My First Job In Sports

For episode 12 of the My First Job in Sports Web Series, Mark and Neil spoke with Russ Scibetti, Vice-President, Strategy and Business Intelligence for the NY Football Giants.  Russ is a self-described “data nerd,” who has parlayed his facility with numbers and love of sports into a career that began in grad school at Arizona State and since taken him to the Philadelphia Flyers, the New York Jets and now on to his hometown Giants. Russ studied computer science, math and psychology in school but also began building his network through events and public speaking groups while in school. He shares his story, ideas and job searching tips in this extremely worthwhile episode.  

 Communication and networking were appropriate topics in our conversation with Brandon Williams, director global communications at Fanatics, who we met at a networking event. Brandon shares his career path: from public relations agencies in New York City to his current role at the rapidly growing one-stop digital sports platform. 

In Episode 10 of My First Job in Sports, Mark Sullivan and Neil Schwartz spoke to J.D. Wood, Head of Business Development for the Dallas Sports Commission. Sports Commissions are an integral part of the Convention and Visitors Bureau's that are responsible for bringing both fan-based and participation-based sports events to localareas. Sports Travel is estimated to deliver just over 45 Billion dollars in total economic impact domestically. There are currently 850 Sports Commissions that serve as a great point of entry for those looking to get that all-important first job in sports.Guest Bio:J.D. Wood returned to Dallas in February 2020 to become the Director of BusinessDevelopment for the Dallas Sports Commission where he will pursue strategic growthopportunities and partnership efforts for the DSC. The native of Onalaska, Texas returns to Dallas after most recently working as the General Manager of the Panama City Beach (FL) Sports Complex / Sports Facility Management. There he was responsible for business development and overall supervision of the complex that included the event bidding process and contract negotiations. Wood served as the Sports Sales & Event Manager with the Dallas CVB Sports Marketing department (now the DSC) from 2012-13. Wood received a bachelor's and master's degree in Sport Management from Texas A&M University. Since his graduation, he has had the privilege of working with some of the best in the sport tourism industry including stints with the City of College Station, Dallas CVB, National Senior Games and Texas A&M Athletics. J.D. has had the opportunity to work on events like the Games of Texas, NBA All-Star Game, Dallas Cup, Cotton Bowl Classic and the NFL Super Bowl. Additionally, Wood serves on many national sports tourism industry boards such as Sports ETA and Event Connects Sportology Conference and was an Assistant Lecturer for the Texas A&M SportsManagement Department.When he is not working or volunteering, J.D. enjoys spending time with his wife,Cherish, and their daughters, Kennedy, Everly, and Sutton.

Lucie Kloak, Manager of Brand Partnerships at Draft Kings stopped by to speak with Mark and Neil in this episode of My First Job in Sports.  Lucie's love for sports started very early as a multi-sport athlete and let it grow from her participation on the Division 1 Rowing Team while at the University of North Carolina to her current role at Draft Kings.  At Draft Kings Lucie brings brands to work with Draft King's Vegas Stats and Information Network and working to grow their platform. Sports Gambling is a hot category at the moment and Lucie has some great words of wisdom for anyone that wants to get in that category.

On Episode 8 of the My first Job in Sports Web Series, Mark and I spoke with Timari, (Tim), Foster.  Tim is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado where she obtained her certificate in Sports Business.  Tim has recently joined Farrell Sports, the sports marketing firm headed by Matt Farrell.  If you are looking for that first job, sports marketing agencies represent a great place to obtain the skills you need.  

Episode 7 of the My First Job in Sports web series took us to the Golf Business. Our interview with Jeff Hall, PGA Professional, focused on how he has been able to turn his passion for the game of golf into his chosen career. Jeff discussed the importance of building a great team and ensuring that everyone is aligned with the overall goals for the program. Jeff also detailed the many different types of jobs that the golf business offers and how to go about getting them.Guest Bio:Jeff Hall was born and raised in DutchessCounty, NY. He attended Canterbury Prep School in NewMilford, CT where he lettered in 3 Varsity Sports. Jeff knew he wanted to be a Golf Professional at a young age therefore he attended Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC. Jeff started his professional career at Branton Woods, now Trump National Hudson Valley, where he learned about the golf business. Deciding he wanted to be a Golf Professional all year round he moved down to South Florida where he was an Assistant Golf Professional at The Polo Club of Boca Raton for 5 years. At The Polo Club, he received his PGA Class A Certification and Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Certification. Most recently he has been the PGA Head Golf Professional at Westchester Country Club in Boynton Beach, FL. Jeff prides himself on being a complete Golf Professional, but has a passion for teaching the game and truly enjoys making every golfer as good as they can be.

Scott Kaufman Ross, Senior Vice President, Head of Gaming & New Business Ventures at National Basketball Association, offers some unconventional advice on breaking into the sports business and shares his story of how he moved from the financial world to a senior role at the NBA.  His top tips for skill development? Learn how to organize your thoughts and present them in a concise orderly fashion. Writing great e-mails and understanding how to tell a story in your writing and presentations will help you succeed!Guest Bio: As Senior Vice President, Head of Gaming & New Business Ventures for the NBA, Scott Kaufman-Ross manages all initiatives related to the league's commercial endeavors in the fantasy sports & sports betting landscape and oversees the league's efforts to explore new sports business revenue opportunities. Scott led the NBA's partnerships with MGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Yahoo, FOXBET, William Hill, Unibet, bet365, BetEasy, Tabcorp, and Dream11 and served as the NBA's Board Observer to FanDuel for three years. Before taking on his current role, Scott spent four years on the NBA's Global Strategy Team evaluating the league's strategic approach to new business areas such as daily fantasy sports, sports betting, esports, and venture investing. Prior to joining the NBA, Scott spent four years at Goldman Sachs in the Global Investment Research division.

The show is titled: My First Job in Sports and we interviewed Peter Copp who is actually on his first job in sports.  Peter is a graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana who landed his first job in the data business at Stats Perform.Guest Bio:Peter Copp is a recent graduate of Indiana University, where he majored in Sports Marketing & Management with a double minor in the Kelley School of Business.  Peter is a native of San Diego native that now lives in Chicago, IL – where he is employed by one of the global leaders in sports data and technology, Stats Perform, serving as a Business Development Representative (BDR).Prior to Stats Perform, Peter held internships in a sales capacity for companies such as Big 5 Sporting Goods, VAVi Sport & Social Club, and GripRx.  These past internships gave Peter a better sense of how to approach life after college and navigate his way into the professional world.

Sales are a great point of entry for new graduates looking to get into the sports business.  In this episode, we spoke to Nick Holmes.  Nick was a collegiate runner who helped pay his way through school working at running stores. He now heads up run specialty sales at Under Armour.Guest Bio: Nick Holmes grew up in Bartonville, IL, and started his journey in the sports world in Cross Country and Track in high school. At that same time, he worked at the local running store(Running Central) and fell in love with Run Specialty and knew “I wanted to stay in the industry somehow.”He continued his education and athletic career at the University of Iowa graduating in 2013 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Human Relations. While attending and competing for the University, he worked at their local running shop, Running Wild until 2015. From there he moved to Naperville, IL to join Naperville Running Company, regarded as one of the best-run specialty stores in the country.He worked my way up to become a manager and was there for 3 years and also competed at the Olympic Trials in the marathon in 2016. In 2018 he joined In-Gear an independent sales rep firm and handled Under Armour, CEP, Clif Bar, Camelbak, Thule, and others managing four different states. At the end of that year, the position of Sales Manager for Run Specialty opened up at Under Armour and Nick joined the team at UA. He has been there since January of 2019 with the official title of Manager, Run Specialty Sales. Along the way, he married Stephanie Holmes, who also works in the run space at Hoka and had an awesome background in Cross Country/Track and Field. They lived in Baltimore for 2 years and are currently in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin with our two pups Hank and Hershey.

In this episode, Mark and I spoke to Noah Rubin.  Noah used his family network to get started with a job at a sports trade association and moved on to a job at The San Jose Sharks. He just landed a major job in client services with the Washington Nationals.Guest Bio: Noah Rubin originally comes from Northern Virginia and grew up with a major passion for sports, specifically hockey and baseball. Attending the University of Delaware, and participating on the Division 2 hockey team, Noah found his passion for sports on the business side of things as he majored in Sport Management and Marketing. During his college years, he used his summers to participate in internships to learn more about the sports industry.Noah spent time as an equipment manager for the UD Football Team, working with the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, Alliance Sport Marketing, and the Philadelphia Eagles, and eventually entering into the professional world working as a Ticket Sales Associate for the New Jersey Devils. After taking a jump to San Jose to work in Inside Sales, he was able to pursue his passion for customer service by working in the Client Development and Retention side of the Sharks organization. From there, Noah worked to continue to progress in his career to earn a position at the Washington Nationals as an Inside Service Manager.

Sports Gambling is a very hot topic at the moment and in this episode Mark and I spoke to Alex Hickey.  Alex started with a sports marketing agency and networked her way to a job with Major League Soccer. She recently landed a job with Sports Bet in one of the hottest sectors in the business.Guest Bio:Alexandra Hickey is a marketing professional with experience in sports and entertainment sponsorship and activation. She currently serves as marketing manager at PointsBet, an up-and-coming sports betting company, where she works to build overall brand awareness and increase customer acquisition by leveraging strategic media partnerships.  Prior to joining PointsBet, Alex spent close to three years at Major League Soccer, in Partnership Marketing. She managed, activated, and fulfilled key strategic partnerships with brands including Adidas, Audi, BODYARMOR, Johnson&Johnson, and MGM. Alex began her career at a boutique Sponsorship Marketing and Activation agency in Manhattan, planning and executing activation strategies for brands including New York Life Insurance, Under Armour, and Labatt Blue on local and national levels. Alex is a graduate from American University where she studied Strategic Communications and Marketing. She's a San Francisco Bay Area native and an avid sports fan.  

In our inaugural episode, we spoke to Sean Wallis.  Sean left his first job in the financial sector to move into sports and has never looked back. He is now VP Corporate Sponsorships at Notre Dame.Guest Bio: Based in Chicago, Sean oversees all partnership development and new business as a member of the Notre Dame Global Partnerships team.Prior to joining Notre Dame Global Partnerships Sean was with W Partners, a boutique sales and marketing agency that secured over $500M in partnership revenue on behalf of the Cubs and Ricketts family as part of the restoration of historic Wrigley Field and its mixed retail and entertainment district development. In addition, Sean helped lead work securing large-scale corporate partnerships on behalf of other client properties across the sports, entertainment, and culinary industries. Previously Sean spent time at The Marketing Arm in its sponsorship consulting group and at The Cambridge Group in strategy consulting. Sean earned both his Masters in Finance and Bachelors in Business Administration degrees from Washington University in St. Louis where he won two NCAA Division III basketball national championships.