New BBOC Episode: Maryland AD Jim Smith on Unlocking Revenue Growth, Professionalizing the Business, and Maximizing Income Earning Opportunities with Facilities

New BBOC Episode: Maryland AD Jim Smith on Unlocking Revenue Growth, Professionalizing the Business, and Maximizing Income Earning Opportunities with Facilities

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 University of Maryland Athletic Director Jim Smith.

In this 40-minute conversation, we touch on:

Unlocking Revenue Growth – Smith believes that deepening fan relationships is the key to unlocking revenue growth. He cited the athletic department’s Terrapin Brew email newsletter as one of the ways the school is working to enhance the fans’ ‘journey’.

Fans engaged with the program will “come back, they’ll buy tickets, they’ll buy concessions, and they’ll support us in other ways,” he said.

Professionalizing the Business – Smith brought concepts and learnings from prior stops in pro sports (see: WWE, Columbus Crew, and Atlanta United) with him to College Park.

“How you scale a house, prioritize premium opportunities, and build hospitality experiences. Those aren’t even real discussions yet in college sports, but they’re things we can [do] here at Maryland,” he said.

Maximizing Income Earning Opportunities with Facilities – The University of Maryland made investments in new on-campus practice facilities that support its athletes and enable the school to use the Xfinity Center for income producing events more frequently.

“That’s the beauty of building the Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center—our teams can practice there, which frees up the arena for other special events and creates another revenue stream for us,” Smith 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. American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti will be our guest. You don’t want to miss that episode!

University of Pittsburgh Director of Athletics Allen Greene 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.

If you missed the first three episode of BBOC, with Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman, University of Arizona AD Desiree Reed-Francois, and Baylor Athletics’ Mack Rhoades & Jovan Overshown, video versions of those podcasts can be found on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel.

Thanks in advance for listening. Let us know what you think. We welcome the feedback.