Steve Donner is an American sports promoter, team owner, and manager. He was an owner of the Rochester Americans

Rochester Americans

The Rochester Americans are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and a top affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial...

 of the American Hockey League

American Hockey League

The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

 and the Rochester Knighthawks

Rochester Knighthawks

The Rochester Knighthawks are a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The Knighthawks were previously members of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1995 to 1997...

 of the National Lacrosse League

National Lacrosse League

The National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...

. He is currently the CEO

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 of USL Pro

USL Pro

The USL Professional Division, commonly known as USL Pro , is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011....

 soccer team, Orlando City S.C..

Career

Donner helped bring pro soccer and lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

 to his home town of Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

. He was instrumental in the development of the National Lacrosse League (formerly the Major Indoor Lacrosse League) and the construction of the ESL Sports Centre

ESL Sports Centre

The Sports Centre at MCC is a 2,500-seat, non-profit indoor athletics facility in the Rochester, New York suburb of Brighton. Located on the campus of Monroe Community College, the arena was built in 1998. It is home to four regulation-size ice rinks for semi-professional, high school, and youth...

 and PAETEC Park

PAETEC Park

Sahlen's Stadium, formerly PAETEC Park and Marina Auto Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Rochester, New York, USA. It is home to the Rochester Rhinos soccer team of the USL Pro league and the Western New York Flash of Women's Professional Soccer. It is also home of the Major League Lacrosse ...

 in Rochester.

Teams he has owned or managed have won championship

Championship

Championship is a term used in sport to refer to various forms of competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.- Title match system :...

s in the AHL, the NLL, the A-League

A-League

The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...

, and the MLL

Major League Lacrosse

Major League Lacrosse, or MLL, is a professional men's field lacrosse league that is made up of five teams in the United States and one team in Canada.- History :...

. He has brought a total of eight championship teams to the City of Rochester. He has won more championships in multiple leagues than any other minor owner in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Donner has had a sports marketing

Sports marketing

Sport marketing is divided into three sectors. The first is the advertising of sport and sports associations such as the Olympics, Spanish Football league and the NFL. The second concerns the use of sporting events, sporting teams and individual athletes to promote various products. The third is...

 career of over 27 seasons in professional sports. Highlights include nine years as Marketing Director for the Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...

 of the NHL. He was vice president of marketing and sales and a founding member of the Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...

 of the NHL, the first NHL team in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Donner created Fan Land, a fan interactive area in the Thunderdome Sports Complex which was the first of its kind in pro sports.

Donner was AHL executive of the year in 1996 and was inducted into the United Soccer Leagues

United Soccer Leagues

The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...

 Hall of Fame in 2006. He currently lives in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

 and led the relocation effort that brought the Orlando Titans

Orlando Titans

The Orlando Titans were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League that played in the 2010 season. The Titans began as the New York Titans, and played for three seasons in New York before announcing the move to Orlando on August 10, 2009....

 of the National Lacrosse League from New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.