The Panther City Lacrosse Club is majority owned by Bill Cameron. His business partner Greg Bibb has a minority stake.
They were awarded the new NLL expansion team in 2020 and founded the franchise in Fort Worth, Texas.
As Panther City is so new, you may be wondering about whether the ownership group have a track record. The short answer is that they are new to box lacrosse but have deep experience in other sports.
Read on for the full background…
Bill Cameron, Majority Owner Of Panther City
When sports fans want to know who owns a team, they are usually wondering if the owners have deep enough pockets to sustain a sports franchise in the long term.
So, let’s look first at Cameron’s business background.
Outside of his sports investments, Bill Cameron is the Chairman of American Fidelity Group. This is a bundle of companies founded and owned by three generations of the Cameron family.
Perhaps the best known is American Fidelity Assurance Company, which manages life and health insurance for companies in the public sector and healthcare industries. It’s the biggest insurance company in Oklahoma.
The company was founded in 1960 by C.W. Cameron and his son C.B. If you’re wondering where Bill fits in, he is the son of C.B. and was born around the same time.
Difficult early years
Unfortunately, tragedy struck the family in 1977 in the form of a plane crash which took the life of Bill’s father.
Most of the Cameron family, including Bill, were in the small aircraft returning from a skiing holiday.
Caught in a snowstorm, the pilot was forced to crash land. It took a day for rescuers to find the wreckage.
Bill’s mother was seriously injured. Bill, his sister, and the pilot broke their backs. Thankfully, they survived and recovered.
Taking over the family business
His grandfather continued to grow the insurance company while Bill went to Dartmouth College to study history.
The young man worked for Liberty Bank for a few years before joining his grandfather in the family firm in 1984.
Bill eventually took over the reins as CEO. This really is a family firm, as his three daughters have also got involved.
The Cameron family businesses also include a bank operating in Arizona and Oklahoma (First Fidelity Bank), as well as other companies in finance and real estate.
So, Panther City fans are probably more confident now in the financial stability of the owner!
Now, let’s look at Bill Cameron’s early involvement in sports franchises – long before Panther City.
Cameron And Other Sports
In 2006, Bill Cameron joined several Oklahoman businessmen in relocating an NBA franchise from Seattle to Oklahoma City. Cameron became a minority owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Cameron was also a minority owner of an indoor football team in the now defunct minor league called af2. The ownership group sold the Tulsa Talons in 2011.
Dallas Wings
When the owner of a WNBA team in Detroit died in 2009, the family sold the franchise to a company co-owned by Bill Cameron.
The new ownership group moved the team to Tulsa to play in the same arena as their football team. The team was rebranded as the Tulsa Shock.
Bill Cameron rebranded and relocated the team again in 2015. He moved the team to Dallas and renamed it as the Dallas Wings.
Cameron put Greg Bibb in charge and the team finances grew to a healthy state of ticket sales and corporate sponsorship. The Wings are now one of the top revenue earners in the WNBA.
If you want to know more, we have an article about the majority and minority owners of the Dallas Wings.
This success led to Cameron and Bibb wanting to expand their sports franchise stable. They looked around for opportunities and spotted an opening for box lacrosse in Fort Worth.
The NLL granted them an expansion franchise in 2020 for the following season.
Greg Bibb, Co-Owner
Greg Bibb had a lengthy involvement in diverse sports before joining Cameron as part of the ownership group of Panther City.
He kicked off his career in public relations for the Major Indoor Soccer League in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He spent five years as the COO of the Washington Mystics in the WNBA and three years as a VP with the Washington Wizards. He was involved in volleyball and the cycling industry.
He joined the management team of the Dallas Wings in 2015. Two years later, Bill Cameron made him a partner in the holding company, and Bibb became President and CEO of the team.
Who Operates Panther City?
When Cameron and Bibb added a second franchise to their sports company, their goal was to leverage the staffing operations they already had.
Although the management and staffing team grew, the same group runs both the Dallas Wings and the Panther City Lacrosse Club.
Greg Bibb is President and CEO of both teams.
Panther City Operating Costs
Much of the costs of running a sports franchise comes from monthly wages.
Our review of player salaries at Panther City covers the salary tiers and looks at some star player earnings.
If you want to get the full picture, you can check out the current Panther City player roster.
