SUNRISE, Fla. — A phone call from Italy several weeks ago changed the career trajectory of Michael White, leading him to become the Florida Panthers’ newest business operations president.
The person on the other end of that international call was Bill Zito, the Panthers’ hockey operations president, who reached out to offer insights about the organization’s operations. That conversation convinced White he belonged with the Stanley Cup champions.
On Tuesday, the Panthers made White’s appointment official, bringing aboard an executive with 25 years of experience in technology and customer experience fields. His responsibilities will include managing business operations for all four team facilities: Amerant Bank Arena, Baptist Health IcePlex, Panthers IceDen, and War Memorial Auditorium.
The opportunity to collaborate with Zito, who built the roster that captured Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and 2025, played a crucial role in White’s decision. Zito contacted him from Italy last month while serving with the U.S. men’s hockey team leadership during their gold medal victory at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
“We clicked automatically. Our first meeting was supposed to be 30 minutes, went an hour and a half and we probably could have talked another two hours,” White explained. “And we just stayed in touch throughout the process. I would say that we’re off to a really great start together and he was one of the primary reasons I came over here. He’s one of one, a legend, but also somebody that you want to partner with.”
White joins the Panthers organization after serving as Chief Product Officer at Zoox, Amazon’s autonomous vehicle division, where he helped develop self-driving robotaxis. While ice resurfacing machines still need human operators, the Panthers cited White’s strategic planning abilities as a distinguishing factor in their selection process.
“After a diligent and comprehensive search, we are confident that Michael is the right fit to lead our organization into continued success,” stated Michael Viola, a member of the Panthers’ ownership group. “He brings to our club a proven record in consumer experience, partnership growth and product development for some of the world’s most successful companies and invaluable capabilities of organizational leadership and visionary innovation.”
White faces an immediate challenge regarding the team’s future development plans. The Panthers must submit proposals to Broward County officials by fall 2028 for developing the area surrounding Amerant Bank Arena, their home venue.
His professional background includes multiple senior positions with The Walt Disney Company, where he contributed to organizing the 2019-20 NBA season restart at Disney’s Orlando-area campus during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
White met with most Panthers staff members on Monday during his introduction to the organization.
“The organization is world-class,” White observed. “My previous job was great. Then I met the Violas and I’m like, ‘Wow, this is fantastic. Unbelievable ownership.’ Obviously, the winning that the team has done, and Bill’s done, the culture … it just permeates through. I just met 300 of the front-office folks and everyone literally introduced themselves and you could just feel the culture. For me, it’s a little bit of a listening journey to start and then we’ll see what we can do next. It’s a fantastic foundation and we’ll look for areas where we can amplify that.”
White takes over from Matthew Caldwell, who departed his role as Florida’s business operations leader in August to become CEO of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
