Exclusive: Deutsch Family Names Veteran Sports Exec Mike Dee As President

Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits has a five-decade legacy in wine and spirits, finishing 2024 with revenue above $1 billion on volume of 14 million 9-liter cases. Propelled by nearly 7-million-case juggernaut Josh Cellars, the family-owned company led by chairman Bill Deutsch and his son CEO Peter Deutsch has bucked the challenging market to continue posting growth in recent years. 

Effective on Monday, Deutsch Family will welcome veteran sports executive Mike Dee as president, replacing Tom Steffanci. Dee has served as CEO of both the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Padres, among other leadership roles across his 40-year career. Deutsch believes Dee’s sports background offers new perspectives on connecting with consumers as it looks to continue building its portfolio for the future. SND executive editor Daniel Marsteller spoke with Dee and Peter Deutsch to get their insights on the road ahead. 

SND: Mike, can you speak a bit about your background and the experience you bring to Deutsch Family?

Dee: I go back 40-plus years with Bill and Peter Deutsch. Peter and I played basketball together at Franklin & Marshall College, and some of my first images of Bill were of him standing courtside videotaping games back in the eighties.

I had a front row seat for the creation and evolution of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits. So while I’ve never been formally a part of it, I feel like I have been by extension, from the early days of Beaujolais Nouveau to the wonderful portfolio that we have today. It’s been an amazing journey to watch. My career has been a similar journey of new opportunities and growth, mostly in professional sports starting in the mid-nineties with the San Diego Padres, then the Boston Red Sox, Miami Dolphins, then back to the San Diego Padres for a second stint.

That experience has given me an understanding of how to work with family-owned businesses. Sports teams are on the front page of the paper, so people have an impression that they’re this big corporate environment, but most sports teams and certainly the ones that I was affiliated with were owned by families with family members working in the organization. So I have a pretty good sense as to that dynamic, and being able to watch what Bill and Peter have built over the 40-year period made this a highly desirable opportunity for me to be able to contribute at this stage of the company’s development.

SND: Peter, what advantages do you see in leveraging Mike’s experience outside the drinks industry to unlock further growth?

Deutsch: As Mike mentioned, my dad and I have been working over the last 40 years to build the most professionally run company in the industry. We now see an industry that’s going through some major challenges, probably as complex as we’ve seen over the last four decades. Coming from the sports industry, Mike is going to bring a completely fresh perspective, whether it’s understanding consumer behavior outside of the industry and how that can translate to inside the industry or even potentially new or different ways of innovating operational efficiencies or identifying untapped market opportunities or unmet consumer needs.

Mike also brings a diverse background as a catalyst for unlocking growth in areas that perhaps we may not have explored before. And in an industry with headwinds, I think it’s that kind of innovation and bold thinking that will keep us ahead in a competitive market. The opportunity to leverage Mike’s background and outside the box approach becomes a real complement to our company’s deep industry knowledge, which I think then creates a winning balance of tradition and innovation.

SND: Mike, what excites you about the Deutsch portfolio and the opportunities in front of it?

Dee: I’ve been a Deutsch brand enthusiast for all of my all life, both as an avid wine enthusiast and drinker, and also the spirits brands—I particularly enjoy a good Gray Whale gin and soda. When there are headwinds, there are always corresponding opportunities. The strongest and the most committed and passionate survive and thrive.

Coming from outside the industry, I come with humility, knowing what I don’t know, but I also come with 40-plus years of professional experience in organizations that have been highly focused on revenue growth, highly focused on culture. I’m joining a team that is already best in class in the industry. If history is any precedent to the future, there’ll be new opportunities and new ways to drive our existing brands, perhaps new brands as well.

We’ll have more with Peter Deutsch and Mike Dee on the direction of the Deutsch portfolio in the second part of this interview.

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