Tao of Sports Podcast

  Jim Willits has had a 20-year career in sports, rising to the role of Vice President of Sales for 8 years with the Philadelphia Flyers. Willits talks about the barriers that young students put on themselves trying to break into the industry, especially when presenting resumes or getting a face-to-face interview. Willits discusses how the industry needs for employees has changed, and how a lot of...

  Dynamic pricing’s history in English football began with the Derby County Football Club. As ticket office manager for three years during that period, Edward Liddiard saw first-hand the effect of variable pricing on the marketplace and with fans. Liddiard talks about the positive and negative ways in which dynamic pricing changed, as well as how the practice had to adapt to the UK employment syst...

  The dynamic world of CRM and its capabilities within sport franchise revenue streams is examined with Fiona Green, who has worked with the top European football clubs in the world. Green talks about why CRM capability and customer informational control is so huge for even the largest football clubs such as Manchester United or Arsenal, helping teams and sponsors better understand who is watching...

  Kelley Walton has worked in professional sports hiring for over 10 years, as the director of human resources for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Now a practicing lawyer and instructor with Ohio University’s Sports Administration program, Walton has authored a book on breaking into the industry called Prepare for Opportunity: A practical guide to applying for a job in sports. Walton talks about the re...

  Summer collegiate baseball can either be something that is not made for the paying fan or it can be essentially a minor league with 30 home dates. Mike Lieberman chooses to believe his East Texas Pump Jacks are the latter. Lieberman talks about how the Pump Jacks go about utilizing interns and two full-time staff in order to bring a full minor league experience to the residents of Kilgore, Texas...

  The world of sports journalism is explored with the help of Bill Bradley, who has made the jump from the sports editorial pages of daily newspapers to the digital world of the NFL.com. Bradley talks about the environment of journalism and employment in the field means working online, as well as his decision to build his online brand both with SacStateSports.com and finally the NFL.com, covering...

  Brian Thornton has worked on both athlete and team branding for over 20 years, developing relationship with over 200 active NFL, MLB, and NBA players. His list of clients has included Larry Fitzgerald, Devin Hester, Greg Jennings, Ndamukong Suh, Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Curtis Martin, Rod Woodson, Jairus Byrd, Richard Seymour, Steven Jackson, Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz, Ma...

  Working in sports means learning how sell and being mobile, Jamie Morningstar has done both during her tenure in the NBA. Morningstar talks about her first jobs in sports, including working for the Seattle Super Sonics and the decision to move with the team to Oklahoma City, as well as her time at Madison Square Garden with the New York Knicks and now with the Milwaukee Bucks. Morningstar expand...

  Being continually sold out of ticket inventory is that “good problem to have” for any franchise, but Joe Cote explains how it can cause some consternation for his fanbase, especially when the perception of being sold out causes patrons to buy off of the secondary market when there are tickets available on the primary market. Cote talks about how the Timbers have embraced the Portland marketplace...

  The Hops just finished their first Single-A baseball season in Hillsboro, Oregon. Team Vice President and General Manager K.L. Wombacher talks about the decision to move the former Yakima Bears franchise more than 200 miles away, re-branding the team as the Hops. Wombacher talks about the challenges facing the team, as well as how the team’s per caps have exceeded expectations, as well as the Ho...

  If you are going to point to one pioneer of revenue development, Jon Spoelstra should be at the very top of the list. Spoelstra has been part of over 1,000 sellouts. Author of one of the most notorious books in sports administration history “How To Sell Every Last Seat In The House” which he sells on his website for $800, Spoelstra can get that price based on the valuable information he provides...

  Breaking into college sports means being an intern or graduate assistant starting out. Christopher Kaufman is the coordinator of ticket operations and sales at the University of South Dakota Athletic Department, and talks about the challenges he faced getting into the field, as well as the positive outlook he brings each day to his job at USD. Kaufman discusses the challenges that USD faces in b...

  Controlling the secondary market for an NBA team is a new concept that Portland Trail Blazers VP of Ticket Sales Tyler Howell has been working on. Howell talks about working with ticket brokers in order to keep the secondary market from being flooded, thus dropping the value of the ticket. Howell discusses his thoughts on dynamic pricing, building demand, and how the Portland Timbers MLS team ha...

  In the early 1990s, Rob Cornilles helped revolutionize sales training principles for sports franchises by founding Game Face, Inc. and then changed over the model again by creating an academy structure to train young college students into ticket sales reps, in his Portland facility, as well as helped place them with professional teams throughout the nation. Game Face was then expanded into an ex...

  America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen is running a Division I non-football conference, but that doesn’t mean that the changing college football landscape hasn’t had an effect on her members. Huchthausen talks about some of the issues surrounding scheduling, conference membership stability, and how Title IX is affected by those decisions. Huchthausen also discusses her thoughts on guiding con...

  Josh Olerud has transitioned from independent minor league baseball with the Rockford Redhawks to affiliated with the Potomac Nationals. Olerud talks about the differences between promotions in minors as well as the financial impact that stars like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg rehabbing with Potomac can have on the ticket counter. Olerud discusses how Potomac has built its own brand within...

  Selling NHL hockey in a non-traditional market means focusing on redeveloping your brand, especially during franchise turmoil over ownership issues. Dallas Stars Executive Vice President Brad Alberts talks about the issues surround the team’s bankruptcy and working with season ticket holders as well as the general fan base to ensure the club’s survival in a crowd sports marketplace. Alberts spea...

  Since 1988, Jim Rappel has been working in sports marketing. First with the Miller Sports Group, directing programming for their sports agency throughout the Mid-West, to working at Wunderman with various motorsports and professional sports in order to expand branding on different media platforms. Rappel talks about different marketing challenges that professional sports face, as well as what so...

  Bobby Holland oversees one of the largest travel baseball facilities in the country, along with one of the most recognizable brands in baseball, The Ripken Experience, in Myrtle Beach. Holland talks about how his experiences from minor league baseball have helped his skills in developing The Ripken Experience’s travel sports structure with corporate sponsors, especially with hotels. Holland disc...

  Joe Barbarito has worked in various levels of sports business for the NHL’s Dallas Stars, Charlotte Knights, Broomfield Sports & Entertainment, Colorado Crush, Macon Knights, and Toledo Mud Hens. Now taking on clients as the owner of Pre-Game Consulting, Barbarito talks about some of the training methodology he uses in order to improve revenue and marketing for teams. Barbarito is willing to adm...

  In an episode that was supposed to be recorded back in November 2012, T-Ante Sims finally sits down for a chat on working in sports, in higher education and with student athletes. Sims talks about his role at Sacramento State University Athletics, finding student workers, and some of the environment that CSSU creates with smaller venues and no amenities. It was a long, overdue chat with T-Ante S...

  Corporate Sales Directors constantly try to seek out what their sponsor prospects want and J.W. Cannon provides some of his answers. Helping the United Parcel Service develop good B2B within their sponsorship spaces, Cannon talks about what most team corporate sales directors are missing about national companies and why sponsorship should be tailored to client, not to what inventory is available...

  Tickets drive revenues for an NHL team more than any of the Big Four Leagues because of a lack of major national television revenue. Eric Kussin is responsible for the creation of new revenues at a time when the New Jersey Devils have faced financial issues, especially a lockout-shortened 2012-13 NHL season. Kussin talks about the issues surrounding both the Devils and the NHL, as well as expand...

  Selling the MLS in a market filled with sports choices is exactly what Mike Ernst is up against, yet the Chicago Fire’s ticket sales have continued to set records and revenue marks for the league. Ernst talks about his philosophy on selling, the relationship between sales reps and season ticket holders, the impact of supporter clubs which are unique to the MLS in US team sports, and how the Fire...

  Edward O’Hara is a founding partner of SME, overseeing the company’s branding process from strategic development to creative direction and execution. O’Hara is a brand building expert who has appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines, CNN, CNNfn, MSG Network, and TimesCast, as well as has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and BrandWeek. O’Hara knows brand, especially in the w...