Tao of Sports Podcast

One of the most qualified industry leaders in premium sales is Christian Molnar, who is directly responsible for the unprecedented growth that The Philadelphia Eagles had moving from Veterans Stadium to Lincoln Financial Field. Molnar talks about his legacy at building up the premium seating retention program during his initial tenure at the Eagles, then deciding to challenge himself in Los Angele...

An interview that was original setup to record in North America, was instead recorded in Melbourne, Australia. A.J. Maestas discusses his analytics business model for sports, where fan engagement isn’t just about how much a fan enjoys the in-stadium experience, but also whether they interact with the corporate signage and other sponsorship activities to create activation. All of this comes down to...

Matt Hill comes into the sports business world from the unique perspective as a former athlete. A devout hockey fan, Hill now sells the product that he loves, but understands the business of premium and suite sales a lot better than he did as a player. Hill expands on some of his misconceptions prior to selling premium seat inventory, and what the Tampa Bay Lightning have done in order to innovate...

Ben Flavel represents one of the most interesting start-ups happening in sports business software, Checkinline, which allows fans to digitally find ways to mark their territory for tickets through an online queuing app. Flavel discusses how the Australian software company has grown to the point of expansion in the United States marketplace, helping Arizona State University determine queuing status...

The New Zealand Rugby Union “All Blacks” are one of the most historical teams in all of sport. Known internationally for their high winning percentage, ambassadorship of New Zealand national pride, and “The Haka” war dance prior to each match, the All Blacks are a powerhouse sports brand that are just starting to emerge in the United States scene. David Barton-Ginger handles the All Blacks’ digita...

Markeisha Everett has blazed a trail in college marketing quickly in her career, first rising from an assistant in the Bowling Green State ticket office, to working in marketing at North Dakota State, the University of Missouri, Gonzaga and now as a Director of Sports Marketing at West Virginia. Everett discusses her passion for revenue generation, how she understands the role of tickets separate...

Ken Halpin has an interesting start in college athletics. Originally as a game equipment manager at a community college, Halpin used resolve to work as a third party corporate sponsorship rep for KP Sports at Eastern Washington University, then left the company for a bank, before jumping back to EWU as an associate athletic director of external affairs. Halpin discusses some of the challenges that...

The San Diego Padres are performing one of the more dynamic changes to ticket sales during the modern era, adopting a fan membership model which is typically in sports clubs overseas, but also adding their own sales focus mentality to the measure. Eric McKenzie discusses the ins and outs of this new process, as well as how the adoption has gone from a season ticket to a fan member in the mind of t...

Sports Geek's Sean Callanan is one of the foremost strategists on digital. Having been on the podcast previously, but by Skype, this interview represents the first face-to-face meeting with Callanan, in Melbourne, Australia. Callanan shares his option on all things social, including Facebook, Twitter and those darn Google Hangouts, which he calls YouTube Hangouts with a Google Plus thread attached...

Chris Thompson seems always available to provide instant and necessary prospective on the sports industry as a whole. Returning to the podcast for a second stint, Thompson discusses his life as a father and husband, as well as his ability to separate his work life from his home life. Thompson also shares his views on what allows his role at The Evergreen State College to be fulfilling along with h...

One of the rising stars of college athletics is Adam Haukap, who returns to the podcast as a new member of Arkansas State's Red Wolves Foundation. Haukap talks about a portion of the industry that rarely gets discussed: Transitioning to a new place when you are already at the top of your game. Haukap moved from a senior associate athletic director role at Oklahoma State to Arkansas State, to chall...

Greg Herring has spent the majority of his career helping build marketing strategies for six athletic departments. As a former NACMA President, Herring has also helped lead his peers in the field to understand what can grow and develop fan affinity for the college athletic product as well as build a program's base overall. Herring discusses his thoughts on what builds a great marketing and promoti...

The sports industry's involvement with sports management programs, especially graduate degree tracks, is a complicated one. There is an "at arm's reach" relationship between the two. Stetson University's Associate Professor Ben Goss sits in for a talk about how the two components of the industry (education and application), appear so far apart at times. Goss mentions his view of where the sports m...

Andy Ruge, from all appearances, looks like "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski, and he's got the humor to back up that title. Ruge is one of the funniest loving guys in the college athletic space, serving as a sports marketer for George Mason after a stint in minor league baseball. Ruge fully understands the fight of trying to get the fan into the building, to enjoy themselves regardless of the scor...

Devin Crosby is preaching the gospel of EQ (Emotional Intelligence) in college athletics. Crosby was a previous guest on the podcast where he briefly discussed EQ, but now, meeting him at NACDA 14 in Orlando, it presented a great opportunity to go into an expansive amount of information on the EQ movement as well as his growth in college athletics at Kent State. Crosby presents an opportunity for...

Chris Yandle is the recipient of COSIDA's 2014 Rising Star Award, and with good reason. Yandle has helped bridge the gap between the old Sports Information era of press releases to the new one of digital communication. Yandle discusses some of the hot topics going on the sports communication field, as well as where the industry needs to head in the next few years. Twitter: @ChrisYandle

Danielle Mayeaux has created an expansive personal brand via social media in a relatively short time in college athletics. Focusing on professional development overall, Mayeaux brings to the table the thought that it is okay to fail at something, as long as you learn from it and don't repeat it. Mayeaux discusses her journey from being a soccer student athlete at Charlotte to a graduate assistant...

Andy Fee oversees athletic development for UC Santa Barbara and explains how the geographic location of its alumni means expansive reach to various places outside the local area. Fee talks about the goal to get to know the donor, to understand their needs and ensure that long-term gifting is done in manner that helps the university's core mission. A portion of the interview turns toward the subjec...

The complex world of television ratings and audience viewership analytics are explained by one of the authorities on the subject, Stephen Master, who oversees the Sports Practice department of The Nielsen Company. In what transforms into an extensive discussion on what makes up viewership as well as what corporate clients are looking at when advertising, Master explains some of the more in-depth c...

Russell Scibetti has helped revolutionize the sports business conversation since 2008 with his blog, TheBusinessOfSports.com , as well as the expansive #SBWEEK that has sought to build a networking capability across the global for those in the business. That's Scibetti's passion, as well as his extensive work in data analytics and CRM with The New York Jets and now as VP of KORE Software. Scibetti...

Jared Rose's 13-year career has spanned from a minor league baseball team, two arena football league teams, and two NBA corporate partnership departments. Rose talks about his interest in designing great corporate partnerships, as well as the fact he helped launch one of the most successful Arena Football League 2 franchises in history in the Spokane Shock. Rose discusses various components of a c...

The Experience App just won the Best In Sports Technology Award in 2014 by Sports Business Journal. Ben Ackerman comes on the podcast to discuss what the Experience App is, and how it can revolutionize sports revenue in-arena by developing a newer smartphone technology to allow VIP experiences as well as in-game upgrades for fans. This is a new territory for sports business, as in-stadium WiFi cap...

The Fargo Force junior hockey league team is tasked with the impossible each winter; put on a compelling hockey product with a small population, against one of the premier college hockey teams in the country (North Dakota). Trevor Christiansen has been with the Force for several years as first an intern, and now as ticket manager, and explains how the organization markets itself and remains succes...

Jason Rittenberry is one of the key players in The International Hod Rod Association, as well as the International Raceway group, which owes and operates several raceways throughout the country. IHRA is the second-largest drag racing and fourth largest motorsports sanctioning body in the world, hosting two national touring series, the Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series, and the Thunder Jam Series, cover...

Matt Cerrone represents the new frontier of digital media. Formerly an independent blogger with MetsBlog.com, which he grew into a powerhouse brand with over 250 million hits on his site, Cerrone has now entered the big leagues as the Director of Digital at SNY cable television. Cerrone discusses some of the various issues surrounding the blog, podcast and overall digital landscape, where folks mo...