JENNABETH PHOTOGRAPHY Geoff Lester’s family has run a chain of high-end women’s fashion boutiques in Virginia since the 1920s, but lucky for StubHub, Lester had little interest working in the family business.
“I wasn’t as passionate about women’s fashions as I should be, nor was I sure I wanted to live in Virginia,” Lester said. “I realized I had to find another path.”
That path has taken Lester to his current job with StubHub, where he plays a key role in landing deals for the secondary ticketing leader as it also builds a platform to tap into primary sales, creating a single ticket-sales experience for fans. The company earlier this year signed a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers that marked its entry into the primary-sales market; other deals are expected.
Lester’s work in sports began with NASCAR, which he joined in 1999 after graduating from Virginia Tech. He spent 11 years at NASCAR before joining StubHub in 2010, a time when the secondary ticketing business carried a sense of uncertainty within the industry. Among the questions: Could it sustain its place in the ticketing market if primary ticket sellers, and teams, wanted to take control of ticket reselling? Yet Lester also sensed a huge opportunity, so he took the plunge. Now, six years later, he’s doing deals with many of sports’ biggest brands.
“It is a relationship business,” Lester said. “We are growing steadily and have been for years, and we are able to invest in partnerships. Working with the right influencers is important. This is a small industry, and word travels fast.”
— John Lombardo
Geoff Lester
StubHub | Head of partnerships and business development
Age: 39
Where born: Danville, Va.
Education: Virginia Tech (B.A., political science/pre-law)
Family: Wife, Erin; children, Hayes (3), Mason (1)
Advice I’d give to my younger self: Be more confident and outspoken, especially around senior leadership; and, change companies and roles more often, to expand your expertise, perspective and network.
2016 will be a good year if: StubHub’s new ticketing platform is the success we know it will be.
Person in the industry I’d like to meet: Mark Parker at Nike.
I’d like to change jobs for a day with: LeBron James — just to see what it would be like, for one day, to be one of the best in the world at what I do, on a global stage, with all the expectations and eyeballs on me to deliver. Plus, I would love to be sponsored by Nike, if just for a day.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I’ve done: Cannot be printed in these pages. (Kidding. I’m boring!)
You’d be surprised to know: I have not taken a real vacation since my honeymoon in 2009.
