Margins of Victory

Brent Jones, Georgia Tech Associate VP and Executive Deputy AD, joins Loyola Marymount Director of Athletics Craig Pintens to share how a culture of creativity, collaboration, and relentless focus on the fan experience helped fuel a record-breaking year for the Yellow Jackets. Jones discusses the department's all-time revenue high of $175 million, driven by initiatives such as 57 athletic event sellouts, record fundraising, expanded premium seating, major stadium concerts, and operational improvements designed to enhance every aspect of the game-day experience. Jones also reflects on lessons learned throughout his career, from launching unique licensing partnerships at Troy to transforming underutilized spaces into premium experiences at Georgia Tech, while reinforcing that success comes from clear vision, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to serving fans and student-athletes.00:00 - Introduction01:30 - You actually hit the longest home run in UNC-Ashville history. Is that correct?01:48 - How did it feel to hit a baseball like that?02:38 - You grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia. You’re back at Georgia Tech. What does it mean to come home and how did that opportunity come together? 04:48 - When you were the AD at Troy, you launched an officially licensed craft beer, bourbon and wine at Troy. Those were all firsts in the state of Alabama. How did that come about?07:05 - Let's move back to Georgia Tech. You're coming off an amazing year, just posted an all time revenue record at 175 million That's up 12%, and it happened in your first year on The Flats. So when you look at that $19 million jump, and obviously, some of that has to do with winning on the field definitely helps.But how much of that comes from some structural changes, maybe that were made externally? 10:14 - One of the things I want to focus on, you touched on something there that's really important, kind of this concept of a horizontal department, and that's so important when you're trying to generate revenue. How do you get that message across to people that might not necessarily be attached to a day to day job responsibility attache to maybe some of the revenue generating components of the department?13:27 - Obviously, there's a lot of pressure on everybody to generate more revenue right now with the House settlement and one of the major ways to do that is philanthropically and the Alexander Tharpun crossed the $100 million mark for the first time ever, at 110 million, which is a 49% increase. In this era where fans are being asked more and more to help fund essentially rosters. How did the development team frame kind of that full steam ahead campaign so that donors gave at that level or even beyond maybe what they had done in the past?17:54 - You brought some major concerts there at Bobby Dodd Stadium for the first time in 11 years. I think you had three sold out nights with Chris Brown and Bruno Mars. What kind of the revenue that you can bring in from that? What did those shows prove to maybe maybe the Greater Atlanta DMA, but then also kind of your own campus community going forward?21:21- You talked earlier about hitting 57 sellouts. What kind of changes were made this year from a focus standpoint? 25:14- What is something in your career that was a fail? What did you learn from it?29:27 - Going back to Georgia Tech, there's a switch to Under Armour and licensing royalties went up, and part of that is Under Armour was able to deliver kind of more of that classic rich Tech gold color that the fans had wanted. How much of it comes down to distribution and footprint and how much of it is actually getting the look and cultural details of the merchandise right for your fans?31:59 - What are some new revenue buckets you’re exploring? 36:36 - Who is your all-time favorite athlete?

Paris Buchanan, Senior Associate Athletics Director at Auburn, joins Loyola Marymount Director of Athletics Craig Pintens to discuss how the department has transformed the fan experience by making strategic investments in concessions, premium experiences, and data-driven decision-making. Buchanan explained that Auburn's efforts to modernize its aging stadium have led to dramatic results, including expanding self-checkout concession units and introducing VIP experiences.00:00 - Introduction00:41 - What are some of the things you’re doing at Auburn to increase fan engagement through concessions? 01:43 - Are you just sure Rhett Hobart didn’t want to just drive a forklift? 02:22 - You implemented Grab and Go. How do you retrofit that to an older stadium and what all does that entail to implement technology-wise?03:53 - You have a WarEaglePlus Subscription model. They get a discounted rate at concessions. How did that work and was that successful in raising numbers? 04:48 - What are some other revenue streams for outside events that you have seen?06:29 - How do you view the non-measurable interactions for fan engagement? 08:01- What is something that you learned from the survey data that your fans didn’t want you to do anymore?09:11 - How often in the comments do people talk about the team?

Northwestern's Associate A.D. of Revenue Generation & Marketing Strategy Chris Schoen joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens on the new Ryan Field, premium experience sales and positioning and the future of outside events. 00:00 - Introduction00:33 - What will Ryan Field look like when it opens up this fall? 01:27 - What segment of your fanbase do you approach with the premium opportunities?03:23 - Talk about your lakefront stadium. It actually drove revenue. What did that look like?05:23 - How are you seating the new Ryan Field? What is the priority order that you’re going in? 06:16 - Are there people that bought a premium experience at the Lakefront temporary stadium that are interested in purchasing something at Ryan Field? 06:49 - What type of outside events do you think you can attract?

Clemson Athletic Ventures Vice President of Entertainment and Marketing Don Scott joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens on the structure and focus of Clemson Ventures. They break down all of the details of hosting major concerts and the data flow post-event. 00:00 - Introduction00:25 - What exactly is Clemson Ventures?01:25 - How is this structured?02:32 - Where do you go shopping for that dog food?04:14 - Has hosting concerts and events brought value to Clemson?06:30 - How does the data flow work after a big event like that?07:48 - What have you learned the most in this role over the last couple of years?08:47 - What is the process like to attract different opportunities into the stadium? 10:13 - Have other opportunities approached your group? 11:08 - It’s a great look on how you can do incremental revenue.

Western Michigan Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens from the 2026 NACMA Revenue Generation Summit on this Margins of Victory minipod. They discuss all of the details from transforming the field, ticketing and more as Western Michigan will play an outdoor hockey game in Waldo Stadium next season.

00:00 - Introduction

00:33 - You will be playing a hockey game outside in a football stadium. Walk me through the idea to where we are today.

06:25 - Where did you decide to put the sheet of ice?08:12 - How are you handling season ticket holders and seat assignments?

09:11 - How does ticket priority work? Who gets access to tickets first?

10:25 - Are you moving to a new facility?

11:25 - What is your process of doing seat re-assignment for the new facility?

Beth Tafolla-Voetsch, Cal Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director, External Relations joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens. On this episode they discuss the launch of the Strawberry Creek Studios, its formation, vision, and how it will integrate into Cal Athletics.

00:00 - Introduction01:26 - You were a student-athlete at Wingate, worked in ticket operations to now overseeing everything external at CAL. How much of that path was that path intentional vs. what was happening in front of you?03:29 - Do you still get in the pool?04:52 - In terms of development, what happens before that ask or that check is written?09:26 - How do you project that vision to donors in this era right now to prevent donor fatigue?12:54 - Let’s talk about Strawberry Creek Studios. How did you get to that point? 19:40 - Where did you get the inspiration for the model?22:49 - How do you anticipate what Learfield does and working into this or perhaps changing?25:42 - You touched on two of the pillars being revenue generation and authentic storytelling, how do you blend those two together and is there one that leads more than the other?30:45 - How are you going to keep track of all of this?31:51 - How you figured out how to incorporate Oski?35:19 - Who is your all-time favorite athlete?

Pitt’s Senior Deputy Athletic Director, External Relations and Chief Revenue Officer, Kyle Bruce, joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens from the 2026 NACMA Revenue Generation Summit on this Margins of Victory minipod. The two break down the strategy and execution around reducing Pitt's football stadium capacity and making changes to improve fan engagement. They also discuss the opportunities and challenges in working in a larger market.

00:00 - Introduction00:29 - Pitt made a big decision to reduce football capacity from 68,500 to 51,000. How do you go about making that decision and how do you execute that?03:34 - How did you communicate that decision to season-ticket holders in the upper deck? Were they understanding? 06:50 - How do you resist the temptation to open up more seats during a sellout?08:30 - What’s next in terms of fan experience? 11:07 - What opportunities does it make for you to be in a larger market in Pittsburgh rather than some of the other college towns you have been in?

Arizona State AD Graham Rossini joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens on the Margins of Victory podcast to dive into prioritizing sport programs, competing in a growing and crowded marketplace, how his early career experiences help him in the AD chair and much more.00:00 - Intro02:21 - As a former baseball player, start, bench, cut: Pudge Rodriguez, Craig Biggio, Joe Mauer04:40 - What did you learn in your early career as a director of baseball operations that is valuable now as an AD?09:03 - You also worked with the Arizona Diamondbacks. How did that professional sports experience help given the current state of athletics?14:59 - Throughout your career, how did you veer outside of your lane to connect with new people?17:47 - What did you bring from your past experience that helps in this new era of college athletics?20:43 - How do you balance the importance of the state of a facility and its revenue-generating potential?24:11 - 27:32 - How important has it been to retain Football HC Kenny Dillingham as you continue to build up the Sun Devils' department?30:53 - With the House settlement's approval, do you have to prioritize all of your 26 sports to ensure they are resourced appropriately?34:41 - How do you cut through the clutter in your locality and draw in people who have no direct ties to ASU?38:15 - How does the support of President Michael Crow help support athletics' ambitions?42:16 - Has ASU seen an increase in applications in new areas of the country following the move to the Big 12?44:36 - Who is your all-time favorite athlete and why?

WMT Digital VP of Growth Dr. Eric Nichols joins Margins of Victory and host/Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens to discuss the topics they are focusing on as they wrap up 2025 and look ahead to 2026.00:00 - Introduction02:34 - The Modern Tech Stack06:24 - NIL10:03 - Seating & Stadiums16:55 - Sports Betting25:17 - Content31:40 - Real Estate & Facilities37:12 - Best Sports Movie

Crakes Media Principal's Patrick Crakes joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens to dissect the current economic structure of sports media, arguing that the streaming ecosystem provides plus-sum support to an old, declining pay TV system that still pays most of the industry's bills.

00:00 - Introduction

03:39 - How did FOX use winning NFL media rights to build all of FOX's sports programming?

10:33 - Could a streamer disrupt sports media now, similar to how FOX did?

15:20 - How much of realignment is a math problem?

20:25 - How many college football teams actually drive value and ratings?

22:02 - What would the value of those teams be if consolidated into one league?

26:50 - What sports outside of football and men's basketball hold standalone media value?

31:20 - How do you balance revenue and distribution?

37:30 - Who is your favorite athlete of all time and why?