GABE GOTAY
Hello everyone and welcome to Promo Perspectives, a live stream podcast presented by SAGE, dedicated to giving you, our audience of promotional products distributors, fresh takes, tips, tricks, and perspectives on ways to grow your business. My name is Gabe Gotay, I am the Senior Marketing Coordinator here at SAGE
MATT PARISI
And my name is Matt Parisi. I am a Distributor Sales Account Advisor here at SAGE.
GABE GOTAY
If this is your first time joining us for a live stream, welcome! Make sure to go ahead and participate in the Zoom chat. You know, share your questions, ideas, and your stories related to sports promo. We are going to post this for you to listen to it anywhere you stream your podcast next Wednesday. If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast yet, please go do so. You get more than we give here on the live stream. We post bonus episodes and all kinds of great content. Make sure to go check that out. If you’re listening to the podcast version now, go to SAGEworld.com to register for the next live stream.
So, if you listened to the very first episode of this show that we ever did, you know that I love to get passionate talking about topics that are really ingrained in humanity. And I talked about gaming in that episode, and today I’m talking about its cousin, Sports – something we’ve done for thousands of years as humans. And there is a huge market associated with it. But before we dive into all of that, I’m going to have my guest here, Matt Parisi – Matt, why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself to the audience? I think a lot of them already know you, but tell them who you are, what you do at SAGE, and a bit about your history with sports.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. Um, so again, my name is Matt Parisi, I’m a Distributor Account Advisor here at SAGE. Been working for SAGE and in the promo industry for right at about 3 years now. I’m originally raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for my entire childhood, and then went to Texas A&M University, Gig ’em. Um, and then stayed in Texas after that. Um, as far as sports go, been involved in sports pretty much my entire life, um, all the way from first touch, um, at the age of three years old playing soccer through to now as an adult playing rec softball down in the city of Houston. So can’t say enough about sports, absolutely love them.
GABE GOTAY
Well, and on top of all of that, as many of you know, Matt’s also a great Distributor Account Advisor, so he’s got lots of great insights on how to actually take your business into that sports market. And it’s a huge market. It’s projected to sports promo alone hit $50 billion in the next two years, which is absolutely wild. And you know, these things they tie into, like I said, something core of humanity. Sports teach you about teamwork, how to win and lose with grace, and the apparel that goes along with that and all the other merch helps build team loyalty, fan engagement, awards, all kinds of things. So, audience today, what we’re going to do, we’re going to start all the way down at little league and we’re going to kind of go through all of the tiers of sports all the way up to Major League. So to kick us off, Matt, why don’t you just kind of tell us your personal experience with little league sports?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, so as a as a kid, like I said, um, I was involved in a lot of sports. I pretty much played every single sport you can imagine. My parents wanted to get me involved in everything so that I could decide what I liked and and continue down that route. Um, I really got things started with first touch, which is a soccer program, and then, of course, tee-ball. Um, also summer league swimming with my mom was a really really big part of my life. Um, but can’t say enough about it, absolutely loved it. Um, taught me a lot as a kid. Um, really good things such as teamwork, I think is super important to learn. Um, and then even, you know, personal sports where you’re by yourself, um, learning how to overcome different obstacles and um, just work really hard and see the benefits of that hard work payoff. I think it’s super beneficial.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, and it’s also for a lot of kids, it’s kind of our first introduction to promo products, right? Because you think about all the things that we had from the jerseys and the equipment to the little trophies we got afterwards, right? Huge part of it.
MATT PARISI
Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, there’s a ton of different things, and like you said, I think the awards at the end of the season is a is a big thing that everyone gets. So yeah, definitely a lot of promo that you see in that market.
GABE GOTAY
So, at that level, these organizations, you’re going to need to… So, for promotional products distributors, how do you actually break into this market? And that’s going to be finding the key decision-makers along with these leagues. So, you know, you talked about first touch, there’s also Little League. These are actual organizations like Little League in particular. You can go to their website, and you can register to become a licensed merchandise distributor through them, and that’s a great way to start getting tied in. But at this Little League level, you’re really going to want to connect with coaches, league organizers, and parents. And obviously, that’s really easy if you already have kids and you’re in this community. You’re going to practices, you’re volunteering as an assistant coach, you’re bringing the juice boxes. It’s a great way to start those conversations and kind of organically work your way into figuring out how you can help solve all of the promo needs that these teams have. But not everybody is going to have kids or they might have kids that are grown and they’re not quite as deeply tied into that. Do you think that’s going to be a bigger challenge? Can they still break into the market at that level?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, I think it it really just comes down to that community engagement aspect. Even if you don’t have kids that are currently participating in those sports, that definitely does not mean there’s not opportunity out there for you. Um, I know for me, one of the kind of the weirder organizations, I guess I would say, outside of, you know, Little League or first touch, when I played football in elementary school, it was actually run through the Boys and Girls Club. Um, so finding, again, whoever that entity is that’s responsible for managing whatever that sports league is, is really going to be a a great in for the distributor. Um, and then beyond that, you know, just talking to other people within the community, like you said, parents, um, anyone you know, churchgoers, anyone that you have a relationship with already that you can talk to to to gain access, I think is a really good opportunity.
GABE GOTAY
And do you think that there’s any ways that they can, our distributors, can kind of stick out from any of the competition in that area? Things they can offer these communities that maybe others aren’t?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, um, definitely a few different things I’ve thought about for sure. Um, one of the things that I’ve helped work on recently, um, we did help with a a little league and and set them up with an online ordering portal to make life a lot easier for um the parents and and coaches within that league to be able to place their orders. Um, I’m I’m sure you had the same experience as I did as a kid, but they would send us home, you know, at the age of five, six, seven years old with a slip of paper that you then have to be responsible for to get your parents to sign and paperclip a check to it and then bring that back to the sports team. And nine times out of 10, we’re going to lose that piece of paper.
GABE GOTAY
It never even makes it home
MATT PARISI
Exactly. Exactly. Um, so trying to provide a level of service to them and and just make life easier for not only the end-user but then that one person that’s kind of responsible for consolidating all of that information and turning it into the distributor, I think is a a really, really good way to set yourself apart from the competition. Like I said.
GABE GOTAY
It offers all kinds of different flexibility for everybody involved, even just the parents’ end, because it can be a huge pain to keep your kids involved in these things when you got to keep up with sending in the forms and making sure the sizes are correct, but when it’s just a web portal, it’s so much more convenient, and all the payment options are there.
MATT PARISI
Absolutely, yeah. You know, 24/7 access, there’s tons of benefits to using an online order portal. Um, but to me, it really it is the the ease of use thing and kind of making the parents responsible instead of the kids at that age.
GABE GOTAY
Well, so let’s go ahead and move on up to the next level of sports. So, like you talked about at that little league level, it is really great for the kids kind of foundationally. It teaches you all kinds of lessons about how to work and coexist with other people. Um, but at that level, the only real fans are the parents who just want memorabilia and equipment for their kids. But once you get to high school, it’s similar in that it’s not professional, they’re not getting paid, but it means a lot more at that level. Can you kind of talk me about your high school sports experience?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. High school sports are are definitely a step up and an intensity um from when you’re playing, you know, rec sports at a young age. Um, so there’s a lot more time spent on them, I would say. Um, for me, it taught me time management a lot. Um, I was a dual sport athlete in high school, so I would swim in the mornings, go to school all day, and then go to soccer practice or run cross country in the afternoons. Um, so being able to manage that schedule um and then again, you know, you’re training over the summer as well, so it’s not just during the school year that you’re having to worry about that. Um, teaches you a lot of really really good values. Um, but you know, it, I guess, yeah, it it’s just super intense at that level. I’ll leave it at that.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, well, and there’s a lot more riding on it because, you know, and very few, it’s it’s a really small percentage of students that go to college on any kind of full ride athletic scholarship. But lots of students, particularly from smaller communities where sports are big, are depending on their sports for some kind of assistance with, you know, financial grants or even just admission. And so it means a lot to them. But it’s not just them, the community itself values high school sports at a really high level, like uh, Prosper ISD, which is a town not far from where we’re recording here in Plano, they just approved or they’re voting on on what will be the largest high school football stadium in American sports. It’s going to be like a $50 million stadium, which, you know, just goes to show the amount of money that communities and people are willing to put behind it. I assume that’s reflected in the merch side of things as well?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, um, that’s where fandom really becomes a thing is is that at the high school level with Friday Night Lights, especially here in the state of Texas, um, that is a huge thing. And you know, it goes away from just providing, you know, the jerseys or apparel for the kids there at the little league level or just the participation awards that that they get at the end of the season, but now you’ve got booster clubs that are getting involved, and you’re selling season tickets, and you’re getting the foam fingers, the parent shirts, um, other sorts of, you know, merchandise that would go along with that that sports program.
GABE GOTAY
Well, and I assume with that higher level of, you know, economic support, that means that there’s also maybe bigger barriers to entry and higher levels of competition. Um, can you kind of speak on what some of that might be and how distributors might tackle it and break into the high school sports market?
MATT PARISI
Sure, absolutely. So, um, I do think there’s more competition at that level because there’s more opportunity and more revenue involved. But I I don’t think the barrier to entry is is much higher. It kind of comes back to that whole community aspect, even at the the little league level. Um, if you have any sort of connection to people on the school boards or within booster club organizations, um, I think those are really really good ends to that that market in the high school level.
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely, because it’s not just because working with the school boards, there’s a little bit more red tape there, but some of these more parent and community-organized sides of things can really help you get in. And that’s not just for equipment for the people playing sports, but even at the high school level, there is a big local fandom. Like I remember the Brookshire’s in the Celina, Texas, where I went to high school, they had all kinds of Celina Bobcats merch for sale in the local grocery stores for fans.
MATT PARISI
Um, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I would totally 100% agree with that. Um, there’s just a lot more money involved at at that level. Um, and then yeah, you know, people want to go and support that team even if they don’t have kids that are currently playing high school. Um, if they’re an alumnus of that high school, you see them out supporting their football team or other sports teams that they have there. Um, so again, just a ton of opportunity at that level.
GABE GOTAY
Well, and so then let’s go ahead and move on to the next level. So now we start looking at college sports, and it’s it’s a huge step up because this is what a lot of these kids have been working towards, and frankly, a lot of them are not going to be doing any sports after college. Um, before we dive into that, can you kind of tell me your experience? I know that you went to a very heavily sports-influenced school.
MATT PARISI
Yes, absolutely. So I did go to Texas A&M University. Um, I myself did not play any college sports. I was not good enough of an athlete to play at the D1 level. Um, although I did play intramural sports in college. Um, but at A&M, you know, the the fandom there is absolutely unbelievable. I mean, Kyle Field holds north of 100,000 people, which is wild, and it’s full almost every single home football game. And then every person you see walking around, you know, during a football game or even just around campus during a general weekday, is always wearing something related to A&M. Um, so there’s even more money at at that level for sure.
GABE GOTAY
What do you think some of the bigger challenges are going to be at that level, because now we are moving into things that involve licensing and paychecks, so it’s going to be a lot more difficult, I would assume.
MATT PARISI
Yes, yeah, absolutely. So, um, officially licensed is is a word you hear a lot, um, once you get to college and you know, professional sports levels. So figuring out a way to either get officially licensed yourself as a distributor or make sure you have a great relationship with a supplier who is officially licensed to work with the logos of the schools that you’re trying to provide promo for, I think is a definitely a huge stepping stone, um, to get into that market. Um, but then beyond that, oh, there’s one other thing I was going to say, but come back to me on that.
GABE GOTAY
Okay. Um, well, and I know that there’s a lot of other ways that you can tie in, kind of like we talked about at the high school level. You don’t necessarily have to go straight to the school or the school board. There’s all these other associations and committees. Once you get to the college level, you start to see not only is there a lot of that same thing exists, like there’s lots of fundraising opportunities run through these organizations, right? There’s also a huge local network of businesses that do branded partnerships with the local schools, everything from, you know, car dealerships and restaurants to bars that host like official watch parties for every game that that school plays.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. Um, and I think even some of that the local business stuff really plays into a lot of the levels that we’ve even talked about today, all the way down to back to the Little League level. Something that I I forgot to touch on there, um, when I was a kid playing t-ball, we were sponsored by a local construction company of one of the kids who is also on the team. Um, so like you said, being able to tie in with some of those local businesses that already have a relationship with that university is a really really good opportunity. And I remember what I was going to say a minute ago, um, now with NIL deals being a a big part of college sports, um, being able to get tied in with the NIL side of things, there’s a lot of money, and right now there’s not a whole lot of regulation going on on that side of things in the college sports world anyways, so definitely a lot of opportunity for Distributors and promo there.
GABE GOTAY
Tell me more about what the NIL…
MATT PARISI
Yeah, so NIL is name, image, and likeness, if you’re not familiar with that. Um, and that’s something that just started in college sports recently. So college athletes can get paid now. Um, the most memorable thing I can think of is there was a football player up in Nebraska, and his name wa Decoldest Crawford, and he partnered with an AC company up there, um, with the University of Nebraska to put out a commercial and and rep the University at the same time. So getting an in with with something like that, um, again, it’s kind of unregulated right now as far as how much money can go into something like that. Um, so a lot of really good opportunity for Distributors.
GABE GOTAY
That’s interesting, and I think it kind of shows the scope of the college level in particular, because there’s been a lot of crossover over in similarities as we’ve kind of progressed through each level, but with the college level, you get everything down from as local as the individual student, you know, kids were players, all the way up to major organizations like video game developers that are making NCAA video games with these uh players’ likenesses and things like that. So the market spans all sizes. And the reason I bring this up is I do feel like distributors in our industry might be intimidated to try to break into the any kind of sports market above like little league in high school because they’re major organizations, and the average size of an organization in the promo products industry is very small. But I do think that it is clear that there’s promo needed at all these levels, and you shouldn’t be intimidated to try to break in at some point.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, I I I totally agree. Um, just because there’s already other people in your community that you see providing that does not mean that there’s not an opportunity for you as well. Um, and I think like you said, it’s kind of a start with who you know already. Um, reach out to some of those people and see if they have established relationships with that University or or college or any other sports organization you’re looking to work with. Um, and kind of build yourself up from there. Um, and you know, start small. Once you you know, get one deal done, it goes well, then hopefully you can continue to grow those relationships and and take it from there.
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely. All right, so the next level is going to be professional sports. At this point, these are players getting paid as their livelihood to do this, so it’s a bigger level. But before we move up to like the absolute Major League, I want to talk a little bit about minor leagues. ‘Cause right now, now even the jersey that you’re wearing, why don’t you tell me a little bit about that?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, so this is actually a Corpus Christi Hooks jersey, is one of their alternate jerseys that they have. Um, but they are a farm team for the Houston Astros. Um, minor league sports are becoming much more prevalent in today’s society, um, with you know, the move just to more luxury and and leisure, um, with the modern day, there’s yeah, a greater opportunity for minor league sports. Um, not only on the baseball side of things, but I know in Northwest Arkansas where I was raised, they’re getting a semi-pro soccer team is about to start up there. Um, so it’s just going to continue to grow. Um, on that side of things.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, and the merch market will be right there with it, because I think a big part of it is the rise of, you know, social media engagement between teams and fans has allowed some of these feeder teams to actually grow a presence with their players in the minds of the audiences of the major leagues. Like for hockey, there are all of the, you know, ECHL teams that will feed into the NHL, right? And you, if you follow, say both Instagram accounts, especially this early in the season or preseason, you’ll start to see players that might be filtering between organizations. And that’s going to drive merch revenue back to the minor league side of things too. Um, so it’s kind of one hand feeding the other.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. I totally agree with that. And not only that, I mean, it helps the fans get to know the players that are up and coming and just be bigger fans of of the sport and the organization in general as well.
GABE GOTAY
All right, so now moving up to what might seem like the least accessible but easily the most profitable part of this market, Major League Sports, MLB, NFL. First of all, tell me a little bit about your fandoms in the Major League Sports.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, so, um, I honestly, being raised in Arkansas, there are no professional sports there right now, anyway. Um, everyone is a Razorbacks fan. But after moving to Texas, started following the Cowboys a little bit, um, which I know people, some people may, um, shy away from or or be unhappy with me about. But I’m also, um, this year, anyway, I was a weekday season ticket holder for the Astros, which was super fun. Um, so can’t say enough about it. Absolutely love going to, you know, Major League sporting events, whatever the sport may be. Um, not only even hockey, the Stars here in Dallas, super, super fun to attend.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, and you know, the Stars in Dallas is just an interesting case where even markets that you think might not be huge for any particular sport, like I was really surprised, I’m from Colorado, hence the jersey, moving to Dallas, how huge the hockey town was. You know, and I know that it was 20 years ago that they won the cup, and that built a lot of that culture, but it is amazing to me how die-hard even for sports that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with certain parts of the country.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. Um, like you said, you know, having hockey here in the state of Texas is a little weird, um, because you wouldn’t imagine we’d be able to keep ice down here with the weather. Um, but yeah, I I think people would be surprised at um, the fans that do exist in their community from, you know, totally different sports or or other cities are fans of other teams. Um, I’ve got friends down in Houston that are Steelers fans, um, that are San Francisco 49ers fans. So you never know, um, until you talk to those people.
GABE GOTAY
So, on the merch side of things, what’s going to be different about this market versus some of the others as Distributors try to do business here?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, so again, it is a much larger market. Um, a lot of these teams, you know, have long-standing relationships with the people that are providing their merch. But I think that’s where you can kind of look outside of, um, you know, being the provider for something like the Astros team store. Um, a lot of these Major League organizations, they do run charitable organizations as well or put on fundraisers or other sorts of events outside of the the normal games that they play. So being able to tie in and provide, you know, promo for any sort of event like that that they’re a part of, I think is a really good opportunity. And then, you know, something you and I talked about, the vendors that you see in these major league sports stadiums, a lot of times they are local vendors from, you know, for me, the Astros, they’re local Houston food vendors that that you would see down there. So being able to tie in with them, create that relationship, and then, you know, kind of dual-brand with whoever that vendor is and the Astros or other Major League Sports organization, I think is a really good opportunity. And then, you know, kind of opens the door for you to provide promo for other parts of that, you know, whoever that food vendor is or then, you know, for that Major League Sports organization as well.
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely. And like you said, there’s all the charitable uh organizations that might be doing things like between innings, they’re going to be on the field, and even if that’s not, say, an Astros piece of merch, those organizations are going to be wearing their own company’s branded merch, and they need that provided. So that’s a great way to step in at a lower level and involve yourself and start to move up.
MATT PARISI
Exactly
GABE GOTAY
And like I said about not being intimidated, I won’t name the specific distributor team, but I was at a show, uh, one of our trade shows in Houston, and I was chatting with a really small distribution company, a little mom-and-pop husband-and-wife run thing, and they were so excited talking to us because they had just secured an official licensing deal with one of the major, uh, local major sports authorities.
MATT PARISI
That’s awesome!
GABE GOTAY
That just goes to show that you, I mean, you’re distributors, you’re small business owners, you get it. It is about the grind, it’s about networking, it’s about finding these decision-makers and getting in there to provide value, and that is no different just because these are leagues with famous players making millions of dollars. It’s the same as every other market, right?
MATT PARISI
I couldn’t agree more.
GABE GOTAY
Um, so I’m kind of curious, what are some of your favorite pieces of merch that you’ve gotten or just think that have really stood out to you, um, in your lifetime?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, um, I guess a lot with all of the sports I’ve been involved in and all the different, um, sporting teams I’ve been a fan of, um, I would definitely say this Corpus Christi jersey is one of my favorites just because it’s so unique, um, and ties into a lot of the Mexican culture that you see down here in Texas, um, which I like a lot. And then these jerseys behind me, I’m not sure if you can see them or not, um, I’ve got an Astro City Connect jersey that has the number 44 and says “Still Tippin'” on it, um, which is a famous song, song, if no one’s familiar with that. And then there’s also a hat hanging back there that I really, really like, um, I’m just a fan of the the colors and and the look specifically for me about that. Um, aside from, you know, apparel, I do think going back whenever I go back to my parents’ house and seeing the different trophies and team pictures that I got as a kid, um, it’s just really nostalgic and and cool to have something commemorative like that as well.
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely. Well, and that brings up a point that we didn’t really talk about earlier, but I feel like a lot of our audience is going to notice how similar each of these divisions of sports is, and it’s just all about finding the right people and connecting with them. But the kind of promo that you’re going to serve is going to be kind of different because at the Little League, they’re not fans who are interested in collecting the latest alternative jersey or like the city tie-in jersey. It is more about memorability at that age. It’s about the parents having something that they can remember this experience that they were able to give their kids, or the kids getting a trophy that reminds them of, you know, how well they did. It’s not about necessarily supporting the team, but it’s more about the sentimental aspect of it at that level versus on the other end, it’s almost all about just like the team support, uh, you know, fans aren’t looking to buy a little Lombardi trophy, right?
MATT PARISI
Most, most of the time, not. Um, but yeah, definitely at the the younger, you know, kids age, even up to to the high school level, um, you’ll see, you know, medals and and trophies that people want to hang on to, um, just as, you know, like you said, to commemorate their time spent, um, in those different sports. So I think that’s a really, really good opportunity for, um, the promo world. If you are working with awards, um, if not, definitely look into that. Um, I know in today’s world, everyone gets a participation trophy at the end of each season, and we all kind of have our different thoughts on on that. Um, I do think there needs to be a little bit of competition fostered, um, even at the the Little League level, but you know, that’s however many trophies for that the size of that team. If we had 20 people on our soccer team, and then there’s 10 teams in that one league for that one age division, so you just multiply that out, and there’s a ton of opportunity there on that side of it as well.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, I’m wondering if the promo products industry had anything to do with this whole participation trophy thing. Are we just, is this big promo products trying to sell more trophies to kids?
MATT PARISI
Yeah, that could definitely be the case. I wouldn’t be surprised with how many I’ve seen out there.
GABE GOTAY
Um, you know, and earlier we also talked about some kind of more really specific tricks like, uh, not tricks but strategies like using online stores. You know, we don’t tend to talk about too many sales products from SAGE here on the podcast, but company stores like you mentioned are a great way to provide a level of convenience. Or when you and I talked before, you kind of talked about kitting as a great way to break into too.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, absolutely. So, um, I think, you know, stores, we do call them company stores here at SAGE, but I don’t think that’s a broad enough of a term. That’s why I do like to call them online ordering portals because they have so many applications and do work really well for a situation such as the sports industry when you’re working with, you know, a youth team and they need a way to place those orders or, um, working with a booster club that’s a scenario I’m working on right now, um, where it’s not just promo products in there, but they sign up for the level of the booster club they want to be a part of and then it comes with a package of a certain number of home game tickets and then some promo involved with that as well. So that’s how the distributor is seeing value from that, um, but then the kitting aspect that that we had discussed previously at that little league level, a lot of these kids are pretty much all getting the same thing. They may have a different size t-shirt, but the shorts, the socks, anything else that’s going to be involved with that kind of uniform for that sport is probably going to be the same. So being able to lump all of that in together and provide it just as one item to that player, um, is is definitely a really good revenue builder for the distributor.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, any other kind of very promo-like day-to-day operation-related tricks or tips that you might have for the distributors on how to better sell promo to these sports leagues?
MATT PARISI
Honestly, um, again, I think it just comes back to start with who you know and and what you know, um, at the community level, um, start with those people and just bring it up to them. If if you don’t have kids already involved in sports, hey, you know, do you have, does my neighbor do they have kids that are involved in sports? Um, and just ask them, you know, who’s running that sports team? Who’s in charge of that? How did you guys place your order for, you know, the the merch and things that you’re getting for that sports team? And take all of that into account and then just see how you can provide a different level of of value and service that way.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, and I think another good thing would be to try to break out of the mold a little bit because, you know, we’ve talked a lot about apparel and just like with the promo industry in general in the sports market specifically, apparel is far and away the biggest category of things, so it makes sense that that’s what most people are going to focus on. But even some of the other standbys for non-sports-related markets like Koozies and bumper stickers and all kinds of stuff like that is still super relevant, not only to these teams but to all of these associated, you know, the booster clubs at the smaller level all the way up to the major businesses that are partnering with the Major League Sports. So being able to use something like the SAGE database and find things you can present to these organizations that are going to be just, you know, a little bit different, I think can go a long way too.
MATT PARISI
Yeah, I would, I would 100% agree with that. Um, the the booster club, you know, scenario that I’ve been working on, um, she doesn’t just have, you know, apparel in there. Um, they’ve got as a part of the different levels, um, at the the top levels, they get a branded cooler, um, that has the high school’s logo on it, which is pretty cool. Not something you typically see as a piece of fan gear. Um, I even know at the the college level and the new, you know, clear bag policies they have a lot of these stadiums, um, people are selling clear purses and clutches and things that do have A&M branding on them, which is pretty cool. So like you said, thinking outside of the box of things that people would need or want, um, for these different sorts of sports organizations is a really good way to provide value.
GABE GOTAY
Well, thank you so much for everything that you, your input’s been fantastic, and I’m sure any of our distributors that have worked with you have, they knew that coming in, you know, I go to trade shows and I have people come up asking if you’re coming because not just are you a friendly face that you’re easy to talk to, but I know from talking to your customers that you’re great at providing realistic and specific advice on how to break into some of these markets when they need it. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.
MATT PARISI
No problem. Thank you for having me, and I appreciate the kind words for sure.
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely. So everybody, thank you again for joining us. Remember, we are going to be publishing this everywhere you get podcasts. Please go subscribe. There’s going to be all kinds of bonus content. In fact, after we hop off of this stream, Matt and I are gonna sit down and record a bonus episode, and we’re gonna talk a little bit less about the specific salesy stuff and just talk about the merch itself, some of our favorite things, some oddities, some weird trends that we’ve seen pop up. It’s going to be a good time. Go to SAGEworld.com to keep up with the next live stream next month on November 20th. We are going, I’m sorry, on October 30th, we are going to be doing an episode with Dakota Smith, our very own, uh, SAGE web specialist, and we’re going to be talking about web design, SEO, and other ways to really bring your business to the next level. Go ahead and register for that and listen to the podcast. Thank you all for joining us today, and thanks again, Matt.
MATT PARISI
Thank you, Gabe. Appreciate it.
GABE GOTAY
All right, bye everybody. Bye everyone.