9781422285244

Sports Arena &Event Management

C areers O ff the F ield

C areers O ff the F ield

Analytics: Sports Stats and More Coaching & Scouting Health Careers in Sports Sports Agent Sports Arena & Event Management Sports Broadcasting Sports Marketing Sports Media Relations Sportswriting and Sports Photography Working in College Sports

Sports Arena &Event Mangement By Jim Gigliotti

C areers O ff the F ield

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2016 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3264-4 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3266-8 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8524-4

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Santa Barbara, California Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Bill Madrid Production: Sandy Gordon www.shorelinepublishing.com

Cover photo: Dreamstime.com/Monkey Business Images

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

C ontents Foreword …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….… 6 Introduction …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….… 8 Chapter 1: Getting Started …….…….…….…….…….…… 16 Chapter 2: Hard at Work …….…….…….…….…….…….…… 30 Chapter 3: Realities of the Workplace ……. 40 Chapter 4: The Nitty-Gritty …….…….…….…….……. 50 Find Out More …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…… 62 Series Glossary …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….……. 63 About the Author …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…… 64 Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowl- edge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connect- ed to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Key Icons to Look For

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.

Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains termi- nology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s abil- ity to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

Foreword By Al Ferrer

So you want to work in sports? Good luck! You’ve taken a great first step by picking up this volume of CAREERS OFF THE FIELD. I’ve been around sports professionally—on and off the field, in the front office, and in the classroom—for more than 35 years. My students have gone on to work in all the major sports leagues and for university athletic programs. They’ve become agents, writers, coaches, and broadcasters. They were just where you are now, and the lessons they learned can help you succeed. One of the most important things to remember when looking for a job in sports is that being a sports fan is not enough. If you get an interview with a team, and your first sentence is “I’m your biggest fan,” that’s a kiss of death. They don’t want fans, they want pros. Show your experience, show what you know, show how you can contribute. Another big no-no is to say, “I’ll do anything.” That makes you a non- professional or a wanna-be. You have to do the research and find out what area is best for your personality and your skills. This book series will be a vital tool for you to do that research, to find out what areas in sports are out there, what kind of people work in them, and where you would best fit in.

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That leads to my third point: Know yourself. Look carefully at your interests and skills. You need to understand what you’re good at and how you like to work. If you get energy from being around people, then you don’t want to be in a room with a computer because you’ll go nuts. You want to be in the action, around people, so you might look at sales or marketing or media relations or being an agent. If you’re more comfortable being by yourself, then you look at analysis, research, perhaps the numbers side of scouting or recruiting. You have to know yourself. You also have to manage your expectations. There is a lot of money in sports, but unless you are a star athlete, you probably won’t be making much in your early years. I’m not trying to be negative, but I want to be realistic. I’ve loved every minute of my life in sports. If you have a passion for sports and you can bring professionalism and quality work—and you understand your expectations—you can have a great career. Just like the athletes we admire, though, you have to prepare, you have to work hard, and you have to never, ever quit.

Series consultant Al Ferrer founded the sports management program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, after an award-winning career as a Division I baseball coach. Along with his work as a professor, Ferrer is an advisor to pro and college teams, athletes, and sports businesses.

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F oreword

Introduction

Words to Understand shootarounds: light, informal practices on the day of a basketball game shot clocks: the clocks that count down how much time a basketball team has to shoot when it is in possession of the ball; in college, teams have 35 seconds to shoot after they get the ball

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A fan walks into the Thunderdome—the Events Center on the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB)—and sees a beautiful college sports arena. The court gleams, the lights shine brightly, and crews of smiling security and concessions workers abound. Some fans head to the hospitality rooms for special guests, while others seek help from ushers to find seats. Officials find their places set up and ready to go. The anticipation is in the air for another men’s basketball game, the most popular attraction at a campus centerpiece that is busy almost 365 days a year. Behind all the action that fans see, however, are hours of hard work by the sports arena and event management staff. Donnell Dixon, the public events manager at the Thunderdome (at left), is in charge at this game. Dixon is a former college basketball player who has been with UCSB for 30 years, including making the Thunderdome hum since 1990. He turns back the clock to go step-by-step through the process of making this game happen for fans and players alike. “Most games start at seven, but we have many hours of work before that game begins,” he says. “For a seven o’clock game, we have shootarounds here in the gym from eleven o’clock to two

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I ntroduction

Machines such as those used on the scorers’ table at a basketball game are often part of the arena manager’s responsibility.

o’clock, and that’s both teams. We have staff to assist the teams with their gear and to make sure they have what they need. When they leave the court at two, they have their pregame meal. We have from two o’clock to five o’clock to get the court and the gym ready.” For Dixon and his hard-working team, that means a lot more than just pushing a broom. The first move is to set up the scorer’s table on one side of the court. That means wiring in machines that control the scoreboard, as well as providing power and the appropriate gear for radio announcers who will sit at those tables. The

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public-address announcer also sits there, so his microphone is set up and tested. Dixon is not an audio equipment expert, but he has learned on the job what is needed to make sure all the gear is ready for tip-off. “Then we set up the players’ benches on each side,” he continues. “We make sure there are enough chairs for each team and its staff. That includes putting down protective matting beneath the chairs. Then our crew of fifteen to sixteen students gets into the stands and sets them up, which means checking all the seat backs, pulling out stands that were pushed back for earlier events, and cleaning what needs cleaning. “Down on the court, one student drives a Zamboni to shine the court for play.” The Zamboni machine is best known for its use in ice hockey and figure-skating arenas. In those cases, the machines put down a fresh sheet of water that freezes onto the newly cleaned surface. In a gym, a Zamboni is like a giant polishing machine. The court is ready, but there is more to basketball than the court. Along with everything else under the roof of the Thunderdome, the actual gear used in the game falls under Dixon’s area of responsibility.

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I ntroduction

“One of our last moves is to set up the baskets and shot clocks ,” he says. “Every bolt gets tightened and checked. We test the baskets by shooting at them and knocking them around. The last thing we want is for someone to throw down a dunk and break some part of the basket or have the clock fall. In fact, if something like that happens, we have only thirty minutes to repair it or the game could be forfeited to the visiting team. Finally, we clean the glass [backboard], and we put on new nets.” No arena manager wants to have any sort of negative effect on the outcome of a game, so careful attention is paid to every aspect of player and equipment safety. The fans are part of Dixon’s role, too, of course. High on the list of every fan’s needs for a game is good food. The concession stands must be set up, cleaned, and staffed with people who will prepare and serve the food. Dixon has to make sure that all those people are on duty and ready to go. After the court is ready, Dixon’s team prepares the hospitality room that will play host to season ticket holders or special guests. Food for them is laid out, and the room is made spotless. The crews thenmove outside the arena to clean the areas where fans will arrive. The locker rooms are inspected, too. Then the public restrooms are checked. Is there enough soap and toilet

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paper? Just because it has nothing to do with hoops and hardwood doesn’t mean it won’t affect a fan’s enjoyment of the game. Everything gets checked. At UCSB, the ticket office is staffed by another department on campus. At many other places, however, that function is part of the arena management. A person in Dixon’s job will help oversee that vital part of the operation, which includes making sure the

office is staffed, ensuring that there is change and working machines for ticket purchasers, and that the ticket windows are ready to open. Ticket offices also handle requests for passes from the players and coaches, and sometimes take care of media credentials as well.

A hands-on manager like Dixon pitches in to make sure student workers are safe . . . and so are the baskets.

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I ntroduction

Security is a major part of arena management. At each UCSB basketball game, more than 30 students work under a set of supervisors to make sure that fans are safe and that arena rules are followed. Once the game starts, the busy work of the arena staff continues, as they make sure fans have what they need and that game officials and players are kept safe to do their work.

Managing people is as much a part of Dixon’s job as making sure the arena floor is ready for play.

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