In 2012, Bill Yates was a guest on Episode 8 of the podcast. Things sure have changed in terms of the sports business landscape since then, especially when looking back at what was a buyers market for teams up for sale, now becomes a seller's advantage as the national economy has improved. Yates discusses some of the alterations that have taken place, as team evaluations have solidified with variable profit margins, as well as some of the things that still leave room for improvement when it comes to understanding a franchise's worth. Yates talks about some of the issues that leagues and franchises always have, with good as well as bad ownership groups, and some of the red flags that can come up when an audit situation happens. Twitter: @YatesieTweets
The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is the premiere event for college athletic department professionals, with a 12,000+ membership base and an annual 9-day conference that stretches out over 6,000+ attendees for 15 affiliate associations. Chris Green oversees the corporate sponsorship portion of NACDA, as well as its 15 associations, including the newest, the National Association of Athletic Ticket Sales & Operations (NAATSO). Green talks about sponsorship components which matter to both the vendor and the attendee, as well as the new principle of transforming a conference sponsorship into a year-round branding tool for the corporate partner. Green shares his thoughts on the lifespan of conference trade shows or booths in general, as well as helping discover what translates to R.O.I. for the vendor when sponsoring a segmentation of the industry. Green presents the overall challenge that's a "good problem to have" where NACDA and its affiliate associations have started to swell and cause overflow issues for their hotels, creating the issue of whether to move more toward a convention center model for future conference sites. Twitter: @ChrisGreen_3737
As journalism embraces or faces the changing landscape of technology, various questions arise to how to best implement its application. Jeff Sharon is witnessing this first-hand, overseeing the online masters degree program of journalism at Full Sail University. A former sports writer for Genesis Communications covering the University of Central Florida athletic department, Sharon shares his view of how developing stories is changing, as well as how the role of the journalist is becoming less about being part of a major company, and instead, becoming more of a freelancer. Sharon talks about how this changing model will affect the ability to either gain scoops on information, what details will now be released to the public that in the past would have not made the grade in a newspaper or TV station, and how a journalist's ability to deduce not only facts, but maintain principles, will be placed squarely on their shoulders, rather than having a larger organization surrounding them. Twitter: @Jeff_Sharon
Having that short-hand of actually working in the industry has helped Professor Clint Warren at Illinois State as he mentors his sports management students on what to do to establish a career in the field. Warren shares his experience of learning about the importance of ticket sales and revenue generation, as well as how teams look to craft young executives into potential upper management prospects. Warren talks about ensuring that his lesson plans reflect, as well as compliment, any potential student looking to utilize that knowledge later on in life. Warren also discusses some of the determining factors that students should make when considering a sports management program at a university. Twitter: @Clint_Warren
The global power of social media has helped smaller NCAA Division I conferences equal the playing field, and Steve Chen is one of the key examples of harnessing that power for the 9-school Big West Conference. Chen shares some of the ways in which his role is defined by expanding awareness and attention of specific branding mechanisms, as well as highlighting various individual efforts of student-athletes. Chen talks about some of the pitfalls of having a school that is up to 3-hours behind other schools, but also some of the ways that they are not left behind in media attention by the conference overall. Chen provides examples of his attitude of being willing to help out regardless of the job role, including overseeing ticketing for conference tournaments. Twitter: @BigWestMD
The Ticket Fairy is a different concept in the world of ticket sales, and may be more of a group sales advocate in created a true crowd builder for a sporting event. Ritesh Patel explains how The Ticket Fairy's humble beginnings were formed when he was attempting to promote live events, only to find that drawing a crowd was harder than it looked. Patel talks about The Ticket Fairy's key concept, actually rewarding ticket buyers with a reimbursement of their ticket value as they bring more of their friends and colleagues into purchasing for the same event. Patel shares his knowledge of how the ticket and promotion industry is changing, and how some of the old methods of creating a crowd are quickly dying off for a more improved concept in the Ticket Fairy. Twitter: @PurpleLight
Racing has grown from a Post-War activity into a booming, multi-billion dollar economic engine that has more Fortune 500 companies affiliated with it than any other sport throughout the world. Tim Frost, publisher of the National Speedway Directory, provides perspective on how the world of racing has grown up since the 1950s-1960s popularity boom, as well as some of its growing pains during the 1990s-2000s. Frost shares his viewpoint on the value of membership within the racing community, and how a lot of the ways that racing has developed a core relationship with its fanbase. Frost talks about some of the factors involved in how racing has established a foothold on specific areas, as well as the complication of learning how to draw a crowd effectively through marketing.
In the world of the Southeastern Conference, everything can be placed under a microscope. No one knows this better than Chris Freet, who laments the fact that during the first Arkansas home game of the 2015 season, the game script went long and UA didn't do "The Hog Call." Freet discusses some of the ways that he has helped try to improve the UA brand, especially with the student body, in order to make the student section into a more exciting atmosphere. Freet talks about the implementation of the student skyboxes, and how that has help increased the perception by the students using that area during games. Freet also shares his thoughts on becoming an industry leader for multiple organizations, and how that improves his ability to help UA become greater through his professional development. Twitter: @ChrisFreet
Jayme Lamm represents the new age of journalism, where freelance has become the standard, and writing for various publications instead of one is the norm. Lamm discusses how she approaches her story development, as well as handles the day-to-day rigors of establishing enough funds to get by, along with created sponsored content. Lamm shares her thoughts on establishing journalistic integrity, ensuring that her credibility cannot be questioned, and along with switching her voice to fit the publication that she is writing for. Lamm talks about her latest reporting adventure, attending Populous' blogger day at the renovated Kyle Field on the campus of Texas A&M as well as some of the features of the new construction. Twitter: @JaymeLamm
Part of Rob Kelly's watch over the Notre Dame ticket office is looking out for multiple instances of fraud, some of it coming from sophisticated runs by organized crime in Chicago. Kelly describes some of the steps that he has to undertake in order to ensure protection of the Notre Dame brand, as well as achieve clean entry for patrons to games. Sometimes, this means that there are fans going to Notre Dame Stadium who are out large amounts of cash because they purchased from a scam artist. Kelly talks about various issues that stem from helping sell the Notre Dame brand, including the massive consecutive games sell-out streak for football, as well as developing a holistic pricing mechanism that works efficiently with transparency to the consumer. Kelly also presents his thoughts on why ticketing is a trade, and something that is highly valuable as an apprenticeship. Twitter: @RobMKelly