On Thursday, January 11th, 2018 Dean welcomed John
Clark, the Senior Vice President of Sales for Fenway Sports Management to speak
to students participating in the Event and Entertainment Management winter
intersession class.
As the Senior Vice President of Sales, Clark is responsible
for selling multiple properties under the Fenway Sports Management (FSM)
portfolio including the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club, Boston
College, Lebron James, NESN, the Deutsch Bank Golf Championship and
Roush-Fenway Racing.
Clark found his start in baseball when he needed to complete
an internship requirement during college. A friend recommended reaching out to
the local minor league baseball team, The Kingston Indians and Clark was able
to secure an internship with them during his junior year.
During his time with the Kingston Indians, Clark became very
interested in the baseball industry and chose to continue working with the team
after graduation. From there, Clark decided to seek a career in the sports
industry.
After over ten years working with minor league baseball
teams, Clark began to wonder how a big-league business model differs from a
minor-league model. This sparked his motivation for a change in career, and
when an industry friend came to him with a new career opportunity working in corporate sales for the NBA team, the Houston Rockets, Clark took it.
“The sports business is believe-it-or-not an incredibly
small world,” Clark explained, “The industry we are in is little bit different
from other industries. It’s about the relationships you have, what you’ve done
and what you’ve accomplished.”
After his time with the Houston Rockets, Clark eventually moved
on into another sales position but this time with the NFL team, the Miami
Dolphins. After a short time with them, Clark was offered a job he could not
refuse, Vice President of Marketing Partnerships with The Madison Square Garden
Company. Within this role, Clark gained experience in multi-property
representation which is now a skill he uses every day in his current position at
Fenway Sports Management.
Being a part of multiple properties that include the Boston
Red Sox, New England Sports Network, Liverpool Football Club, Dell Technologies
Championship, and more gives FSM a leg-up on their competition because they are
the only agency within the sports industry that owns properties. This means
that they are able to understand better what can and can’t be done with a brand
from a property perspective.
“If you see Dunkin Donuts out in any sports related manner,
we’ve actually gone in and spoken with Dunkin Donuts and asked what they want
to accomplish.” Clark continued, “We go out and work with the teams for them to
see the best way to get their business out.”
Clark left students with some advice for their future job
searches.
“Do not walk into your first interview and say I love
baseball or football or sports. The thought is if you’re in my office in Fenway
Park it’s understood that you love it,” he said.
If students are interested in potential internship or
post-graduate opportunities with Fenway Sports Management, click here!
A special thank you to John Clark for joining us!
This opportunity was brought to life through The
Center for Business, Entertainment and Sport Management at Dean College, a
partnership with the Kraft Sports Group. For more information about Dean
College, visit www.dean.edu.
For more information on The Center for Business, Entertainment and Sport
Management at Dean College, visit www.dean.edu/thecenter.