It’s probably no surprise that sports is big business, but do you know just how big? Including media rights, gate revenues, sponsorship and merchandising, the sports industry in North America was worth $69.3 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $75.8 billion by 2021, according to a report by PwC. Here, five Bentley alumni take us behind the action on the field and court.

Finance

ROB GEOFFROY ’94, Senior Vice President and CFO, AMB Sports + Entertainment

Yes, Rob Geoffroy is a numbers guy. But it’s people who drive his work at AMB Sports + Entertainment, which comprises the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons; Major League Soccer team Atlanta United FC; and the year-old Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where both teams play.

“Hearing 70,000 fans cheer after a touchdown or goal; seeing the joy of someone attending their first game, concert or dirt-bike show; helping those outside the organization who are in need — this is why I love working in sports,” says the former Finance major, who oversees business strategy, financial review, and controls and operations for the teams and their venue.

The company’s bundling of sports and entertainment properties is an emerging trend, according to Geoffroy. “You’re going to see less-siloed clubs and more of the entertainment component added to the business venture.”

SHARING SERVICES, RESPECT

In fact, concerts and other nonsporting events account for almost half the business at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. From a numbers standpoint, it makes sense to share services like finance, human resources, information technology, ticket sales, security and digital brand strategies across multiple properties instead of repeating them for each business unit.

The work can take Geoffroy to two or three locations in a given day. He often meets with teams in sales, sponsorship and event operations, along with coaches and presidents of each entity, to discuss finance-related issues with a larger impact on the company.

“I have respect for our revenue officer, for our chief of human resources, for IT — all those components make us successful,” he says, crediting Bentley academics for his wide-angle perspective on business. Moreover, he ran cross country and indoor and outdoor track. “To manage doing three sports a year, while also being in a fraternity and part of the school itself, and working all the time, prepared me for what I do today.”

Marketing

JOANNE BORZAKIAN OUELLETTE ’85, P ’20, Owner, JBO Marketing LLC

The Boston Celtics and the NBA were go-to inspirations for Joanne Borzakian Ouellette in her Bentley marketing courses. “I would develop campaigns to market a player, a team, a promotion, something like that,” says the alumna, whose family has had courtside seats at the Garden since 1974.

Her passion for basketball hasn’t changed a bit. But marketing is a very different game.

“Everyone has a cellphone and marketing is instantaneous,” Ouellette says of social media having edged out traditional tools like advertising, paid media, news outlets and word of mouth. Athletes or celebrities can promote products on their own social platform, attracting followers — and sales — almost immediately.

TOWERING TALENTS

Her first stop after Bentley was Reebok, initially as marketing and promotions manager, then as the company’s global marketing director for the NBA. The 5-foot, 3-inch alumna worked with hundreds of towering talents like Shaq, Dee Brown, Dominique Wilkins, Steve Smith, Greg Anthony, Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers.

For one promotion, Ouellette convinced the Orlando Magic to hold a between-quarters challenge for kids: dribble a ball the length of the court wearing Shaq’s size 22EEE shoe. Another was having Dee Brown inflate his Reebok Pump shoes on camera, before his iconic dunk that won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Moments like these still have a place in the marketing mix; everything just happens faster.

“The approach to marketing had to be unique and catch the consumer’s eye, make them want the product, talk about it and physically go to a store to buy it,” she says of the Dee Brown pump moment. “Today, though, the consumer sees the product, wants it and can buy it online immediately. No need to drive to a retailer during store hours.”

FULL CIRCLE

Ouellette’s 15-year-old company, JBO Marketing, does everything from professional player marketing to product launches to private parties to fundraisers. For example, she works with NBA analyst Dennis Scott on basketball instructional company Shooters Paradise; runs local events for Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy; and represents multiple Wahlburgers franchises in creating special events to market new restaurant locations.

“Often I’m working with the same players I worked with at Reebok, who are now broadcasters and Hall of Famers. For 30 years, my marketing career has allowed me to bring happiness around the world and given me lifelong friends. Thinking about it brings tears of joy to my eyes.”

The full circle nature of work and life continues to hit home. As of September, Ouellette’s son Kyle is a junior at Bentley. Meanwhile, JBO Marketing is working with a new client: Lexie Brown of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, the daughter of Dee Brown.

Product Development

ANGELA MANFREDI ’09, Merchandising Manager, Brand Jordan at Nike

In 2015, LeBron James debuted the KITH LeBron, his eponymous shoe line, at New York Fashion Week.

It wasn’t the first time sneakers had landed on the runway, but “it was a first for a Nike Basketball Signature athlete,” says Angela Manfredi, then a footwear developer at the company. “It was a bridge, showing the ever-growing importance of sneakers and street-wear culture in fashion.”

The KITH LeBron was the most popular shoe in her portfolio at Nike. Manfredi was charged with bringing design concepts into physical form, which included building product specifications such as materials, color and performance/ testing standards. She worked with marketing, design and the athletes themselves.

“It is extremely collaborative,” says Manfredi. “Teamwork and communication are crucial throughout the creative process. “Being from the Cleveland area, I grew up with LeBron. I’ve watched him since he was 15,” adds the native of Burton, Ohio. “Working on that product was a dream come true for a small-town kid.”

Testing a shoe like the KITH LeBron is a rigorous exercise. “It needs to perform at the highest level and contain the 6-foot-8-inch, 260-pound force of an elite NBA player,” she explains, noting that products are put through their paces by athletes and in labs with “state-of-the-art equipment that can test anything and everything you can imagine when it comes to a sneaker.”

SHOOTING OUTSIDE HER COMFORT ZONE

Earlier this year, Manfredi transitioned into a different role at Nike: merchandising for the Brand Jordan line. She’s working in another part of the organization to “understand business metrics and how the company operates downstream. It’s critical to have different roles at a company that allows you to do so, given its size.”

She credits Bentley for “giving me a leg up to make that jump from product to merchandising.”

Of particular note: four years playing Falcon basketball under the school’s legendary head coach. “The campus was beautiful, the education was incredible and Barbara Stevens is enough to convince anyone to go to Bentley,” remembers Manfredi, who serves on the Women’s Basketball Advisory Board.

On the court and in numerous small-group projects for academic courses, she developed a “team over self” mindset that has served her well.

"Sports are woven into this place,” she says of Nike. “It’s such a blessing to be supported in your workplace to watch sports and talk about sports.”

Information Technology

BRIAN SHIELD ’85, Vice President of Information Technology, Boston Red Sox

Professional baseball has long applied data and analytics to determine value where players are concerned. The IT infrastructure is less robust around understanding fans.

Being on the cutting edge of IT is a “requirement now for a sports franchise to remain competitive, drive revenue and ultimately make the ownership group more successful,” says Brian Shield, who joined the Boston Red Sox in 2013 as its first vice president of information technology. He notes that baseball had historically lagged behind other industries technology wise, but “a lot of that has changed over the last five years. There’s a renewed emphasis on leveraging technology as a competitive advantage.”

 

TURNING DATA INTO ENGAGEMENT

The Sox organization has taken on two big-data-driven initiatives under Shield. The first was building an enterprise data warehouse to capture transactions from their primary sales channels as well as from secondary market sellers, loyalty programs, turnstile data, digital ticketing, surveys and more. The data have helped in projecting sales, setting staffing levels, informing promotions and, he says, “understanding fan behavior with the goal of improving the fan experience” at Fenway Park.

The other large-scale initiative implemented customer relationship management tools that let sales team members reach fans — current and future — more effectively. “We can now leverage data to make fans aware of ticket programs and events and to build a more holistic relationship with fans.”

Shield’s recent work focuses on the next generation of fans. He oversees a digital strategy that includes creating a BINGO app that helps kids learn more about baseball, support for the Red Sox virtual reality dugout (a simulated batting experience) and augmented reality capabilities to drive promotions and engagement; several more apps are on the horizon.

ENTICING OFFER

Shield arrived at the Red Sox by way of CIO/ CTO roles in the investment industry, at flower delivery company FTD and at the Weather Channel, as well as serving as a technology consultant to clients such as the Fenway Sports Group. The latter signed him for the vice president position that had not existed until 2013.

“It was an opportunity to apply a lot of things I had learned over the years to one of my favorite pastimes,” he says. “It’s hard to refuse a chance to combine technology with something you’re passionate about.”

He credits Bentley for developing “the ability to combine solid technical knowledge problem-solving with good business acumen. The best technology leaders are business people first and technologists second, and Bentley did an exceptional job in preparing me for both.”

Operations

REMY COFIELD, MBA ’14, College Scout, Boston Celtics and General Manager, Maine Red Claws

For Remy Cofield, identifying basketball players with NBA potential is part art, part science and wholly consuming. That’s especially true when the NCAA and minor league seasons overlap.

“I’m traveling to different places, watching film of college and minor G-League players, and communicating what I’ve seen and learned about certain NBA prospects,” Cofield says of his dual roles: college scout for the Boston Celtics and general manager of the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ minor league team. Scouting has changed considerably over time.

“When I was a player at the University of Pennsylvania, everybody wanted to talk about basic box score stats like points, rebounds and assists,” he explains. “I’ve learned over time that evaluating talent is more complex than that. What we have now in the NBA are companies that give us information, which our analytics department can go through. They put together reports for coaches and players, and for front-office staff who are looking at players they might want to acquire.”

Still, the decision doesn’t turn on analytics alone. “Experience evaluating multiple players over the years and understanding what has been successful is just as important when coming to conclusions,” says Cofield, who estimates that 25 percent of scouting involves “talking to people, meeting new people, and getting information from people I’ve built relationships with over time.”

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD

As Red Claws GM, he contributes across the organization. “There are people I talk with on a daily basis,” he says of colleagues in operations, on the coaching staff and players themselves. “The Celtics’ front office is always involved in what the Red Claws are doing, given the potential to sign talented players from our team or others around the G-League.”

The business side of the sports industry has become more inclusive, according to Cofield.

“There used to be this idea that you had to play a sport at the highest levels in order to understand and contribute to the front office or coaching staff,” he says, noting a rise in people with analytics or sports science expertise. “I believe that intelligent people, regardless of their background, can be impactful for a team.”

He credits the NBA for growing diversity with respect to ethnicity and gender. “When young adults see someone in a role they hope to hold, it’s motivating and inspires a feeling they can do the same.”