By: Tanner Bond ('15)
This past year I had the opportunity to work on the inaugural sales team within the Ohio University Athletic Department. I was presented this opportunity by Mr. Kahler as a partnership between Ohio Athletics, the Center for Sports Administration, and Legends Sales and Marketing. As someone who wishes to pursue a career in college athletics I felt this was a great opportunity for me to advance my career.
Beginning last June I started my fellowship as Assistant Director of Ticket Sales. In this role I was responsible for selling football and men’s basketball season packages, individual game tickets for those sports, as well as post-season games and conference tournaments. Myself along with Madelyn Robinson ('13) and David Neumann ('13) were a part of this inaugural sales effort. Unlike many ticket sales teams within college athletics we did not outsource our operation to another company such as Aspire, Learfield IMG Ticket Solutions, and Collegiate Consulting. All sales efforts were administered in-house under the direction of our Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations. This model provides much more autonomy than an outsourced team and the sales staff was able to form a great relationship with our senior administration.
Over the course of the next eight months we experienced unprecedented success for Ohio Athletics as far as attendance, sales, and revenue. One of the highlights of the year was when we broke the combined MAC revenue record for Men’s Basketball and Football. Overall we were able to generate $1.1 million in combined revenue with over $140,000 in incremental revenue. Along with that major record we were able to set the season ticket sales record for both Men’s Basketball and Football for Ohio Athletics. Our success even garnered some national attention in Sports Business Journal.
Outside of the sales success we witnessed I was able to help out with game day operations for all Football and Men’s Basketball home games. Tasks included setting up Pepsi TailGREAT Park, one of the main tailgate areas at Peden Stadium and Bobcat Student Park, a similar area for Ohio students. Prior to this fellowship I never had any type of game operations experience so, it was great for me to learn what goes into preparing a venue for game day. Ohio is considered by many as a mid-major athletic program but, if you’ve ever been out to a game at Peden Stadium or the Convocation Center it rivals any major conference program. One of the best experiences was the basketball game against Akron towards the end of the season. Being from Lexington I have been to Rupp Arena, Freedom Hall, and other great arenas across college basketball but, that night would rival any game I had been to in those buildings.
One of the most fulfilling moments of my experience was when I found out that some of the revenue we had generated was going to be used to install lighting for the Ohio Softball Field. Knowing that for years to come our student-athletes would be able to experience the thrill of playing under the lights was a very gratifying close to my fellowship.
Looking back on my time with the Ticket Sales Team I feel very fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity. Not only did I get to learn about ticket sales but, also many other segments of running a college athletics department. Coming from the University of Louisville, where there is very little communication amongst the internal and external staff, I really appreciated the family atmosphere at Ohio. Also, it was great being around my future classmates, being in Athens and getting a feel for the sports administration program. I roomed with three first year students and it was great getting to know their class, as well as the one above them.