Margins of Victory

Auburn’s Blueprint for In-Venue Revenue Growth | Margins of Victory: Paris Buchanan

Paris Buchanan, Senior Associate Athletics Director at Auburn, joins Loyola Marymount Director of Athletics Craig Pintens to discuss how the department has transformed the fan experience by making strategic investments in concessions, premium experiences, and data-driven decision-making. Buchanan explained that Auburn's efforts to modernize its aging stadium have led to dramatic results, including expanding self-checkout concession units and introducing VIP experiences.00:00 - Introduction00:41 - What are some of the things you’re doing at Auburn to increase fan engagement through concessions? 01:43 - Are you just sure Rhett Hobart didn’t want to just drive a forklift? 02:22 - You implemented Grab and Go. How do you retrofit that to an older stadium and what all does that entail to implement technology-wise?03:53 - You have a WarEaglePlus Subscription model. They get a discounted rate at concessions. How did that work and was that successful in raising numbers? 04:48 - What are some other revenue streams for outside events that you have seen?06:29 - How do you view the non-measurable interactions for fan engagement? 08:01- What is something that you learned from the survey data that your fans didn’t want you to do anymore?09:11 - How often in the comments do people talk about the team?

Inside Northwestern's New Ryan Field | Margins of Victory: Chris Schoen

Northwestern's Associate A.D. of Revenue Generation & Marketing Strategy Chris Schoen joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens on the new Ryan Field, premium experience sales and positioning and the future of outside events. 00:00 - Introduction00:33 - What will Ryan Field look like when it opens up this fall? 01:27 - What segment of your fanbase do you approach with the premium opportunities?03:23 - Talk about your lakefront stadium. It actually drove revenue. What did that look like?05:23 - How are you seating the new Ryan Field? What is the priority order that you’re going in? 06:16 - Are there people that bought a premium experience at the Lakefront temporary stadium that are interested in purchasing something at Ryan Field? 06:49 - What type of outside events do you think you can attract?

Inside Clemson Ventures | Margins of Victory: Don Scott

Clemson Athletic Ventures Vice President of Entertainment and Marketing Don Scott joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens on the structure and focus of Clemson Ventures. They break down all of the details of hosting major concerts and the data flow post-event. 00:00 - Introduction00:25 - What exactly is Clemson Ventures?01:25 - How is this structured?02:32 - Where do you go shopping for that dog food?04:14 - Has hosting concerts and events brought value to Clemson?06:30 - How does the data flow work after a big event like that?07:48 - What have you learned the most in this role over the last couple of years?08:47 - What is the process like to attract different opportunities into the stadium? 10:13 - Have other opportunities approached your group? 11:08 - It’s a great look on how you can do incremental revenue.

Maximizing Revenue Around Outdoor Hockey | Margins of Victory: Elaine Russell

Western Michigan Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens from the 2026 NACMA Revenue Generation Summit on this Margins of Victory minipod. They discuss all of the details from transforming the field, ticketing and more as Western Michigan will play an outdoor hockey game in Waldo Stadium next season. 00:00 - Introduction 00:33 - You will be playing a hockey game outside in a football stadium. Walk me through the idea to where we are today. 06:25 - Where did you decide to put the sheet of ice?08:12 - How are you handling season ticket holders and seat assignments? 09:11 - How does ticket priority work? Who gets access to tickets first? 10:25 - Are you moving to a new facility? 11:25 - What is your process of doing seat re-assignment for the new facility?

Margins of Victory: Engineering Strawberry Creek Studios with Beth Tafolla-Voetsch

Beth Tafolla-Voetsch, Cal Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director, External Relations joins Loyola Marymount AD Craig Pintens. On this episode they discuss the launch of the Strawberry Creek Studios, its formation, vision, and how it will integrate into Cal Athletics. 00:00 - Introduction01:26 - You were a student-athlete at Wingate, worked in ticket operations to now overseeing everything external at CAL. How much of that path was that path intentional vs. what was happening in front of you?03:29 - Do you still get in the pool?04:52 - In terms of development, what happens before that ask or that check is written?09:26 - How do you project that vision to donors in this era right now to prevent donor fatigue?12:54 - Let’s talk about Strawberry Creek Studios. How did you get to that point? 19:40 - Where did you get the inspiration for the model?22:49 - How do you anticipate what Learfield does and working into this or perhaps changing?25:42 - You touched on two of the pillars being revenue generation and authentic storytelling, how do you blend those two together and is there one that leads more than the other?30:45 - How are you going to keep track of all of this?31:51 - How you figured out how to incorporate Oski?35:19 - Who is your all-time favorite athlete?