Steffan Pedersen

April 17, 2011

Interview: Interview was done over the phone on April 16, 2011.

Interviewed: Jeff LaClaire

Title: Owner and Founder.

Company: LaClaire & Co. Sports, Entertainment & Retail Marketing. Sponsorship Consultancy.

Degrees Held: B.S. in Business with a Marketing Degree from Florida State University, Class of 1994.

Certifications and Licenses: Former NASCAR Marketing Official/Exec, Managed a $35M annual sports marketing budget for MCI Telecommunication, worked at a Top 20 Promo Magazine ranked agency, worked for an NFL team, sold and serviced over $100M in sports/entertainment sponsorships.  Former member of the Atlanta American Marketing Association and Guess Panelists. All listed are America based companies and licenses.

Email: jeff@laclaireco.com

Background: Jeff LaClaire is a good family friend that lives in my family’s neighborhood at home (Marietta, Georgia). He plays tennis with both of my parents and has always been a really nice man to both me and my family. He began his career as a marketing executive at NASCAR, overseeing the implementation of marketing strategies for the organization’s 26 Official Sponsors, which included Anheuser-Busch, Chevrolet, DuPont, Gatorade, Kodak, and McDonalds. He came to Atlanta in 1998 when he was named Sports Marketing Manager for MCI Telecommunication. LaClaire & Company secured its’ first major client in 2006, Macy’s, and since then has signed The Gwinnett Center and the Gwinnett Arena, as well as many more.

1. What are your major job responsibilities? 

Currently my major job responsibilities are two-fold. As the owner of my sponsorship consultancy practice, I’m always selling my abilities to win new business. Winning new business whether it be a sports or entertainment property that needs a sponsorship professional to help sell for them, or a sponsor that needs consultation on sponsor activation, negotiation or selection is vital to my success. However, the second tier to this is actually delivering to the client. It’s one thing to win a new sports or entertainment property as a client, but another to keep them happy and bring in some solid partners. 

2. What are the things you like most and least about your job? 

At first it was about the experience of traveling to professional sporting events and learning how other executives and brands manage, and on why they are involved, but now, it’s more about the entrepreneurship of it all and having some freedom’s to take on what you want to do and decline things that don’t fit your efforts or image in the industry. What I like the least is now the travel and/or reporting that goes along with the job. A good life lesson that I’ve learned is it doesn’t matter if you work for another company and have a J-O-B, or own your own company, you still answer to someone.

3. What, if any, changes do you see occurring in your profession in the next 5-10 years? 

Specific to my main focus which is sponsorship sales, it’s very cyclical as it relates to the economy.  Sports and entertainment properties tend to outsource and reach out to firms like mine when the economy goes down and they tend to keep things more in-house when their phone is ringing for deals internally. In 5-10 years, there certainly could be more consolidation of larger firms buying up the smaller firms like mine with good talent, but eventually talented people with connections leave to start their own deals, so my industry remains pretty stable. Unfortunately with a down economy, properties are more skeptical as well when retaining firms like mine, but if you can deliver on a consistent basis, you can have a client for a long period.

4. What is the best advice you can give a person who wants to enter the field? 

Find the best organization in professional sports with a brand, whether it be a brand/sponsor, a venue or team and jump at the chance to get in as an intern or whatever to get to know them, but more importantly so they can get to know you.  Avoid agencies if possible in the beginning as the experience with sports league, team or venue is the best approach as that is where the action is and where decisions are made. One must remember that there are a million people just like you wanted to at the best places, so emphasizing that you want to learn the business versus saying “I just love sports or the team,” is the way to go.    

5. How big of a role does technology play in this job field? 

Selling sponsorships can be virtual.  I’ve sold deals where I’ve never met the person buying them because it’s become so easy to see what opportunities exists, study demos, understand markets, television rating, attendance, etc. Most top properties don’t share pricing on the web, but the research that can be done due to technology and a growth of some great websites out now allow for one to competitively price your offerings.

6. When did you become interested in Sports Management? 

I grew up in Daytona Beach, FL which is a very event driven/tourist driven city. We had the MTV Spring Break craze in the 80’s on national television, we had the Daytona 500 and other races and I also played a lot of sports too. When I was taking Marketing as a major at FSU, they

just started offering a class in Sports Marketing, but you couldn’t get a major in it, which as 1994. I took the one class and that sort of really got me thinking of wanting to do it, however, I ended up taking my first job out of college selling Ernest & Julio Gallo Wine products in grocery and convenience stores.  It wasn’t until I had a connection that could get me an interview with someone at NASCAR Marketing headquarters that started me on the path I’m on now 16 years later.

7. What is the most important quality a person should have wanting to enter this field? 

That’s a very tough question because “the field” is so broad.  One can sell media, advertising, sponsorships, consulting services, etc. That requires an ability to never quit and keep pushing and some would argue, not something learned in text book. Then, there’s the consultative side to managing, whether it be events, a brand, a sponsorship or a venue. That requires a teamwork approach and being able to become a good leader and manager. I think being humble is the most important as there are too many big egos in sports marketing/management because too many get caught up in the logo on their pocket or where they work and not on who they really are.  Those people don’t last that long. Being humble is my answer.

8. What are the biggest misconceptions new students have about the profession? 

It’s glamorous. It’s easy to get caught up in the pageantry of it all, but it’s business. It’s hard.  When one is in their 20’s or early 30’s one may not mind traveling a lot and trying to keep real relationships with significant other, friends and family, but many forget that while everyone you know is watching the event on television or perhaps at the event as a spectator having fun, you are working and most of the time, that’s on a weekend if you are involved in professional sports.  Sports is meant to be fun and scheduled for the mass public, code of when they are off work.   You’ll be working.  One year I spent 100 days in a hotel and most of those days were Friday – Sunday.   When people start to settle down and get married and have families (which one never thinks much about when in college) being in sports can be tough.   It’s also a profession where many times you have to go to where the job is, meaning relocating for a better opportunity. 

9. What exactly does your company do? 

We do two things well. (1) Sponsorship Sales for Properties (Venues, Events, Teams, Athletes, etc.) and (2) Sponsorship Consulting that is more focused on activation, selection and negotiations.

10. What majors/classes would you recommend to someone interested in entering the field?

I have a B.S. in Business with a Marketing degree. I find many people in the sports industry don’t even have degrees in Sports Management or even Marketing. On the job training is the most important thing, as it’s all in who you know to get your foot in the door. I would

recommend all the Marketing classes you can, anything Sales or Entrepreneur related but looking back I do wish that I had spent some in two other areas. One would be Graphics/Photoshop and the other would be Web Design/Development.

11. How often are students hired for internships or fresh out of college jobs? (In your company and the field in general.) 

All the time. Very few firms don’t bring on an intern because both parties benefit. Interns are cheap, smart and they want to learn for future advancement. 

12. How much do sports actually play a role, and which sports play the biggest roles?

Sports are a form of entertainment. People are passionate about sports, so it’s a fantastic channel for companies to reach people in their everyday lives, outside of work.  NFL is king, and NASCAR is huge for attendance, as it college football although the interest in college football is more regionalized. Professional sports has a premium on it in terms of cost of entry because the impressions are high, but due to supply and demand and rating systems one can determine what is their target market as all sports have different demos and they can also determine where the most/least impressions are. 

Summary of Interview (Commentary): I think I would fit perfectly in this field of work. Jeff actually got me an internship for this summer with one of his “sibling” companies that just started up called Next Marketing. I have another phone interview on Tuesday, so this first interview definitely helped prepare me for that, as Jeff also gave me a good deal of pointers and tips. This field of Sports Management is called “experiential marketing” or “relationship marketing” and after this interview and some more research on this field, I think it sounds perfect for me. This field requires more reaching out to the customer and clients than just selling sponsorships and moving on, and this is where I know I would excel. I think that I am an all around good worker and I would be a beneficial part of any team, regardless of what we are doing. I find a way to get along with everyone I work with, and I do as I am told in a timely manner. I hope that this internship will leave me with a lot of experience and open doors in the future. I am happy we had the chance to do these interviews, or else I would never have gotten started on pursuing my summer job (and even future career path!).