Marketing the Falcons for the City and the Next Generation with Shannon Joyner

On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, sits down with Shannon Joyner, VP of Marketing for the Atlanta Falcons, to talk about what it means to build a football brand that reflects a city’s identity. From collabs with Outkast to campaigns rooted in community, Shannon shares how he’s helping the Falcons connect with fans in a way that feels bigger than the game.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're trying to drive brand, we're trying to drive cultural connection,
but in a way that is delivering business objectives. And
I think that's something that you know, when I'm speaking
to people that are aspiring to be in the creative space,
being in the marketing space, all these things, is if
you just want to be in the space just for
the sense of I just want to be a creative,
that's fine, but you're gonna have a ceiling in terms

(00:23):
of your advancement in this world. Because the new age
creative that understands how to translate their art into business outcomes,
that's the formula for growth and success. And I think
that's what's really rewarding about kind of what we're doing.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Button. I'm your host.
Brandon Butler found a CEO of Butter atl And today
got somebody special in the building. We always have some
special people in the building. This guy right here, man
like this guy here brings the whole city out. This
guy right here makes the city move. This guy right here,
he's the one getting y'a a rise up every time,
the one, the only Mister Shannon Joiner of the Atlanta

(01:04):
Falcons sir, how are you doing something?

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Man? Thanks for having me hey man, thanks for pulling up. Man.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, oh listen, it's always a pleasure to be amongst
your company.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
So amen, Look, I'm just glad you aura across the
table is enough for your aura.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
You know, we couldn't be next to each other and
be disrespectful to you.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
It would have exploded over here. Man, it's so much
or in one place, you know, Rose. Look, I'm glad
to get you in here.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
We had jump through a couple of hoops to get
you in man. Well, look, man, thank you for pulling up.
I know you know you've got a ton of stuff
going on. And you know, Shan, I know a lot
of people around here know you, man. But like we
try to do something a little bit different here on
butter Nomics. So instead of me asking you, just tell
us about yourself. For the folks who don't know what
I have done, is I asked chat GPT. Okay, who

(01:50):
is Shannon Joyner? So you want to know what chat
GPT said?

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Now, there's a few Shannon Joiners out there.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
No, No, I was very specific. I was very specific
of the Atlanta Falcons of Atlanta and all that stuff,
all the stuff at all the keywords. Shannon Joyner is
an Atlanta native and Vice President of Marketing for the
Atlanta Falcons, a role he has held since twenty twenty three.
He joined the franchise in twenty eighteen, bringing them a
wealth of experience from his global marketing roles at Nike
and the NBA. Joiner's leadership has been instrumental in initiatives

(02:18):
like the Dirty Birds Rally, four four Day, Shout Out
to four L four Day, and the next Gen Storytellers Program,
all aimed at strengthening the bomb between the Falcons and
the Atlanta community. His innovative approach to season ticket marketing
in twenty twenty four led to the team's best sales
since the opening of Mercedes been Sadium in twenty seventeen.
Joiner also serves as the NFL's Global market Program Steering Committee,

(02:40):
leading the Falcons international brand development in Germany. A Morehouse
College alum and a Harvard Business School NBA graduate, Joiner's
deep connection to Atlanta and passion for community engagement continued
to shape his impactful work for the Falcons.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
How accuratear wrested it sounds like the premium version of shagipt.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah pay money yeah, yea yeah, yeah ye you didn't
get just good for the traversion I paid for my
mercial breaks.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, that's pretty good. Listen, man, that's one. I appreciate
that that intro. I think anytime you hear your own background,
you just become reflective, right, and appreciative of all the
you know, opportunities.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
For me, I feel like I have a dream job,
you know, being.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
You know, born and raised here as a chance to
come back, you know, to Atlanta and do the work
that I do for my favorite team since I was
a kid. You know, it kind of means everything, man,
And it's given me the opportunity to meet people like you,
which is you know, the cherry on top of this.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
So happy to be here. Hey, man, I'm glad I
had you here. Man.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, man, I think you know, it's definitely an amazing
opportunity when you know, yeah, a kid that grew up here,
you've been around the team, you saw it over the years,
and now you're actually sitting in the role with the Falcons,
you know, make an impact like this. Yeah, how does
that feel?

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Man?

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Especially you know your family's been season ticket holders for
a long time. Like, just how does it feel. Do
you ever have a moment where you're like, damn, like
look at this.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
Yeah, so for me it really hits home.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
You know, my ride to work, you know, so time
we work out of the stadium a little bit of
the time, also in our practice facility up in Flowery Branch.
But you know, coming to the stadium, you're going down
north Side and when I turn left into the stadium,
I can see the apartment building where my senior year
apartment was at Morehouse, And so every time it's like

(04:19):
that full circle visual moment of everything. One of the
churches you know that was relocated in the construction of
the stadium.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Friendship Baptist Church.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
It's a church I grew up in, right, So a
lot of deep connection points, family, community, city, you know, pride,
and so yeah, it does. I love the job, like
the role itself was in another city, I would enjoy
the work. But when you bring it together with the
personal connection that I have for it, I mean it
really it doesn't feel.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Like work ever. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Man, look you deepen these streets, man, Friendship, all this stuff.
These folks know, Man, you really from around here?

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
I mean my dad has been a faconcy and ticket
holder since nineteen seventy five. When he moved back to
Atlanta after law school. That was one of his first
you know kind of purchases with season tickets and that
was you know, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. I guess it
was Atlanta Stadium at that point. Then he had the
Fulton County to it. So I growing up went to games, right,

(05:20):
And it was funny being at Friendship because the services
at ten. You know, a lot of church in Atlanta
service at eleven that might be you know, the first,
second or third service of the day. Friendship was ten,
and one of the reasons was because you need to
end service to allow for parking at the dome, which
was a huge revenue source from the church. And so

(05:43):
just even just little antidotes like that just always kind
of pinched me in terms kind of how special this
experience is. And so, you know, being able to grow
up in Atlanta scene, how the city has changed. Also,
how just a relationship as a fan first with the Falcons,
that kind of pair, well kind of duality continues to
this day, right, which is cool.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
So that's dope, man.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
So how does somebody end up in that role because
again I think a lot of times, you know, the
NFL seems like this big, huge thing. It's hard to crack,
you know, especially getting involved with teams and stuff like that.
And I mean, you had a really unique role through
Nike and other things, But like, how did you actually
end up with the Falcons?

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Well, I think for me, it really does go all
the way back to kind of end of high school
going into college.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
I like to tell this story.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
I was taking an apecon class my senior year of
high school and a class project. I mean his name
is Professor Brian, who since passed that meant a lot
to me. The project was you had to watch two
different channels at the same time in the evening, so
different nights, different programming, different channels, and to see why
certain commercials and products were on one channel versus the other. Right,

(06:53):
what audiences are they trying to reach? Why the different products?
And that really kind of piques my interest in this
general sense of marketing and advertising and things like that.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Then you fast forward at Morehouse.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
My first year at Morehouse, I'm doing this English class
and we were studying the use of propaganda and so
we had to basically find an example of strategic effective communication.
Maybe not to the propaganda has a negative connotation too,
but the general sense of using communication to push a

(07:26):
certain kind of message. So the time was actually reading
the story of Nike. You know, I was always a
sneakerhead as a kid reading about Nike, and I kind
of in going through that project, I was like wow,
like that was kind of working on me right, like
I was an Air Jordan kid. They convinced me that
these shoes were distinctively different, you know that we talked

(07:47):
about the aura of things, and so that type of
thing really kind of resonated with me, the sense of communication, marketing, advertising,
but then through the lens of sport, which is something
that out of personal passion for it, and so that
really just kind of kicked everything in the gear.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Had a couple of internships in the space.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
First big break was joining the NBA, you know, after college,
and then kind of off it went. And so for
me from the very beginning, like this was I on
the prize, you know, being in the sports marketing space.
But where sports has evolved to be such a sophisticated.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
You know, gazillion dollar industry.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
Back in the day, there used to be this notion
of you wanted to work in sports, you get in
ticket sales, you know, right away and kind of worked
the way up. That's still a workable path. But now
you know they're not just looking for the best sports.
Marketers are the best sports. Accountants are the best sports.
You know, operators still looking for the best operators, accountants
and marketers are none. Right, And so I think for

(08:51):
me the progression has been Okay, yes I want to
stay in this sports space, but how they continue to evolve?
My after my toolkit that is just trying to be
best of the best from a functional standpoint, best of
the best from understanding how organizational pieces come together, and
then you channel that through the lens of sport. But

(09:13):
our mindset and how I try to approach things is
independent of just the specific space.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Yeah, you know sports, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
So now, how does Atlanta, I mean, especially with your
ties Atlanta, Like just how does that show up in
how you kind of approach marketing?

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Especially with the Falcons?

Speaker 1 (09:28):
I mean it shows up everywhere, like we are kind
of ethos internally, Like it isn't the Falcons, It's the
Atlanta Falcons, right, Like that is our name, and so
endemic to that is if we're not authentic and serving
the city, we're fundamentally not what we're aspiring to be.
So it comes to life in a lot of, you know,

(09:50):
different ways. I think one the first is, I mean,
we are a football team. We want to win every game.
We want to win, you know, the super Bowl, and
so we understan stand that from a core side. There's
really kind of two elements why people engage with us.
They're football fans, like they love the sport. Sport is

(10:10):
a form of entertainment. They want to be entertained, and
so we're here. We're providing an entertainment product for them.
But that is at the core, but it quickly extends
beyond that of a team. Really is almost this public trust.
It's an entity that the ownership of it extends beyond

(10:32):
just our ownership. And I think that's something that's really
cool about Arthur Blank, the owner of the Falcons, co
founder of home Depot, is that yes he's an owner,
but he very much embodies the philosophy that the Falcons
are owned by Atlanta, right, and so when you keep
that mindset, how you then operate just again kind of
ties back to it, and so that's where it then

(10:53):
extends that as an NFL team, it really is a
source of pride and of community connection for the city.
And when you have a mindset like that, then you're
constantly looking for ways to connect and associate, you know,
with the city, and that can come to life in
a lot of different wayss I know, we'll get, you know,

(11:15):
kind of into But another thing that I always like
to say to try to bring this home is we
have let's say average ten home games a year, right,
and making the math easy, say our stadium consists seventy thousand,
which is a round number that works. So if only
one person can go to one game a year, right,
that's seven hundred thousand people that can be reached. Max

(11:37):
in terms of the in stadium experience and association with
the Falcons Metro Atlanta is what almost seven million. So
even if you max out just the stadium experience, you
still have an even much larger opportunity and responsibility and
how we're engaging in connecting with the broader city in
the region. And so that's why it's so important that

(11:59):
authentic action back to the city.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yeah, I mean, look, and we're in the South and
football runs the South. And I mean again, there's there's
no better day in Atlanta on a Sunday or a Monday,
like when the Falcons win, Like, I don't know this,
the sun is just a little bit brighter. You know,
you can you can manage traffic a little bit better.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
But I want to know.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
You just made me think of something I just want
to ask. Is a little bit aside. But so when
the Falcons win a super Bowl, you get a super
Bowl ring too, right, Like, yeah, okay, I just want
to make shot I better. Yeah, no, listen, I mean
but I think that's the whether. It's the ring and
it's funny and you know he'll hear this at some point.
I already know if I get a super Bowl ring,
like I'm giving it to my father. Yeah, you know,

(12:37):
that's that's something I already have kind of thought about
and kind of that's my own kind of personal like
when that day comes, when we reach that mouthain top.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
But I think that's what makes.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Working in this space fun because on one side, it's
this never ending pursuit of that mouthain top moment, right,
Like we are here to win a super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
Our fans want to want to say, like, we all can.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Envision that experience, but in one way, if you let
that be the only validation point, then if you don't reset,
then it feels like you're incomplete. Where the other side
of it is the self fulfilling, perpetual feeling of just
the community engagement of the Falcons, right, and that is

(13:23):
win loss, you know, reaching our goal or not, that's
a self fulfilling every day since. And so it's nice
to have those two kind of parallel existence because it
gives you something to always be striving for, but then
you always have something that is just it's an every
day smell the roses, you know, type of experience, and
that's what we aspire to have, Like we want to

(13:45):
have a brand that truly is that sense of when
people say lifestyle brand, what does that mean? And for us,
it means it's something that is a part of your identity.
And we want people to feel a connection to us,
whether you know, again we hope we're winning and we're
on the way to Suerer, but also just because they
feel like if I live in Atlanta and I want
to be a part and connected to this community, being

(14:07):
a fan of the Falcons, is.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Instrumental to that, right, Like that's the offering we want
to give the people. So yeah, and I mean, look,
let's let's be honest again. Like I'm a big Falcons fan.
I know we've had a couple of tough seasons, but
I think we're on the we're on the upswing right now.
Some good things have been happening, like what I'm saying.
But even as a marketer, right, like, how do you
how do you like balance how you want to position
a team the things you want to do in those
times when it's not always the best, you know, because

(14:30):
you don't control the product on the field obviously, right,
but like you still have to kind of work around that.
So how do you look for opportunities even when the
team's not necessarily doing the best. But then when the
team is, when when things start to turn. Now it's
like it's even more fun because you know, winning is fun,
but you also kind of create new opportunities.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
Yeah, I mean I think that balance, that's the fundamental
challenge dot dot dot opportunity of working on the team side.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, right, Like when I.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Worked on the weak side of the NBA, you're kind
of win loss neutral, right, you're just hoping for the
overall growth you know, of the game and the attention
to the NBA.

Speaker 2 (15:03):
And it's a volume play of the NBA too, right,
Like you only get one game a week of football,
maybe two.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
Different And then you know, a consumer brand like Nike,
you're using sport you know, in players and things like
that as an extension of your brand storytelling.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
But your ability to control.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
The narrative of a shoe is a lot more ownable,
right than working for a team. A team you feel,
I mean the realness of the wins and the losses, right,
And I think what's interesting about working for a team,
in this case an NFL team. I think sometimes when
people think about working for a team, this association with

(15:43):
you know, this global you know power like the NFL,
which is very true, but US Falcons like, we're most
focused on our backyard. So it's this irony of we're
attached to this global thing, but and a lot of
it's we're kind of like a local bit business, right,
And that's the the for both the positives and you know,

(16:06):
kind of weighing through the negative. Sometimes the intimacy of
that experience is what's so important and so going back
to your question. On the marketing front, our goal is
if something's bad for a team, the marketing doesn't make
it good, right, Like, that's that's not the win for us.
Our win is how do we make good great? And

(16:28):
then how do we make bad not so bad?

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Right?

Speaker 1 (16:31):
That's where the power of those that fringe twenty percent
on either side is where we come in because we
can't control the product.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Right.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
You can have the best marketing plan in the world
and you lose three straight games. That marketing plan, you know,
is not you know, as as relevant. So our goal
in terms of the marketing and the team is really
two fronts. One the first is how do we build
as close of a connection between our fans and the
broader community with the team itself. So that comes to life,

(17:03):
whether it's you know, how we do player storytelling you
know on our social media and digital channels, to when
people come to Mercedes been Stadium, how do you have
a great fan experience where people feel close to the
team as possible. Like that's that's the football connection point
of it. But the other side is how do we

(17:24):
create engagement openings for people that could be on a
wide spectrum of their fandom. You know, you have at
one end your core season take a member literally putting
a huge financial and time commitment to that. There's ways
that we engage with that group, but there's other people
that just view you know, football, whether it's the fashion

(17:45):
side of it, right, and you know how we think
about retail and and you know, I know you know
about this for the last few years, Like we've created
bespoke lifestyle apparel collection that when you see it is
not your.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
Standard looking fan gear.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
And we do that because we know how much that
type of culture and lifestyle resonates with Atlanta. So for
someone that might be their one entry point that they
like our Sunday's hoodie. Yeah, but they may not be
watching us on Sunday. We hope that they are, but
that may be it, and that's okay too. There's enough
of entry points for us to find a way to
connect with different audiences because that is the powerful Lanta,

(18:22):
which is the diversity of it. So you need to
create an aperture that has multiple entry points depending where
people are and their relationship with you.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
What do you think some of the biggest myths are
when it comes to marketing for the Falcons? That people
just might not fully understand.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
I think the biggest myth is that, again, when you're
associated with such a behemoth, I mean, fell you know,
is the largest sports property in the country, you know,
by a decent margin. So when you have that type
of platform, I think there can be this notion of

(19:11):
are there's unlimited resources, right and you can do you know,
whatever you want. You know, on the marketing side, which
is not the case, Like we have a budget, you know,
just like anybody else, Like we have limited resources in
terms of whether it's marketing spend, just human you know,
capital time, all those things, and then plus adding on

(19:32):
again the realities of how wins and losses can affect that.
So we have to be very smart in terms of
our approach because again on one side, when you think Atlanta,
I can have a formula or an argument that every
person in Atlanta, the state of Georgia, and even the region,
there's a pathway for you to being a Falcons fan.

(19:54):
So because of that, we want to reach everybody, but
we don't have unlimited resources. So what is that healthy
balance of trying to create experiences that are personalized, that
feel intimate, that feel responding to specific insights that segment,

(20:15):
you know us. But at the same time, how do
you do that with enough scale right to reach masses?
Because that's that's the game, right, So that, to me
is the biggest myth is that you know, even with
a massive platform like the NFL and the Falcons, you
still have to be very smart and efficient.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
With your resources.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yeah, and also just when it comes to you know,
reaching people and reaching scale, I'm sure that y'all took
some lessons from even how Atlanta United launched, right, because again,
Atlanta's a very even though we say we full you
know Atlanta, you know, it's a very transient city, so
you do have a lot of people here that aren't
from here. So you know, like, look, I went to
the Steelers game. My mom is a huge Steelers fan,
and it's always funning me every time I going, like, man,

(21:00):
where all these Steelers fans coming from? Like they travel
very well, and I don't know how to get these tickets.
But you know, when it comes to how you all
approach market, like what are some of the things y'all
learn from Atlanta United that actually had the opportunity to
launch a brand kind of in the city and bring
people together whereas you know, but the Falcons again, like
if you're if you're a Falcons fan, is probably because
like me, like my dad was a Falcons fan. Your

(21:20):
dad was a Falcons fan, right, Like how did y'all
balance and learned?

Speaker 1 (21:24):
I'll answer the United question, but I want to go
back to the Steers thing, because that's that's funny because
I get asked a lot. You know, how do we
feel about when imposing fans, you know, coming to your
stadium and take.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
The steers terrible towels that bother you guys.

Speaker 1 (21:37):
You hear about teams, you know, like GEO blocking ticket
access and things like that. I think the first the
reality is if someone wants to get a ticket to anything,
they can right now. It could be secondary market. They
may have to pay obviously a search arts tax in
terms of demand, but there's there's no one gatekeeping access

(22:00):
us to entertainment, right and so for us, like we
embrace that. Atlanta to your point, is one of the
most transient markets in the country. We have the busiest airport,
you know, in the world. So, and the NFL has
been around for now one hundred plus years. So the
notion that we're somehow going to gate keep our market

(22:20):
and prevent other fans from other teams, whether they're coming
here just go to the game or they're living here.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
Right, that's just not a reality.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
So we embrace that because we also understand if you win,
you know, especially consistently more times than not, it's going
to take care of the balance and act that you
want in terms of that. But the second piece is
if you go to a game and there's opposing team fans,
that adds to the excitement. My dad seats are in
the section right behind the tunnel where the visiting team

(22:52):
comes in, and he specifically chose those seats because he likes,
you know, trash talking with the fans that sit back there.
So I think that's always a hell the thing, and
there's no way to stop that. There's different degrees, but
I think it's a wasted exercise to try to I
just want to touch on the stewards now to United United.
I think, you know, when you go into the annals

(23:12):
of the history books of successful sports launches and just
unique value propositions, United needs to be in that book
an incredible start and I think one of the things
that was most warned from us and those that don't
know Lanta United Atlanta Falcons have the same are part
of the same umbrella organization, both owned by Arthur Blank.

(23:35):
Is that before United even had a team, right, you
had a name and then a mark came. But there's
no you know, players on the pitch yet, so it's
still like ethereal right, it's still just a concept what
they did in terms of the grassroots side, going bar
to bar, going to pub to pub, going to festival,

(23:57):
at a festival, starting these supporters groups right that if
you've ever been a United match, I mean, it's just
the energy of those groups is next level. What that
work did is going back to this notion of public ownership.
That's where United succeeded, you know so well from the
beginning is that you know a lot of people didn't

(24:18):
have a previous soccer club, definitely not an MLS you
know soccer club, and so there's a sense of like
this is yours, right, the how United is going to
grow the fans that community people have an influence you
know in that, And I think that is just such
great learning because I think it can be easy for

(24:41):
again a team like an NFL that will never have
an awareness issue will never have a mass scale engagement issue.
But where if you're not careful, where you can lose
a little bit is the avidity of that connection, that
that passion of that connection. And I think that's where

(25:03):
we got a lot of warning from United of it
wasn't for us about Okay, how do we We're always
trying to grow fans, but we have enough fans from
a general sense, how do we increase the passion and
avidity and.

Speaker 3 (25:19):
Connection of those fans right?

Speaker 1 (25:21):
Like we always do studies on what is the ratio
of avis versus casuals and things like that. I think
United just did such a great job of providing such
a sense of like, this is your team and we
aren't up here and you're down here, like we're all together.
And I think it was a good reminder for us

(25:43):
on the Falcon side of let's make sure that our
fans feel like that we are. We're here with them
right not just on Sundays on one o'clock, but you know,
three sixty five throughout the year. And so we've tried
to do a lot more of the last several years
of our presence making sure that our brand feels inviting

(26:04):
to all different types of people. And then the second
big warning on the United side, which we already we
already knew, but just seeing it visually just reinforces it
is there's no better brand moment for you than inside
your stadium on game day, right, And that's just the
game day or match day experience of United was next level.

(26:27):
I mean, it was globally unique, right, And so there
was good warnings from us from that on, what are
some ways that we can continue to invest in the
game day experience.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
On the falcon side, the NFL has a.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
League wide survey called Voice of the Fan, which surveys
fans attending stadiums and games across every NFL market, and
there's surveying them on everything from parking and security to
endgame entertainment, Wi Fi concessions, everything in between.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
And we over the last several years have.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
Put a real dedicated effort to the on field side
is going to figure itself out, right, what can we
do to make sure that we're maximizing the entire in
game experience? And very proud that, you know, from the
last few years we've been top five in the NFL.
We were number one three seasons ago, and this is
in the backdrop to you know, losing seasons in terms

(27:27):
of record on the field.

Speaker 3 (27:28):
So we're very proud of that.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
Because that again goes into the same thing that we
got from United is how do you obsess over that
statment experience?

Speaker 2 (27:38):
No, it's interesting, especially in the top five, just out
of curiosity, like what are some of the other fan
experiences around teams that rank in that top five.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah, so.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
Over the past couple of years, other top teams Detroit Lions,
Minnesota Vikings, and I think Detroit is a great example
of and you know, no multiple people on their business
side and just so impressed by what they're doing.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
They've had such an amazing success.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
Story over the last few years, right, you know, Detroit,
you know, kind of had his reputation in terms at
least on the field side losing franchise. What they've done
on the field in terms of their you know, team
success paralleled with this just commitment to the fan experience.
I think everybody has seen when you watch it Detroit
Lions game the last.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
Couple of years.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
So for us to still score right at the same
level as them, I think it's very rewarding, something that
we're proud of and we don't take for granted, and
we were very excited and confident in terms of the
on field side, and when those two things come together,
that's when you know the magic happens.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
So we're ready for it. Okay.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Like so again, Atlanta Unit has done a lot of
great things, but y'all have done some really cool stuff too.
I mean, you know, you get the Outcasts jersey on,
I got one too, you know where I go with it.
I was in DC a couple of weeks ago and
I had it on the Black One on. The guy
was like, man, how'd you get that?

Speaker 1 (29:02):
Man?

Speaker 2 (29:02):
That was the one that was sold out. I was like, hey,
I might know some people. People people love the black one.
You know, the white got yours?

Speaker 3 (29:09):
Are you going to give them? Give your no?

Speaker 2 (29:11):
No, no, that's a hot combody there where I go.
Somebody asked me about it. I appromise, Yeah, but like
would have been some of the you know, your more
favorite campaigns that you've worked on.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
Yeah, I mean so, I mean the Outcast one for me, Outcasts,
I mean it's I'm I'm cliche, my favorite group of
all time. So that type of experience is just incredible
because it really does make me go back to being,
you know, a teenager in Atlanta listening to you know,
their albums. Never would I think I would have an

(29:42):
opportunity to work with them and then through a connection
with the I mean, it's just it really kind of
blows my mind. And and to have that experience this
past year, I think we sold out three different times,
like we couldn't replenish fast enough that that was crazy
my first year, which you've seen and attended, but we

(30:05):
have basically a city pep rally the Friday night before
our first home game every year and it's at Atlantic
Station and it's crazy. I mean, thousands and thousands of
people there. We always have fun, you know, music talent.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
You know.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
This past year was too chains a year before that
was ti I think what's really cool about that is
there's this narrative which I think there's a lot of
realness to that. I think about Atlanta on Fridays, traffic
insane after a work week, right, other things obviously high
school football, Houston going on, and so this notion of
you're going to have an event that you want to

(30:43):
try to bring thousands of people back to the city,
that maybe we're in the city working left, fought the
traffic up eighty five, so then get them to come back,
you know, down there there was a question that, but
we just felt that our fan want to engage, like
they want to party, they want to have fun that's

(31:04):
authentic to the culture of land, authentic to the culture
of us from our falcon. So let's provide that platform.
And so the first year we did this kind of
new iteration of that was in twenty eighteen, my first year.
And you know, you never know how to turn out
anyone's throwing a party. That's always the biggest anxiety what
people show up. When we were setting up, i mean

(31:25):
hours before it started, fans were already there, kind of
getting their positions in place, and kind of what that
event has become has been an amazing experience and really
kind of showed that it could be Friday evening traffic,
all the things, but if it's something that connects culturally,
connects authentically, it can still succeed.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
That was a super rewarding one.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
But even you know, there's so many different whether it's
influencer stuff we can talk about or grassroots, but even
just on the business side. Very proud things this past season,
we had our highest ticket sale ever in Mercedesan Stadium history.
And again that means a lot because you know, we
weren't coming off of multiple playoff winning seasons and things

(32:11):
like that. But it just showed that our fans are excited, right,
and and fans that they just want a reason to believe,
a reason to have hope. And I think we did
a really good job in the last offseason. You know,
new coaching Raheem coming in and just people people could

(32:34):
feel the energy off of him. You know, we were
able to put on our social channels. His first team
meeting with the team like that went crazy viral, and
so those types of building blocks. Last offseason, there was
a fever pitch that really kind of went up with it.
And so I think that's what's so rewarding about the

(32:55):
space that I'm in and feel so fortunate, is one
you work with amazing people, but you're able to do
both brand stuff and business stuff, right. I think that's
the other I think maybe go back to the question
of the myth a little bit. Is at a place
like Nike that I used to work, Nike's known like, oh,

(33:17):
that was like the dopest commercial of all time, right,
but there's so much more to the marketing mix of
what a place like Nike is doing because they are
trying to connect culturally and lift the brand.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
But if they are delivering.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Business results too, then I mean there's you know, there's
a stock ticker, you know, NK that they are they
are attracking and and why obviously we're not a public company,
it's still the same sense. And I think that's what's
really enjoyable about this role and with this team, is
we're trying to drive brand, We're trying to drive cultural connection,
but in a way that is delivering business objectives. And

(33:55):
I think that's something that you know, when I'm speaking
to people that are aspiring to be in the creative space,
being in the marketing space all these things is is
if you just want to be in the space just
for the sense of I just want to be a creative, right,
that's fine, but you're gonna have a ceiling in terms
of your advancement in this world. Because the new age

(34:19):
creative that understands how to basically translate their art into
business outcomes, that's the formula for growth and success. And
I think that's what's real rewarding about kind of what
we're doing, Let's be honest.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
I think too that. Yeah, last season when everything started
kicking off, the new coach coming in, just to changes
on the team, I don't know, I definitely felt like
the team was starting to really reconnect with the city
in some different kind of ways and people were getting
really excited about it. You know, now again we're getting ready.
We'll know this season's not has ended and we're getting
ready for a new season coming up. But you know,
we got a black quarterback again, left handed black quarterback

(35:07):
at that again. It just feels like there are really
some big opportunities to really get fans super excited and
really engaged for the season. Just you know, when you
put on your Harvard NBA had for a second, they
go to Harvard Business School, Just like, how do you
even look at coming up with these ideas to make
sure they hit on all the right points that they
actually do resonate with your audience.

Speaker 1 (35:24):
Well, I think for us, the first is, and it
took commitment to get to this point, is what are
our driving goals?

Speaker 3 (35:35):
Right that you shouldn't year to year be changing those.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
Obviously you look at them and you adjust and things evolve,
but from a general sense, we have marketing objectives that
have multi year horizons, right, Like one of those is
literally maximize the stadium experience, like that shouldn't change from
twenty twenty five forward to twenty twenty five. That should

(36:02):
be the same thing. Another one is a youth focus
for us, and at a certain point we said, oh,
increase youth presence, like what is youth?

Speaker 3 (36:13):
Right?

Speaker 1 (36:14):
People still sometimes have slides that have millennials as like
the youngest millennial is now approaching thirty, like they're not
a kid anymore.

Speaker 3 (36:23):
So we were very specific.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
It's like we are trying to target gen Z and
even within gen Z there's multiple segments with that. I mean,
the oldest gen Z now is mid twenties, established adult,
you know, starting their career. Where the younger side of
gen Z is you know, high school still kind of
I mean, and when you think of it, those are
two different parts of your life, right. And so to

(36:47):
kind of wrap a bow to answer your question is
is the biggest thing is why are we doing what
we're doing right? Yes, there's things that can look cool
or it can look trendy, but the in service of
what and I think that is making sure does it
come back to the aligned objectives that we're trying to reach. Now,

(37:10):
that doesn't mean that you're rote and rigid in your plans.
You obviously have to have flexibility. One to be opportunistic for,
you know, things that are going to show themselves. The
second is again going back to like, our product is
the ultimate reality show, right, So you can't just say, Okay,
it's just this the season wins loss of state. You know,

(37:32):
you have to be valuable with that, but you do
have to have a course set of principles of what
we're trying to do. And once you have that, then
it's a litmus test. If it's an opportunity that comes,
is it in service of one, two, or multiple of those?
And if it's not, then you really have to ask
yourself why are we spending Again going back to I

(37:52):
said earlier, when you have limited resources, why are you
spending energy on that? I think we have done a
great job becoming more disciplined of the way that we're
going to have success. Is not one initiative to try
to solve one objective over here, another initiative to try
to solve another objective over here. Everything is building blocks,

(38:15):
right and the more consistency that you can have the
same analogy of you know, those building blocks, that gets
you further to resonance with these objectives. You're not overnight
going to have the best stadium experience ever. You're not
overnight in the son of let me say we have
one hundred percent resonance with the gen Z audience. Those

(38:36):
things take time, inconsistency, and I think that's the biggest
key in evaluating plans is do they connect to the
large objectives that we have and so great, Now let's
figure out how to maximize those opportunities.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
But they don't. We don't need to be spending time
on them.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah, Now the NFL Draft has happened. You know again,
I think the Falcons had an amazing first round bringing
into Georgia Ble Javon Walker. We got some defense coming in,
but just in general, so can that myth also? Yeah,
died too, that myth has a Look. I was like,
if we get another offensive tackle or something here, I'm
a screen, But I really do I know you made
the call, you know, I know you made the call

(39:15):
on that. When it's cool, you know we're not gonna
get But the real question that was mean like.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
Just the funny thing on that is, I mean I
do look similar as our general manager, and I've had
some funny situations where fans where they think I'm Terry,
so you know, maybe I'm his body double.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
You know, But like, what does what does NFL Draft
weekend in general or NFL Draft week look.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
Like for you and your role? Yeah, it's a.

Speaker 1 (39:40):
It's a It's one of our biggest organizational moments. And
there's really, I would say three aspects of a triangle
where that really kind of comes to life. So the
first is we have a huge season ticket member of
draft party at the stadium. Several thousand season taking members

(40:00):
come in to that, and I think that in itself
is a good kind of peek on your hood to
this question that we sometimes that we have to keep evaluating.
Again in this service of all, you get asked, well,
you know, why isn't that traft party open to the
entire public? Right, we understand that a season ticket member membership, again,

(40:23):
is it a sizeable cost investment time investment? And we
understand that, you know, we're in this space where whether
it's you know the eight NS Brandon Butler, Samsung TV,
you know, eight k you know that's on your living
room wall, or you know, going to the secondary market
and say, you know, I'll just go to a step

(40:43):
hub or a ticketmaster and buy a couple of games,
And those are entry points to consume our product. And
so we want to continue to maintain as much of
a distinctive value proposition for our season ticket members beyond
just the transaction of you give us money, we give
you tickets to games. Their relationship has to be much
larger than that. So that lends itself to something like

(41:07):
a draft party that we want to maintain exclusivity for
our season ticket members to continue to you know, round
out that value proposition. But we then make sure that
we have several other draft engagement moments for the broader
fan base too, because it's not an ores, it's a
yes and right. So that's the space that I written.

(41:27):
So we have that at the stadium, then at the
actual draft site. So you know, this draft, you know,
was in Green Bay, and we sent a group of
fans out there on site literally and are part of
that on a you know seen means. Just the site
of the thousands of fans outside of Lambeau was just

(41:48):
incredible to see. So we have programming there and then
is the actual you know, at our player facility. You
know when you hear turns such as the war room
and you see that you know camera angle of our
coaches and general manager and ownership. That that's the other piece, right,
But what people don't see in that is that is

(42:12):
the actual you know drafting of the players. But we
have a whole engine around that that supports I mean,
when that name is called in the podium, we have
a post up seconds later, right. So we have an
incredible digital team and creative team, editorial team that is
creating all this content to support the announcement. After the

(42:36):
draft you know ends that first round ends what close
to midnight, then our general manager and our head coach
at a press conference and there's a huge, huge media
component to that. And you know, media is such an
extension of our brand. But what's also really cool is
we a couple of years ago joined the NFL's international

(42:56):
marketing program and we have international marketing rights in Germany.
And this past draft we had a remote pick of
someone in Berlin. A contra Que, a very popular German rapper,
announced one of our draft picks live from Germany on
the Saturday of the draft. So the draft for us

(43:17):
is a multi fasten It is a all hands on deck,
you know, multi day execution, but obviously on the football side,
several several months leading into that process and on the
business side several weeks in terms of leading into the
programming of everything related to draft. And it really is

(43:39):
cool because the draft is almost that symbolic. We really
are into that new season. You had free agency, which
had been you know, a few weeks before you now
the draft, and you know we'll continue to you know,
add players and the roster changes, but kind of the
core of it now kind of leads into you know,
mini camp and training camping off you you go. So

(44:01):
the draft is a lot of such a fun, symbolic
moment and that's where you really feel the energy of
the fans kind of come to life. And to see
their responses on social and radio show callings after this
pass draft was really cool to see.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
Yeah, man, now you know, y'all do a lot of
stuff obviously with the culture, a lot of stuff with
you know, music and hip hop is a big part
of Falcons games. Love seeing past Detroit at all the games,
just all just different elements. But something you've kind of
said before is that a lot of that obviously is
tied into the culture of Atlanta and what you being
from here. You see a lot of things, but you
also got to make sure like that doesn't become a

(44:35):
weakness or a blind spot for you. Yep, Like how
do you kind of balance that?

Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, So I think the and I think Atlanta hip
Hop is a great macro analogy to my own garda
against blind spots. Personally, you know, the fifty Years of
Hip Hop game that we did two seasons ago, we
were the only city that could have done that at

(44:58):
that scale, right, I mean, and shout out to so
many people that give a shout out to Tamika rich
on our team.

Speaker 3 (45:04):
You know Tamika she really.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
Kind of spearheaded that and so many of us kind
of joined in and followed, you know, her lead. But
I mean we had hundreds of Atlanta musicians, producers, associated talent.
I mean the in game experience of that you have ludicrous,
you know, propelling from the you know, from the roof
and all the other musical acts. Having so many people

(45:28):
out that was unique to Atlanta. That really was representative
of when people say, influencer marketing for us, that's what
the beginning of that was.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
For the Falcons.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
You go back to Dion, you know, writing an MC hammer,
you know, on the sidelines of the early ninety theres
has always been such an authentic connection between the Falcons
and the Atlanta hip hop scene because that is authentic
to Atlanta culture. But as the city has grown and progressed,
you know, you walk into a room and raise your

(45:59):
hand if you're from Atlanta, it's way less people that
are raising their hand, Like I'm the minority when I
go into a room, you know, in that space. And
so because of that, I think us as organizationally and
even me personally, we have to be careful of the
blind spot that you know, the hip hop connection scene
is will always be authentic us. We're always invest in that.

(46:21):
But the way Atlanta has evolved from a creative space
from an influencer space, that there's other entry points as well,
and it's really important for us to invest in that.
We this past season really made our first truly significant
time resource investment into building partnerships with the micro influencer space,

(46:45):
the content creator space, and you know, the opportunities that
we were able to do this year of providing access
for these content creators to then do their thing right.
It isn't about fitting in our space and just in
our chain, but we want you to take our brand,
make it valuable to what works with your brand, and

(47:06):
then broadcast that in your channels because it's connecting with
audiences that we were unable to connect with before. And
I think that is when we think about, you know,
influencer marketing, it is a multi tiered approach that really
reflects how I think about, you know, myself personally. But

(47:26):
then broader from a falcon side is that we have
to again have these engagement touch points with all these
different types you know, of audiences. And I think that's
what's cool. How we think about now the influencer space
is again you're you're gonna We'll always gonna have these
core blocks the Atlanta music scene. But now, I mean

(47:46):
ten years ago, fifteen years ago, there wasn't Hollywood to
the South right now I mean the amount of I
mean things that you already know. But so we had
to be more intentional because we didn't have the established
relationships in the film and content production space that we
had on the music space. So we want to invest
in that, and we've been able to see you this

(48:08):
past year. The biggest game theme activation that we had
this year two years ago was fifty years of Hip Hop.
This past season was Ato would right and really celebrating
the legacy, the present in the future of the film
and television and content production space here in Atlanta. But
that took an intentionality in us to invest in that,

(48:30):
and I think that is I think that content creation
influencer marketing conversation is reflective of the more fundamental conversation
in the balancing act for us is how do you
preserve and celebrate Old Atlanta but also recognize and make
sure that you have the wide invitation to New Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (48:49):
Right?

Speaker 1 (48:50):
And I'm from here, born arraised in Atlanta, went to
college in Atlanta. Falcons fan forever, But I have no
more ownership equid in the city than the person who
got here yesterday. Yeah, like we're both We're both here.
The city belongs to both of us, and so it's
important for us again, if we're a brand that wants

(49:12):
to constantly say Atlanta as a part of our brand name,
making sure that we're connecting with all different groups, whether
it's old new, it's important.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
So man, this is done.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
Is that's helpful to understand because I mean again, y'all
do so many different things, and it's always interesting to
just kind of figure out, like what the kind of
litmus test is for you all, to figure out where
to lean in at and win to lean in on
different things. So hey, man, look, the NFL Draft has happened,

(49:46):
like and I'm excited and I saw what happen. I'm
seeing some new energy coming in. We got a Georgia
boy out there, we get some defense coming in, and
I'm just really excited about this season with Panics. Let
me ask you, like, what are you most excited about?

Speaker 1 (49:58):
Yeah, I'm as sorry about this this season is that
I think you're seeing the core that we have is
the core for the foreseeable future, you know with the Falcons,
like Michael Pennix is our quarterback and couldn't be more
excited for him, and it was, you know, it was
cool to see our fans reactions, you know, of him
playing in those the three last games of last season

(50:21):
because it gave such a visual example of what he
can be, right and people have excited you know, you reference,
you know, Mike earlier. Obviously buff, left handed, you know
type of thing. So it evokes some of that that
that memory of that exciting time. John's one of the
best running backs in the NFL, you know, bar none,
and just to see his you know progression over these

(50:42):
last two seasons, making the Pro Bowl this year, you
got Drake. So when you think about the offensive side,
you know, so many different weapons the offensive side, and
then you know, on the defensive side, it's it's just
really cool to see like leaders like Jesse Bates and
in the way that he's come then to become you know,
a captain of this team and just you know, playing

(51:05):
at an elite level and how that you know, cascades
down and again it's really cool to see, you know,
someone like Aj because he's homegrown too, right, and I
think you know Aj obviously being the talent that he
is and you know, one of the best cornerbacks, but
how he's also been able to he's very prideful of
the city, right, and like he wants to play well,

(51:28):
to play well, not obviously just for you know, team success,
but you know it means a lot to him in
terms of you know, playing for the Falcons and things
like this, and you know, we have had an awesome draft.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
And see where it goes.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
So you're just seeing all these puzzle pieces, you know,
come together and just have all the you know, confidence
and excitement and really cool to see how you know,
Terry Fosson, our general manager, Raheem Morris, our head coach,
just the leadership they provide and and the culture that
they instill.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
And you know, we all embody that.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
And you know, couldn't be more excited for this season
because we all recognize that, you know, we have these
different pieces that have come together, but we now need
to show it on the field, right And I think
that's what's what's cool about where we are is you
have free agency, you have the draft.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
They're all building blocks.

Speaker 1 (52:18):
To get that theme of building blocks, we'll get into camp,
training camp, then the season starts and then you know,
again I use the reference point early is the best
reality show because that's what it is. And because we're
excited about the season. You know, I feel really good
about this team and our fans are ready, so I
just need to get to get to the season.

Speaker 3 (52:37):
Let's go.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
No man, it's look, it's gonna be an exciting season.
I can't wait to see all the pieces, you know,
start to come together and just again on both sides
of the ball. I think again, as a Falcons fan,
I know we've we've got a lot of potential. We've
got a lot of young, exciting players, and I think
this season is going to be amazing. But before we
get I do got one one crazy question to ask you,
So just go before a second here. Look, I know

(52:58):
there's things you can and can't do, but let me
ask you, man, if you could do any just marketing campaign.
I don't want to call it a stunt. I think
a stunt kind of under sells it. But if there
was like something that you could just do where there
was no limits and no rules, Like, what would you
do from a marketing standpoint with the Falcons? I mean,
you've already done outcasts. I feel like, is is there

(53:20):
anything else above that?

Speaker 3 (53:22):
You know?

Speaker 1 (53:22):
It's funny, I think if we could do it again?
So it was I guess pre and I guess it
was internet time. But this notion of breaking the Internet,
the Michael Vick experience. Oh yeah, and that Nike commercial
was crazy, right, But if you remember the beginning of
the commercial, they showed the Georgia Dome a quick shot

(53:45):
and then they cut into the scene where it's like
you're getting on a ride.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
I wasn't there at the time, but people who still
work for the Falcons they are there. Then said that
multiple people showed up to the dome thinking that they
could ride the Michael Vick experience. So if I could
have what are you to answer your question? If we
can somehow create a physical, you know, Michael Vick experience
and you know, do you evolve it? Now it's michaelvi

(54:11):
experience plus, but Jean Robinson experience or something like that.
But to take that commercial and make it a real
thing that that would go on on the mantle of
kind of one of the coolest marketing things that we
could do for sure.

Speaker 2 (54:24):
Look, man, if we can't do it at Mercedes Benz,
I know there's plenty of space down at six Flags.

Speaker 3 (54:29):
Let's just rebuild it right down Yea. Literally, people showed up.
I'm here to ride the Michael Vick experience, So maybe
we can recreate that.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
Oh man, that's amazing, Man, that's amazing good stuff. But look, man,
we can't get out of here without talking about the
World Cup. I mean, that's gonna be a massive moment.
I know that you're obviously doing some work with them,
but just like give us a perspective, like what what
kind of work are you doing with the World Cup
and just what do you kind of expect that moment
And it's gonna be It's gonna be a big moment
a lot of moments like what do expect that moment

(54:57):
to be?

Speaker 1 (54:58):
Like?

Speaker 3 (54:58):
And do for Atlanta?

Speaker 1 (54:59):
So I think the uh, I think the funny thing
for me where you really realize, like, man, you know
it's huge obviously, but you know we were we got
announced as one of the hosts locations and this was
years ago and people are already texting me about tickets.

Speaker 3 (55:16):
I mean, I might, I hope.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
I'm just employed by this organization, you know when when
the World Cup hits in uh twenty twenty six. But
it just that was just a small microcosm of you,
right man, this is this is huge, right And you
know I was a kid here when the Olympics came
through and it you know, I was not old enough
to understand the gravity of that and obviously got more educated,

(55:40):
you know, on a suspresipe even as a kid like
you could feel the scale of that, You could feel
kind of the lasting impact of that. To have the
World Cup here, which is in you know that Mount Rushmore.
Everyone you know right now with the you know AI
Mount Rushmore, that is just global event on that at
Mount Rushmore. And so to think that we are going

(56:03):
to host eight matches here including a semi final and
kind of running jokeo Ben has been that's coasting seven
Super Bowls and then the Olympics all over the course
of you know, a couple of months, right one, Just
the gratitude, humility and gratefulness that I have to just

(56:23):
in some way be a part of it. I and
I have no idea what is going to be you know,
my exact role, but literally, if it's it's it's outside
selling water like sign me up. Just the to be
a part of that is so cool. But I think
what is also reflective of one is from an organizational side,
just the scale and magnitude that we can provide for

(56:48):
community connection. Again going back to one of our aims
is about community connection. So now the notion that now
it's a global community connection and she was dressed but
two similar to to the narrative of the Olympics in
ninety six. What has evolved and you know, shout out
to our boys with the Atlanta influence. Has ever seen
that term the opportunity of World Cup to tell the

(57:11):
Atlanta story right like that is the significance of that.
And that's where I'm just very proud and hopeful of
is when all eyes in the world are looking at Atlanta,
that you know that we're going to show up in
a way that not only the southern hospitality and the
experience of it is great, but also with that platform

(57:33):
to really continue to tell the Atlanta story in terms
of kind of who we are and where we're going.
That's what's so exciting, you know about that. So it's
gonna be an amazing experience. Gonna be more grateful to
be a part of it. And if you want tickets,
have them. Text you first yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
I'm gonna text you yeah, and then you're gonna take
me back. I already know that's called go man, before
we got to hear me, ask you, like, what's something
that you want?

Speaker 3 (58:01):
You know?

Speaker 2 (58:02):
The next Shannon Joinner a young marketer that begin he
sees sports marketing and you just sees it from the
outside but you see it from the inside, like what
do they need to know about what it takes to
not only get in that world, but to be successful
in that space.

Speaker 1 (58:13):
I think the first, the middle of the last is passion,
and I'm grateful that early on in my life, I
identify that sports is my passion. Right didn't know, you know,
what that was going to translate, you know into you know,
I had an AAU tryout with the Atlanta Celtics in

(58:36):
middle school and when I walked into it was a
gym on Cleveland Avenue, multiple hoops and when I walked in,
so this was like the under thirteen tryouts, walked in
and saw some dudes that there are like six' five
shooting at one, court AND i, knew all, right that
was a higher age, Tryout So i'm gonna go over

(58:56):
here with a whistle and everyone came together AND I i, Said,
okay whatever aspirations THAT i had a playing professional ended
on that day On Cleveland. Avenue so for, ME i
didn't know what my connection to sports was going to,
be BUT i knew THAT i had a strong passion
for that and that's really has driven it for. Me
and so for, me the takeaway to that to answer

(59:17):
your question is whether it's you're trying to be in
sports or whatever it.

Speaker 3 (59:19):
Is you need a passion for it because just being
smart isn't. Enough it's too.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
Competitive you're spending so much of your time and life
into it that if you don't have a passion for,
it at some, point whether there's gonna be a ceiling
on the money validation of, things or you have to
have that.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
INTRINSIC i enjoy this. WORK i feel like to be.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
Great i'm at, it AND i think in a space
like sports where a lot of people do love, it
like you really have to be a passion about it
because it is, competitive people really do enjoy being in this.
SPACE i say that's one, thing but then two for
me IS i think the other difference is sports really
being that vehicle for higher purpose and. Connection LIKE i

(01:00:06):
make no allusion to. Sports isn't curing, cancer, Right sports
isn't you, know starting or stopping.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
Wars so that's not what sports.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
Does but there is something powerful about watching a game
that can literally bring seventy thousand people together at once
and have then millions of people you know watching on.
Television so because of That i'm very proud to be
a part of an organization that recognizes the power of
sport but then uses it as a vehicle to make

(01:00:39):
broader impact in terms of what we're able to do
in the. COMMUNITY i think that's the separator of, it you.
Know for, Me so, AGAIN i think having personal passion
to drive. It but if you're able to find a
space that allows you to an essence bring in broader
impact beyond just a nine to, five that's a very

(01:01:00):
rewarding space to be.

Speaker 3 (01:01:01):
In So i'm extremely grateful for that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
Opportunity but you know, What, shannon we're grateful that you're
in that. Opportunity. Again for somebody that's you, know from the,
city from the, culture to be in these, ROLES i
think is always important because you understand how, important you,
know what you do is for the. City also appreciate,
man when you came. Back you, know we connected almost
immediately and you've been a big supporter of butter ever,
since and so you, know again we appreciate that, Man and,

(01:01:24):
again just just love to see the work that you
all are doing, Again AND i.

Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
Think, yeah Job, BROT i think that's ALMOST i think
a good kind of closest conversation Is that's another THING
i think it's unique about In atlanta is that you,
Know butter isn't this mythical wizard Of oz content, Engine
like people know who you, are, Right AND i think
that's what's important About. Atlanta so there's all these brands and,

(01:01:48):
entities but the people drive the connection you, know of
the city and people right, now AND i think that's really.
Important like we want to be on the falcon side
front facing want people to know WHO i am and
other people organization are and Fans and it's nothing for
me to give out an email address or a cell
phone because that direct connection is. IMPORTANT i know all

(01:02:12):
my counterparts and all the different, teams right and you,
know we have a mindset that Rising tide lists all,
boats like it's not a zero something here that if
you're A braves fan or A hawks, fan you can't
falcons where. Somebody we want everyone to. Succeed AND i
think that's represent of How atlanta has always, been, Right Like,
atlanta the secret sauce Of atlanta has always been this

(01:02:34):
or this, community private, sector public. Sector, right how everybody
connects is what makes the city unique from others And
that's that's my continued hope As atlanta continues to grow
and get bigger and commercial, investment, yes, yes and, yes

(01:02:55):
but to never lose that the relationships are what drive you,
know the city and making sure that we're continuing to,
invest you know in. That so with, that that's WHY
i appreciate. YOU i appreciate everything that you're. DOING i
appreciate the friendship that we. Have it goes way bigger
Than on behalf of Butter on behalf Of Yeah falcons
is Just brandon And. SHANNA i think that is just

(01:03:15):
one of a gazillion examples in the city that you
know that makes us.

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
Fun so, yeah, Man well look normally WHEN i wrap,
UP i tell, people you, know how can they get
in contact with, you how can they support? You but,
LOOK i don't want people hitting you up ask you, know, tickets,
Man So i'm just don't tell. People if you want
to Find, shannon just go To Atlanta falcons dot. Com
there you, go all, right you, know and just do, it,
dude what you got to do from, there because we're
not giving out no info because he only giving me,
tickets not everybody. ELSE i love to playing, me but, yo, Man.
Shannon appreciate you pulling up. Man it's been a great

(01:03:40):
conversation and uh we out that's the.

Speaker 3 (01:03:42):
Pot you've been.

Speaker 2 (01:03:44):
Listening to Button nomics and no im your Host Brandon
butler got comments? Feedback want to be on the. Show
send us an email today At hello at butternomics dot.
Com Butter nomics is produced In, Atlanta georgia At iHeartMedia
By Casey, pegrim with marketing support From queen And. Nikki
music provided By. Mister if you haven't, already hit that
subscribe button and never missed an, episode and be sure

(01:04:04):
to follow us on all our social platforms at butter
dot at. L listen to Better nomics on The iHeartRadio,
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Speaker 3 (01:04:12):
Podcasts