In a podcast first, Joe Verschueren shares a history with the guest of the podcast episode right before him, Matt Carson (Ep. 725), in that they both worked in the same position at Texas State. Verschueren tells of his tenure prior to Carson's, where the school had decided to move up to FBS from FCS, as well as change the university name. Now down the road a couple of years, with a stint at the University of Wyoming and at his current position with the University of Oklahoma, Verschueren shares his knowledge on ticket sales, operations and overall customer service at one of the biggest college football settings, in Norman, Oklahoma. Twitter: @Jversch14
Matt Carson has a wealth of knowledge on the state of FBS athletic programs in the Lone Star State, having working at three Texas universities during his career. Carson talks about the transition from development to operations, coupled with ticket sales overall, and how he works on building revenue generation from his prospective contacts. As the Assistant Athletic Director at Texas State, Carson describes some of the challenges, as well as some of the victories, in getting fans invested in the Bobcat brand. Twitter: @MatthewICarson
Stephen Nord brings his wealth of sports sales experience to the podcast, to discuss his roles with the Salt Lake City Bees and the Utah Jazz. While he starts out talking ticket sales, the corporate partnership activation that he sold later comes into play. Nord discusses some of the ways that he engaged with his customers, ensuring success, and unveils some of the intangibles that come with selling in the Utah market. Nord talks about why he left sports sales for Podium.com, and some of the ways that he is cross-utilizing some of the skills from his Jazz experience into his new role. Twitter: @NORD4TIX
Recognizing some of the issues facing her own generation and the uneasiness with sports sales, Layna Carnicom has embraced getting out of her comfort zone. Carnicom discusses some of her own original misconceptions in the sports market place, especially when it comes to learning to sell season tickets, groups, and mini packs. Carnicom talks about her frustration with some of her sports management classmates who want to go into "sports marketing" but cannot define it, as well as what her growth in the business has given her in terms of perspective.
The Oklahoma City Dodgers have managed to couple two dynamic legacies together into one premiere baseball package; both the Dodgers' historic brand through affiliation and their stadium, which resides in the legendary Bricktown area of Oklahoma City. Senior Vice President Jenna Byrnes talks about how the team engages with the community, as well as positions its marketing power in order to draw its audiences. Byrnes discusses managing young people, expectations and how to ensure that each staff member knows where they stand within the organization.
Brad Matthews has been a fixture in the sports sales landscape of Miami for over 16 years, first with the Marlins and Heat, then for 14 years with the University of Miami handling premium sales. Now at Florida International, Matthews discusses his challenges of enhancing the revenue generation concepts by building a sales team as well as how to interact with CRM. Matthews describes some of the ways that he has fostered group leader relationships, keeping in close contact with those who can bring a mass of fans to games.
Mino Solomon has been in the sports sales game a long time, starting with at the tail-end of the Seattle Supersonics and becoming part of the group that headed up the Oklahoma City Thunder sales team. Solomon discusses his time in Seattle and his recent return with the Seattle Sounders FC, along with various ways to tackle both sales strategies and leadership. Solomon shares that he gets irked by leadership statements online, which seem to forget that leading is more by example than anything else. Solomon ends up talking about his 1st anniversary with an accident that he won't soon forget, and why running in the Chicago Marathon would be considered a significant future achievement for him in life. Twitter: @MinoSolomon
If you try to discount around Joe Rixon, he'll be the first line of opposition that you find. Rixon discusses his disdain for the practice, as well as the lack of marketing around it even to make discounting even somewhat effective. Rixon talks about the misperception about the secondary market tends to cost organizations revenue. Now a board member on the National Association of Athletic Ticket Sales & Operations (NAATSO) Rixon shares a funny story about faux-neurosurgeons and Uber drivers in Pittsburgh, as well as his bond with the staff at Liberty University. Twitter: @joeyrix
The third party model has held ground and expanded in the college athletic landscape, with a further understanding between both in-house leaders and those representing the outside organization. Aspire's Tony Garrett discusses how empathy has allowed the company to thrive when dealing with long-term college athletics workers, as well as the ability to pitch in to get the job done. Garrett talks about group sales, how it fosters creativity and free assets that can compliment any group's interest in buying more tickets to the event. Garrett shares Aspire's culture toward its employees, using Mino Solomon as an example of organizational strength during a time of adversity for Solomon personally. Twitter: @thebosstg
The art and role of customer service as well as ticket operations in off-site venues is one of Jason Sabatino's specialties. Not only with the College Football Playoffs, as the Director of Business and Ticket Operations, but also with the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Sabatino discusses some of the various issues surrounding customer service, including the mantra 'the customer is always right' and dealing with various issues on gameday. Sabatino discusses his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers organization, running NBA basketball, minor league hockey, and special events, as well as his tenure at Boston University.