By Aaron Cohen & Faith Porter

On our last full day in the city of angels, we started our day with a 6:50 am departure from the Garland Hotel in North Hollywood. Our day began with sitting in Los Angeles traffic on the 101 before entering the Sepulveda pass. We headed over to Westwood one radio in Culver City, California, to meet with Howard Deneroff.

Westwood One

To start our final day on the trip, we went to the famous Westwood one sports studio. We met with executive producer Howard (Howie) Deneroff and Art, who ran the soundboard. Right when we entered the building, Howie rushed us into his studio to witness his production of the NCAA pregame show. Immediately you can sense the chemistry between Art and Howie as they communicate quickly. The second Howie says an audio cue Art had it ready to play. If there were any confusion between them, they would clean it up with a simple clarifying question.

Howie as a producer, was working on a 32 Key Intercom Panel which allowed him to communicate with multiple TV studios radio hosts all at once in an organized way. He would direct all the information traffic in and outside of the studio, even coordinating with a radio host working from home due to COVID 19 protocols. One of the most exciting things to witness was them in crisis management as Doug Gottlieb, one of the primary radio show co-hosts, was stuck in LA traffic and late to arrive at the station. Howie would use filler audio and have the other co-host, Jason Horowitz, take callers to fill the time till Doug arrived at the station.

When the day’s first game started, Howie directed Art to play the game audio, and this was how we began to watch what Howie called the “NFL Redzone of March Madness Radio.” When that first game went to commercial, he would either overlay the main broadcasts commercials with their own or switch to a new game broadcast. Howie and Art would need to execute these maneuvers with expert precision down to the second. Otherwise, the broadcast would sound sloppy and unprofessional.

At the end of our visit at Westwood, one Doug Gottlieb came out of the studio to greet us and ask us questions about our career. He gave us great advice about the industry and how to further progress in our areas of interest. Overall, our trip to Westwood one was very eye-opening to the world of sports broadcasting and how the business operates inside and out.

Legends

Our time at legends was insightful into the world of providing premium experiences and holistic solutions to sports and entertainment venues and organizations. We met with a panel of four employees, Andy Szabo Director of Global Partnerships, Corey Breton CRO of Global Attractions, Leshonda Mchale, Natasha Russ Regional Director of Human Resources.

Hearing from the legends employees was incredibly informational regarding how they are involved in many different industry segments, allowing their company to stand out. Through their 360-degree service solution plan, they can find potential partners and partner needs to ensure they can provide that specific need for them, providing the best fan experience possible.

The atmosphere at legends was laidback and lowkey while keeping a professional work environment at the same time. Watching the interaction between the panelists was insightful to the culture of legends. We witnessed their genuine relationships with one another through how they spoke to each other.

Regrouping at the bus after enjoying the starting point of the Los Angeles Marathon, we were on our way to enjoy a California staple, in-n-out. For most of us, it was our first time eating in-n-out, which brought upon the great debate of which popular burger joint on the east coast or west coast was better: Shake-shack or In-n-out. Once everyone had their food, we got back onto the bus and drove the short distance back to the Garland, where we had around two hours of free time to do as we pleased before meeting up for dinner later.

LA Marathon

The final organization we met with on the trip was the LA marathon run by the McCourt Foundation. We went to witness the new non-profit organization’s “footprint,” which included an ASICS store,  The Partnership Expo, and the marathon bib pickup booth. Murphy Reinschreiber, The Chief Operating Officer at The McCourt Foundation, greeted us at the front gate and gave us a tour of the”footprint.” He then took us to the hospitality tent, where he discussed the excellent foundations the LA Marathon has partnered with.

The first foundation was Students Run LA, a charity that gets local high school dropouts back on track in school by having them pursue a passion for running after their studies. This foundation has been wildly successful in the time since its founding, affecting 3200 students each year. Another amazing thing we learned that the LA marathon does is the “26th-mile run” for children K-5. The “26th-mile run”  is an event where kids run the last mile of the marathon together to support the program “beyond the bell,” which helps children learn about nutrition, physical health, and well-being. Murphy called the event “one of the coolest things to watch at the entire marathon.”

After meeting with Murphy and learning so much about the LA marathon, we were given time to explore the “footprint” and interact with the brands sponsoring their products at the event. Everything from energy drinks to vegan replacement meat offered free samples of their products to people who came to pick up their marathon bib. There was a clear demographic of people who attended this event, and so the products on display reflected that. Most things at the Partnership Expo were about nutrition and physical activity.

Overall, the LA Marathon was a great place to finish up this fantastic trip. It displayed unique things the other 23 organizations we visited have not shown us, such as the challenges of being a new non-profit organization during the pandemic. This is definitely an event I want to attend in my future trips to Los Angeles.

Miceli’s 

We went to Miceli’s, a local Italian restaurant right down the road from the Garland Hotel, for our final dinner of the trip. Micelli’s provided a fun, family-friendly experience for all of us through its delicious food and live music. We enjoyed our last meal together with each other’s wonderful company entertaining each other with laughs and wonderful company. While enjoying our meal, we participated in the live signing by joining in and adding our beautiful voices into the mix. At the end of our meal, we took a group photo with Professor Veley, Lisa, and Raul to document our final moments together.

On our way back from Miceli’s, we took part in an SPM LA Immersion trip tradition, a group sing-along to Don’t Stop Believing by Journey on our short journey back to the Garland Hotel. Jamming out to the song, we positively enjoyed some of our final moments as a group through our laughter, dancing, and slightly tone-deaf singing. We ended the ride back on a bang listening to Allie Rosen rap Miami by Will Smith.

As we wrap up our time in Los Angeles, we reflect as a group on the amazing, unique, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences we took part in these last seven days. Despite the hectic and quick-moving schedule, we took something unique from each organization, person, and/or venue we visited or met with. We greatly appreciate Professor Veley and Lisa dedicating their time to us this past week to ensure this experience went off without a hitch. Without them, this trip would not have been possible, so from each one of us; we extend our gratitude and thanks.

Auto Club Racetrack:

We left for Auto Club Speedway at 6:15 in the morning before the sun had a chance to rise. On our way, we stopped by Express Donuts to fuel up for the rest of our morning. Once we arrived at ACS, we took a group photo next to the Toyota Pace Car of Auto Club Speedway. Afterward, we met with SU alumni Phil Metz, the Managing Director in Entertainment Marketing and Music of Nascar, and Dave Allen, the President of Auto Club Speedway. Phil gave us a presentation and spoke to us about his role at Auto Club. 

His goal is to entertain, unite, and excite fans and potential fans through Nascar Racing. It was fascinating to hear about his efforts to increase and diversify the audience of Nascar by bringing in top pop-culture names such as Post Malone, 50 Cent, Ice Cube, Saweetie, Tyler Yahweh, and Luke Combs to appear for Nascar Events. After, Dave Allen treated each of us to a fast- c ride on the ACS racetrack. While he drove the Toyota Pace Car, we experienced going nearly 115 MPH for several laps around the track! 

Our entire group and Phil Metz on the Auto Club Speedway racetrack next to the Toyota Camry Pace Car.

Rosebowl:

After our time at Auto Club Speedway, we were joined by COO of the Rose Bowl facility, George Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham comes from a similar background to many of us on the immersion trip, being an Iowa University graduate that majored in sport management. Mr. Cunningham and his colleague, Janessa, greeted us at the entrance of the iconic stadium, opening the floor up to questions before we were given a tour of the stadium grounds.

Nyah Jones ‘23 and Liana Wong-Wright ‘23 pictured outside of the Rose Bowl

Mr. Cunningham kicked the tour off by giving us a few facts about the Rose Bowl, as he has been with the stadium for 10 years. The Rose Bowl is owned by the city of Pasadena, a heavily residential area with many homes embedded into the hills of California. We learned some of the benefits and challenges of the stadium being a municipality, which is somewhat of a “dying breed” when it comes to stadium ownership. Some benefits include the opportunity to bring many more community events to the area, and shared ownership, with taxpayers basically having ownership of the stadium. A big area of challenge for the stadium being owned by the city is that the Rose Bowl must fight for public funding. The Rose Bowl has a cap of 15 major events per year, with almost half of those major events being taken up by UCLA home football games. Major events are categorized by crowds of 20,000 people or more in attendance. The RBOC, (Rose Bowl Operating Company), must approve any additional events that the Rose Bowl wishes to host. Mr. Cunningham explained that during the pandemic, there was a $180 million budget approved by the Rose Bowl board to renovate the pavilion area of the stadium that was cut almost in half from the original pitch of over $400 million. This was just one example of the struggles of being owned by the city. 

An additional component of the Rose Bowl stadium is the nearby golf course that also hosts many events such as different music festivals and wine&beer festivals. 

The Rose Bowl has a capacity of 80,000 people it can fit in its stadium. Operational differences between UCLA football games and larger outside events were also highlighted. For a UCLA football game, it takes anywhere from 1,800-2,200 hired staff to pull off the event. For other events with a higher attendance rate, anywhere from 6,300-7,000 hired staff is needed to make the event run smoothly. 

Mr. Cunningham took us up to the Acura Loge Lounge, which is the stadium’s most high end experience. There are other levels of the Rose Bowl that house suites and clubs, as well as a level that houses exclusively suites. 

Learfield, a sports marketing company, handles all the partnership deals that the Rose Bowl acquires with outside brands. Legends is responsible for all aspects of the Rose Bowl that has to do with hospitality execution.  

After touring the broadcasting rooms and Acura loge area of the Rose Bowl, Mr. Cunningham departed from our group and left us in the hands of Brian Brantley. Mr. Brantley is in charge of the Legacy foundation, a department of the Rose Bowl that is devoted to protecting, preserving and enhancing the stadium. Mr. Brantley is a Philadelphia native who attended Towson University before earning his masters at Ohio State. Mr. Brantley brought us into the official museum of the Rose Bowl, which happened to be conveniently located in the stadium. The museum used to be the original locker room used in the 20’s by football teams. 

Wall of all teams that have played at the Rose Bowl represented by respective helmets and signed by respective players in the Rose Bowl Museum.

The museum encompassed a stunning timeline of events that wrapped around the entirety of the room, as well as a large tv display in the middle that played a 5-minute-long video on the history of the Rose Bowl. *Fun fact, the University of Alabama won its first 3 national championships at the Rose Bowl! The Rose Bowl is one of the most cherished venues across the globe, having the privilege of being recognized as a historical landmark. 5 Super Bowls, 2 World Cups, and 2 Olympic Games were all held at the beloved Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl happens to be one of the 4 stadiums in the U.S. that have historical landmark designation. Mr. Brantley did a terrific job on explaining some of this history to us along with his passion for sports and his career. 

Our last stop on the Rose Bowl tour was exploring the actual field of the stadium as well as the current locker room for the home teams. We were led by event managers Monique Rodriguez and Julia Goldstein, who both came bearing Rose Bowl memorabilia and gifts for our group. They both explained the importance of creating Rose Bowl owned events to bring to the stadium, in order to drive revenue and to not rely solely on outsider organizations for revenue generation. One event they created in the past was the Annual Beer Festival, and a new proposal they were working on was a wine festival cleverly named Rosé Bowl. They also explained some of the detailed planning that goes into hosting large events at the Rose Bowl, such as traffic plans. We closed out our conversation with Ms. Rodriguez and Ms. Goldstein by asking questions about the pandemic and how they were able to stay busy as an organization. Both women explained how the different Rose Bowl departments were able to come together and create “culture committees”, where they developed networking teams, incorporated wellness days into each month and brought back staff events. 

The Rose Bowl added on to the extensive list of sport venues we have toured and learned about during the trip. The history of the Rose Bowl and the uniqueness of its ownership dynamic made this tour stand out from the other facilities and gave our group a new perspective on how different stadiums operate. 

Dignity Health Park

After feeling the weight and history of the Rose Bowl Stadium the group headed back on the bus over to Dignity Health Park. No amount of Google searches could prepare us for the beauty that the park bestowed upon us. Before meeting our panelists and tour guide, General Manager Katie Pandolfo, we had the opportunity to explore the outside of the park with its scenic view and statues of iconic soccer players at its entrance. 

Upon being led to the suite level we were met by Karen Goodheart, Doug Vosik, and Ashley Hall who were later joined by Tom Braun. After absorbing the breathtaking views of the LA Galaxy suite our panelists did not waste any time getting into their roles and opening themselves up to our many questions. Karen Goodheart serves the galaxy as the Vice President of Partnership Activation and Marketing. With her ten-year history with the Galaxy Karen has been able to with her way up from being an account executive to being able to manage marketing rights for the team overall as well as some of the players.

LA galaxy sign in the executive suite level

We were then introduced to Doug Vosik, the Chief Marketing Officer for the LA Galaxy with a self-proclaimed love of tattoos, fast cars, and fast music. Ashley Hall the Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service brought her perspective of being able to find her entryway to sports through sales and how she is able to manage the sale of tickets and provide the experience that makes ticket buyers want to come back. Finally joined by Thomas Braun the Vice President of Business Operations our panel was complete.

Seeing the LAFC team and hearing from Larry Friedman truly put this experience into perspective. All four panelists were dynamic and provided honest and in-depth responses to our many questions. It was very interesting to hear from Galaxy executives how the rivalry between La Galaxy and LAFC plays into marketing, sales strategies, and how fans engage and behave at games. 

One intriguing difference between LAFC and LA Galaxy is the Galaxy Academy, a high school level training and education experience for chosen Los Angeles high school students. “ Our job isn’t to make them good soccer players, but better men, better people”. Tom said when describing what the academy does for the students and the added benefits that the Galaxy brings their community.

When the panel wrapped up we were led on a tour of the park seeing the soccer stadium, tennis courts, and Verbo dome all led by Katie Pandolfo. Pandolfo, the General Manager at AEG for Dignity Health Sports Park led us through the park while providing us with background on her career and how work life balance improves her work environment. It is Katie’s mindset that in order to be productive at work one must first take care of their own health and wellness. Under Katie’s leadership players and employees have access to a plot for gardening, exercise space, and the opportunity to care for their mental and physical health.

Pictured above group walking into the galaxy garden for players and all employees.

Santa Monica Pier

After exploring Dignity Park we piled back onto the bus for our next adventure. For a few hours, we were able to explore Ocean Ave and the Santa Monica Pier.  With plenty of food trucks, restaurants, stores, and street vendors there was plenty to see and even more to taste. The Pier had delicious ice cream and a great view of the sunset on the ocean. As our night concluded we saw street performers entertaining passers-by with live music and dancing, custom painting sand even soccer skills shows.

A trio of students at the Santa Monica Pier.   (from left to right) Mitch Bereznay ‘23, Max Schofield ‘23, Zack Palfey ‘23