Paul A. Mooney (April 7, 1941 – April 23, 2000) was an American sports executive who served as president of the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

and

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

from October 1, 1975, to March 24, 1987.

Early life and career

Mooney was born in Miami, and his father was J. D. Mooney, a jockey who rode 1924

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

winner

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. His brother, John J. Mooney, was a horse racing executive and a member of the

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness racing, harness and Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine ...

. Mooney graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and did graduate studies at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. Prior to joining the Bruins, Mooney worked in the horse racing industry. He served as executive vice-president and treasurer and later president of the Louisville Racing Corporation, executive vice president of the Kentucky Jockey Club, and executive vice president of Latonia Race Course. He also was a vice president of Sportsystems.

Boston Bruins

Mooney was named president of the

and Boston Garden on October 1, 1975, after the team and arena were purchased by

Jeremy Jacobs Jeremy Maurice Jacobs Sr. (born January 21, 1940) is an American billionaire businessman, the owner of the Boston Bruins and chairman of Delaware North. ''Forbes'' magazine ranks him as 669th richest person in the world. Early life and education ...

' company, Sportsystems. During his tenure as president, he twice reached agreements with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

to remain at the Garden, led the effort against the

NHL–WHA merger The 1979 NHL expansion, popularly referred to as the NHL–WHA merger, was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA). The negotiations led to the dissolution o ...

, worked on the Bruins' failed move to

Salem, New Hampshire Salem is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 30,089 at the 2020 census and an estimated 30,647 in 2022. Salem is a northern suburb of Boston located on Interstate 93. As the first town along I-93 north ...

, fired longtime Garden organist

John Kiley John Kiley (November 1, 1912 – July 15, 1993SSDI, SSN: 010-12-0234) was the organist at Braves Field from 1948 to 1952, Fenway Park from 1953 to 1989 and at the Boston Garden from 1941 to 1984. He is credited with having discovered the Boston G ...

, and along with other members of Bruins management helped take care of Bruins' player

Normand Leveille Normand is the French name for the Norman language and people from Normandy. It is also a surname and masculine given name. "Normand" = The French surname describes those families in and originating from Normandy. The "d" was retained by immigrate ...

after he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fell into a coma. On May 30, 1986, William D. Hassett, Jr. was named chairman and chief executive officer of the Boston Bruins and the Boston Garden. Although Mooney retained his positions, he now answered to Hassett. On March 24, 1987, Mooney was fired and replaced by Hassett as Bruins president and Lawrence Moulter as Garden president. While working for the Bruins and the Garden, Mooney also owned part of the Campbell Sports Network, a

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...

-based radio network than owned the rights to

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

games from 1983 to 1989. Mooney was also a member

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit dedicated to organized sports, with a focus on running, in the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Mar ...

board of directors. He was credited by sportswriter

Will McDonough William McDonough (July 6, 1935 – January 9, 2003) was an American sportswriter for ''The Boston Globe'' who also worked as an on-air football reporter for CBS and NBC. Biography Newspaper career The youngest of nine children of Irish immigra ...

with helping bring the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

back to prominence.

Death

Mooney died on April 23, 2000, at the age of 59 at his home in

Duxbury, Massachusetts Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 2020 census. The tow ...

, due to cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooney, Paul A. 1941 births 2000 deaths Boston Bruins executives Businesspeople from Miami Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Harvard College alumni People from Duxbury, Massachusetts Boston Athletic Association Harvard Business School alumni Sportspeople from Plymouth County, Massachusetts