Tao of Sports Podcast

  On this official Opening Day of Major League Baseball, two members of the Los Angeles Angels’ Front Office come on the podcast to talk indepth on the various components of both scouting and player operations. This is built from the idea of what actually goes into statistics, scouting and overall roster management. Director of Scouting Nathan Horowitz and Director of Player Operations Jonathan St...

  While a lot of folks talk about how to break into sports, few have the amount of experience that Steve Masterson has. Masterson has helped place 1,000s of young professionals in the business, through various ventures including GameFace Sports Jobs and Learfield Sports. Masterson’s podcast is unique as well, so you’ll have to consider it a “double-album” where one part was recorded in October 201...

  Mike McAdams is back on the podcast, now saddled with the new task of helping the Chicago Cubs’ break in their new Cubs Park in Mesa, Arizona for Cactus League play. McAdams talks about how the new engagement mentality of selling in advance has changed the Cubs’ prospects for the 2014 Spring Training season, resulting in several sell-outs for the 15,000 capacity ballpark. McAdams also discusses...

The University of Arizona VP & Athletic Director Greg Byrne talks about his use of social media in terms of helping promote UA athletics, as well as some of the things he's learned along the way. Byrne is one of the younger, more dynamic athletic directors in the NCAA, and discusses how one tweet of his new football coach hire gained interest throughout the world while possibly changing the accept...

Usually, guests come on the show to celebrate their marketing successes, but Tucson's Mike Feder is in a different situation. General manager of the team for three seasons, the Tucson Padres, have left town for El Paso, and after 30 years in the business, Feder is now turning his attention to working for the Arizona Diamondbacks as a liason to the southern part of the state. Feder discusses the re...

Nic Barlage grabbed the attention of a lot of listeners as a guest on Ep. 32 while he was Vice President of the Cleveland Cavaliers and it became one of the highest rated episodes in the podcast's library. Barlage is back to discuss his new job as Chief Sales Officer with the Phoenix Suns, bringing that financial mindset toward revenue which presents him as one of the most dynamic salesmen in the...

William Thornhill has been with the Lancaster Jethawks for most of his life: He started with the team back as a bat boy at age 13. Now, as general manager of the team, Thornhill helps generate some of the larger sales initiatives that keep the stands packed each night. Thornhill discusses his experiences with the Jethawks, including sharing some of the more dynamic promotion items and theme nights...

  Matt Batchelder oversees one of the more complex ticket operations in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffiths. The team is the minor league affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, which carries with it various issues in order to ensure growth in branding the Griffiths beyond the Red Wings’ fanbase. Batchelder discusses some of the outreach sales programming that the Griffiths utilize in order to bui...

  From 2010 to 2012, the Philadelphia Phillies were unstoppable when it came to ticket sales generation, garner an National League record of 257 consecutive sellouts as well as leading the MLB in attendance for two straight seasons (2011-12). Derek Schuster discusses some of the “good problems to have” while overseeing that run of revenue success from the ticket sales department, telling fans that...

  Understanding a private university’s mission is crucial for anyone who chooses to work on campus. Mike Minyard discusses how Liberty University’s mission, since its foundation, has provided its guidance for the types of promotional activities that its athletic department implements throughout the season. Some of these may be difficult for an outside, non-Liberty University person to understand,...

  Mike Evenson relates back to his time as the Director of Ticket Operations at the University of Oregon, as well as working at the University of Wisconsin’s ticket office, to how he judges good vendor relations while overseeing Audience View Ticketing’s customer service model. Evenson talks about the ticketing landscape, some of the factors which matter to the customer when buying online, as well...

  Pricing ethics isn’t as discussed as it should be in the world of sports. Navdeep Sodhi, who has worked for Northwest Airlines in analyzing pricing, talks about some of the ways that sports franchises may not be as ethical in their dynamic ticket pricing structures and variables. Sodhi talks about pricing psychology, both when it comes to how the West, as well as China, react to different price...

  Many Chinese markets are awakening to the outside world in terms of sports business enterprise, but British ex-patriot Mark Thomas has been working on such developments from inside Shanghai for over 20 years. Thomas discusses some of the fallout from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, both from an infrastructure and economic examination, as well as how the Chinese view organized sports leagues in g...

  As smart phone applications become a mainstay for the fan’s experience in a sports stadium or arena, Jamie Nelson believes his company has created a hallmark to enhance one of the largest components within that ecosystem: Concessions. Nelson’s company, VenueMenu, provides an app that users can download and order concessions brought right to their seats. Nelson discusses the several topics surrou...

  Major League Lacrosse has had some of its best success in a hotbed of ACC territory with the Charlotte Hounds, engaging fans in both an exciting and winning atmosphere. In only their second year of existence, the Hounds secured the first playoff appearance in 2013 and played for the title, losing only by one point to the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Wade Leaphart discusses his time helping develop the t...

  The world of data analytics is meeting the revenue demands of every franchise, but one of the best steps the Pittsburg Pirates made was installing Jim Alexander from as the team’s Director of Tickets into the analytics role. It is important to showcase that those who know how to generate revenue are also those determining what figures matter and what ancillaries measurements do not. Alexander di...

  To properly celebrate the 300th podcast episode, there is a little bit of history between the origins of the Tao of Sports and Kevin Miller, who was an original listener back with the first episode was released. Far be it from any podcast not to honor an early adopter. Miller talks about his own personal and professional goals, stemming from his time at Central Florida, Georgia State and his alm...

  The World Series of Poker has exploded from a small, intimate game of gamblers into a gigantic mega event since the early 2000s when unknown Chris Moneymaker entered as the tournament as an online poker qualifier to become a world champion in 2003, transforming $40 into $2.5 million. Witness throughout the growth has been Director of the WSOP Jack Effel, whose leadership has helped garner ESPN t...

The digital media landscape changes daily, especially in the sports world where teams are trying to show impact on various platforms. Peter Stringer's role at the Boston Celtics is about focusing on specific platforms and making them into viable content streams for those who follow the Celtics. Stringer talks about The Celtics "Home Court Advantage" app, the first live streaming mobile app in the...

At the FCS level, everything runs on a very thin budgeted operational staff in order to carry out various tasks. The University of New Hampshire Athletic Department is no different, especially when it comes to branding and marketing efforts, overseen by Amber Lilyestrom. The means dedicating a lot of time, resources and sweat equity to various tasks personally that would otherwise be handed by a s...

The Harrisburg Senators have managed to survive and thrive amid several major metro areas that surround the franchise and its community. Senators' President Kevin Kulp explains some of the thoughts behind growing team revenue and attendance at a time when other teams are suffering from community economic issues. Kulp discusses some of the factors that he uses to help build up not only the Senators...

Chris Syme specializes in social media for athletic departments. Social media is The Wild West in sports, however, a lot of athletic directors don't fully grasp what to do with it, and hire Syme to help navigate a direction that works for the overall university brand. Syme talks about some of the challenges that come with building a social media brand, what differing platforms to follow, and what...

First time athletic directors at small colleges often are overwhelmed by new tasks such as marketing, branding and communications. That's where Trip Durham comes in, running 2D Consulting, which seeks out those opportunities to help young ADs build their brand while in the top chair of the department. Durham talks about his past association as one of NACMA's leaders, which has helped increase the...

Jeff Berryhill oversees one of the most complex sales operations for any professional sports league. Located in Blaine, Minnesota, the National Sales Center helps develop "fresh out of college" graduates and transforms them into cutting edge sports sales executives for Major League Soccer. Berryhill discusses some of the things that the NSC candidates go through, including dorm life, with no guara...

Chris Yates is one of the new age media brands in sports, extending out through the Internet through social media, especially with Google Plus Hangouts. Yates talks about what works, and what doesn't, in digital media as well as why patience is one of the valuable keys to building up a credible brand online. Yates discusses his infamous first interview with Grumpy Cat, as well as how he has intera...