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Carmen Quayle | |
|---|---|
 Quayle in 2024 | |
| Born | Carmen Doris Thompson March 5, 1946 Apache, Oklahoma, United States |
| Nationality | American Comanche Nation |
| Education | Sweet Briar College |
| Occupation | Businesswoman Team owner |
| Known for | founder of Quayle Holdings co-founder of Rock-afire founder of The Carmen Quayle Foundation former owner of the Washington Capitals former owner of the Washington Warriors former owner of the Washington Justice former owner of the Washington Mystics former co-owner of PQHJ Motorsports |
| Spouse(s) | Joseph Quayle (m. 1978) |
| Children | 2 |
Carmen Doris Quayle (née Thompson; born March 5, 1946) is a Native American former businesswoman, half-Comanche and half-Irish. She is the founder and Executive Chairwoman of restaurant holding company Quayle Holdings, as well as the co-founder of Rock-afire, a chain of family entertainment centers. Quayle is also the former owner of the NHL's Washington Capitals, the NFL's Washington Warriors, the NBA's Washington Justice, the WNBA's Washington Mystics, the Capital City Go-Go and Washington Sports Network, and a former co-owner of PQHJ Motorsports in NASCAR, and was also the president of the Justice. She currently runs The Carmen Quayle Foundation.
Biography[]
Quayle (right) with her twin sister Ellie and mother Emily Thompson in 1949.
Carmen Doris Thompson was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. Her mother, Emily Thompson (née Coffey, 1922-2014), was a Comanche nurse, and her father, Jeffrey Thompson (1920-1997), was a plumber of Irish descent. She is fluent in Comanche, which she learned from her mother and maternal grandparents. Her twin sister, Ellie Thompson, is a painter and textile artist. Quayle graduated from Fort Sill Indian School in 1964.
At the age of nineteen, she moved to Arlington County, Virginia and started attending Sweet Briar College, graduating in 1970 with a business degree; after graduating from college, Quayle became politically involved in Native American activism, participating in the Wounded Knee Incident at Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973.
Quayle Holdings[]
In 1975, she founded a company, Thompson Holdings Inc., to develop restaurant franchises. In 1978, she married tomato grower Joseph Quayle (born 1945), and Thompson Holdings was rebranded to Quayle Holdings. Together, they have two children: Alyson (born 1981) and Maggie (born 1984), both of whom are currently involved in Quayle Holdings.
Quayle became a franchisee for the ShowBiz Pizza Place chain of family entertainment centers in 1981, and purchased the struggling Howard Johnson's restaurant chain and frozen food line in 1985 (the motor lodge chain, now named Howard Johnson, is currently owned by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc.). By 1984, she had opened twenty-two ShowBiz locations in the East Coast. Creative Engineering founder Aaron Fechter phoned her to discuss plans for a competing family entertainment center chain. She suggested making it a "hipper" alternative to ShowBiz and sister company Chuck E. Cheese's, as well as positioning it towards teenagers, having disagreed with ShowBiz corporate's direction. The restaurant, Rock-afire (after its animatronic show, The Rock-afire Explosion) opened its doors in Orlando in 1986, becoming an immediate success. Her company grew rapidly, expanding to 400 locations by 1999 after purchasing the remaining assets from the bankrupt ShowBiz the previous year. In 1994, Quayle purchased a third restaurant chain, Kenny Rogers Roasters, followed by Fuddruckers in 1998. Both have since seen expansion as well.
Quayle served as an executive producer on The Rock-afire Explosion Show (1995-1998), The Rock-afire Explosion Movie (2005), The Rock-afire Explosion: Dawn of the Bears (2008), and The Rock-afire Explosion: World Tour (2023), and later became an investor in Creative Engineering. She founded The Carmen Quayle Foundation in 2011 to provide support for Native Americans and other indigenous people worldwide.
In 2023, Quayle retired as CEO of Quayle Holdings, with Alyson Quayle succeeding her in the role and Maggie Quayle heading the Quayle Sports division, though she remains with the company as Executive Chairwoman.
Sports ownership[]
Quayle Sports[]
Quayle Sports was launched in February 1999 as a new division of Quayle Holdings in preparation of its purchases of the Washington Capitals and Washington Redskins. It owns Northwest Stadium, home of the Warriors, Capital One Arena, home of the Capitals and Bullet Trains, and EagleBank Arena. In 2022, Quayle purchased NBC Sports Washington, which was rebranded to Washington Sports Network the following year.
Washington Capitals[]
Quayle has owned the Washington Capitals since the spring of 1999, and in that timeframe the team has won ten Southeast Division titles, three Presidents' Trophies, recorded more than 200 consecutive sellouts at Verizon Center (now Capital One Arena), and won a Stanley Cup Championship.
Washington Redskins / Warriors[]
In May 1999, Quayle, a lifelong football fan, purchased the Washington Redskins and Jack Kent Cooke Stadium for $900 million following the death of previous owner Jack Kent Cooke, outbidding Snyder Communications CEO Daniel Snyder. At the time, it was the most expensive transaction in sporting history. The deal was financed largely through borrowed money, including $340 million borrowed from Société Générale and $155 million debt assumed on the stadium. To pay down the team's debt, in 2003, she sold 15 percent of the team to real estate developer Dwight Schar for $200 million, 15 percent to Florida financier Robert Rothman for a like amount; and 5 percent to FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith, leaving her with a 65 percent ownership interest. She became the first non-white majority owner in a major U.S. professional sports league. After the acquisition, Quayle formed a new branch for her company, Quayle Sports. One of Quayle's first moves was to begin the process of renaming the Redskins; as a team rebranding process usually takes over a year, the team continued playing as the Washington Redskins from 1999 to 2001. The name was changed to the Warriors in 2002.
Quayle at a Warriors game in 2023.
Quayle was also one of a handful of female NFL owners, including Sheila Ford Hamp (Detroit Lions), Virginia Halas McCaskey (Chicago Bears), Amy Adams Strunk (Tennessee Titans), Carol Davis (Las Vegas Raiders), Denise DeBartolo York (San Francisco 49ers), Gayle Benson (New Orleans Saints), Kim Pegula (Buffalo Bills), Janice McNair (Houston Texans), Jody Allen (Seattle Seahawks) and Dee Haslam (Cleveland Browns).
Washington Wizards / Justice[]
Quayle became the majority owner of the Washington Wizards in June 2005.
Washington Mystics[]
Petty Enterprises / PQH Motorsports / PQHJ Motorsports[]
Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade[]
Capital City Go-Go[]
Philantrophy[]
Political views[]
Gallery[]
