Tao of Sports Podcast

  When this podcast was recorded, Allison Strekal had only one day on the job as the president. That’s when you know things happen quick in the sports industry. Strekal sat down for the podcast, and held her own under her new title position. Strekal shares some of the challenges of the Big Horns brand as well as her vision of what she wants the franchise to be during the off-season. Strekal has be...

  Sports marketing strategist Lou Imbriano is creating what may end becoming one of the largest industry teaching tools online in the Sports Business Academy. Imbriano is sharing his knowledge of the industry, especially how to correctly work on marketing directly to the customer, as well as sharing some of his vision on what works and what doesn’t when trying to connect with fans. Imbranio pulls...

Greg Esposito grew up a Phoenix Suns fan, being one of the few people actually from the metro area to live there as an adult. Esposito shares his journeys, coming up as a media major in college, and building up his resume with several different ventures until he landed the dream job of working with the Phoenix Suns. Esposito talks about some of the various challenges of working in the digital spac...

  Former umpire Al Clark officiated for over 30 years, calling three thousand games, two All-Star games, seven playoff games, and two World Series. The son of a former sportswriter, Clark was a mainstay for several historical MLB moments. Clark has co-authored his autography, “Called Out But Safe: A Baseball Umpire’s Journey,” in which he chronicles his life in baseball, as well as some of challen...

  Scott Jurgens talks about the challenges facing an FCS powerhouse in Montana State, where the wins on the field are there, but it really takes an additional effort of marketing in order to engage the audience. This doesn’t just include football, as basketball may be a winner, but harder to draw fans to because of the cold weather and the remoteness of Bozeman, Montana. Jurgens expands on the eff...

A communications expert with over 25 years of experience in terrestrial radio, Bob Cohen talks about some of the challenges facing those who are trying to develop a great corporate sponsorship campaign for a sports franchise using broadcasting rights. Cohen shares his enthusasm for the radio industry, after spending 20 years at Clear Channel Communications, one of the largest terrestrial radio own...

Jason Anderson has sold tickets since the mid-2000s, and in that time, has gain a ton of experiences. Anderson shares his views on ticket selling, especially for the Dover International Speedway, where one annual event can make or break the company's bottom line. Anderson talks about the skill level required to build prospects into customers, as well as how he transitioned from the NFL and Arena F...

Bill Sutton has helped bring sports business into the modern age; his legacy is in developing the NBA's Team Marketing & Business Operations into some of the most dynamic sales centers in all of sport, coupled with his tenures at the University of Central Florida and now at University of South Florida overseeing two of the more innovative sport management programs in the country. Sutton talks abou...

  Ryan Donckers has worked in every component of the sports industry paradigm. A punter at Eastern Washington University, Donckers’ parlayed his student-athlete acumen into a job as Director of Ticket Sales at the Spokane Indians MiLB team. Donckers has the ability to share both sales knowledge on the ticket and corporate sales side, as a former corporate sales rep for Washington State University...

Fieldhouse Media has been one of the companies that has been working with college athletic departments in terms of social media education, monitoring and brand protection. Kevin DeShazo talks about some of the ways that college athletic directors can protect their department through social media initiatives such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. DeShazo isn’t really a fan of the adopti...

One of the premiere journalists covering the world of sports business today is Mike Ozanian, who shares insight into everything from media rights to franchise valuations. Ozanian goes deeper when talking about the impact of fans actually in the building compared to those watching on televisions at home. This includes the largess of media rights deals such as the $8.3 Billion deal between Time Warn...

The role of brand and corporate sales are discussed with Brendan Falvey, who has worked on every corner of brand development in sports. Falvey has been on the side of the sports franchise with the Colorado Rockies, selling sponsorships to companies. He has also been on the company side, trying to initiate sponsorship opportunities. And finally, Falvey has been on the business development aspect as...

The former members of the Big East Conference, amid the departure of The Catholic 7 schools, transformed the college landscape in 2013-14 by the creation of The American Athletic Conference. The AAC was expected to do well, but no one expected one of its flagship schools, UCONN, to capture both the men’s & women’s NCAA basketball title, as well as another flagstaff school, UCF, to have a BCS bowl...

NCAA Division II is quickly becoming just as sharp on revenue generation as its Division I cousins, although the slices of pie may be a tad smaller in scope. Pace University’s Zach Dayton discusses some of the various aspects of how a smaller university athletic program manages to generate revenue, through ticket sales, corporate sales and marketing, as well as runs an efficient operation with a s...

Al Mowrey represents the Cleveland Cavaliers’ minor league operations with in the NBADL in the Canton Charge. Mowrey talks about building up the base, going after the important group sales in the surrounding areas, as well as building acceptance by local businesses for the Charge’s entertainment value. Mowrey discusses the role of sales within the organization, especially for younger executives tr...

Scott Lane has been overseeing one of the more unique minor league baseball franchises in the West Michigan Whitecaps, but that didn’t prepare him for one of the ultimate national stories that involved his operation in January 2013 when the White Cap’s stadium press box burned to the ground. Lane talks about the rebuilding effort of the club, including various ways that they not only rebuild, but...

  European football doesn’t have everything figured out when it comes to the fan, says Mark Bradley, who has used his own family as a working lab to ensure that the fan experience at matches is second-to-none. Bradley discusses his thought-processes over the years, trying to pull away that notion that club wins solves everything when it comes to attendance. Bradley talks about ways that he has hel...

  As more social platforms emerge, it takes an entire staff at an NBA franchise to adapt and create content continually for a department that wasn’t around 10 years ago. TJ Ansley talks about his tenure with the Portland Trailblazers as they expand into new markets online, as well as his experiences with the Columbus Crew MLS in order to build fan loyalty to the overall product and above all else,...

  NFL stadium design is the focal point of this episode with Kelly Kerns, who has worked for over 28 years in architectural and management. Kerns talks about being a project leader on some of the larger NFL stadium projects, including Qwest Field and Convention Center (now CenturyLink) in Seattle as well as New Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City as well as renovations to Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buff...

  John Shumate has worked on both the side of the franchise and the brand. With experience in corporate sales delivery for the Orlando Magic, Columbus Blue Jackets and Miami Dolphins, Shumate oversaw brand management of Gatorade for eight years and now serves as Director of Marketing for PepsiCo in the Southeast Region, fostering brand affinity with the NFL and the soft drink company. Shumate talk...

  Scott Frasnelly returns to the podcast for his second stint. After serving with the ECHL hockey league, helping its sales practices, Frasnelly now has taken that experience to build his own dynamic ticket system. Frasnelly considers iSportstix to be a part of the CRM/ticketing lexicon, as it slowly grows its business out of his garage and into some of the smaller minor league franchises. Frasnel...

  Another returning guest to the podcast is Mike Humes, who switched from the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies to help run the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. Humes is no nonsense, bottom-line financial mind who sees asset creation at the heart of how to sell the Coyotes’ product. Humes breaks down some of the new initiatives of the Coyotes, which have survived NHL ownership and bankruptcy, and now have a renaissan...

  Eric Edelstein represents one of the best success stories in the sports industry.   In high school, Edelstein was already getting his teeth cut on how to work in sports with the Cleveland Indians, then parlayed that into an internship in Buffalo. Now, 15 years later, Edelstein is in charge of one of the premier AAA franchises on the West Coast, the Reno Aces, and has already put his fingerprints...

  Kevin Hatcher represents the epitome of NCAA Division II athletics, discussing how different the scene looks compared to the Division I days. Hatcher talks about the responsibilities, as well as smaller staff and budget, that make up the realities of CSSB and its sister Division II schools in the conference. Hatcher discusses coming into the environment, understanding how to shift the culture, a...

  The Arizona Sundogs CHL hockey team made international news in 2013 by having their front office staff climb into a scissor lift and staying up there for over a week until they set a new record of season tickets. The news coverage hit both BBC news and Deadspin as a completely out of the ordinary way to generate season ticket sales. The Sundogs are the Central Hockey League affiliate of the NHL...