New BBOC Episode: Baylor’s Mack Rhoades, Jovan Overshown on Raising Ticket Prices, New Premium Experiences, and Finding New Dollars & Fans

New BBOC Episode: Baylor’s Mack Rhoades, Jovan Overshown on Raising Ticket Prices, New Premium Experiences, and Finding New Dollars & Fans

On the latest episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus –a college sports podcast powered by Playfly Sports and sponsored by Short’s Sports Travel Logistics– JohnWallStreet Founder Corey Leff and Playfly Sports Chairman Michael Schreiber sit down with Baylor University Vice President & Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades and Deputy AD & Chief Operating Officer Jovan Overshown.

In this 40-minute deep-dive conversation, Baylor Athletics’ leadership opens up on:

Raising Ticket Prices – As a private school with fewer alumni to draw from, Baylor must be strategic in how it goes about asking donors and fans for more money.

“On average, it was a hundred dollars [increase this year],” Rhoades said. “Obviously, that was scaled across the different [sports and] ticket categories that we have. But transparency [is what] allows [us] to do that. We were more aggressive than we’ve been in the past [with pricing].”

New Premium Spaces and Experiences – Baylor has created new premium spaces and experiences to meet evolving fan needs.

The Brazos Suites, a new climate-controlled hospitality offering built along the south endzone berm at McLane Stadium, “signals flexibility, [and] responding and adapting to the different lifestyles and interests of our fanbase,” Overshown said. “The way people want to engage [with sports] is changing, and that adaptability is really key [to attracting fans in a competitive entertainment environment].”

Finding New Dollars and Fans – BU has been using its football and basketball venues to generate incremental revenues and introduce new audiences to the school and its athletics programs. McLane Stadium recently hosted a country music show co-headlined by Cross Canadian Ragweed and Turnpike Troubadours that drew 40,000+ fans.

“At least 50% of that base of people that came to the concert had never been onto our campus before,” Rhoades said.

📺 Watch the full video on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube Page.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We’ll be back with the next episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus in two weeks (October 9). University of Maryland AD Jim Smith will be our guest. 

American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti will follow.

In the meantime, make sure to check out our sponsor, Short’s Sport Travel Logistics—the fastest-growing company in collegiate athletics travel, and the trusted choice of over 108 athletic departments nationwide. Short’s simplifies every aspect of team travel (think: air charters, commercial flights, buses, and hotels) and helps to turn complex logistics into a competitive advantage.

And if you missed the first two episode of BBOC, with Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman and University of Arizona Athletics Director Desireé Reed-Francois, video versions of those podcast can be found on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel. 

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