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
Flash Seats is one of the more revolutionary products in ticketing. Sam Gearce has overseen its implementation with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and expanded Flash Seat’s reach into professional and college teams. Gearce talks about dynamic ticket pricing, ticketless entry and some of the other technologies, which Flash Seats will be innovating for the next few years. Twitter @FlashSeats
Michael Larsen heads the ticket operations for one of the most successful independent baseball teams in the country, the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. Larsen talks about the challenges with attendance, promotions, and how to garner crowds that come back several times over the year. Larsen also talks about what it takes to get into sports, some of the ways in which interns are used by a team in their first job in sports. Twitter: @FMRedhawks
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.
Madison Mallards President Vern Stenman has his work cut out for him. The Mallards are one of the most successful collegiate summer wood baseball leagues in the nation, utilizing several professional team practices in terms of sales and marketing. Stenman talks about the challenges moving forward, as well as the development of two other teams within the collegiate summer wood baseball league, as well as the Madison market. Twitter: @MadisonMallards
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
Dr. Barry Kahn founded QCue, Inc., helping foster dynamic ticket pricing’s rise with the San Francisco Giants in 2010. It changed the ballgame, causing front offices to embrace analytics in revenue streams for the first time. Kahn explains how the process of variable pricing works, some of the factors which teams still aren’t doing correctly, and how it can help generate more revenue in a fractionalized world. Kahn does all of this while sitting through the World Baseball Classic at Chase Field, during the Italy vs. USA game. Twitter: @DrKahn
Ari Kaplan has been a leading figure in revolutionizing the way that Major League Baseball looks at statistical information. A key leader in the role of analytics, Kaplan has been involved with half of the MLB teams in his 23-year career. Kaplan talks about good data, sampling and the ability to see through the numbers, understanding the intangibles and how to work with great managers to determine scouting and analytic information. Twitter: @AriKaplan1
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
At a university where the rival school has won consecutive FCS Football Championships, Director of Ticket Sales & Promotions Dexter Albrecht has managed to push the envelope in collegiate ticket sales. His goal is to continually establish a cohesive ticket sales strategy that ensures UND's success, regardless of whether that is on the football field, basketball court or the ice. Albrecht talks about UND, his time selling tickets for the NHL's Minnesota Wild, and how he got into the business.