As NAATSO time in Las Vegas hits, it's a visit with Justin Rogers, who oversees the revenue generation aspects of Boise State Athletics as "Resource Development." While that title is a bit new on the landscape, the role features many old school interests such as ticket sales, marketing and gift development. Rogers shares his viewpoint of capturing the elusive fan as athletic department revenue generation cycles increase. Rogers also talks about his passion for ensuring that each person who steps foot onto Boise State's campus creates a lifelong interest in the school and athletic department.
Chris Spano ties various components of the primary and secondary ticket markets together, working for MLB, NFL and NHL teams, along with working at StubHub. Now, at the American Hockey League, Spano discusses some of the ways that the secondary ticket market can even help minor league hockey survive and thrive in a constant push for new inventory sales to the open market. Spano also talks about ways to train staff, along with the understanding that group sales, not season tickets, tend to be the main focus of every AHL team moving forward. @CSpano1980
The BMW Championship represents a unique challenge for Jeff Lapsansky, since he has to sell tickets to a PGA Tour event that moves every other year to a different city. Lapsansky discusses some of the ways that he drives ticket sales and marketing for the event, as well as ensures that pricing maximizes the possibility of a return for the non-profit organization running the BMW Championship. Twitter: @JeffLaps
The weather doesn't stop a great ticket sales staff from selling. John Markiewicz shares his knowledge about selling in cold weather for baseball and hot weather for hockey. Markiewicz talks about his strategy in driving group ticket sales for Chicago White Sox games in April where the temperature is a high of 8 degrees, and selling hockey in Florida, where it is always hot out, and yet, the goal is to get everyone inside a building to watch a winter sport. Markiewicz covers some of the details of selling third party tickets for Purdue. Twitter: @johnm_whitesox
As if it couldn't get confusing enough, Troy King comes on the podcast to share a funny episode at the 2018 National Sports Forum regarding Troy Kirby, Troy Tutt and Troy Kirby and one confused gentleman who said "Hi Troy" when all three turned around at once. King talks about his time at Churchill Downs, selling over 70 events beyond the Oaks & Derby. King shares his experiences in selling horse racing, as well as major and minor league baseball.
Mackie Feierstein doesn't have the ability to focus on a single successful sport, because the University of Miami athletic department has several winning programs to sell. Feierstein talks about serving several masters, including men's basketball and football, as well as picking up prospects between both. Feierstein discusses the issue of playing in an NFL stadium, with a heavy-premium focus, and how he trains his staff to work toward selling out the house. Twitter: @MackieFire
Indoor football has had hundreds of defunct teams or franchises switching leagues. The practice is considered almost common place. Yet when the Bloomington Edge decided to depart the Champions Indoor Football League for another, they were sued. Edge general manager Charles Welde talks as much as he can about the lawsuit and where the team sits today, as well as how it trains its staff and interns to sell experiences in such an uncertain environment.
Growing an account representative into a skilled sports sales professional is Eric Platte's goal at the Atlanta Hawks. Platte discusses his mindset in how to foster growth from each new hire to develop a pipeline of success for the Hawks organization. Platte talks about allowing the curtain to be pulled back on what selling in sports is, as well as the time commitment required up front of all employees. Twitter: @EricPlatte
The Rochester Rhinos of the USL have announced that they won't be playing for the 2018 season. Chief Business Officer Mark Washo returns to the podcast (Ep. 113) to discuss how the decision came down, as well as his return to sports after spending time in the cruiseliner industry. Washo discusses some of the issues around professional soccer, including how one of the biggest problems is an internal one, with soccer's hardcore fans. Twitter: @SoccerWasho
Before 2017, Jim Hayes never thought about who owned his Denver Broncos tickets. He always thought that he did. Since 2011, after being on a 75,000+ waiting list for 6 years prior, Hayes had been a Denver Broncos season ticket holder. But when he decided to resell his tickets through the official Ticketmaster exchange, he unwittingly had his information weaponized against him. Hayes' story goes beyond the issues of resale, and explore the issues of customer service, season ticket investment loyalty. Twitter: @jamesrhayes