Tao of Sports Podcast

In 10 years, Shawn Sullivan has certainly made his creative, driven enthusiasm known in the sports industry both as an administrator and educator. Sullivan discusses some of the ways that he approaches great marketing, sales and revenue generation techniques, as well as how he feels young people should be encouraged at viewing working in the industry. Sullivan also discusses his thoughts on his ti...

Harold Hughes has more than a compelling elevator pitch, he has a complex idea that may change the secondary ticket market. Hughes has founded Bandwagon, LLC, which specifically targets ways for fans to resell their tickets to other fans of the same team, eliminating the fears that the rivals may pick up seats in the best areas of the stadium. Hughes explains how he came up with the Bandwagon proc...

The sports business data analytics conversation with Bobby Whitson goes next level. Whitson has been in the sports business field for some time, and understands it from the ticket vendor platform point of view, as a former director of sales at Veritix. Now a partner with SSB Consulting, Whitson's job is really trying to help create further avenues of conversation with franchise executives in order...

Neil Horowitz understands how the digital world is encroaching on the traditional marketing and branding campaigns of sports teams. Horowitz has worked for two NHL franchises, developing their social media accounts on multiple platforms, and now utilizes his experiences for Wilshire Axon Sports. Horowitz's main driver is helping smaller franchises compete in the mobile app space, something that ca...

Josh Manley's company ReplyBuy offers a simple solution to a complex problem: how to fill seats in the easiest way possible for customers. Manley explains why ReplyBuy has started to take off, first with NBA teams, now with MLB, NHL and NFL teams following close behind. Manley covers why a text message is the simplest form of sophistication, and how it avoids the problem of smartphone "app fatigue...

Stefan Szymanski has had an interesting week ever since launching his April 23, 2015 blog post which was the shot heard around professional soccer. Using information from a source close to Major League Soccer, Szymanski detailed what he felt were specific issues with the MLS financial model, comparing it to both a pyramid scheme and suggesting the potential for the league's collapse. This created...

Jens Sejer Anderson serves as International Director of  Play the Game is an international conference and communication initiative aiming to strengthen the ethical foundation of sport and promote democracy, transparency and freedom of expression in sport. It is run by the Danish Institute for Sports Studies (Idan), an independent institution set up by the Danish Ministry of Culture. The task of Id...

Ishveen Anand has been working in the sports sponsorship space for over 7 years, helping develop engagement and impact for her clients. Founding her own company, OpenSponsorship, in the summer of 2014, Anand has taken her talents onto a global scale. Anand discusses some of the ways in which international sponsorship have affected sports revenue, as well as the hindrances of American teams to unde...

Understanding how to draw out fans is a tough job that Andy Rowdon has performed as more than a few athletic departments. Being able to decipher what is important to a fan, and being able to utilize that perspective is part of Rowdon's skill set. Rowdon discusses how he crafts promotions overall in order to maximize their effect on an audience as well as why college athletics tends to avoid theme...

Sports marketing has transformed from a simple signage solution to an analytical data dump. But what data is worthy of inclusion? Dorian Pieracci breaks down several of the current solutions out there to ensure that an ROI is feasible given the structure of the current B2B and B2C marketplace in sports. Pieracci examines how businesses are starting to think about team sponsorship involvement, as w...

Athlete brands are starting to become the new norm, beyond what the team actually wants to define as their brand. That's where Pro Merch, a company founded by Austin Casselman, Luke Rodgers and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, come in. Pro Merch has redefined how athletes creating their own branded inventory, selling directly to fans through their social media channels and with an exclusive Target s...

A former student-athlete at Liberty University, Dena Freeman-Patton understands the educational needs of those she mentors. Heading up the academic side of the athletic department at CSU-Bakersfield, Freeman-Patton shares her view on the challenges facing current student-athletes, as well as attempting to beat back some of the misconceptions that the educational system may have on athletes and aca...

Fewer people have seen the dawn of online ticketing like Jim Goodman, who was the first person to advocate for Ticketmaster to have a presence on the web. After that point, Goodman left to run ticketing for Walt Disney, then established Tickets.com's presence as a Ticketmaster competitor, including a merger that yielded Major League Baseball as an owner. Goodman explains some of the ways that onli...

Brad Smith has been an idea maker in sports since 2003, when he had to sell tickets in the south with the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the Southern Professional Hockey League. Now moving onto stints at Texas A&M, Middle Tennessee State, Alabama-Birmingham and Morehead State, Smith has used his revenue generation skills to drum up business and fan support for the athletic departments he has served in....

Steven Ziff is no stranger to the podcast, having been a guest on Ep. 181 as VP of Brand Marketing for the Florida Panthers of the NHL. Now at the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, Ziff has unveiled a sweeping new premium hospitality program called "Jaguars Black" which may revolutionize how local businesses and sponsorships interact with professional luxury experiences. Ziff frames some of the challeng...

Steve Stroud feels that those looking to move up in the sports field should think twice before hitting the application button on any open position announcement, and presents his theory on the podcast. Stroud feels strongly in utilizing a few key principles of learning about the job's details, as well as seeing who within the current organization can help guide the interested party toward a potenti...

Bill Hancock has achieved a unique trifecta in college athletics: he was the first director of the NCAA Final Four, first director of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and the first director of the College Football Playoff in an over 50-year-career. Hancock discusses his relationships in college basketball, the reasons behind playing in massive stadiums for ticket availability and how it fostered...

Butler's athletic prowess over the last few years has made it a player on the national stage, even if its still a fan's "second favorite team" in Indiana. Associate AD Mike Freeman shares of the ways that Butler goes after its fanbase, especially when creating a unique, passionate environment at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Freeman provides insight on how getting on local television, as well as driving the...

Kelly Higgins has served as athletic director of four NCAA institutions, driving revenue by making hard choices and trying to innovate despite not having a Division-I athletic department (save for D-I hockey at Alaska Fairbanks). Higgins discusses some of the feats he was able to pull off, such as the exempted "Top Of The World" Classic which drew in several D-I basketball teams to face D-I compet...

Athletic tape has often been the invisible side of sports, in a typical white, bland fashion. Keith Moss aims to change that perception, introducing a branding tool with Signature Athletic Tape, that allows athletes and franchises to create a marketing concept surrounding something commonly taken for granted. Moss talks about how he came up with the idea to print logos and colors on the tape, and...

Jason Bowers is in a unique spot at his alma mater; an assistant IT director for Cornerstone University, he's created a second job for himself as a volunteer running social media for the NAIA Division II men's basketball program. This has paid off 10-fold for the program, which has increased its engagement with its fans, especially after securing the 2015 NAIA Division II National Championship whi...

The role of sports management courses, especially those dealing with the sociological and philosophical aspects in the world of sport, are under fire by critics who deem them unnecessary to finding a job in the industry. Trinity University's sports management director Jacob Tingle can empathize with the concern, but lays out his argument for why a wider breadth of knowledge surrounding the history...

Data scientist Michael Cavaretta disects the world of information gathering into a whole territory; selling cars. As Cavaretta explains, just getting the data is only one step in the process, and understanding what you are looking at takes a lot more than just a few mathematical formulas to figure out. Cavaretta discusses how Ford is starting to listen to customer-created conversations over social...

Athletic fundraising comes down to the concept of engaging conversations. Joe True has served Marquette University for over 10 years as a member of the athletic development team, rising to the role of Associate Athletic Director. True discusses his strategy to get to know and communicate with the MU alumni base, as well as make the ask, not just friendraising, but actual fundraising. True discusse...

The relationship between the primary and secondary market are discussed in deep detail with David Marcus, who helps run one of the largest ways to protect the branding of teams and promoters in both marketplaces. Marcus pinpoints the time in which the secondary market grew up, and everyone including Mom became aware of its power, and its not a sporting event that he cites. It's a Disney-promoted c...