Collegiate Consulting Founder Russell Wright started out with a simple third-party sales concept for university athletic departments: while other third party sales focused on the big schools, Collegiate Consulting would try to help the small schools as well. Since opening their doors, Collegiate Consulting has serviced over 300 institutions, conferences, and organizations in 45 starts in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. Wright talks about selling university athletic departments on sales model concepts and the push-back often felt from change.
Mets VP of Ticket Sales & Service Leigh Castergine has been utilizing various promotional opportunities to sell a MLB team & CITI Field to the masses. She talks about the “quiet” section for families with autistic children and her thoughts on selling out the house. Castergine has had a lot of experience with full buildings, also serving in a top sales role for the Boston Bruins, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers & Flyers during her tenure.
Jay Finnerty sells college basketball tickets in the third largest city in America, where the men's basketball team may not win very many Big East games, but the attendance is never down below seven thousand a game. Finnerty talks about the issues that DePaul has embraced, using an inhouse ticket sales model of two sales people, two on the marketing staff, as DePaul goes after one of the largest alumni bases for a school in the US.
In Barcelona, Rutger Hoorn oversees ticket sales for Euroleague Basketball's Final Four, which is watched by over 197 million in over 40 countries each May. The Final Four is set to be played in London for the next two years, even though the British are not generally basketball fans. Hoorn talks about the issues facing Euroleague Basketball, some of the differences of American versions European sales models, as well as some of the efforts that the Euroleague is making in order to sell more tickets to their fan base while sharing best practices league-wide.
Chris Gallagher has been helped re-engage a rabid fanbase with its hometown Browns in the last two seasons. Deciding to do his podcast interview while in a vehicle, off the road during a Ohio snowstorm, Gallagher talks about the different promotions, technologies and methods of ensuring quality customer service despite the on-field record whether at the Browns, Miami Dolphins, NHL Panthers. Gallagher speaks on the rigors of moving for the next job, including a stint in New York while reseating fans & high ticket costs in new Yankee Stadium in mid-2009.
He might be considered a ticket heretic by the time listeners are done with this episode. Why? Because Steve DeLay thinks outside the box and provides his opinion contrary to what the norm is. DeLay doesn’t subscribe to the notion of heavy discounting, free tickets or premium items, especially to those single game buyers. A 20-year veteran of sports sales with 1 NBA team, 2 NHL teams, and Mandalay Baseball Properties, DeLay talks about some of his issues with dynamic pricing and whether social media has an ROI.
In 17 years, Barry Gibson has amassed a wealth of knowledge on how to sell any type of ticket package. His focus remains on strategy and training of new staff, creating different scenarios in order to ensure that every question is answered by a prospect and no business is not served correctly during the process of a sale. Gibson discusses selling tickets during stints at the Indianapolis Speedway, the Detroit Tigers, The Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings, Durham Bulls, West Michigan Whitecaps and Mandalay Baseball Properties.
In 2008, a revolution occurred on the campus of Georgia Tech. The Aspire Group, Inc. became one of the first third-party organizations to assume the ticket selling duties of a college campus. What was viewed originally with skepticism by athletic departments across the nation became the norm in only a few short years. Bill Fagan oversees one of the largest third-party operations and offers up some of the details on how marketing to college sports fans has changed, especially with students, and why proactive ticket selling is important to capture an ever-elusive fan.
Matt O’Neill competes in the toughest media & sports market in the country, while trying to also expand the brand of the NY Red Bulls into the world’s biggest stage. O’Neill discusses how the Red Bulls have gone after capturing fans, why he doesn’t believe in premium items, and why he chooses to “hold the line” on discounting, fan erosion, and mini-packs by comparison of selling a fan on the entire season.
Scott O’Connell has witnessed many of the changes to Minnesota baseball since the Twins hired him in 1984, including two World Series wins, two different ball parks, and the implementation of CRMs & dynamic pricing. O’Connell talks about the state of ticket sales back in the 1980s, when prospects were overlapped by sales staff several times over and the state of Minnesota sports as new venues come online. As 2012-13 president of the Association of Luxury Suite Directors, O’Connell provides his expertise on the state of the suite marketplace and where he believes it is headed in the next 5-10 years.