Commish Talks

Hello and Welcome back to Commish Talks!!

In today’s episode of Commish Talks Josh and I sit down to discuss the logistics of the American Association’s partnership with the MLB.

While there are still several things up in the air surrounding the partnership the most important thing to know is that the American Association will maintain its governance structure separate from the MLB and the quality of the fan experience will be the same if not better than it’s been in the past.

We hope you enjoy :)

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Hello and Welcome back to Commish Talks!!

In today’s episode of Commish Talks Josh sat down with Lloyd Danzig, the Founder and CEO of Sharp Alpha Advisors, a premier consultancy and advisory firm specializing in sports betting startups, investments, M&A, and technology.

Lloyd is widely regarded as the world’s foremost expert on the evolving role of Machine Learning in the sports gaming and tech space. He has been privileged to be featured as a speaker on this topic at numerous prestigious universities including Stanford University, Columbia University, and The Wharton School of Business, in addition to private sector conferences such as QConAI, BOSCON, The AI Summit, MathSport International, Data Council NY, Sport & Society, and IAGR 2019.

In today’s conversation, Josh and Lloyd explored the role of AI and Sports Betting in the Sports Industry.

We hope you enjoy :)

Lloyd’s Info:

In today’s episode of Commish Talks Josh sat down with Rachel Jacobson, The President of The Drone Racing League (DRL). The DRL is, well,  a professional drone racing league that operates internationally and was founded in 2015.

In today’s episode, Josh and Rachel sat down to chat about the launch of the DRL season, their new game on Xbox, and the ins and outs of the Drone Racing League.

We hope you enjoy :)

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Rachel’s Info:

In today’s episode of Commish Talks, Josh sat down with Sandy Brown, the Commissioner of Major League Lacrosse.

Commissioner Brown spent most of his career working as a broadcasting executive and has been with the MLL as their commissioner for the last 2 years.

With the launch of the MLL and American Association, much of today’s conversation was centered around what league front offices are thinking through as they try to start sports back up amidst COVID-19.

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Sandy’s Contact Info:

In today’s episode of Commish Talks Josh sat down with Corey Leff, the Founder and Editor of JohnWallStreet which is now a part of Sportico.

In today’s show the two of them talk through the importance of seeing beyond the numbers and what it takes to truly identify trends and the reasoning and strategy behind them.

Before we get started, if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, be sure to leave us a review.

In today’s episode of Commish Talks Josh sat down with Judge Lou Schiff.

Schiff has served as a Broward County Court judge in Florida since he was elected in 1996, and was been reelected in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018. He also serves on the faculty of the National Judicial College, Florida College of Advanced Judicial Study, the Florida Judicial College, and is an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline Law School where he teaches a class based on his book Baseball and the Law.

Lou Schiff’s Info:

In today’s episode of Commish Talks, Josh sat down with Wes Zirkle a sports lawyer at Gutwein Law.

In the show, they shared a conversation about league governance in Nascar and e-sports as well as the uncertainty involved with the future of the e-sports community.

Wes’s Info:

In today’s episode of Commish Talks, Josh sits down with another Josh: Josh Fenton. Josh Fenton is currently the Commissioner of the NCHC - National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

In the show, they chat about running collegiate leagues vs. professional leagues and the impact that COVID has had on both collegiate and professional athletics.

We hope you enjoy :)

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Josh Fenton’s info:

In today’s episode of Commish Talks,  Josh sat down with Russ Wilde the COO over at Front Office Sports, an online news company at the intersection of sports and business.

In the show, they discuss the story behind the launch of Front Office Sports, the impact of COVID-19 on the sports media industry, and what young professionals should be doing to launch their careers in sports right now.

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In today’s episode of Commish Talks Josh sat down with Kristin Geer the CEO of Bleachr LLC, a sports technology company on the cutting edge of digital fan engagement.

In the show, they dig into the details of the Bleachr app as well as their team’s new Tennis One app which enables tennis fans across the globe to digitally connect at tournaments.

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In this episode of Commish Talks, we had the pleasure of hosting Bob Malandro a Managing Partner at Whitecap Sports, a sports investment banking and advisory firm.

In today’s show, Josh and Bob dig deep into the logistics behind buying or selling sports teams, which leagues have teams that are interesting buy opportunities, and exactly how teams are valued.

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Tom Garrity was appointed as the ninth President & Commissioner in USHL history in May of 2018.

He has served as the CEO and President of the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede and Sioux Falls Sports, which also encompasses the Sioux Falls Canaries baseball club.

In addition to his work in Sioux Falls, Tom is the founder of Quan Sports Marketing and was formerly the Senior Vice President of Sales for the Houston Astros.

In addition to this, he worked for the Minnesota Wild from 2003-2008 while holding dual duties as the President of the Houston Aeros hockey club, the AHL affiliate of the Wild, and the Minnesota Swarm, a member of the NLL(National Lacrosse League).

Tom’s long and successful career in sports administration has also included occupation with the Minnesota North Stars, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Jose Clash and the University of Minnesota.

In Short, Tom is a great guy with a storied background in sports and he was an absolute treat to have on the show.

Tommy George is the President of The Sports Advisory Group, representing clients in the sale, purchase and investment in minor, major and independent professional sports teams. 

In addition to this, he is a Full-time ice hockey official with 15 years of experience across the American Hockey League, Hockey East (NCAA), ECHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). In fact, he officiated the men’s hockey tournament at the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

In today’s episode, Josh and Tommy go into great detail about what happens in the process of buying and selling a team and the current climate for team sales in light of COVID-19.

We hope you enjoy :)

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This week we had the honor of having on Keith Tozer, the Commissioner of the PFL - Professional Futsal League - and, in our opinion, The Godfather of Futsal.

Keith was the first player ever drafted into the MISL and has spent his career heavily involved in futsal and indoor soccer as a player, coach, executive and now commissioner. 

He is the host of the world renowned World of Futsal podcast which has over 200,000 listeners in over 100 countries and was formerly the head coach of the US Men's National Futsal Team for 20 years up until 2017.

Keith is supporting a charity event to help support those in need right now and will be going live on Cinco de Mayo - you can find the information below.

Steve DeLay is the owner of the the Macon Bacon of the Coastal Plain League and Co-Creator of the Ultimate Toolkit a sales + marketing system for front office sports staff. 

Steve has had a prolific career in sports - spending time working in sales and marketing for several different teams at many different levels including the New Jersey Nets, LA Kings and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In addition to this, Steve played a pivotal role in the success of Mandalay Baseball Properties - helping launch ticket sales and operations for several teams including the Dayton Dragons who have sold out every game for the last 20 seasons.

In today's episode, we had the honor of hosting Darren Heitner, the Founder of Heitner legal.

Darren is the definition of hustle and a great role model for what it takes to carve out a career in sports.

He started his career back in 2005 when he founded the Sports Agent Blog and later launched a sports agency in 2007 when he was in law school at the University of Florida’s Fredrick G. Levin School of Law.

Since then, his writings have been featured in several publications including ESPN, Inc. Magazine, Forbes, and most recently - Above the Law.

He is often featured on major sports radio and television shows and in 2014 published his book titled “How to Play the Game” - What every sports attorney needs to know -

In addition to this, Darren has served as legal counsel to some of the most well-known individuals and corporate entities in the world including Antonio Brown, Draymond Green, and Rosenhaus Sports Representation.

He currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he operates Heitner Legal - a full-service law firm focused on legal counsel for all sports related matters.

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This week, Josh sits down with Ryan Crelin, the Commissioner of the ECHL to discuss the current state of sports amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

Ryan Crelin is the Commissioner of the East Coast Hockey League and has been for the past two seasons. Prior to this he was the Chief Operating Officer of the ECHL and has been involved with several league-wide changes in his tenure with the league. Ryan has been responsible for league-wide partnerships and contracts, ticket and corporate sponsorship sales, and arena lease agreements. He is heavily invested in the ECHL and in the greater hockey community.