Tao of Sports Podcast

  FC Dallas is one of the examples of why Major League Soccer is starting to take hold in the USA. VP of Ticket Sales Kris Katseanes talks about how forward-thinking the FC Dallas ownership group was in placing the team in the city of Frisco, led by the late-Lamar Hunt. Katseanes talks about what he looks for in staff and the target market for the FC Dallas franchise.

  Peak Sports Management is one of the newest corporate sponsorship third party groups servicing collegiate properties. Peak President Ryan Holloway discusses the tricky world of deliverables in a college sports world conditioned to believe in signage, magic wand RFPs and philanthropy masking as sponsorship. Holloway talks about Central Arkansas, Peak’s Sports Management’s flagship property, which...

  Compliance is tricky when it comes to being one of the top schools in the nation, in the Southeastern Conference. Brad Barnes talks about compliance in terms of rules education, how examine both a rule and judgment call, and some of the best practices to working with coaches and administrators in order to ensure that violations are not a norm for a department. Barnes talks about why the NCAA has...

  When it comes to organizational systems and people management, Sean O’Neil wrote the book on the subject. O’Neil talks about some of the misconceptions about why people do the things they do, whether a management style should favor process over people, and how to engage each type of person working within a management structure. Twitter: @BareKnuckleMgmt

  North of the American Border is one of the top minds in sports revenue generation in Paul Fruitman, who has sold for the Toronto Blue Jays, Halifax Rainmen, Toronto Argonauts, and Edmonton Eskimos. Fruitman understands not only the ticket selling aspects, but also the social media ones, speaking on both in a combination style that separates him from most sports marketers. Fruitman discusses prem...

  Brett Sanders has an interesting dilemma, some of his top games are sold out, while others in men’s basketball are a few seats short, leaving a perception that there are no tickets available even when there are. Sanders discusses some of the ways in which Xaiver protects its price point, even when providing discounts, and some of the issues surrounding venues being sold out, yet tickets not rede...

  Just because a team wins back-to-back FCS national championships doesn’t mean that the job ever ends of the marketing department. NDSU Director of Marketing Justin Swanson discusses some of the issues with being sold out, and maintaining the atmosphere if and when the NDSU football team doesn’t return as national champions of the FCS. Swanson discusses his career choices, how jobs at other schoo...

  The Danbury Whalers are minor league hockey at its core. CEO Herm Sorcher comes on the podcast to discuss how the Whalers have survived in a league that has seen several members fold and is down to four total for the 2012-13 season. Sorcher talks about the applied sciences of ticket selling and sports marketing, getting into the world of corporate sponsorship as well as community relations, espe...

  Making the sale is never easy, but it can be harder if teams don’t know who to go after. That’s where Full House Media comes in, explains Director of Sales Brandon Steffek, who goes through the various ways of data mining that have helped the company become a leader in the industry. Steffek talks about going after businesses, showcasing various B2B scenarios that are sometimes overlooked by team...

  The discussion of brand goes deep in this podcast episode with Drew Bedard, who talks about just about every way in which a brand is perceived, developed and promoted continuously by a sports team or venue. Bristol Motor Speedway is no different, especially when it comes to several issues which would appear to be easy-wins, like the 55-straight sell-out streak branding which, once snapped, has l...

  Paul Anderson is a Midwestern attorney who has handled class action and personal injury lawsuits. He also runs one of the top websites explaining the current NFL concussion litigation, and comes on the podcast to explain exactly what is going on with the entire series of cases being wrapped into one Philadelphia courtroom drama. Anderson discusses some of the misconceptions about the litigation,...

  Compliance is an interesting role for any athletic department, typically filled with mystery and the fear of bureaucracy. Shawn Farrell explains a lot of the issues surrounding why the rules are the rules, especially at the NCAA level, and why compliance is necessary for coaches, student-athletes, administrators and fans. Farrell discusses his time as a litigator, his philosophy on working with...

  Darryl Wolski has worked with just about every type of league in hockey, including the KHL and NHL. Wolski talks about the differences of the leagues, what players can expect in the KHL overseas as well as the NHL. Wolski then talks about why certain minor leagues may have more value to players than just dollar signs, and then discusses advising for 15-and-under Bantam Draft prospects in terms o...

  The forgotten child of sports revenue is sometimes its more valuable member, that being premium seating options. Thought for a long time to be an easy win with high end partners, since the economic crash of 2008, teams have found it harder to sell a premium seat. Jason Gonella talks about the role of premium seating, what exactly those customers are looking for, and how to build up a stronger ba...

  Sean Callanan is focused on the growth of the social media market, especially in the world of sports. Callanan’s Sports Geek is responsible for the development of over 1 million Facebook fans for his clients, helping launch Sports DP at the NBA Draft for the Minnesota Timberwolves and a social presence for the Sydney Thunder, Cricket Australia. Sports Geek is about creating a richer experiences...

  David Cieslinski has witnessed just about every type of revenue stream that a minor league franchise has to offer while in Rochester as Adirondack Sports owns both Rochester Rhinos soccer and the Rochester Rattlers lacrosse. Cieslinski talks about stadium operations, marketing and even concessions in terms of how each revenue stream wraps into team’s bottom line. Cieslinski talks about his past...

  Jim Calpin comes on the podcast to talk about the role of franchise ownership, especially when it comes to junior hockey. Calpin discusses some of the problematic issues surrounding ownership, especially when dealing with rookies who don’t seem to understand what they are getting into. Calpin examines team evaluation, including marketing, capitalization and whether certain revenue streams have b...

  Ticket brokers have been around forever, but it took Brittany Menard to write it all down five years ago and start selling one of the most successful guides on the industry. Menard talks about some of the details that those starting out miss when getting into the ticket broker game, as well as what any person thinking about getting into the business can expect in terms of a return on investment.

  After 42 years, the CCHA is closing its doors in July 2013, and its member schools will be placed in four different conferences. Rob Murphy has been responsible for the league’s sponsorship growth over the past few seasons and shares some insight into how to achieve activation in amid the economic downtown. Murphy talks about how to engage corporate sponsors, as well as ensure communication with...

  The best way to examine something is to see how the rest of the world reacts to it and that’s where John Manning comes in. Manning’s pricing principles are based in Australia, but has several years of experience in the Asian markets, focusing on the psychology of why we buy and what value we place upon it. Manning discusses some of the misconceptions that business have on pricing and how to ensu...

  To say that Thomas O’Grady knows about brand indentity is an understatement. O’Grady discusses his thoughts on branding, logo identification, and how important creative services is to any professional or college team. From 1990 to 2003, Thomas O’Grady served as Sr. VP of the NBA’s Creative Services Division, responsible for a 25-person in-house team that orchestrated the creation of 20 of the 30...

  The ticket sales platform game is changing, and Evento is one of the products which may help change how fans purchase online tickets in the next few years. Half a world away in Tel Aviv, Israel, Evento Founder Ophir Zardok discusses how his product works on Facebook, allowing fans to select tickets right next to their friend’s seats, as well as place purchase announcements on the buyer’s Faceboo...

    Mark Washo has influenced a generation of tickets sales representatives with his book, How To Break Into Sports Through Ticket Sales. Washo also founded PMI College, a third-party out-bound ticket sales group with several college properties throughout the nation. Washo talks about his book’s influence, as well as how the world of ticket sales has grown since his time at the Chicago Fire and ot...

David Haney is the branding genius behind the NHL’s “Coolest Game On Earth” campaign. Haney discusses how to develop a good brand or repair a sick one. This is very key in the modern age of social media and among fragmented platforms of messaging. How do you get people to feel the right away about your brand? Haney leads with the way with an amazing episode of digging deep into the heart of what b...

  Prospect leads are the name of the game in corporate and ticket sales, something that Bill Nielsen has helped provide to various college and professional team sales departments. Nielsen talks about the surveying that is also performed by Scarborough Sports Marketing, helping determine impact of branding as well as price points for sports franchises in the area of fan development.