Jared Kozinn offers up his perspective on how to sell premium suite space, especially when the tastes of corporate buyers have changed. Kozinn talks about building up and retaining value for customers, as well as engaging with additional VIP experiences beyond the stadium home dates. Kozinn shares his own learning experiences with the Milwaukee Brewers during the Hank The Dog frenzy and sports marketing through pets in general. Jared's interview is part 2 of 2 with the Kozinn Family (Max's interview was Ep. 807)
Max Kozinn shares his knowledge of sports membership sales, not just with the San Antonio Spurs, but also with the University of Texas-Austin and with Life Time Fitness. Kozinn discusses some of the facets of engaging the customer in a longer term relationship, as well as cultivating more prospects by referrals. Kozinn shares some of the intrinsic values that Spurs Sports & Entertainment emulates through their staff and to their customers. Max's interview is part 1 of 2 with the Kozinn Family (Jared's interview will be Ep. 808). Twitter: @
Ken Gelman comes on the podcast to chat about the KASAI Elite Grappling Championships (“KASAI”), New York City’s premier competitive professional and amateur Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) promotion. Gelman talks about how committed the organization is to hosting live events featuring the most talented male and female grapplers from around the globe. Gelman discusses the history of KASAI’s organization, including well-renowned names of Hollis Gracie and other athletes from the worlds of martial arts. Twitter: @kasaigrappling
Craig Pintens joins the podcast to share his insight on how his marketing team has enhanced the profile of the University of Oregon athletic department. Pintens discusses various aspects of tickets, especially concerning deals and subscription models. Pintens talks about how to create a brand mechanism that doesn't happen as one opportunity, but continues to grow with a long term strategy. Twitter: @UOPintens
To put it mildly, Eric Kussin's return to the podcast has been exactly 4 years apart (Ep. 218) with a lot of issues in-between. In 2015, Kussin suffered a hard drive crash of his brain as chief revenue officer of the Florida Panthers. Now on the road to recovery, Kussin shares his comeback story about mental health, and some of the things that sports sales professionals can do to improve theirs daily. Kussin also talks about his openness about his mental issues, including a blog post which was read over 45,000 times on LinkedIn. Twitter: @qsin34 Email: kussinwants2help@hotmail.com
Patrick Nowlin shares his knowledge on both the third party and in-house model, having worked at both. Now at the University of Oklahoma as an assistant athletic director, Nowlin talks about some of the different methods of implementing better technology in an environment that is often more conservative on change. Nowlin describes his methods for not only increasing sales and customer service, as well as finding ways to increase the growth of his employees. Twitter: @paddys_place
Under Bryan Sperber's leadership, the Phoenix International Raceway is undertaking a massive $178 million dollar rebuild of its facility, aimed at ensuring NASCAR's legacy in the technology era of sports marketing. Sperber discusses some of the features of the build-out, including how PIR is embracing esports as well as non-race events, and developing unique fan experiences when NASCAR comes to town. Sperber talks about some of the demographic changes with actionable data, as well as how transition to new NASCAR drivers has led to altering traditional loyalties to fan favorites. @PhoenixRaceway
After about 15 years of bobbleheads as a giveaway item, the crazy just continues for sports as a gift to drive attendance numbers. Alexander Promotion's Brian Sloan talks about how a simplistic bobblehead is no longer the regular order of the day, transitioning now to talking bobbleheads with microchip technology, life-sized bobbleheads as well as memento theme nights where the bobblehead tells a story. Sloan shares his experience working for minor league baseball teams as a general manager as well as now in his role as president of the West Coast League.
Nick Schmidt fully admits that sitting in class at Seattle University with Troy Kirby was an experience that he will never forget, and is the guest for Episode 800 of the podcast. Schmidt talks about various concepts at the small college level, concerning both the student athlete and the administrator engaging across campus and with each other. Schmidt discusses some of the ways he feels can help administrating deal with coaching and player issues, as well as the expectations that student athletes may have toward raising their profile overall. Schmidt examines some of the fundraising challenges that small colleges have and how to overcome them. Twitter: @Nick_Schmidt_10