Just completing his fourteenth season with the Smokies, Doug Kirchhofer has been involved in the minor league sports industry for the past 25 years with "hands-on" experience in minor league franchise development and sports facility management.
Kirchhofer got his start in professional sports in 1989 as part of the group that formed and operated the Nashville Knights of the East Coast Hockey League. Later in the ‘90s, Kirchhofer became part owner of the Birmingham Bulls, an offshoot of the Cincinnati franchise. During his years in Cincinnati, he also was involved with teams in minor league basketball and professional indoor soccer as well as overseeing the private acquisition and $16 million renovation of Riverfront Coliseum in 1997, transforming the aging downtown building into what is now known as US Bank Arena.
Kirchhofer’s ties to Tennessee reach back to time spent as Vice President/Finance, for Concoal Management Company in Knoxville from 1981-94. During that span he also sat on the Board of Directors at First Heritage National Bank in Loudon. Prior to working with Concoal, he was a manager in the tax department of a public accounting firm in Atlanta, a job he held after earning a Master's Degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois. Kirchhofer graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington with a B.S. in Business Administration.
Doug and his wife, Lana, have made their home in East Tennessee, at least during the "off season", since 1981. They have two grown children, Kristi and Kyle, living in Knoxville along with four grandsons (Jay, Evan, Tanner and Drew). Doug and Lana have both served as board members of the Christian Academy of Knoxville and Doug served a term as president of that Board of Directors. Doug was a member of the 2003 class of Leadership Sevier and the 2006 class of East Tennessee Regional Leadership. He is also a graduate of the 2007 class of Leadership Knoxville. He currently serves as chairman of the Finance and Advisory Committee for the Southern League.