Sports Marketing Machine Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Most sports teams know exactly who their fans are — the fireworks families, the premium buyers, the last-minute deal seekers — and still send every one of them the same email blast. In Episode 173, Jeremy Neisser uses a simple ice cream shop analogy to show why that quietly drives fans away, and why the fix isn't better copy or a new platform. It's a system that responds...

Send us Fan Mail Your promotions page is live, but half your nights are just names — "Taylor Swift Night," "Oil Field Appreciation Weekend" — with no details. A promotion with no details doesn't sell tickets, even when the night itself is great.  In Episode 172, Jeremy Neisser breaks down the Minimum Viable Promo: the smallest concrete detail you can add today so a first-t...

Send us Fan Mail Email is the channel sports teams use the most and get the least out of. In Episode 171, Jeremy Neisser breaks down why batch-and-blast sending leaves money on the table — 70 to 75% cart abandonment, 80 to 85% of single-game fans never returning — and lays out the fix: a lifecycle email system built on six behavior-triggered journeys, layered with persona-specific messaging. If yo...

Send us Fan Mail Most group sales reps are order takers. The buyer asks for a date, the rep says yes, and the marquee game ends up at 55% capacity while groups scatter across midweek nights with no draw. In Episode 170 of the Sports Marketing Machine Podcast, Jeremy Neisser closes out the Group Sales 101 series by breaking down the most strategic piece of the puzzle: building an A / B / C game cal...

Send us Fan Mail The same friction that quietly kills conversions on your group sales page is killing your reps' email responses too — same problem, just a different channel.  In Part 2 of the Group Sales 101 series, Jeremy Neisser walks through the four-question friction test for cold outreach, the caveman test that exposes a hard-to-read email in 10 seconds, and a real-world rewrite that tr...

Send us Fan Mail Most group sales reps are losing deals before they ever hit send.  In Part 1 of a new three-part group sales series, Jeremy Neisser breaks down why one email template going to every organization on your list is quietly capping your response rate — and how reframing every pitch around the buyer's goal (fellowship, recognition, memories) instead of your ticket inventory tripled...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 167 of the Sports Marketing Machine Podcast, Jeremy Neisser breaks down the strategic value of outsourcing marketing functions inside a sports organization. Instead of anchoring the conversation on agency fees, Jeremy reframes it around leverage — how external support frees internal capacity so your best people can focus on the relationships, sponsorships, and revenue a...

Send us Fan Mail Most sports teams hire an agency to sell more tickets — then evaluate them on impressions, clicks, and CPM. In Episode 166, Jeremy Neisser breaks down why those vanity metrics are misleading, what an outside marketing partner can and can't control, and the conversion-focused metrics that actually tell you whether your agency is earning its fee. A practical episode for any mar...

Send us Fan Mail You're halfway through the season and the pacing report says you're behind — maybe way behind. This episode breaks down the three levels of being behind pace, how to diagnose the actual problem instead of panic-marketing your way into a deeper hole, and the strategic paths forward depending on how far off target you really are. Jeremy shares a daily pacing tracker templa...

Send us Fan Mail In this tactical follow-up episode, Jeremy Neisser breaks down how sports teams can create a more consistent fan experience by building a simple “Always Do” and “Never Do” customer service framework. Instead of chasing perfection, teams should focus on clarity, repeatability, and organization-wide adoption so every fan interaction feels easier, smoother, and more intentional. Key...

Send us Fan Mail Your customer service problem isn't actually a people problem—it's a consistency problem. When fans get different experiences depending on who they interact with, they blame the organization, not the employee. This episode introduces the non-negotiables framework: simple "always do" and "never do" rules that eliminate guesswork and scale great service...

Send us Fan Mail Most teams think they have a traffic problem… but it’s actually a buying experience problem. In this episode, Jeremy sits down with Brian Coe of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to break down how simplifying the ticket purchase process led to a 22% increase in sales and a 111% jump in conversions through FEVO. If you want more fans to actually complete their purchase, this is a...

Send us Fan Mail What does “connected marketing” actually mean for a sports team? In this episode, Jeremy Neisser is joined by Tom Rupp, co-founder of Revelocity Sports, to break down why so many teams feel stuck even when they’re doing good marketing—and how better integration between ticketing, email, paid media, and analytics can unlock smarter decisions and stronger revenue results. Together,...

Send us Fan Mail Big news—Sports Marketing Machine has officially joined forces with Revelocity Sports. But this episode isn’t just about the merger… it’s about what it unlocks for you. Jeremy breaks down why the best teams aren’t just running promotions and ads—they’re building connected marketing systems that drive more ticket sales, better decisions, and stronger fan engagement. Key Topics Cove...

Send us Fan Mail Should Sports Teams Eliminate the Ticket Office? What if your team stopped selling tickets at the window… completely? In this episode of the Sports Marketing Machine Podcast , Jeremy Neisser breaks down one of the most polarizing ideas in sports ticketing today: going fully digital and eliminating the ticket office altogether. This isn’t a hot take—it’s a strategic conversation ab...

Send us Fan Mail Most teams are asking the wrong question when it comes to theme nights—and it’s costing them ticket revenue. In this episode, Jeremy Neisser breaks down a practical, repeatable framework for building theme nights around real audiences, not random ideas. If you want your promotions to actually sell tickets (and grow year over year), this is the blueprint. Key Topics Covered  Why “W...

Send us Fan Mail Most teams sit at a 75–85% group renewal rate… but that’s not the goal — it’s the starting point. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down what elite renewal actually looks like, why groups really don’t come back, and how small breakdowns quietly kill retention. If you want to stop rebuilding your book of business every year and start compounding revenue, this is a must-listen. Key Top...

Send us Fan Mail Trade deals are everywhere in sports—but most teams treat them like “free marketing” instead of what they actually are: untracked investments. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down how trade really works, where it provides value, and why it often fails to drive results. If you’re relying on trade without accountability, this will change how you think about it. Key Topics Covered Why...

Send us Fan Mail Most teams treat in-game promotions as filler between plays. The best teams use them to design the energy of the building . In this episode, Jeremy breaks down what he observed during a Sacramento Kings game and shares five practical principles he calls Game Entertainment 101 . These fundamentals show how smart teams engage thousands of fans at once, create better crowd energy, su...

Send us Fan Mail Group ticket buyers aren’t casual fans — they’re planners. Office managers, HR directors, coaches, and teachers are trying to organize an event without creating more work for themselves. If your group sales page makes them think too hard, they leave. In this episode, Jeremy Neisser explains how cognitive load quietly kills group sales and shares a simple framework that helps teams...

Send us Fan Mail Should your team be selling merchandise on Amazon? In this episode, Jeremy breaks down the real strategic implications of adding Amazon as a sales channel — from margin math and SEO strategy to customer data ownership and cannibalization risk. If you're responsible for revenue, merchandise, or digital marketing, this is your practical roadmap before you jump in. Key Topics Co...

Send us Fan Mail One team grew social reach from 7 million to 12+ million impressions.  Engagement exploded. Video views were up. ROAS? 7–8x. And yet… single-game ticket sales stayed flat. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down why awareness alone doesn’t create growth, the difference between monetizing demand vs. multiplying it, and how to structure your funnel so reach actually turns into repeat bu...

Send us Fan Mail If you're still running one “hero ad” and hoping it scales, you're already behind. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down why Meta’s evolving algorithm has made single-creative campaigns obsolete—and why sports teams must shift from building one good ad to building a creative system. You’ll learn how to structure multiple angles around one game, how to think in buyer motiva...

Send us Fan Mail If you’re spending money on Meta ads but don’t fully trust the numbers… you’re not crazy. In this episode, Jeremy Neisser breaks down why Meta’s reporting often doesn’t match ticketing reality—and what sports teams should track instead. You’ll get a simple, no-nonsense framework for measuring marketing performance using real revenue, not modeled guesses. Key Topics Covered Why Met...

Send us Fan Mail Performance Max (P-Max) is showing up in more agency proposals—but most teams don’t fully understand what they’re buying.  In this episode, Jeremy Neisser breaks down what P-Max actually is inside Google Ads , why it sounds so attractive to sports teams, and how it’s often used to hide weak or undefined marketing strategy. You’ll learn when P-Max can help, when it hurts, and the c...