Sports marketing magnate dies; his invention of the PSL transcended Charlotte scene

A little-known fact about Personal Seat Licenses, those annoying money-grabs teams (primarily in the NFL) deploy to force fans to lock in their season tickets in advance: the first one was free.

In a 2015 article on Vice.com about Max Muhleman, the inventor of the first PSL with the 1987 Charlotte Hornets, revealed how they were intended as a "gift."

"Instead of a leather jacket, you were given the right to own an individual seat location. The story of how the PSL became a misunderstood marketing tactic exemplifies professional sports’ lost connection with the loyal fan—the story of how sports have become a business transparently ruled by dollars and cents."
- Aaron Gordon, Vice.com

Muhleman died Friday at the age of 88.

In addition to his instrumental role in bringing an expansion NBA team to Charlotte, and making the Hornets financially viable in their early years, Muhleman played a simlar role with the NFL's Carolina Panthers in 1993. He was also an early supporter of Rick Hendrick, who went from a successful car dealer in North Carolina to the most dominant team owner in NASCAR in a span of a couple decades.

"He's not the guy who catches or throws the ball, or owns the team or drives the race car," Hendrick once told the Greensboro News & Record of Muhleman. "But for him to be so well-known in the industry, he's got to be good. He's the guy that puts it all together and makes it work."

For better or worse, Muhleman's legacy is the PSL. His penchant for selling them made him a big name in sports marketing. By 1999 he was being brought in to sell PSLs for the Houston Texans' new stadium project.

Hornets and Panthers fans with a sense of irony can don a leather jacket in his honor.

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