NHL Team Marketer

NHL Team Marketer

mikedubc

Washington, DC

Male, 33

I'm the Director of Strategic Marketing of an NHL team. I focus on revenue generation and customer engagement via digital media. My expertise includes strategy, business development, mobile marketing and application design, CRM, online marketing and market research. Ask me anything.

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33 Questions

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Last Answer on June 24, 2013

Best Rated

Might sound like a dumb question, but does your team have any African-American players, and if so, do you guys make a conscious effort to play that up in your marketing efforts?

Asked by will.i.aint about 12 years ago

Not a dumb question at all. Yes, we do have an African-American player on our roster but we don't highlight him in our marketing and advertising any more than other players. We'll feature him whenever we feel he would work best but nothing out of the ordinary.

Regarding the lockout, do you think players are just being greedy, or do they have legitimate gripes?

Asked by Eric L.G. almost 12 years ago

Both sides have legit gripes and you can say that both and neither are being greedy. The owners are billionaires, but many are losing millions every season. The players are millionaires but they would essentially be taking pay cuts. It's an ugly situation but it needs to be fixed.

Do you ever have to coach individual players on how to be more media-friendly?

Asked by imbatman almost 12 years ago

Personally I didn't but our Media Relations team did. And that job is even tougher when you have a lot of foreign players where english is their second language. It makes for some fun interviews and voiceovers.

After a lock-out, is it easier to sell tickets due to pent up demand, or is it harder since it's a shortened season?

Asked by thinice313 almost 12 years ago

I'd say it's harder, especially for the teams who already had issues moving tickets. Fans are pissed off at both the owners and the players and many of them will refuse to pay for tickets. The avid fans will still be there, and the casual fan probably won't change much, but I think many of those in the middle may be lost.

Which side do you think was being more reasonable in their demands during the lockout negotiations?

Asked by Cujo almost 12 years ago

Similar to the question about the players being greedy, it's tough to say who was more reasonable or greedy during negotiations. In terms of revenue sharing, the owners had the worst deal of all major sports leagues and that was a primary reason so many were losing money, so they had to fight hard for that. And the players basically would have had money taken away from them, so I don't blame them for fighting for that, either.

Were you a fan of the team you work for before you started? If not, did working for this team turn you into a fan?

Asked by Gregg about 12 years ago

Nope, I wasn't a fan of the team. I was actually a fan of a rival team when I was a kid but lost interest in hockey along the way. It didn't take long for me to turn into a fan of the team and hockey again.

Do you think the NHL could ever fold?

Asked by all gray all day almost 12 years ago

It's possible but I don't think it will. There's enough interest in the sport to keep it as one of the big four major leagues, but it's definitely the most susceptible of the four, because so much interest is driven by the teams in Canada and in the North.