Milwaukee in the palm of your hand!

Former Milwaukee Bucks President Peter Feigin on Championship Culture and City Pride

Peter Feigin is the former president of the Milwaukee Bucks, a position he has held since 2014. He has overseen the revamp of the team both on the court and in the front office. This effort culminated in the Bucks winning the NBA Championship in 2021, the first time the team won the NBA title in 50 years. He has also seen the development of the Deer District around Fiserv Forum and the incredible impact that it has had on downtown Milwaukee and the region.

Before working for the Bucks, Feigin worked for Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, NetJets, the New York Knicks and Six Flags.

Feigin was one of the guests on “Milwaukee Made.” The following Q&A is from his chat with show host David Caruso.

Q: It has been so fun as a Milwaukee citizen to see the Deer District just come to life for you. Is it what you dreamed of? Is there more in your dream for the area?

Feigin: “I think we keep raising the bar. So we always want it to be a meeting place for the city. It is a central place, but how do we mix the content? How do we have events? How do we really think about the people? Everything from opening a hotel to more residential, to opening this area up for access for the whole city and thinking about as important inside as what we do outside and really creating that spot that represents the entire city.”

Q: What does Milwaukee mean to the Milwaukee Bucks?

Feigin: “Milwaukee and the Bucks are synonymous. So how do you take this irreverent, tough city that has such incredible heritage, that has incredible culture, incredible grit, and kind of symbolize it in a professional sports team? And that's the Milwaukee Bucks. So we're this small market team in regards to NBA markets, but we want to operate this and treat ourselves as if we're a big market team and we're a global team. And with Giannis and with the NBA championship and with the Deer district, that's what we've been able to do is really kind of be an extension of the city of Milwaukee around the globe.”

Q: If you're not in the Deer District, where in Milwaukee does Peter Feigin like to hang out?

Feigin: “So I'm in the park by Lake Michigan, walking my dog, hanging out with my wife. We're recent empty nesters, so we are enjoying kind of hanging out, going out to restaurants and kind of enjoying life. And my job is fortunately and unfortunately a lot of nights. So we have somewhere around 150 events a year and around many other community events. This is such a tight community. So a big part of my personal and professional life is all wrapped up into one.”

Q: What is something that's happened inside Fiserv Forum where you were there to see it and were just blown away by it?

Feigin: “We recently had a Kamala Harris rally that was kind of like this incredible popup event that brought in 17,000 people in kind of almost a music festival type of way. And that's balanced with opening night (of Fiserv Forum) with The Killers. And when you have Bruce Springsteen to The Truth is, as crazy as it sounds, and I'm like a romantic Disney on Ice gets me crazy. We have so many different audiences. So that's what you want to create is this magnet for everybody. So our concert series we have now has everything from rap to country to rock to Latin. We wanted to become this cultural destination for those type of events. So I get pretty hyped up on a lot of things.”

Q: How much of a professional highlight has it been to just to kind of be with your everyday team and really see them flourish?

Feigin: “It's the beginning, middle, and end. The people are everything. I take credit for all the successes because they do all the work, but that's a great thing to be able to do. But you really to want to recruit, hire, and retain great talent and want to be challenged with smart people around you. 

“And we are very serious about what our role is in the community. You will not want to work for the Bucks unless you want to be a member of the community, unless you want to donate your time and energy towards other things outside the Bucks. It's part of our principles of doing stuff. We're like a performance culture. We really want to grow. We want to generate revenue at the same time. So when you're able to build that from the ground up, it's very exciting.”