by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
As general manager for SMG, Bob Downey helps bring stars from all over the world to Jacksonville. He brings in athletes from across the globe and political and religious leaders flock to his venues. But you won’t find much evidence of that in his office, as Downey only spends about 20 percent of his time there, he said.
SMG is a private management firm for public assembly facilities and manages stadiums, arenas, auditoriums, convention centers, theaters and amphitheaters across the United States and in Europe. Downey oversees the management of Alltel Stadium, the Arena, The Baseball Grounds, the T-U Center the Osborn Center and Jacksonville Equestrian Center.
“We’re a point of contact for the tenants and users,” said Downey. “I’m the responsible person for the city for the accounting of operations.” Downey said there are capable people running each building and he’s the coordinator who lets each group do its own thing.
“We are often most successful when people hear the least about us,” he said.
Downey’s career started when he was a captain in the Army, where he served as a recon platoon leader in Vietnam. He was involved in an ambush, has a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and the scars on his arm and back to prove it. After the injuries, he ran the Officers Club in Virginia. In 1974 Bob Sigholtz, the general manager of the Washington, D.C. Armory Board, asked Downey to join the management team at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, D.C.
Downey worked at RFK for 20 years. Prior to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, SMG contacted him and asked him to relocate to Florida.
“They were wanting someone who had experience with the NFL,” said Downey.
After being involved with the Redskins for so long and the Jaguars for the past 10 years, Downey said he’s a fan of both teams. Whether he’s a Gator or a Seminole doesn’t matter either because he went to Wofford in South Carolina where he received his bachelors degree in political science.
He and his wife Deon have three children. His son Colin, 23, is a graduate of Embry-Riddle and will fly helicopters for the Army. Their twins, Jefferey and Julia, 13, attend Bolles Middle School with no plans for the Army yet.