my brief interview with Jerry Seltzer

So I'm currently taking a US History class focusing on the United States in the 20th Century. The final project in the class is an extensive research outline (one step below a research paper), and I have chosen to do mine on Roller Derby and its decline in the early 70's. Considering how much I love the sport, I figured this would be a perfect topic - I'm actually interested in it enough to be fully motivated to research away and write one hell of an outline. Last night I was working on the second-to-last step in the project (an annotated bibliography) when I realized that I hadn't a single primary source. Panicked, I began scouring Google for any sort of related interview with someone like Jerry Seltzer or roller derby queen Ann Calvello. Finding interviews wasn't hard - finding interviews that could actually help my project, was. 

Eventually I stumbled across Jerry Seltzer's blog and, upon scrolling through numerous entries about Roller Derby, I was suddenly struck with the idea that, since this guy's still alive and all, I might as well just try to interview him myself. I then discovered that he had a Facebook page, so I sent him a message about an interview and he responded not only quickly, but with exactly what I wanted to hear - "Of course." Anyone who knows me well knows that this kind of thing - contacting someone I don't know, much less someone somewhat famous (at least to everyone who knows their Roller Derby stuff) - is so completely far from anything I would normally do. But I am so very glad that I went out of my comfort zone and just did it, because now I have been rewarded with a  nice little interview with Jerry Seltzer. Not to mention that I could hardly stop grinning like a fool all night due to the excitement.

Now, before I post the interview, let me tell you all a little about him - Jerry Seltzer is the son of Leo Seltzer, Roller Derby's founding father. He was only three when his father started it all up, but a little over twenty years later, he took over after his father. Jerry spent the next 15 years running the operation, until he was forced to shut things down in 1973. 

The Interview (May 26,2011, via email):

1. Your father started Roller Derby when you were very young. Being that it has always been a big part of your life, have you always had the same feelings for the sport, or has your attitude towards it changed over the years?

My attitude has definitely changed....in the 60s and 70s I regarded it as my business and the necessity of keeping it operating in order to be profitable.....it was hard to enjoy the games as much as I do now.  People didn't realize the our whole league never had large capitalization ( I incorporated with just $500) and the 7 or 8 people who worked with me had to work hard to keep it going.

2. Roller Derby spent the majority of its early days in New York, but, after you took over in 1958, you moved the operation to San Francisco. Why?

My father had his operation based in New York until the early 50's when he moved to southern California.  He then was promoting out of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and then completely out of Los Angeles until 1958.  As revenues decreased, he concentrated on land development in Antelope Valley (by Edwards Air Force Base), and decided to shut down the operation.  I was living in northern California at that time and had done some track side announcing when Roller derby came to the San Francisco Bay Area.  I asked him if I could continue promoting the game, and he said of course but he could not back it financially. And basically in 1959 I reformed the Derby, starting showing games on a station in San  Francisco, videotaped the games and created my own independent network and by the early 60's we were seen in over 110 stations in the US and Canada.  We would schedule our league play in the SF Bay Area from April through September, lay off for four months, and schedule the rest of the country from January through March.  That was our pattern for over a dozen years.

3. What caused you to shut down Roller Derby in 1973? Was it an executive decision or did factors beyond your control force your hand?

There were a number of factors:  basically we existed from September to December on the revenue we had received during the rest of the year.  We laid off a number of people who didn't mind as they would go on unemployment comp and vacation, but we depended on the revenue from the road tour to get the majority of our income.  In late 1972 a number of the skaters became dissatisfied that there was not year-around employment and they in essence struck for more money (our ticket prices were only $1, $2, and $3 at most venues, so we didn't have that much to expend).  We had not heavy capitalization, no bank loans, and no partners, all of which were a mistake.  Then this was the time of a real gas shortage.  Prices were not the factor, but gas in essence was just not available.  People did not want to drive.  Many of our arenas cancelled dates on us because the buildings could not be heated.  There were other problems, and by fall of 1973, I was forced to shut down the league.  Ironically, our final game was a sellout at Madison Square Garden.  We were able to pay some of our obligations, but that was it with Roller Derby.

I went on to start BASS Tickets, a computerized ticketing company in the SF Bay Area, and eventually become executive Vice President, sales and marketing for Ticketmaster.
4. What are your thoughts on Roller Derby today? How do you think it compares to the league you ran in the 60's?

I am very supportive of Roller Derby today....the Leagues have started by themselves, the participants owning and operating them.  Our skaters were professional who were paid to skate an average of 5 games a week when we were playing.  Our sport was aimed at the spectators, today it is really for the players.  Some of our games were primarily exhibitions, today's are fully legitimate contests.  There are definitely pluses to both, but how can you argue when today there are almost 900 leagues in the world with over 35,000 participants in 33 countries.

I think there will eventually be a professional league as interest continues to grow.

5. When would you say that Roller Derby was at its peak popularity (excluding the modern version)? What was it like then?

Roller Derby hit its peak from the mid 60's to the early seventies.  Our tour of the midwest, east, and south sold out in every major arena, from 19,500 at Madison Square Garden to cities from Bangor Maine to Miami, Dallas, Portland, Seattle and more.  Our record crowds:  35,000 at the Oakland Stadium, and on September 15, 1972, over 50,000 at White Sox Park in Chicago.

I loved the promotion, and when it worked, I was the happiest.  The skating was fantastic and it is hard to believe that it was almost 40 years ago.

I thoroughly enjoy the games today and really appreciate the skill and effort that the players are putting into them.  I see as many as I can.