By Steve Vivona
Aside from being a top athlete a career in sports is not about
glamour but hard work, long hours and salaries that don’t even come
close to the big stars. However, if you love what you do it’s the
best job in the world. That was the message delivered by two
employees of the New York Knicks at a recent University forum for
Sports Management students hosted by Dr. Dick Barnett.
Karin Buchholz, Vice President for Community Relations and Fan
Development for The Knicks, and Jordan Schlachter, Vice President
of Marketing, discussed their personal stories with students and
explained the rigors and joys of their jobs.
“We’re the face of the Knicks to the community,” Ms. Buchholz
observed. “We try to figure out what the needs of the community are
and address those needs with programs.” It’s up to Ms. Buchholz to
decide how best to use the players to inspire and motivate young
people and her main platform is literacy. “We partner with
organizations like the Department of Education to figure out the
needs. We use the power of our celebrity in the Knicks brand and
the Knicks players to go into schools to help students read and
write more.”
Ms. Buchholz stressed, “We’re not experts in education,” but “we
hope that if Stefon Marbury is telling (students) to read and write
more maybe they’ll be motivated to it.” She added that if the
program is fun hopefully the student will associate reading with
fun. She also established a program known as The Knicks Reading
Challenge which offers rewards to students when they reach reading
milestones.
On the fan development side Ms. Buchholz noted she is trying to
create brand awareness and brand loyalty at young ages. “Hopefully
they’ll become Knicks fans,” she stressed. “The goal of these two
areas is to have people feel good about us.”
A former professional tennis player, Ms. Buchholz got her start
in the sports marketing arena working with a small, non-profit
organization called The Harlem Junior Tennis Program. Because there
were so few employees she wore many hats and learned on the job all
the facets of the industry. “That was probably the best foundation
for my future career. I learned even more than I could’ve possibly
learned in school.”
She added that for all the jobs she had leading up to the Knicks
she was recruited. “The sports industry is very small and your
reputation will follow you your entire career.” Mr. Schlachter
echoed her sentiments and noted that he got his job with the Knicks
based in part by a recommendation from a former employer.
He added, “If you want to be in sports because you want to be
rich and you’re not a professional athlete don’t do it. If you’re
getting into because you’re a huge fan, do something else and buy
great season tickets. We have our jobs because we’re fascinated by
the business not because we love watching the Knicks on TV.”
Mr. Schlachter stressed that a good attitude is paramount when
working for a sports organization. “During the season we spend so
much time together and so many late hours that if you come in with
a prima donna attitude…it’s going to make for a real uncomfortable
working situation.”
A Harvard graduate, Mr. Sclachter played enough sports to
realize he couldn’t compete with the pros. However he was
fascinated with the business and got an entry-level job with the
NBA’s broadcasting department copying tapes and happy to start from
the ground up. From there he moved to the marketing department,
eventually becoming the assistant to the President of NBA
Properties.
There Mr. Schlachter said he was “a sponge.” He sat it on
important meetings, learning as much as he could. “He was my mentor
and he took pride in teaching me how to make decisions and how to
evaluate projects.”
With the Knicks Mr. Schlachter said his primary goal is to sell
tickets, a job that is difficult when a team is not successful. He
oversees print and television advertising campaigns. “We have to
try and develop campaigns that tie into who we are as a team and
make them as exciting as possible.”