The former members of the Big East Conference, amid the departure of The Catholic 7 schools, transformed the college landscape in 2013-14 by the creation of The American Athletic Conference. The AAC was expected to do well, but no one expected one of its flagship schools, UCONN, to capture both the men’s & women’s NCAA basketball title, as well as another flagstaff school, UCF, to have a BCS bowl bid and stunning win over Baylor. Mark Hodgkin talks about his role in the branding creation of the AAC’s inaugural digital footprint, as well as some of the highest and lowest of being a young conference upstart against the legacy of the Big East brand. Twitter: @Mark_Hodgkin
NCAA Division II is quickly becoming just as sharp on revenue generation as its Division I cousins, although the slices of pie may be a tad smaller in scope. Pace University’s Zach Dayton discusses some of the various aspects of how a smaller university athletic program manages to generate revenue, through ticket sales, corporate sales and marketing, as well as runs an efficient operation with a smaller, multi-duty staff. Twitter: @Zach_Dayton
Al Mowrey represents the Cleveland Cavaliers’ minor league operations with in the NBADL in the Canton Charge. Mowrey talks about building up the base, going after the important group sales in the surrounding areas, as well as building acceptance by local businesses for the Charge’s entertainment value. Mowrey discusses the role of sales within the organization, especially for younger executives trying to break and stay into the business, as well as his experiences with the L.A. Clippers when they weren’t at the top of the standings and how that helped him grow his sports business acumen. Twitter: @ABMowrey
Scott Lane has been overseeing one of the more unique minor league baseball franchises in the West Michigan Whitecaps, but that didn’t prepare him for one of the ultimate national stories that involved his operation in January 2013 when the White Cap’s stadium press box burned to the ground. Lane talks about the rebuilding effort of the club, including various ways that they not only rebuild, but grew their ticket base during the off-season when the team’s future was never in doubt. Lane discusses the White Caps’ incursion into the auto racing world, along with lessons learned in promotion and audience acceptance, and expands on what happens when the team’s 4,100-calorie Fifth-Third Burger drew the attention of Man Versus Food’s Adam Richman. Twitter: @WMWhitecaps
European football doesn’t have everything figured out when it comes to the fan, says Mark Bradley, who has used his own family as a working lab to ensure that the fan experience at matches is second-to-none. Bradley discusses his thought-processes over the years, trying to pull away that notion that club wins solves everything when it comes to attendance. Bradley talks about ways that he has helped draw families out to local matches and utilizes long-held trust mechanisms to ensure that each team representative is doing their part to promote the organization’s hallmarks during each match. Twitter: @FanExperienceCo
As more social platforms emerge, it takes an entire staff at an NBA franchise to adapt and create content continually for a department that wasn’t around 10 years ago. TJ Ansley talks about his tenure with the Portland Trailblazers as they expand into new markets online, as well as his experiences with the Columbus Crew MLS in order to build fan loyalty to the overall product and above all else, create an affinity for that product which translates into revenue. Ansley discusses the NBA’s movement into China, as well as some of the ways that the Trailblazers help create new avenues of interest in their brand with the local fanbase. Twitter: @TJAnsley
NFL stadium design is the focal point of this episode with Kelly Kerns, who has worked for over 28 years in architectural and management. Kerns talks about being a project leader on some of the larger NFL stadium projects, including Qwest Field and Convention Center (now CenturyLink) in Seattle as well as New Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City as well as renovations to Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, New York. Kerns talks about how human traffic flow within the stadium ecosystem becomes a large component of the overall design, helping security as well as the fan experience. Twitter: @Populous
John Shumate has worked on both the side of the franchise and the brand. With experience in corporate sales delivery for the Orlando Magic, Columbus Blue Jackets and Miami Dolphins, Shumate oversaw brand management of Gatorade for eight years and now serves as Director of Marketing for PepsiCo in the Southeast Region, fostering brand affinity with the NFL and the soft drink company. Shumate talks about some of the ways that corporate sponsorship representatives hurt their chances of ever getting a deal done, including asking for essentially a charity over true sponsorship activation asks. Twitter: @JohnAShumate
Scott Frasnelly returns to the podcast for his second stint. After serving with the ECHL hockey league, helping its sales practices, Frasnelly now has taken that experience to build his own dynamic ticket system. Frasnelly considers iSportstix to be a part of the CRM/ticketing lexicon, as it slowly grows its business out of his garage and into some of the smaller minor league franchises. Frasnelly also talks about his new ownership venture as a restaurant retail manager, and some of the things which change once a person who owns a food operation now eats in someone else’s food operation. Twitter: @iSportsTix
Another returning guest to the podcast is Mike Humes, who switched from the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies to help run the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. Humes is no nonsense, bottom-line financial mind who sees asset creation at the heart of how to sell the Coyotes’ product. Humes breaks down some of the new initiatives of the Coyotes, which have survived NHL ownership and bankruptcy, and now have a renaissance underway as it product builds a legacy in Glendale, Arizona. Twitter: @MikeHumes1