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Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi appointed Jim Lites President and CEO of the Stars on Nov. 18, 2011. Lites is very familiar with the position having held it twice previously under prior owners Norm Green and Tom Hicks.

Shifting his role to serve as the team’s Chairman and Managing Director of Northland Properties Corporation, U.S. Division in July 2020, Lites boasts a reputation as one the finest administrators in professional sports. He continues to work with Mr. Gaglardi on the day-to-day business activities of the Stars, while overseeing the hockey operations department and continuing to chair the Dallas Stars Ownership Advisory Group. Lites also maintains his role as the organization’s Alternate Governor, a role he held from 1982-2007. Over the years Lites has served on the Board’s marketing, broadcasting, expansion and game committees.

Over the course of Lites’ two prior stints with the Stars (1993-02; 2003-07), the team won seven division championships, two Western Conference championships, two Presidents’ Trophies, and the 1999 Stanley Cup. He played an active role in the conception, design, construction and on-going business operations of American Airlines Center and Dr Pepper StarCenter ice facilities. Most recently, Lites played a significant role in hiring General Manager Jim Nill, purchasing the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the operating lease of the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Cedar Park, Texas.

From 1999-02, Lites also served as president of MLB’s Texas Rangers, becoming one of only four executives at the time to simultaneously manage the affairs of two major league franchises. He served three years on MLB’s Executive Council and was President when the Rangers captured the 1999 American League West championship.

Prior to joining the Stars in 1993, Lites served 11 years as chief operating officer of the Detroit Red Wings, who during his stint, won three Norris Division championships and two Norris Division Playoff championships after having missed the playoffs in 10 of the 11 seasons before his hiring. During his tenure, the Red Wings were named by Financial World magazine as the most valuable franchise in the NHL in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. Lites was also instrumental in the defection of former Soviet stars Sergei Fedorov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Vladimir Konstantinov, each of whom played important parts of the Red Wings’ record-setting and Stanley Cup champion hockey clubs.

While with Detroit, Lites also served as chief operating officer of Olympia Arenas, Inc., one of the Midwest’s largest facility management companies. He was also responsible for the redevelopment of Detroit’s historic Fox Theatre, now the most successful entertainment venue of its type in the United States and the cornerstone of Detroit’s growing northside sports, entertainment and gaming complexes.

From 2007 until being rehired by the Stars in 2011, Lites managed the New York Football Giants’ Personal Seat License program at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. That program was one of the most successful of its type in history.

Born and raised in Pentwater, Mich., Lites received a bachelor of arts degree with highest honors from the University of Michigan in 1975 and graduated cum laude from Wayne State (MI) University Law School in 1978. He specialized in litigation and labor contract negotiations when he practiced law. Jim and his wife, Kim, reside in Frisco. They have four children, sons Chase, Sam, Chandler, and daughter, Brooke.

Kirk Franklin wants everyone to know one thing. He’s never going to stop pushing the envelope. Franklin’s latest musical offering—and 13th studio album—is the aptly titled LONG LIVE LOVE from his RCA-distributed label, Fo Yo Soul Recordings. But even before the album’s May 31st release date, its first single is already laying down some serious groundwork.

“Love Theory” bowed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart and has kept the position on lock for thirty-nine weeks. The vibrant track marked the singer’s record-extending seventh No. 1, and his second start atop the chart. With 1 million U.S. streams in its first week per Nielsen Music, “Love Theory” also opened at No. 1 on Gospel Streaming Songs as well as Gospel Digital Song Sales. Its colorful and energetic video has accumulated over 17.3 million YouTube views and counting. The album “Long Live Love” and single “Love Theory” won two Grammys in January 2020. Franklin says, “It’s my constant story about this message of love, the love of God, and me trying to play my role in that conversation.”

“We’re living in an era where so many things compete for the attention of our hearts,” says Franklin. “They don’t all have to be bad, but these things can become what matters to us more than they’re supposed to. “Idols” and every song on the album just bubbled up and out—a tapestry of what I believe, how I feel, what I want, and my struggles. It’s the good, the bad, and the ugly,” says Franklin. After culling through 50 to 60 song ideas, Franklin began collaborating with his fraternity of co-producers, Ron Hill, Shaun Martin, Max Stark, and S1. His last album, 2015’s Losing My Religion, won a GRAMMY Award winner for Best Gospel Album in 2017. It boasted guest turns by gospel and R&B artists including Kim Burrell, Lalah Hathaway, Tasha Cobbs, and Tamela Mann. Franklin opted to let the music—a flavorful mélange of gospel, R&B, hip-hop, and other influences—play the feature role on LONG LIVE LOVE. Celebrating his 26th career anniversary this year, the winner of more than 40 Stellar Awards, an NAACP Image Award, and 16 Dove Awards is also busy pushing the envelope in other endeavors. Franklin brought his total GRAMMY tally to 16 Grammys at the 62nd annual ceremony this year.

In 2020, Franklin has his eyes set on another successful Exodus Music & Arts Festival, fantastic additions to the Kirk Franklin Praise channel on SiriusXM, and starting production on his bio-pic. “You already know what I’m going to say,” Franklin answers with a hearty laugh when asked about the secret behind his career longevity and indefatigable drive to keep pushing. “It’s because of somebody bigger than me and you. I’m the most non-perfect person in the world. But having an opportunity to be here still and communicate this faith that I believe in … I don’t know what else I could ask for.”