Kyle has had three stints with the Phoenix Suns, first as an intern, then as a group sales rep, then finally, back to take the lead of the organization's overall ticket sales strategy, now as Senior Vice President of Ticket Sales & Service. Kyle shares his vision of how the Suns have managed to do the impossible, create a 133-game sell-out streak off of the backs of the pandemic, and create one of the biggest brands in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Kyle also talks about some of the legacy issues surrounding ticket sales in general, how to mold new account reps into the fold and how to innovate in sport.
The last time that Troy talked to Joe, they were at the 2016 NACDA Conference. Troy was at UC Davis and Joe was at Holy Cross. Now, both are no longer in college athletics, which has changed drastically in that time. Joe made his way out to the southwest, working at both Surprise Stadium, the Cactus League home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, and now at Insignia Events, owned by the Arizona Cardinals for their State Farm Stadium event conversion unit. Joe talks about the variables of changing over a massive stadium for single weekend events, as well as the blurred differences with college athletics and professional sports.
Rob Yowell has the entry of naming rights explode during his time in the industry, and has adopted the ability to sell new brands on the world of sports. Yowell has spent his time over the last few years helping groups such as bitcoin gain entry into the sports world space. Yowell covers some of the ins and outs of that industry segment, along with the role of sport tourism boards in order to attract larger events to a metropolitan area. Yowell also chats about his own experience as a sport educator at Arizona State University.
Mike Dellosa grew up in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, rising to the role of Vice Presiden to Ticket Sales. So when it came to the pandemic, he did something drastic, throwing out the playbook entirely on how to sell tickets to fans. Dellosa felt that desperate times called for desperate measures, and he did whatever it took, by forcing in a different membership model than was witnessed at the organization before. And good thing he did, as Dellosa explains, because even the people he has working for him are now of a different generation, Gen-Z, who as he puts it, have some of the "best BS detectors" imaginable.
Matt Slatus returns to the podcast, now as President & General Manager of Camelback Ranch, the Cactus League home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. Slatus talks about the decade separation between his podcast guesting adventures, how he took a General Manager job at the Ballpark at The Palm Beaches (Houston Astros & Washington Nationals home), and all of the ins/outs of running a two month Spring Training operation, with a lot of other factors throughout the year.
Kathy Burrows has been a guest and friend of the podcast for over a decade. So its fitting that she be the first guest since 2019, when the podcast was last updated. Things have changed in the industry, for the better, as the phone crusher model seems to be dead or dying. Kathy talks about what she has learned, especially by asking those buyers what is being done right or wrong to sell them, and how she has incorporated critical thinking leadership training into her sales model for upper management.