracks in St. Louis, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Madison, Ill.
He also acted as the executive vice president for the company which eventually sold its other three tracks, focusing its efforts in Delaware. The transition afforded Tatoian the opportunity for advancement – he was named president and general manager of the speedway in 2015 which was later acquired by Speedway Motorsports in late 2021.
Although the company itself has seen changes over the years, the basics of business, Tatoian explained, remain steadfast.
“It’s a fans first mentality. That hasn’t changed. That’s how it has to be,” he said. “What has changed is just, I suppose, competition. There’s just a lot more in terms of content on television and a lot more clutter in the marketplace for things to do and things to watch. We have a terrific staff and they have, to my and I think to our consumers’ benefit, been here for many, many, many years. We have teammates who have been here longer than I have actually and I think my job as a team leader is to help them be successful.”
Tatoian also found a calling as an advocate – he is heavily involved in the United Service Organizations (USO) and the Air and Space Forces Civic Leader Program with the Department of the Air Force.
“It’s a way for me to serve our country since I’m not in uniform,” he said passionately.
His involvement with the USO began in 2007, including service as the chairman of the advisory council.
“Our job really is just about being by the side of all of our military members – anything from serving food to the airmen on the flight line to having the USO center with a gaming room, movie room, pool table… we think, ‘How do we create home for our military members?’ It could be a warm cup of coffee, reading program, hosting picnics or anything that feels like home,” he explained.
In 2014, he began serving the country through the Air and Space Forces Civic Leader Program which is based out of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. He said he works with select civilians from around the country including Guam, Hawaii and Alaska. Together, they amplify the needs of military personnel and families within their spheres of influence.
“We look at what our Department of Air Force is really faced with from a budgetary or needs perspective. Our role then is to talk to our state delegations,” he said.
To accomplish these goals, he often travels both around the country and internationally to personally visit with military personnel.
“I just came back from serving on a trip with our leadership group. We went to Germany, Poland, Hungary and Italy to visit military families and their allies,” he told DBT in July. “It was a terrific experience as it relates to learning about challenges and opportunities that we have in our Air Force and how we’re working with NATO allies, in and around the Middle East, and other opportunities. It's great to have access to leadership and to really understand, in an unclassified way, just what our country is faced with and they give us great access.”
The success of the speedway and his success as an advocate has led to an untold number of memories for both entertainment seekers and military families under Tatoian’s leadership. But for the Middletown resident, with his wife of 40 years by his side, two memories ring loud and clear.
“We had Paul McCartney play at Firefly back in 2018. That was pretty amazing. The legend of all legends, Paul himself, playing in our campground – that was a memorable moment. That’s a memory that I’ll always appreciate. Every weekend is special. Getting through it is special. All of our positions in life are just interim. You just try to be a good shepherd. The track was fantastic before I got here and when I took over as president from Denis McGlynn, I just tried to follow in his footsteps and be a good shepherd until someone else takes over,” Tatoian told DBT.
“It was pretty cool, speaking of memories, to have all of the grandkids at a race weekend. Here I am in Delaware in a sport that I didn’t really know that I’d ever get into, in a state I never thought I’d move to and then I had three grandkids at a racetrack I never thought I’d be operating.”
