September 12, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode of How 2 Sport, Amy Latimer discusses her early years in the sports and hospitality industry and how that experience has translated into her role as EVP and COO of Delaware North. Also, she’s a Swiftie!
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi, and welcome to How to Sport, the show that
highlights the unique experiences and journeys of professionals and sports biz.
I'm your host, Megan Robertson, and I have the privilege
to be here today with executive vice president and chief
operating Officer of Delaware North Amy Latimer. Welcome, Amy, Hi, Megan,
thanks for having me. We're super excited you are here
(00:25):
with us today. We'll start from the beginning and then
we'll work our way to this incredible title and responsibility
that you have now. So originally from Ellicott City, Maryland,
you received your degree in political science from the University
of Rhode Island, where you also played basketball. You took
some political management courses at George Washington, and then you
(00:46):
started your career as director of e Business, which at
the time it was called TD Bank North Garden. So
talk to me a little bit about just that upbringing
playing basketball. What did that do to kind of kickstart
your career.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, yeah, so honestly, I never thought about working in sports.
I played sports in all honesty to go to college.
I didn't grow up with the means to automatically go
to college, and I thought this would be a and
I love sports, so I played basketball. It was fortunate
enough to get a basketball scholarship, and as you mentioned,
(01:22):
I studied political science and history because I thought I
was going to go to law school. And I graduated
and I worked in a law firm, and then I
quickly realized that law school was not for me. I
went to graduate school at GW and I had it.
Still was working in politics, but I was doing fundraising
and events, and I had the opportunity to move to Boston.
(01:46):
I got engaged and my husband was in Boston, and
when I was making the transition, sports, sorry, politics in
Boston was a little bit different, and I said, well,
I love sports, I just didn't think about it as
a career and was i'd say a consulting position for
the opening of Back then it was the Fleet Center,
(02:07):
a lot of name changes for the building, and that
was my entree into sports and have been in ever since. Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
What a story. And it's unique because I think a
lot of times the way people end up in sports
is not what everyone thinks is the path. I like
to say that there's like little stepping stones that you
end up taking that lead you to your ultimate career path.
So this is just a great example of kind of
your unique path and how you ended up working in sports.
(02:38):
So let's talk a little bit about you then went
to become the vice president of ticket sales and promoted
the senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Bruins,
and again TD Bank North Garden. All of those roles
are different but align. So talk to me about how
those roles kind of overlap. What were the biggest takeaways
you learned early in your career that you would say
(03:01):
has helped you become the professional that you are today.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, it's interesting, So I think when I so as
I started a consultant for the building, I actually left
and went and worked on a campaign, and it's funny
how similar politics and sports are. And they called me
back and said, well, we have the director of marketing
position opened.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Are you interested? And I was like, oh, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
And I had no idea what a prime job it
was or how hard it was, and I was like, Okay, sure,
I'll try it. It was probably the hardest year of
my life. I had no idea I was buying media.
I was selling family shows and sports and a whole
bunch of different things. I think what it did is
it set me on the journey of if you have sixty,
maybe seventy percent of a job, you're great, and you'll
(03:42):
figure out the rest of it. And I think what
ended up happening is I ended up raising my hand
for these next few jobs that maybe on paper it
wasn't one hundred percent lining up, but there was enough
that you could thread through. And so the you mentioned
the e business, you know, we started that because oh
my gosh, we started email marketing and I and we
actually had tickets to sell and sweets to rent, and
(04:06):
you know, that was that was sort of the start there.
It transitioned to the ticket sales because we opened up
a brand new building in both the Bruins and the
Celtics didn't have a great first couple of years, and
we actually had more seats than they did in the
old Garden, and we actually had to create a sales department.
There wasn't a sales department because they had been sold
out for so many years. So think about the fact
(04:28):
that you had just started an inside sales group, a
season ticket sales group, a for you know, a service group,
a lot of a lot of long nights, but you
loved it, right, because you're working in a really fun
industry and you know you're not selling chairs, right, you're
talking about sports, And even though we had some lean years,
(04:49):
it really it then transitioned into I liked driving revenue
marketing I really appreciated and loved. That's what sort of
got me to the next level, which is overseeing premium sales,
sponsorship sales.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
And ticket sales and then marketing for both.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
This was for the Bruins and for the building, which
then led to being president for twelve years of the
TV Garden because I realized while I was doing this
that there's an operational side and there's a revenue side.
And I gravitated and thought, if you can always drive revenue,
you should always be able to have a job.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
So smart and as I'm listening to you talk about this,
it just shows why you have the role you you're
in now, because you do. You have your jack of
all trades of sorts. You know so much and I
love what you said, like sixty to seventy percent you
need to know and know well, but you don't have
to have every single qualification. If you're willing to learn
(05:49):
throughout your career, so kudos to you.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, I would say, and the yes and to that
is surround yourself with really good people that might know.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Some thing better than you do.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And that's okay, Like I actually encourage it, right that
if you have a gap, you go out and find
the best of somebody that understands that space.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
That's such a good point and that's really the sign
of a good leader too, right, You're not too prideful,
not too egotistical to have someone on your team that
may actually be better suited for some part of that role.
So you mentioned you were promoted to the president of
TD Garden and then in twenty twenty one you took
additional responsibility as the chief Chief Growth Officer. So one
(06:33):
of the role, one of the things which kind of
aligns with what I do, is you were in charge
of bringing events to the garden. So talk to me
about that. Is there a specific show artist that you
were most excited to bring?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yes, this, So imagine you know this, You're work in conjunction,
you know, in our space with a gentleman, Eric Staffer,
who does a lot of the relationships and booking the building.
And we've had a maze events and amazing artists.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I would tell you probably.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
One of the ones that I'm most proud of is
that this year we hosted for the first time the
women's bean Pot. So in New England, it's a hockey
tournament for colleges BUBC, Northeastern and Harvard. The men's have
been the men have been playing at the TD Garden
for almost probably eighty years, and we had never hosted
(07:26):
the women's and for ten years worked to get the
women's game finally at the garden, and there was a
concern that there wouldn't be a lot of people. Only
two thousand people usually show up for the regular It
was eleven thousand, holy count that showed up. Oh, so
you know, I love the first I liked the soda
the first. I wasn't directly involved, but had been involved
(07:49):
with in the past trying to get a WNBA game
at the garden, but it certainly had been involved over
the years of all the Olympic Trials and NCUBA events,
and we hosted the Democratic National Conventions. So it's been
a patchwork of a lot of really fun, good events.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
That's that's what makes us fun.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Right, That's yes, I completely agree. Seeing it all come together.
So you also led the seventy million dollar renovation in
twenty fifteen, followed by an one hundred million dollar expansion
that opened in twenty nineteen. So construction plans typically don't
always go as planned. So during those renovations and expansions,
(08:31):
what were some of the biggest challenges and how did
you combat those?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, so you anybody that has done renovations, right, So
I wasn't there for the build of the garden, but
we've done significant renovations and then we expanded.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
We added fifty thousand square feet.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So the challenge is usually come in of the things
that you don't know, like when you open up things
and you find surprises, right, and so that is certainly
one thing or you didn't realize there was. You know,
you're they literally dug out underneath the old garden to
add more parking. You have no idea what you're going
to find in Boston when you start digging out parking lot.
(09:09):
So we certainly had a lot of interesting and then
you know, sometimes again something that looks good on paper,
you start to see it come to life and being
able to affect it or change it, so it really
meets what you're it's really about for me that guest experience.
So I feel like being nimble and not sticking to
(09:30):
something just because that's exactly what was on that piece
of paper, being able to feel good about it. Maybe
you take a little risk about making some of those
changes for the better outcome.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I think that was that is sort of the fun part.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And it's not easy because it's a lot of money
and time to do it right.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
But I those those those opportunities gave us.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I think the idea that my approach was what can
we fix from the past, what do we need to
do for today, and how do we build for tomorrow?
And I feel like that those three buckets helped me
sort of organize that approach.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Oh I love that past, present, future. All right. So finally,
your role now executive vice president and chief operating Officer
of Delaware North, that is a lot of responsibility and
from what I know, the little bit I know, you're
responsible for business ops across six subsidiaries and responsible for
driving performance at more than two hundred let me repeat
(10:26):
two hundred high profile locations around the world. These are
sports and entertainment venues, national and state parks, resorts, airports,
travel hubs. What does this all mean? Like, how do
you prioritize these different venues?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Wow, well, I'll.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Be honest, it's in my first year. It's been a
learning curve. Again, it's never too late to learn something new.
I certainly understood our Boston division very well. I understand
our sports service division very well. Our Travel hospitality was
learning this is food and beverage and airports across thirty
across the US and Australia. The park's division is fascinating
(11:06):
because for US it's some of we own assets.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
We own hotels, but.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
We also run Kennedy Space Center for NASA, right, So
those have been fascinating. I think the gaming division for US,
where we own and operate casinos, was probably the one
that maybe I had had the least exposure to.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
But I'm so interested and.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
So happy to see so many of the things that
cross over from sports, about knowing your customer and that
guest experience and rewards and everything. So my priorities were, first,
We're solidifying the great team, make sure I give them
the tools while I'm going through the journey of learning,
and I feel like now I've got sort of my
(11:51):
personal mantra is perform and transform, like what are the
things we need to do every day to run the business?
That's the performance piece and who's focused on that? And
then the transformation is what is next? And where am
I going to now put my time in my leader's
time against we're where we're going, not just what we're
doing day to day. So that part that's probably has
(12:12):
given me the most energy looking forward to twenty five.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Is there anything among all of those kind of locations
that you would say is a commonality in terms of
what you're looking forward to in the future. I know
you mentioned hospitality, customer experience. Is that is that where
you see kind of the most transformation potentially occurring?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I do, and like I think of our Patina restaurant
group that just you know, took on a PGA. They
just did F one in Vegas like this at the
end of the day, like sports, all of these things,
people are looking for an unbelievable experience, right they are
looking for I want somebody to have the food or
(12:56):
the experience, or the hotel room or the make it
fast for me, like understand what I need, do it
with the best quality food, with the best intention, with
the best staff and I just think that that, for me,
is the foundation of this whole thing, having really good people,
having really good product and being able to deliver it
(13:17):
for everybody. That that's it, because you won't go back
to a restaurant, or you won't go back to that
that you know, that food and beverage option in the airport,
or you won't you know, you know, maybe you choose
not to go to that game and something else if
you don't feel like you you get that experience, right
And we never, we rarely control what happens. We don't
(13:37):
have control what happens on the ice or the parquet,
or in the theater or you know, you know some
of these in Disney. We have restaurants in Disney. We
don't control that Disney experience. But our role in this,
I would say, is.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Number two to the to the the experience that our
partners control.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
That's such a good point, not necessarily about what happens
on the field or the quarter or wherever. It's about
the memories that you're going to have based on the experience.
It's such a good point. All right, So shifting gears
a little bit. You've had a lot of recognitions, rightfully,
So with the profile career that you've had, you were
(14:14):
named sbj's Game Changer, Why is Woman of the Year
and Boston Business Power Player. Which of these are you
most proud of and why?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Oh? I think it was really nice.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I think I was in the first class of the
game changers, which for sports has really changed now, Like
I'm so happy to see all the classes beyond that.
The wise one was really important to me. Again, it's
just women in sports, right and making sure that I
think it's less about me. It's more about the journey
and being able to hopefully, like our conversation today, if
(14:50):
there's one thing that somebody hears that inspires them to
take the chance on a role or cause. I am
very honest about like I didn't know some of these
things that that I raised my hand for or put
out there. And I think sometimes women, especially are so
worried about ticking and tying everything, like everything's got to
be in a nice little meat box. We have to
(15:11):
draw outside the lines a little bit. So I think
that recognition hopefully gave was more about the platform to
tell a story and maybe inspire some people to take
some chances that I did.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
So in your little free time that you do have,
you also serve on a number of boards. So I
want you to talk to me a little bit about
why this is important and any advice you would give
to professionals kind of starting out their career and what
impact that's had on you.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Oh, Megan, I think it's really important.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So I think you know, in Boston, I served on
a couple of different boards nonprofits, right that one from
a community standpoint for the Garden because we were such
a big neighbor we had to make sure what we
were doing and to get back to the community. But
I also think some of the boards that I sat on,
(16:04):
like I sat on the board for the Convention Centers
for Massachusetts, the relationships. So it was a it's a business,
you're like convention centers. Well, it's actually very similar to
the business I was in. But those relationships of meeting
other people and working on those boards and having you know,
you don't know, you don't get to pick them, and
you have to figure out how to work together and
(16:26):
have a common goal and communicate. I feel like it's
like playing sports. Sometimes you don't get to pick your teammates,
but you want to win, and you got to figure
out how to win. I I just think networking should
be is the core. So if you can find something
that you're passionate about that you want to either learn
or make a difference, and then you find those similar
(16:47):
people that have that that approach that I'm friends with
people from all different boards. And then I sat on
the Federal Reserve Board advisory board for the Federal Reserve,
which was it just seemed out of I don't know,
it just seemed like, oh, the Federal Reserve like that.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And then I got there.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
And I was like, what an amazing opportunity to learn
about economic trends and make presidents and CEOs of companies
all across New England that I wouldn't have come across.
So I'm a I'm a big fan. I think you
have to be careful about how many, but you know,
I think it's worth the investment to find a good.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Board with good leadership, with the good purpose.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I love the analogy about the sports team and how
putting people together, and you have to you have to
find a way to win in a way right, and
then it's never too late to stop learning. I think
I've heard you say that in different ways throughout this podcast,
and it's so true. You can always find something from
someone if you're willing and open to it. So I
(17:48):
love it all right, really fun question and then we'll
end with one final question. But I hear you're big
tailor Slow fan, So what's your favorite song? And how
many times have you?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Oh, Megan's so funny. I have a funny Taylor Swift story.
So I she played the ted Garden.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I can't even tell you what year it was, and
that while she was there, her agent actually told us
that she got an offer to play Gillette Stadium, and
I think that and they were her first big stadium.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
To give her an offer.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And I don't think we've ever seen Taylor inside again,
it's too small.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
All the arenas are too small for her now.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
But I remember thinking seeing that show and thinking, oh
my gosh, so talented, so fun, so energetic, And now
I've seen her. I saw her last year Atcheleette Stadium.
And then you know, I saw her in Edinburgh, Scotland
because I was leaving a vacation in Italy and my
family said, oh, by the way, because who goes from Italy.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
To Scotland for a concert we did really really, really fun.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And if you go with somebody that does not know
Taylor Swift but as a music fan, they are so
surprised and think about this for a second.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And I've been to a million concerts, right, I've worked
a million concerts. I don't know how many concerts I've
been to where the fans know the song two notes
into it. They all stand and they know every song
and every word. There isn't a concert that you don't go, oh,
they're playing that song.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I don't know that, or this is a new one,
and that it doesn't happen with Taylor Swift.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I love that part. I love her interaction with the fans.
I love the community of bracelets and face painting and
outfits and just pure fun and I think the power.
I'm looking forward to see what happens.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Next with her.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I know she just wrapped up their tour in Toronto.
Just how she uses it for good going forward. I'm
really I'm excited to see what happens next. And I
wouldn't even know if I have a favorite. I have
so many favorites.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
I have chills just thinking about it. That's a fair point.
There's a lot. We could probably sit on this call
and talk for I don't know, forty five more minutes
about how much we love Taylor Swift and break down
every single song really just she's just a powerful, powerful
person who uses.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
A multi generations exactly. There's six year.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Old girls and sixty year old women like there isn't
a it's not just one, which is the other thing
when you go to a lot of shows, it's it
might not be one generation, but it's heavy to one generation.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Exactly, and male female like it is literally everyone. Yeah,
I love it all right. So I mean, now this
may seem like a dot of a question based on
that one, but uh no, I'm just kidding. So I
liked in my podcast with one final question, if you
were to provide one word that describes the culmination of
your career up until now, what would that word be
(20:58):
and why?
Speaker 3 (21:01):
I would say that it was energetic? Love it?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Do you want to expand on that?
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And I think because I I think you in this
space in sports and entertainment, you have to love it
and you have to bring an energy every day because
you can you know, you might have you know, a
concert one night and a different show the next night
(21:29):
and you and you really, this isn't like you take
a day off. You just can't take a day off
on your approach with the with the staff.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
I walk around the garden, I can't.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Be doom and gloom and glum and sad or whatever
like kid, you got to bring energy, You got to
bring a positive because you need them to bring that
to the fans that are coming in. Right. We talk
about street deceit, those touch points along the way. So
I think energy has probably propelled me and raising my hand,
having the energy to raise my hand for a million
(22:00):
different things. I think that's a I think that's it.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
It's such a good way to wrap it up. It
was such a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Amy.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Thank you so much for joining me today on the
Hell to Sport podcast.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Thank you very much for having me and I'll see
you at the next show. Love it.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Thank thank you, thank you,
Hi, and welcome to How to Sport, the show that
highlights the unique experiences and journeys of professionals and sports biz.
I'm your host, Megan Robertson, and I have the privilege
to be here today with executive vice president and chief
operating Officer of Delaware North Amy Latimer. Welcome, Amy, Hi, Megan,
thanks for having me. We're super excited you are here
(00:25):
with us today. We'll start from the beginning and then
we'll work our way to this incredible title and responsibility
that you have now. So originally from Ellicott City, Maryland,
you received your degree in political science from the University
of Rhode Island, where you also played basketball. You took
some political management courses at George Washington, and then you
(00:46):
started your career as director of e Business, which at
the time it was called TD Bank North Garden. So
talk to me a little bit about just that upbringing
playing basketball. What did that do to kind of kickstart
your career.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, yeah, so honestly, I never thought about working in sports.
I played sports in all honesty to go to college.
I didn't grow up with the means to automatically go
to college, and I thought this would be a and
I love sports, so I played basketball. It was fortunate
enough to get a basketball scholarship, and as you mentioned,
(01:22):
I studied political science and history because I thought I
was going to go to law school. And I graduated
and I worked in a law firm, and then I
quickly realized that law school was not for me. I
went to graduate school at GW and I had it.
Still was working in politics, but I was doing fundraising
and events, and I had the opportunity to move to Boston.
(01:46):
I got engaged and my husband was in Boston, and
when I was making the transition, sports, sorry, politics in
Boston was a little bit different, and I said, well,
I love sports, I just didn't think about it as
a career and was i'd say a consulting position for
the opening of Back then it was the Fleet Center,
(02:07):
a lot of name changes for the building, and that
was my entree into sports and have been in ever since. Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
What a story. And it's unique because I think a
lot of times the way people end up in sports
is not what everyone thinks is the path. I like
to say that there's like little stepping stones that you
end up taking that lead you to your ultimate career path.
So this is just a great example of kind of
your unique path and how you ended up working in sports.
(02:38):
So let's talk a little bit about you then went
to become the vice president of ticket sales and promoted
the senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Bruins,
and again TD Bank North Garden. All of those roles
are different but align. So talk to me about how
those roles kind of overlap. What were the biggest takeaways
you learned early in your career that you would say
(03:01):
has helped you become the professional that you are today.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, it's interesting, So I think when I so as
I started a consultant for the building, I actually left
and went and worked on a campaign, and it's funny
how similar politics and sports are. And they called me
back and said, well, we have the director of marketing
position opened.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Are you interested? And I was like, oh, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
And I had no idea what a prime job it
was or how hard it was, and I was like, Okay, sure,
I'll try it. It was probably the hardest year of
my life. I had no idea I was buying media.
I was selling family shows and sports and a whole
bunch of different things. I think what it did is
it set me on the journey of if you have sixty,
maybe seventy percent of a job, you're great, and you'll
(03:42):
figure out the rest of it. And I think what
ended up happening is I ended up raising my hand
for these next few jobs that maybe on paper it
wasn't one hundred percent lining up, but there was enough
that you could thread through. And so the you mentioned
the e business, you know, we started that because oh
my gosh, we started email marketing and I and we
actually had tickets to sell and sweets to rent, and
(04:06):
you know, that was that was sort of the start there.
It transitioned to the ticket sales because we opened up
a brand new building in both the Bruins and the
Celtics didn't have a great first couple of years, and
we actually had more seats than they did in the
old Garden, and we actually had to create a sales department.
There wasn't a sales department because they had been sold
out for so many years. So think about the fact
(04:28):
that you had just started an inside sales group, a
season ticket sales group, a for you know, a service group,
a lot of a lot of long nights, but you
loved it, right, because you're working in a really fun
industry and you know you're not selling chairs, right, you're
talking about sports, And even though we had some lean years,
(04:49):
it really it then transitioned into I liked driving revenue
marketing I really appreciated and loved. That's what sort of
got me to the next level, which is overseeing premium sales,
sponsorship sales.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
And ticket sales and then marketing for both.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
This was for the Bruins and for the building, which
then led to being president for twelve years of the
TV Garden because I realized while I was doing this
that there's an operational side and there's a revenue side.
And I gravitated and thought, if you can always drive revenue,
you should always be able to have a job.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
So smart and as I'm listening to you talk about this,
it just shows why you have the role you you're
in now, because you do. You have your jack of
all trades of sorts. You know so much and I
love what you said, like sixty to seventy percent you
need to know and know well, but you don't have
to have every single qualification. If you're willing to learn
(05:49):
throughout your career, so kudos to you.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, I would say, and the yes and to that
is surround yourself with really good people that might know.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Some thing better than you do.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And that's okay, Like I actually encourage it, right that
if you have a gap, you go out and find
the best of somebody that understands that space.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
That's such a good point and that's really the sign
of a good leader too, right, You're not too prideful,
not too egotistical to have someone on your team that
may actually be better suited for some part of that role.
So you mentioned you were promoted to the president of
TD Garden and then in twenty twenty one you took
additional responsibility as the chief Chief Growth Officer. So one
(06:33):
of the role, one of the things which kind of
aligns with what I do, is you were in charge
of bringing events to the garden. So talk to me
about that. Is there a specific show artist that you
were most excited to bring?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yes, this, So imagine you know this, You're work in conjunction,
you know, in our space with a gentleman, Eric Staffer,
who does a lot of the relationships and booking the building.
And we've had a maze events and amazing artists.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I would tell you probably.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
One of the ones that I'm most proud of is
that this year we hosted for the first time the
women's bean Pot. So in New England, it's a hockey
tournament for colleges BUBC, Northeastern and Harvard. The men's have
been the men have been playing at the TD Garden
for almost probably eighty years, and we had never hosted
(07:26):
the women's and for ten years worked to get the
women's game finally at the garden, and there was a
concern that there wouldn't be a lot of people. Only
two thousand people usually show up for the regular It
was eleven thousand, holy count that showed up. Oh, so
you know, I love the first I liked the soda
the first. I wasn't directly involved, but had been involved
(07:49):
with in the past trying to get a WNBA game
at the garden, but it certainly had been involved over
the years of all the Olympic Trials and NCUBA events,
and we hosted the Democratic National Conventions. So it's been
a patchwork of a lot of really fun, good events.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
That's that's what makes us fun.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Right, That's yes, I completely agree. Seeing it all come together.
So you also led the seventy million dollar renovation in
twenty fifteen, followed by an one hundred million dollar expansion
that opened in twenty nineteen. So construction plans typically don't
always go as planned. So during those renovations and expansions,
(08:31):
what were some of the biggest challenges and how did
you combat those?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, so you anybody that has done renovations, right, So
I wasn't there for the build of the garden, but
we've done significant renovations and then we expanded.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
We added fifty thousand square feet.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So the challenge is usually come in of the things
that you don't know, like when you open up things
and you find surprises, right, and so that is certainly
one thing or you didn't realize there was. You know,
you're they literally dug out underneath the old garden to
add more parking. You have no idea what you're going
to find in Boston when you start digging out parking lot.
(09:09):
So we certainly had a lot of interesting and then
you know, sometimes again something that looks good on paper,
you start to see it come to life and being
able to affect it or change it, so it really
meets what you're it's really about for me that guest experience.
So I feel like being nimble and not sticking to
(09:30):
something just because that's exactly what was on that piece
of paper, being able to feel good about it. Maybe
you take a little risk about making some of those
changes for the better outcome.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I think that was that is sort of the fun part.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And it's not easy because it's a lot of money
and time to do it right.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
But I those those those opportunities gave us.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I think the idea that my approach was what can
we fix from the past, what do we need to
do for today, and how do we build for tomorrow?
And I feel like that those three buckets helped me
sort of organize that approach.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Oh I love that past, present, future. All right. So finally,
your role now executive vice president and chief operating Officer
of Delaware North, that is a lot of responsibility and
from what I know, the little bit I know, you're
responsible for business ops across six subsidiaries and responsible for
driving performance at more than two hundred let me repeat
(10:26):
two hundred high profile locations around the world. These are
sports and entertainment venues, national and state parks, resorts, airports,
travel hubs. What does this all mean? Like, how do
you prioritize these different venues?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Wow, well, I'll.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Be honest, it's in my first year. It's been a
learning curve. Again, it's never too late to learn something new.
I certainly understood our Boston division very well. I understand
our sports service division very well. Our Travel hospitality was
learning this is food and beverage and airports across thirty
across the US and Australia. The park's division is fascinating
(11:06):
because for US it's some of we own assets.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
We own hotels, but.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
We also run Kennedy Space Center for NASA, right, So
those have been fascinating. I think the gaming division for US,
where we own and operate casinos, was probably the one
that maybe I had had the least exposure to.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
But I'm so interested and.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
So happy to see so many of the things that
cross over from sports, about knowing your customer and that
guest experience and rewards and everything. So my priorities were, first,
We're solidifying the great team, make sure I give them
the tools while I'm going through the journey of learning,
and I feel like now I've got sort of my
(11:51):
personal mantra is perform and transform, like what are the
things we need to do every day to run the business?
That's the performance piece and who's focused on that? And
then the transformation is what is next? And where am
I going to now put my time in my leader's
time against we're where we're going, not just what we're
doing day to day. So that part that's probably has
(12:12):
given me the most energy looking forward to twenty five.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Is there anything among all of those kind of locations
that you would say is a commonality in terms of
what you're looking forward to in the future. I know
you mentioned hospitality, customer experience. Is that is that where
you see kind of the most transformation potentially occurring?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I do, and like I think of our Patina restaurant
group that just you know, took on a PGA. They
just did F one in Vegas like this at the
end of the day, like sports, all of these things,
people are looking for an unbelievable experience, right they are
looking for I want somebody to have the food or
(12:56):
the experience, or the hotel room or the make it
fast for me, like understand what I need, do it
with the best quality food, with the best intention, with
the best staff and I just think that that, for me,
is the foundation of this whole thing, having really good people,
having really good product and being able to deliver it
(13:17):
for everybody. That that's it, because you won't go back
to a restaurant, or you won't go back to that
that you know, that food and beverage option in the airport,
or you won't you know, you know, maybe you choose
not to go to that game and something else if
you don't feel like you you get that experience, right
And we never, we rarely control what happens. We don't
(13:37):
have control what happens on the ice or the parquet,
or in the theater or you know, you know some
of these in Disney. We have restaurants in Disney. We
don't control that Disney experience. But our role in this,
I would say, is.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Number two to the to the the experience that our
partners control.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
That's such a good point, not necessarily about what happens
on the field or the quarter or wherever. It's about
the memories that you're going to have based on the experience.
It's such a good point. All right, So shifting gears
a little bit. You've had a lot of recognitions, rightfully,
So with the profile career that you've had, you were
(14:14):
named sbj's Game Changer, Why is Woman of the Year
and Boston Business Power Player. Which of these are you
most proud of and why?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Oh? I think it was really nice.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I think I was in the first class of the
game changers, which for sports has really changed now, Like
I'm so happy to see all the classes beyond that.
The wise one was really important to me. Again, it's
just women in sports, right and making sure that I
think it's less about me. It's more about the journey
and being able to hopefully, like our conversation today, if
(14:50):
there's one thing that somebody hears that inspires them to
take the chance on a role or cause. I am
very honest about like I didn't know some of these
things that that I raised my hand for or put
out there. And I think sometimes women, especially are so
worried about ticking and tying everything, like everything's got to
be in a nice little meat box. We have to
(15:11):
draw outside the lines a little bit. So I think
that recognition hopefully gave was more about the platform to
tell a story and maybe inspire some people to take
some chances that I did.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
So in your little free time that you do have,
you also serve on a number of boards. So I
want you to talk to me a little bit about
why this is important and any advice you would give
to professionals kind of starting out their career and what
impact that's had on you.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Oh, Megan, I think it's really important.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
So I think you know, in Boston, I served on
a couple of different boards nonprofits, right that one from
a community standpoint for the Garden because we were such
a big neighbor we had to make sure what we
were doing and to get back to the community. But
I also think some of the boards that I sat on,
(16:04):
like I sat on the board for the Convention Centers
for Massachusetts, the relationships. So it was a it's a business,
you're like convention centers. Well, it's actually very similar to
the business I was in. But those relationships of meeting
other people and working on those boards and having you know,
you don't know, you don't get to pick them, and
you have to figure out how to work together and
(16:26):
have a common goal and communicate. I feel like it's
like playing sports. Sometimes you don't get to pick your teammates,
but you want to win, and you got to figure
out how to win. I I just think networking should
be is the core. So if you can find something
that you're passionate about that you want to either learn
or make a difference, and then you find those similar
(16:47):
people that have that that approach that I'm friends with
people from all different boards. And then I sat on
the Federal Reserve Board advisory board for the Federal Reserve,
which was it just seemed out of I don't know,
it just seemed like, oh, the Federal Reserve like that.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And then I got there.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
And I was like, what an amazing opportunity to learn
about economic trends and make presidents and CEOs of companies
all across New England that I wouldn't have come across.
So I'm a I'm a big fan. I think you
have to be careful about how many, but you know,
I think it's worth the investment to find a good.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Board with good leadership, with the good purpose.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
I love the analogy about the sports team and how
putting people together, and you have to you have to
find a way to win in a way right, and
then it's never too late to stop learning. I think
I've heard you say that in different ways throughout this podcast,
and it's so true. You can always find something from
someone if you're willing and open to it. So I
(17:48):
love it all right, really fun question and then we'll
end with one final question. But I hear you're big
tailor Slow fan, So what's your favorite song? And how
many times have you?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Oh, Megan's so funny. I have a funny Taylor Swift story.
So I she played the ted Garden.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I can't even tell you what year it was, and
that while she was there, her agent actually told us
that she got an offer to play Gillette Stadium, and
I think that and they were her first big stadium.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
To give her an offer.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And I don't think we've ever seen Taylor inside again,
it's too small.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
All the arenas are too small for her now.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
But I remember thinking seeing that show and thinking, oh
my gosh, so talented, so fun, so energetic, And now
I've seen her. I saw her last year Atcheleette Stadium.
And then you know, I saw her in Edinburgh, Scotland
because I was leaving a vacation in Italy and my
family said, oh, by the way, because who goes from Italy.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
To Scotland for a concert we did really really, really fun.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And if you go with somebody that does not know
Taylor Swift but as a music fan, they are so
surprised and think about this for a second.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And I've been to a million concerts, right, I've worked
a million concerts. I don't know how many concerts I've
been to where the fans know the song two notes
into it. They all stand and they know every song
and every word. There isn't a concert that you don't go, oh,
they're playing that song.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I don't know that, or this is a new one,
and that it doesn't happen with Taylor Swift.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I love that part. I love her interaction with the fans.
I love the community of bracelets and face painting and
outfits and just pure fun and I think the power.
I'm looking forward to see what happens.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Next with her.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I know she just wrapped up their tour in Toronto.
Just how she uses it for good going forward. I'm
really I'm excited to see what happens next. And I
wouldn't even know if I have a favorite. I have
so many favorites.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
I have chills just thinking about it. That's a fair point.
There's a lot. We could probably sit on this call
and talk for I don't know, forty five more minutes
about how much we love Taylor Swift and break down
every single song really just she's just a powerful, powerful
person who uses.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
A multi generations exactly. There's six year.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Old girls and sixty year old women like there isn't
a it's not just one, which is the other thing
when you go to a lot of shows, it's it
might not be one generation, but it's heavy to one generation.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Exactly, and male female like it is literally everyone. Yeah,
I love it all right. So I mean, now this
may seem like a dot of a question based on
that one, but uh no, I'm just kidding. So I
liked in my podcast with one final question, if you
were to provide one word that describes the culmination of
your career up until now, what would that word be
(20:58):
and why?
Speaker 3 (21:01):
I would say that it was energetic? Love it?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Do you want to expand on that?
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And I think because I I think you in this
space in sports and entertainment, you have to love it
and you have to bring an energy every day because
you can you know, you might have you know, a
concert one night and a different show the next night
(21:29):
and you and you really, this isn't like you take
a day off. You just can't take a day off
on your approach with the with the staff.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
I walk around the garden, I can't.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Be doom and gloom and glum and sad or whatever
like kid, you got to bring energy, You got to
bring a positive because you need them to bring that
to the fans that are coming in. Right. We talk
about street deceit, those touch points along the way. So
I think energy has probably propelled me and raising my hand,
having the energy to raise my hand for a million
(22:00):
different things. I think that's a I think that's it.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
It's such a good way to wrap it up. It
was such a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Amy.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Thank you so much for joining me today on the
Hell to Sport podcast.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Thank you very much for having me and I'll see
you at the next show. Love it.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Thank thank you, thank you,
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