PROFESSIONAL
What I Like …
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Photo by: TOM HUSSEY PHOTOGRAPHY
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■ An insight: Take your competition seriously, but not yourself.
■ An influential person in my career: I’ve been fortunate to work at several companies with a number of wonderful mentors, but none have been more impactful than Ray Clark at The Marketing Arm.
■ An out-of-the-box idea: Custom crowds in crowdsourcing models.
■ A business deal: Jake Peavy to the Red Sox.
■ A sports facility: AT&T Park in San Francisco.
■ A strategy: The fan experience, the sport, the event, the team, the league is better because your brand is involved.
DAN BELMONT
President
The Marketing Arm
■ What I do: I’m really good at ordering a meal for a large group of people.
■ Where I'm from: Born in Queens. Raised my family in Boston. Currently reside in Dallas. All great sports towns. I feel vested in the teams from all the places I’ve called home. And there’s always a game on where I have a horse in the race.
■ Where I Went to School: St. John’s University, bachelor of computer science.
■ My First Job: I worked at the counter at Friendly’s. I invented the slogan, “Eat your mistakes.”
■ A hire: Our new Jesuit Pope.
■ A trend: Social media ownership at program strategy level versus social media delivery through a social media AOR.
■ An innovation: Golf technology that keeps adding a few more yards to your drive.
■ A pro league or team business initiative: From every angle and at every level, soccer is working hard to become more relevant in the U.S. And it’s working.
■ A story that bears watching: Two come to mind: (1) Ed O’Bannon v. the NCAA and (2) Yasiel Puig. I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.
■ An idea or invention I wish I thought of: I actually did think of it first: The Pancake Sandwich at McDonald’s. Not sure how I let this one go!
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Jake Peavy
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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What I Like about …
■ My job: The people inside our company, at our clients and in the industry.
■ Sports: It’s still “appointment TV.” Sports remain the ultimate reality on television.
■ Sports business: When it’s done right, there are few channels that will give you a greater return.
■ Sports technology: The value and increased engagement your smartphone adds to viewing sports on TV and at the game.
■ Competing: Winning. In our industry, finishing second is the same as finishing last.
■ The future of sports business: Big data.
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AT&T Park
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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What I Would Like To …
■ Change: Violence among fans. Rivalry is fun. Being persecuted for rooting for your team isn’t.
■ Change in what I do: I’d like to be a single-digit handicap.
■ See more of in sports: Making sports more affordable.
■ See less of in sports business: Clutter.
■ See different: More diversity in the business.
■ Eliminate: The shootout. Let’s play until there’s a winner.
What I Don’t Like …
■ In general: Sea urchin and olives.
■ Pet peeve: When traveling, those people who sit in the aisle seat and stay seated after arriving at the gate until the door is open and the aisle is clear. If you have the aisle seat, and I’m in the window seat, you need to get up as soon as that bell goes off and grab us both some space.
■ In sports: Ticket prices.
■ About sports fans: When fans lose their perspective on the game.
PERSONAL
What I Like …
■ People: Start with believing that people have the best intentions and work from there.
■ That would surprise those who know me: I come from a huge family. I have 46 first cousins.
■ Hero: My wife.
■ Player: My son Oscar. He’s a stud lacrosse player.
■ Teams: I’m a fan of the game, but when push comes to shove, I’m a Boston sports guy. Enough said.
■ Possession: My 1965 Mustang convertible.
■ Mementos: Fishing photos with my family.
■ Music: There’s a time for just about everything, but lately it’s been Albert King radio on Pandora. Give it a try, you won’t regret it!
■ Authors: John Steinbeck and more current versions of Steinbeck such as Cormac McCarthy and Philipp Meyer.
■ Website: The Nauset Beach tide times and tide chart website.
■ IPad app: The combination of my Kindle app and Audible is a game changer.
■ Hobbies: Fishing, golf, cross-fit, biking, running, reading, cooking, and more golf (like a second 18 on Saturday).
■ Trip: A second honeymoon with my wife through Turkey, Greece and Italy.
■ Movies: “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “My Cousin Vinny” (see a theme here?).
■ TV: “Dexter,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” “Homeland.”
■ Concerts: There are so many. Here are three: King Crimson, Yellowjackets (at the Blue Note) and Jeff Beck (at the old Paladium).
■ Artist: My daughter.
■ Dessert: S’mores or anything with marshmallow.
■ Scent: My wife’s sauce cooking on the stove. That’s what Sundays will always smell like to me.
■ To cook: My Asian dumplings are better than you’ll get at any restaurant.
