Independent baseball and its promotions are this episode’s focus, with guest Mike Kline, who discusses how the Schaumberg Boomers work against five major league sports, several other minor league competitors, and still draw a large crowd out to the ballpark each home date during the summer. Kline discusses the promotion meetings, where the only response that can’t be given is “no” and how to effectively use small promotional activities to yield big results on a fraction of the cost. Twitter: @MikeKliner
Dan Migala has worked for or advised virtually every level of sports franchises, including organizations in MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, NCAA, MLS, the LPGA, Cricket Australia and numerous minor league teams on issues related to non-traditional revenue generation, sponsorship, technology and sports marketing. Migala talks about not just breaking into sports, but staying in the industry. Twitter: @DanMigala
The Arizona Rattlers have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the Phoenix area. Team President Joe Windham talks about fan loyalty to the brand, the ability to push corporate sales activation further than even some of the larger major leagues in the area, and how to hire the best staff. Windham discusses how he mentors young interns and develops a full-fan experience that pushes fans to come back each game despite a lack of local media exposure. Twitter: @AZRattlersPrez
Nicole Pincus must sell all of her major corporate sponsorship for the Atlanta Motor Speedway on one weekend a year, Labor Day Weekend. Pincus talks about some of the sponsorship opportunities of that NASCAR offers for its fans. Pincus talks about the fan-NASCAR relationship and how that works to ensure corporate sponsorship activation.
The NBADL Bakersfield Jam have an interesting history since the team’s inception in 2006. Jam Co-Owner and Team President David Higdon explains some of the early missteps of the team, along with its resurrection in a unique way. The Jam went from a 10,000 seat downtown arena that they couldn’t fill while losing money, to a 400 seat practice facility in which they now generate a large B2B audience amid no walk-up tickets and a tidy profit. The concept is so new that several NBADL teams are looking to see where the Jam’s experiment is a blue print for the future. Twitter: @BakersfieldJam
Matt Slatus has his work cut out for him at Camelback Ranch, the Cactus League Spring Training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. Slatus has to sell not only against every one of the five professional and two college teams in the Phoenix metro area, but also against 13 other Spring Training competitors, each going after the corporate and luxury entertainment dollar. The fact that Spring Training is less than 10 weeks long also makes things even more complicated. Slatus explains his role with Camelback Ranch as well as working for several years in marketing & sponsorship throughout major and minor league sports. Twitter @MattSlatus
Michael Kelly is the newly-hired COO of the Bowl Championship Series in College Football. Charged with operating a unprecedented four-team national championship playoff system, with scores of folks still against the entire BCS voting system in general, Kelly has his work cut out of him. Kelly talks about some of the challenges that he will face upcoming, jumping from the Atlantic Coast Conference as a senior associate commissioner, and where he sees college football headed in the next 8-10 years. Twitter: @MKellyBCS
Ted Johnson has made a career out of gathering masses of people to events. Whether that be in his former life as a part of a political machine such as the Clinton-Gore campaign or Minnesota statewide offices, or as the Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. Johnson talks about his career in ensuring brand quality, filling the house during the down times, and how to make a proper marketing effort when attempting to gain footing in a state arena funding fight. Johnson talks openly about some of the ways in which marketing sectors can be opened up further to sports fans in the future.
VP of Partnerships & Strategy at Adrenalin, Bryan Kimball has helped some of the largest professional teams in the country realize and re-establish their brand identity with fans. Kimball talks about advertising, fan perceptions, how giveaways can harm a brand’s value, and feel for logos.
Fan Development Manager Ryan McKee is making every attempt to show Australian Rules Football’s Essendon Club some of the newest promotions to engage fans. McKee talks about his time with the club, the adjustment to the AFL and the country of Australia, as well as discusses his native Canada, detailing his time with the Vancouver Canucks and MLS WhiteCaps.