Director, Sales & Fan Relations; University of Illinois

THE RUNDOWN

Playfly Sports is looking for a Director, Sales & Fan Relations to join our team with the University of Illinois. This position requires someone who is highly motivated to contribute to the overall ticket sales and annual fund growth, passionate about leadership and development, and committed to preserving a culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees.

This position will be responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors involved in annual membership activities for university athletics. These responsibilities will be carried out in accordance with NCAA, Big Ten Conference and University rules and regulations.

Champaign, IL

In-Person

Playfly Sports is looking for a Director, Sales & Fan Relations to join our team with the University of Illinois. This position requires someone who is highly motivated to contribute to the overall ticket sales and annual fund growth, passionate about leadership and development, and committed to preserving a culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees.

This position will be responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors involved in annual membership activities for university athletics. These responsibilities will be carried out in accordance with NCAA, Big Ten Conference and University rules and regulations.

• Assist in managing the day-to-day operations of the Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC) profitably while exceeding client expectations in revenue generation and customer service.
• Ensure effective marketing and sales of new and renewal I FUND donations, season tickets, partial season ticket plans, group ticket plans and individual game tickets for the standard and premium areas at Athletic Department’s venues, as applicable, for the home and neutral site games of the University’s intercollegiate Teams – Football, Volleyball, Men’s Basketball, and Women’s Basketball.
• Oversee ticket sales through outbound, inbound and renewal sales, including tracking and monitoring calls for productivity and effectiveness.
• Be responsible for personal sales goals and contributing to annual revenue growth, including growth of new donors.
• Perform daily sales and relationship cultivation phone calls, messages and mailings with season ticket holders, sponsors, businesses, individuals, groups and prospective buyers.
• Manage a book of business of donors and season ticket holders.
• Grow business each year.
• Lead in the development of ticket marketing, promotions, ticket pricing, sales strategies and community ticket/sampling programs, etc.
• Assist with the creation, planning, communication, and implementation of special ticket plans, projects, promotions and programs.
• Ongoing development of New Ticket Sales and Ticket Service program in the following areas: new business generation, season tickets, sales leadership, development of sales and service strategies, sales and service training, development of best practices and results tracking and reporting.
• Identify, explore and research new sales opportunities to include season ticket and group sales target markets.
• Develop special ticket plans, projects, promotions, and programs.
• Oversee and develop season ticket retention program, with special attention to new season ticket and high-risk accounts.
• Other responsibilities as assigned by the Assistant Athletic Director, Sales & Development.

• 3-4 years of sports ticket sales experience with a minimum of 1-2 years in sales leadership.
• Computer proficient (Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook).
• Experience with Paciolan (or other ticketing software) and CRM programs preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree is preferred but not required.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, presentation, and listening skills.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational, administrative and time management skills.
• Self-motivated with the ability to set goals, monitor progress, and multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Belief that a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility, equity and…