Building a crowd isn’t easy, but the Orlando City Lions are doing that in the USL with an MLS launch date in 2015. Kelly Worthen runs a skeleton crew of four full-time employees, trying to develop a crowd in the only outdoor team in Orlando, despite the turbulent weather changes, tourist environment, and a 70,000-seat Citrus Bowl. Worthen talks about how the team achieves a solid price point with its customer base, including using the weather to sell a higher price point in specific areas of the stadium, and developing a great B2B atmosphere for corporate sponsors.
Fan experience is quickly becoming one of the hottest topics in sports business, as teams look to enhance how each customer feels upon a trip to the venue. Ruby Newell-Legner works with several teams and leisure facilities in order to improve every touch point of the customer experience through guest relations, discussing how her 7 Star Service System has increased retention for various teams. Newell-Legner talks about founding her online webinars, The Fan Experience Institute (www.7starservice.com), in order to help mentor those in the sports world at improve the product in the stands and concourses. Twitter: @7StarService
The owner’s box for two minor league clubs is where you’ll find Alan Stein, who has several partners for the Omaha Storm Chasers and Lexington Legends minor league baseball teams. Stein talks about some of the ways that owners involve themselves both on the partnership and team level, as well as how owners can improve their acumen through Minor League Baseball’s instruction.
The discussion of corporation sponsorship activation goes deep with Chris Codington, who examines exactly how to reach the right metrics for business development. Activation from the corporate side doesn’t get talked about as much as it should, but Codington breaks down why businesses spend what they spend on signage, B2B cultivation areas, and other sponsorship activities.
The complex world of the CRM is discussed with Jawed Yusufi, who has reorganized two CRM systems at Nebraska-Omaha and Georgetown. While that may appear mundane to the layman, CRM maintenance is going to be one of the largest determinations of revenue driving in the coming years. Yusufi understands this and discusses what to look for in creating the right questions for a CRM, especially in Archtics Paciolan System. Yusufi also offers up a few Farsi translations to the podcast. Twitter: @JYusufi
B2B sales by using a sports organization’s game is one of the hallmarks of developing long-term success between a franchise and business brands. CEO Jason Kohll talks about his company, Professional Sports Partners, which helps push business affiliations toward the right sports brands, using his experience with the Houston Rockets and St. Louis Cardinals. Kohll discusses how a suite can develop a 10 to 1 return for clients. Twitter: @JasonKohll
Going from a sales staff position to minor league owner in twenty years isn’t easy, but Jeff Eiseman has done that by forming Agon Sports, which oversees operations for the Augusta GreenJackets minor league baseball club. Eiseman talks about his experiences with Mandalay and Ripken Baseball, of why the sports industry is really a sales industry above all else, and what those who want to break in need to do in order to survive long term. Twitter: @Jeff_Eiseman
Luke Burket provides a fascinating case study of what the customer wants compared to what sales staffs focus on, in terms of selling sports. Burket discusses his role within the Evansville Iceman, how his title hasn’t changed his motivations or drive, and how keeping an office close to his staff is one of the key’s to his success. Twitter: @LukeBurket
Every team gives lip service to brand, but really what does that entail? Minnesota Swarm Director of Brand Marketing Matt McCormack discusses ways to reinforce feeling and affinity for a team, as well as how to ensure that the environment around each home game feels branded right. McCormack gets into his own history of working in sports, the ability of mobility, why conferences matter, and why taking that leap of faith on an internship at Fresno State was worth it. McCormack also discusses the worst flying day in US History on 9/11, as he just landed in the Dallas airport as the terrorist attacks began. Twitter: @McCormack20
Group sales is growing with importance in sports as season ticket sales diminish. Chris Asa sits on the front lines of selling groups on the Montgomery Biscuits minor league team, and gets into the details of how to specifically sell more group tickets, what to target and how to build a true relationship which will garner larger crowds as well as revenue for years to come. Twitter: @ChrisAsa1