Tao of Sports Podcast

Pat Gallagher's amazing sports marketing career has culminated with a book about his experiences pulling off Super Bowl 50, called Big Game. Bigger Impact. Co-authored with Stephanie Martin, Gallagher shares the background of the SB50 campaign, including dealing with the various issues around getting the Bay Area to support such an endeavor. Gallagher talks about his sports marketing career with t...

The growth of women's basketball is a consistent topic of conversation for Tracie Hitz, director of operations at the NCAA. Hitz discusses some of the metrics, both in the world of traditional and social media, which have helped increase awareness about NCAA women's basketball throughout the year. Hitz discusses some of the damaging side effects of discounting and free tickets that women's basketb...

Mark Cameron represents the third generation of the Florida State ticket sales office experiment, taking an in-house model approach under the development umbrella, and creating a dynamic, commission-based sales structure. Chris Wilson represents the premium model of the ticket office, as FSU's football and basketball luxury sections have drastically increased over the past decade. Both talk about...

While Russell Wilkins can appreciate the sold-out situation that Wichita State has in men's basketball, he also remembers trying to sell indoor football in that same marketplace. Wilkins takes about the challenges of having a sold-out venue, both from a pricing and sales perspective, as well as initiating different technologies and innovations when dealing with an older fanbase. Wilkins talks abou...

Both Ryan Peck (Ep. 522) and Chris Baretta (Ep. 642) have been on the podcast prior, but serving different athletic departments. Now joining forces in Denton, at the University of North Texas, Peck and Baretta seek to turbo-charge The Mean Green revenue model for football and basketball. Peck and Baretta share their knowledge of metric-based business planning, as well as solutions toward gaining t...

Markus Jennings is considered a rising star in college athletics development, now on the NAADD board as well as running revenue generation for Sacramento State. Jennings discusses the nuances that come with making major gift asks, as well as ticket sales, along with the transition of titles toward Deputy Athletic Director within departments. Jennings presents the current challenges in college athl...

Since 1996, Katerina Kirillova has been selling tickets in Russia and knows that consumer's tastes thoroughly. Kirillova discusses the technological landscape, as well as the Moscow executive acumen when it comes to generating revenue and fostering new distribution channels. Kirillova talks about some of the long term trends that the world can expect from the Russian ticket marketplace, as how Rus...

After a 25-year run to the NHL playoffs, The Detroit Red Wings' streak ended, putting an entire sales staff to work on how to transition their hockey fans into the new normal. Red Wings' Director of Ticket Sales Paul Bee explains some of the nuances that come with a winning streak ending as well as relocating to a new arena, and keeping the staff's eye on the puck and the revenue sheet. Bee discus...

Charlie Slonaker details not only the Philadelphia Union's ticket sales victory narrative of a franchise that came from local supporters groups, but his own path from the Dayton Dragons to the Cincinnati Bengals to the Indiana Pacers to the Union. Slonaker discusses the nuances of learning how to sell efficiently in the best environment possible with the Dragons, then transitioning that into the N...

Fred Matthes recalls the early days of Major League Soccer and the DC United, when the upstart league played 10 squads in massive stadiums and almost folded after 2001, but continued to to greater glory. Matthes talks about the challenges for the MLS, especially when comes to selling the product, but also growing the supporter groups as well as the season ticket numbers. Matthes shares about his t...

The difference between sponsorship and philantrophy is explored by Dan Frystak, who presents the argument of how activation depends on the experience of the consumer interacting with the branding mechanisms of the product. Frystak explores why several companies are positioning themselves toward activation through experiential marketing, as compliments to major events such as the Super Bowl and the...

Samantha Hicks faces the complexity of selling two sports at the same time; The Reno Aces AAA baseball team, and the first year of the 1868 FC USL soccer team. Hicks talks about the "no comps" rule for both teams, in order to keep a steady price point and demand structure for the Reno marketplace. Hicks describes how she engages with her staff, ensuring that some of her brightest account reps and...

Nathan Costa presents context in his thoughts on ticket sales and marketing, working both at the team business services level as the vice president of the American Hockey League, and now as the Executive Vice President of the Springfield Thunderbirds. Costa shares the interesting way that the Thunderbirds were born in 2016-17, but two franchises relocating. Costa describes the challenges of buildi...

Kathy Burrows returns to the podcast after her first appearance two years ago on Ep. 521, ready to discuss how she feels the 100-phone-call-per-day metric has hurt sports sales. Burrows challenges listeners with the idea of what that metric purpose serves, and whether it is misguided in what the end result of sales activity should be. Burrows talks about her refocus on monthly sales training over...

Anthony Iannarino is a lot of things, but he refuses to be a shill for the tech industry's bias against sales phone calls. Iannarino explains that he feels the vested interest of the few have outweighed the realities of the many when it comes to whether social selling is as effective as phone calls. Iannarino shares his four levels of value, as well as some of the ways that a sales team can drive...

After witnessing a lack of ticketing education cohesion in Europe, Andrew Thomas created his own conference positioned on building up acumen for the sports and entertainment industry. Thomas shares insight into some of the issues surrounding ticket platforms, as well as customer transactions online, including pricing mechanisms which may help or hinder the sales process. Thomas talks about his exp...

If its gotta be the shoes, then Nick DePaula has a story about it. The Creative Director of NiceKicks.com has been able to take his fans into the behind the scenes look at the shoe industry, shoe contract endorsement deals, and increase the amount of coverage in overall marketing of player brands. DePaula shares his beginnings from 2007, when he served as both Editor-In-Chief and Creative Director...

In a rather extensive conversation about data, Roger Tomlinson argues that board members, as well as senior directors, should be establishing protocols of training for their staff at venues. Tomlinson presents his case that box office staff tend to know their customers better than executives, yet tend not to be involved in the data initiatives that are rolled out. Tomlinson talks about ticket pric...

Angela Gahan breaks down exactly what it takes to bring an entertainment production to Australia, and points out that it cannot sell just in Sydney, but has to be a show that can run throughout the entire country. Gahan specifies on pricing, brand and the art of the presale, where some shows are advance-sold over a year from performance night in order to gain its full audience. Gahan discusses var...

Steve Nudelberg provides an intense sales training work out for anyone looking to maximize how they engage in broadening their relationships skills with a decision-maker. Nudelberg talks about how to make enough "touches" to count, crafting a CRM protocol to ensure that any prospect feels respected, but not sold to. Nudelberg shares his insight into the difference-making conversation skills that h...

In many ways, Simon Mabb presents the argument that one of the oldest businesses, insurance, may actually help the primary ticket marketplace. Everything else in the world has insurance behind it, including airline tickets, yet entertainment tickets do not generally. Mabb talks about how the coverage can help fans recoup their investment, as well as drive revenue streams for venues, ticket platfor...

By listening to this episode, your network may have just tripled. University of Miami sports marketing professor Windy Dees discusses the program's marketing campaign, and subsequent advertising push, which illustrates networking and connections available for incoming students. Dees talks about the seriousness of actually having professors who are actively engaging in the marketplace in order to h...

When it comes to pricing, Mark Stiving is one of the people willing to explore every component of how to drive customers to buy. Stiving readily admits he does not understand why the secondary ticket market manages to exist aside from venues and teams not taking the pricing seriously, laying down details of different pricing modules that could work. Stiving discusses whether dutch auction pricing...

If you've ever tried to buy a ticket to the hottest concert, only to find all of the presale numbers gone within seconds, you may have Lowson to blame. Lowson ran Wiseguy Tickets, a ticket scalping operation, until 2009, when the FBI raided his business, charging him with wirefraud, after he generated over $25 million in ticket sales during the 2000s selling tickets to Bruce Springsteen, the Yanke...

Allen Schlesinger swears that he hasn't made a cold call in 5 years, utilizing LinkedIn's Sales Navigator as well as various online tools to get to the decision-maker faster. Schlesinger describes how he has made his successful sales methodology grow while at the Austin Spurs, becoming the first NBADL rep in the league's history to sell over $500,000 in season ticket sales. Schlesinger talks about...