Navigating Sports Business

Gretchen Sheirr - President of Business Operations for the Houston Rockets - spent 20 seasons with the team before ascending to her current role in 2021.     Over that stretch, she pioneered new ticketing practices, and became one of our industry's leading experts on digital ticketing. She join AJ Maestas to discuss the lessons she's learned over the course of her career, some best practices for t...

Dr. Robert Cialdini is is the author of the best-selling book, Influence , and is an expert on psychology and human behavior. His research spans sports fandom, business, and beyond. He and AJ Maestas discuss the 7 principles of persuasion: Reciprocity Scarcity Authority Consistency Liking Social Proof Unity   Bob shares how to use these principles to ethically inform and influence people in a busi...

George Kliavkoff - Commissioner of the Pac-12 - on the 3 main factors he's focusing on for the conference's upcoming media rights negotiations, with the current deal expiring in 2024.   Revenue Broad Distribution Competitive Advantage   The current media rights deal expires in 2024, so these negotiations will be taking place soon.   Listen to the full interview from 2-2-22 here: https://nvgt.com/p...

Georgia Tech Director of Athletics - Todd Stansbury - joins AJ Maestas to discuss trending topics in college athletics, the challenges of running a modern athletic department, the future of the NCAA, and more.   Details: 2:05 - Todd's career path 17:10 - Changes to collegiate athletics 23:35 - The NCAA's evolving role 32:20 - Fundraising at Georgia Tech 35:15 - Georgia Tech's MMR deal with Legends...

Chris Overholt - President and CEO of OverActive Media - shares what traditional sports properties can learn from the rise of esports, and how they should be preparing their investments in the broader gaming world.   Conversely, he also gives his thoughts on what esports organizations can take from traditional properties as the industry continues to grow.   Listen to the full interview from 1-29-2...

Mid-American Conference Commissioner, Jon Steinbrecher, gives us the G5 perspective on all of the hot topics we're seeing in college sports.    Jon has been a conference Commissioner since 1994, making him the second longest-tenured Commissioner at the FBS level. He has been in the room when major decisions have been made regarding NIL, the-time transfer exception, CFP expansion, and more. He and...

  In honor of Super Bowl LVI and Tom Brady's retirement, we're featuring a highlight from our interview with Justin Toman, Head of Sports Marketing for PepsiCo.     Justin highlights the brand's strategy around the Super Bowl and why they chose Pepsi as the sponsor of the halftime show rather than the other brands in their portfolio. He also shares the story of how he won the University of Michiga...

  George Kliavkoff - Commissioner of the Pac-12 - joins AJ Maestas to discuss the major trends in college athletics like CFP expansion, NIL, and potential football rule changes.   George talks about how his career outside of college athletics has prepared him for his new role, and what that transition has been like so far. He also explains why he's so optimistic about his conference's future.    ...

Ariel Kelman - Oracle's EVP & Chief Marketing Officer - on how he selected Red Bull Racing as a partner, and how he uses that partnership to showcase Oracle's technology.     Listen to the full interview released on 12-21-21 with Jeff Nelson here: https://nvgt.com/podcast?ppplayer=98f56b6dd6dca41729f186d12a4d1251&ppepisode=199f4dff26be0bba46c7db9b60685730   For more insights, visit our  LinkedIn p...

Chris Overholt - President and CEO of OverActive Media - on the rise of esports and gaming, and what it means for the future of sports fandom.     Chris and AJ discuss how OAM's esports model reflects traditional sports properties that own and operate teams in multiple leagues. They also examine how brands can use esports to authentically reach younger generations.     Details: 2:00 Chris Overholt...

Gene Smith - Director of Athletics at Ohio State - shares his thoughts on expanding the CFP to 8 or 12 teams.   He highlights the opportunity that expansion would provide for teams that often don't have a realistic chance to make the top 4, while also acknowledging the risk of devaluing the lower level bowl games for fans - in the same way that the NCAA basketball tournament devalues conference to...

Xavier Gutierrez - President, CEO, & Alternate Governor of the Arizona Coyotes - on his career path from finance, to politics, to the NHL. He shares his experience as the league's first Latino president, and how he plans to market the Coyotes to the Latino community.     He and AJ also discuss the team's commitment to Arizona, including their 2-billion dollar arena development plan in Tempe.     D...

Julie Uhrman - Co-Founder and President of Angel City FC - on launching the club in the crowded LA sports marketplace, and the vision that she and the team share that helps them stand out from the crowd.   Listen to the full episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/julie-uhrman-angel-city-fc/id1544529117?i=1000542940127   For more insights, visit our  LinkedIn page  and learn more about...

Oracle is one of the most respected brands in sports marketing. Ariel Kelman - EVP and Chief Marketing Officer - joins the show to highlight his strategy for utilizing sports sponsorships that tell a story.   He shares why Oracle's partnership with Red Bull Racing is a perfect platform to highlight the ways that their technology are utilized by the team. When meeting with potential partners, he al...

Amiel Sawdaye - SVP & Assistant GM for the Arizona Diamondbacks - discusses how a team can enter a rebuilding phase without tanking for draft picks. He also talks about how his team can be competitive despite having roughly half the payroll of the other teams in t he NL West.     Listen to the full interview here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amiel-sawdaye-arizona-diamondbacks/id154452911...

Gene Smith has been Director of Athletics at Ohio State for 17 years. He joins the show with AJ Maestas to discuss the current state of college athletics, plus the impact that NIL and a possible CFP expansion will have on the landscape.   Gene also shares lessons he learned from his parents at a young age that helped him overcome adversity early in his career.   Details: 2:00 - Gene's career path...

Ryan DeVos - VP, Shareholder Engagement for the Orlando Magic - on the importance of keeping the Magic brand fresh and continuing to innovate while also paying homage to the team's history. He also touches on how a commitment to data and analytics is helping the team succeed from a business perspective.   For more insights, visit our  LinkedIn page  and learn more about Navigate at  https://nvgt.c...

Julie Uhrman - Co-Founder & President of Angel City FC - joins Jeff Nelson to discuss the powerful mission behind the club, and the reasons why they're poised for success on and off the pitch. Julie shares stories from her career, including the entrepreneurial drive that motivated her to buy and operate the campus laundry service while she was an undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis. Sh...

Peter Feigin - President of the Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum - on the experience of winning an NBA Championship, and what it means for the business side of the franchise. He also shares what it was like to plan events like the championship parade without feeling like he was jinxing his team's chances.     Listen to the full interview here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-feigin-mil...

Amiel Sawdaye is the SVP & Assistant General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He joins AJ Maestas for an in-person interview to discuss what goes on in an MLB front office, and the experiences and connections he collected early in his career that lead him to his current role. Amiel also explains why he's optimistic about his club's future, despite having roughly half the payroll of the other t...

Green Bay Packers CEO & President, Mark Murphy on the team's unique perspective as a publicly owned sports franchise. He also gives his thoughts on why the NFL has maintained its status as the country's most popular league. At the time of publishing, the Packers are 7-1 and are leading the NFC North. Listen to the full episode from March here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mark-murphy-gree...

Ryan DeVos joins Jeff Nelson to give us a behind-the-scenes look into the world of family business within professional sports.   As the VP, Shareholder Engagement for the Orlando Magic, and a member of the team's ownership family, they discuss how Ryan has grown up with the team, from a young fan to a leading executive, and all of his career stops along the way.   Details: 3:00 - The origin of the...

Greg Sankey - SEC Commissioner - on the conference's media deal with Disney and why money wasn't the main focus of the negotiations, despite the deal earning the SEC $300M per year for 15 football games and 8 basketball games. Listen to the full episode here:   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/greg-sankey-sec/id1544529117?i=1000503316099

Peter Feigin - President of the Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum - joins the show with guest host, Jeff Nelson. They discuss the aftermath of winning an NBA Championship, the plans for capitalizing on the momentum of the win, and how Giannis Antetokounmpo has impacted the team's international appeal.     Details: 1:40 - The NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks 9:30 - 13-year-old Peter's dog-walking busine...

Gloria Nevarez - Commissioner of the West Coast Conference - on how the conference is integrating esports across all schools and the possibility of making it a varsity sport in the near future.   With the rising popularity of esports around the world, there's an opportunity to capture the attention of new fans that wouldn't ordinarily be watching college sports. Listen to the full episode from Mar...