Sydney Kings owner Paul Smith says $260m windfall the ‘saddest day of my life’

Sydney Kings owner Paul Smith should have been sinking champagne after scoring a $260 million windfall. Instead, he was miserable.

Paul Smith knows money isn’t everything.

Most people would consider $260 million a pretty handy payday for an ex-furniture store salesman.

But for Paul Smith — the now owner and chairman of National Basketball League franchise the Sydney Kings — what should have been his crowning glory became his biggest burden.

After leaving that furniture shop on the NSW south coast, Smith pursued his true passion — sport. He studied sports science and administration, worked in golf then went out on his own and started sports marketing company Total Sports Entertainment (TSE).

Kayo is your ticket to the best sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Noticing a gap in the market some years later as clients sought greater clarity around their spending amid the Global Financial Crisis, Smith founded sports consulting firm Repucom. It aimed to give companies concrete valuations about how much their sponsorships of sports teams were actually worth to them in real terms.

Repucom expanded its services and thrived, particularly in America, as Smith set up offices around the world. It was raking in more than $100 million in revenue a year and eventually Smith decided to sell his company to research giant Nielsen for a lazy $260 million in 2016.

But, as he explained to former Australian cricketer Shane Lee on the Lunch with Lee podcast, rather than celebrate his success, Smith was consumed by feelings of loss.

“What should have been the happiest day of my life was the saddest day of my life and the emotional cliff that I fell off post that sale (was hard to deal with),” Smith told Lee.

“I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t know why it happened.

“I woke up the morning of the transaction, after the transaction, the money’s in the bank — literally — and I pulled the doona over my head.

Smith (left) struggled to find meaning after his life after selling his pride and joy.

“I didn’t know what was going on and I went into an awful tailspin.

“I blamed other people. I blamed the Nielsen company. I blamed this, I blamed that. I didn’t address it myself. And I realised that I hadn’t prepared myself for the irrelevancy syndrome that hits you post the sale.

“All the things you strive for become irrelevant on the basis that, why aren’t I happy?

“I’ve probably had a little bit of the dark side in me always because … I think it partly drives you a bit. But it just got out of control.”

Fortunately, Smith wasn’t hiding under the doona for long, finding a new purpose and becoming chairman of the Kings last year after TSE assumed full control of the franchise.

Having experienced a profound sense of loss himself makes him more qualified than most to counsel older players who are coming to the end of their careers.

That’s what drives him most at the Kings, knowing how tough the transition is for athletes making the move into the real world after walking away from professional sport.

“The key focus for me is the retiring players,” Smith told Lee. “I really double down on the players that are at that shoulder point … bringing them down to the realities of post career.

“The cliff that they fall off (is tough to handle).

“As a player in our roster, every minute of their day is structured.

“When that stops they not only lose the social aspects of being part of a team but they lose their structure.”