Dr. James Reese, Faculty Member, Practicum Coordinator & Community Relations, Sports Management & Esports and
Derek Thomas, Director of Partnership Marketing, Denver Broncos
Director of Partnership Marketing at the Denver Broncos, Derek Thomas, joins APU’s Dr. Jim Reese to share his insights from more than 27 years in professional sports. Thomas lays out the facts on everything from climbing the corporate ladder to what goes on behind the scenes during off-season.
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Jim Reese: Hello, and welcome to this latest edition of our Voices In the Field podcast series, brought to you by the APU Sports Management program. My name is Jim Reese, and I’ll be your host for today’s podcast. Now, please welcome our special guest, Mr. Derek Thomas, director of partnership marketing for the Denver Broncos. Derek, thanks for making time for us today. We really appreciate it.
Derek Thomas: Good morning, Dr. Reese. My pleasure. Thanks for having me on.
Jim Reese: I’ve actually been wanting to do this for quite some time, I’m glad we finally had a chance to do it.
Derek Thomas: Same.
Jim Reese: Well, for our audience, Derek, this is for our students, most importantly. They have a lot of questions about working in pro sports, and we’ll focus on getting you to share some wisdom with us on, on your… My gosh, is it, if my math is right, is it 27 years now you’ve been with the Broncos?
Derek Thomas: Yeah, this will be my 28th season going in, just blessed to have a career like this, and my key card still works, so I’ll keep showing up.
Jim Reese: Please share a little bit, I know your, your job has changed, over the years, a little bit. But please share with our audience what your responsibilities are with the Broncos in the marketing office, and the things you get to do, and perks, and maybe some of the things that are challenging, as well.
Derek Thomas: So, when I first started with the team, it was just, it was an internship role. Never intended for it to become a career. At the time, I had a job. I was working in the Olympics, was more in the Olympics field. So, kind of wanted to pursue that, so started an internship with the Broncos, more just for fun. So, wanted to be part of games. Wanted to be part of the team. I grew up in Denver, grew up a Broncos fan, so it’s a passion industry. So, it started just as an internship, and then a lot of things, as in life, it’s about timing. And the timing, there was a new stadium on the horizon for the Denver Broncos. They were about to be a rocket ship in hiring new employees, so I was really lucky and blessed to have an opportunity – to get a salary opportunity – with the team.
Started at the absolute, very bottom of the ladder as a ticket assistant with the Denver Broncos. Didn’t even really have a marketing or a corporate sales department at the time when we first started with the team. So, was in the ticket office role – ticket operations role – for a few years, and then, as the new stadium was coming online, shifted into more of a ticket sales role, working with club seat holders, suite holders… So, that’s where I got my first – was able to dip my toe in the water of the actual sales perspective of the team. So, shifted from ticket operations more to ticket sales, premium seating sales, and then, as our new stadium was completed and we were moving into the stadium – which is hard to believe it’s now 24 years old; I refer to it as “new/new stadium” – we shifted from old Mile High to, at that time, it was Invesco Field at Mile High. We started a marketing department and a corporate sales department.
So, I was able to make that transition to our corporate sales team and move into sponsorship marketing and sponsorship sales. And then, did that for several years with the team. Marketing, sponsorship was all rolled into one at that point in time, and then, over the years, it’s become kind of siloed departments, which is wonderful. So now, instead of wearing several different hats, you get to be an expert of whatever you’re doing within your field. So, then over the years, kind of grew my portfolio with the team, managing a lot of our tier-one, top partners. So, now, I’m on our partnership marketing side, where I’m just managing those relationships. So, partners like Coca-Cola, and United Airlines, and Ent Credit Union, and a lot of our biggest partners that we have with the team. So, as you’ve seen, my roles have shifted over the years, but that’s kind of my role now. So, I manage a lot of our top-tier partners.
Jim Reese: Speaking of perks, because students ask all the time, “Do you miss the NFL?” And, I tell them I miss the relationships, and I miss the perks. I don’t miss the hours, that’s for sure, but, as I mentioned earlier, before we jumped on, one of the benefits is you get to travel with the team, and do all kinds of neat things. So, what – obviously, those are some of the nice things. What’s the hardest part of your job?
Derek Thomas: You think about this a lot. I love… probably what I love most is the relationship-building. You love getting to know your partners. A lot of these partnerships, whether it’s with Coca-Cola, or Verizon Wireless, or United Airlines, they’ve been partners of the Denver Broncos for 20+, 30+ years in a lot of cases. And I’ve managed those relationships now for 15, 20+ years, and you get to know these people. You get to know them personally. You get to know their families. So, that’s one of the things that I enjoy the most is just the personal connections. And then, I guess on the flip side, to answer your question, is potentially losing those connections. So, people, maybe they’ll switch industries, or they’ll retire, or move on, or you change partners.
So, trying to keep up with those relationships, and keep those relationships strong, and that trust strong, sometimes can be a challenge. It’s a fast-paced industry. It is constantly changing. The technology is changing. Emerging categories are changing. So, you have to be a student of the game. I think I say it over and over again: It’s a passion industry. To get into this industry, to stay successful in this industry, you have to have the passion. If the passion isn’t there, and you don’t love what you do, I don’t think the business of sports is probably going be for you. So, it’s something that you have to stay sharp. Keep your tools sharp. Constantly learning. Constantly working.
A lot of times people will say if you leave the NFL, you think maybe the grass is greener, and you’re going somewhere else. And I always tell people that the grass is greener where you water it. So, focus on where you are. Water the grass where you are. The grass is going to be green, if you’re taking care of it.
Jim Reese: That’s a great line. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that one before, so I’m going to have to borrow that one, from time to time. So, hopefully, I’ll have permission to do so, but…
Derek Thomas: I’ve got it trademarked, so, just, you’ll pay me a dollar every time you say it.
Jim Reese: So, it’s just like the music industry. Okay.
Derek Thomas: Right.
Jim Reese: So, 15 years from now you’re going to be getting royalties in the mail.
Derek Thomas: Love it.
Jim Reese: The networking and the building relationships – that’s my favorite part. And I joke around with my colleagues that I spend way too much time on the phone, and it’s just keeping up with former students, and LinkedIn, and all the different… and email, and I still don’t spend enough time to keep up with everyone, because it’s impossible. You have so many people that you’ve met over the years, but, yeah, it’s the camaraderie and the relationships. That’s what I miss most. And now, I get to live through my students, a little, because I’m out of the industry, but I can still stay connected, because I’ve been around long enough, now, that most of them are in pretty high places. So, it’s pretty neat to be able to do some of the things I still get to do. So, speaking of being blessed; I look at myself the same way.
Derek Thomas: No, that’s special. The mentorship piece is something that I really, just absolutely, love doing in my career. And it wasn’t something that you focus on too much, younger in your career, but as you get older, and you’re bringing on interns, and you’re bringing on more employees, and you’re part of the hiring process, you see them flourish in their careers, and you take a lot of joy and pride in people that you’ve kind of mentored over your career. And, same. Now, I’m cheering for teams that are in playoff games in NHL, or NBA, or other NFL teams around the country, just because I know that they’ve got great employees that have worked on our side at some point in time. So, it’s – you’re cheering for them, as well.
Jim Reese: Exactly. You want them to get a ring as well. Exactly. Now, one of the questions, and this is a hot question about switching offices. And we started together in ticketing, and you made that move into marketing. And, so, I guess my question is – on behalf of our students – is that a path? Because ticketing is still the best, easiest way to break into the industry, is that a path that you recommend? Or is it… do you have to be careful how you play that, to make sure you don’t burn a bridge? What are your thoughts on that?
Derek Thomas: Great question, and it is a topic, and I think a lot of it comes down to the trust of that team and the trust of that organization to allow you to grow. We’ve got an ownership group and an executive suite right now that’s trying to be more inclusive, and I love that. Bringing more people into different meetings. Letting people be part of crossover meetings… One of the bigger changes, just over my career, is just the size and magnitude in employee head count of these teams. And now, you have experts that are in business analytics, and premium seating, and marketing, and sponsorship, and IT, and IT for football – just as their information technology. But there’s information technology on the business side, and information technology on the football side of our business. So, it’s just… everything becomes very specialized.
And that’s terrific, but then, you want to try to bring those people in, so they get to, maybe, have an outsider’s perspective, and a take on your specific department that, maybe, you had never thought about. Some out-of-the-box idea that will make your department better. So, we’re trying to bring folks in on the outside, and other departments into our team, just so they get to see what we’re doing. Make sure that we have the same shared goals. The same KPIs. Make sure that they know what my KPIs are, so, maybe, they can help us hit those goals, as well. But I think, to go back to your question, Dr. Reese, is just really allowing your employee base to gravitate to what they’re going to be good at and making sure you’re taking advantage of their strengths.
I think our organization, as a whole, has done a really good job of fostering that job growth and career growth internally, but it is difficult, because things are getting more specialized. So, it would be more difficult for somebody, probably, on my team to gravitate more to a strategic business intelligence role. They didn’t go to school for that. They probably don’t have a… maybe a graduate degree for that. So, there are going to be some barriers that would probably dissuade those from doing that, but I think when there are opportunities to be more well-rounded and to know the industry better – know the organization better – I think there are some opportunities for growth on that.
Jim Reese: I think that’s a really interesting point, because one of the biggest problems that you have in any organization is that whole “siloed” factor, where communication suffers. And, so, I think when you do what you just explained, I think communication gets enhanced. You get those views from maybe an outsider’s perspective that can really help you go in a direction maybe you don’t think you would go. And, so, I think that’s really helpful.
(11:34):
All right. Now, I’m going to take you down Memory Lane a little bit. What’s your biggest memory about our ’90s Super Bowl run as an organization? Is there one thing that jumps out? I have a few, I’m just curious. I’ve never asked you this question to see what your thoughts are on this.
Derek Thomas: Wow, yeah, that’s going aways back. Absolutely loved that time, just in my life and in my career. And, I think, looking back, you just, you don’t know what you don’t know. You’re just living in the moment. You’re enjoying every piece of it. Winning, and winning at that level, is something that you just… you think it’s going to be repetitive. You think there’s just going to be more of it, and then, all of a sudden, the ebbs and flows of sports… We won back-to-back Super Bowl championships. Got to be part of every bit of that. And then, you probably take it for granted. And then there was a dry spell. Then, you kind of climb the peak again, and we were able to win another Super Bowl championship. And then you appreciate the good times, and then you look back in your career, and you’re like, “Gosh.” That’s just something you thought it was just going to be every season. We were just going to be competitive and making deep playoff runs every season.
You miss those times, and you find yourself telling your staff and the team about those times, and how great they are, and how – I mean, we’re all rowing together for the same goal, to try to get there both on and off the field, whether on the business side, the football operations side, and so on. You miss those. I want to experience that again in my career.
Those teams, we had multiple Hall of Famers, and still more to come. And then you look at when we won with Peyton Manning and Von Miller. We had multiple Hall of Famers. DeMarcus Ware. Now, we’re kind of entering a new era of Broncos football. Brand new coaching staff. Brand new draft picks. New potential QB1 down the road in Bo Nix. So, I mean, it’s a brand-new era of where we’re going, as well. Brand new ownership. Brand new executive team. So, just a lot of things to be excited about in Broncos country right now.
Jim Reese: I’m excited still as a Broncos fan to see those things happening. You know, for myself I can say the ring ceremonies and the parade – those were the things that jump out at me.
Derek Thomas: That’s a – it’s a galvanizing kind of moment in time for your professional life. For your personal life. I mean, thinking that you’re going to be part of a Super Bowl victory parade is not something that you would be really dreaming about. We’re not the athletes. We’re not on the field. Holding up a Lombardi trophy was never something that I dreamed that we would be doing or have the opportunity to do. And then, like you said, getting a Super Bowl ring – let alone multiple Super Bowl rings in a career – I mean, those are pretty special things. And I know a lot of people that have been in the NFL that have never experienced that. That’s why we do this. We’re competitive, and we’re looking to win, and get more of those.
Jim Reese: All right, now, the next question is another common one that we get from students, because they think just because you’re a fan of sports that you’ll make it in the industry, and I try to share the grind. From your perspective, now that you’ve seen it from a couple different offices, share a little bit about that for students. And you mentioned earlier that the passion is what gets you through. That you have to be passionate, there’s no question, but anything else that you can share would be great.
Derek Thomas: We talk about it all the time. It is a grind. There is a lot to do and a lot to accomplish. I think every day is different. It’s one of the things that I love about our roles. We’re constantly tackling something different, which I really enjoy. Everybody always jokes about the off-season. They’re like, “Well, what are you doing in the off-season? Are you bored?” I’m like, “This is when the business gets done.” I might not be working weekends as much as I do during the season, but, if anything, there’s probably more work to be done in the off-season than there is during the season. During the season, it’s a six-, seven-day-a-week job. Working whether you’re traveling for an away game, you’re preparing for a home game…. The hours definitely are more. But, then, the strategy, the future forecasting, the planning, the business, the new sales, renewing partners, that’s – those are all the blocking and tackling of the business side of sports. It’s happening during the off-season.
A quick aside: I think we need to find a new name for the off-season. The NFL, somebody, could make a million dollars coming up with just a new moniker for how we refer to the off-season. From the day that the Super Bowl ends to the day you start training camp, it’s just preparation. You’re preparing for the next season. And I think you need to embrace the grind. You need to love the work that you’re putting into it. I enjoy that. I enjoy getting up, going to work every day, knowing that what we’re doing is making a difference. At the end of the day, I mean, we’re still a small, family-run company. We’re approximately 300 employees, so we’re a small to mid-size, family-run business that just happens to run an NFL franchise. And I enjoy that piece of it too. I enjoy the family piece of it. Still, you know most names and faces in your organization, which I think is pretty unique, this day and age, for a big brand.
But you just, you have to enjoy the work that you’re putting in and know that you’re part of the team. You’re part of something bigger than you. I’m not going to be able to influence what takes place on the field on a Sunday afternoon but knowing that the business piece and what it means to the team – that’s something that’s… we can impact. And we can impact that in a great way. So, I’ve always enjoyed that piece.
Jim Reese: That reminds me of a quote I heard about Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant, and some other athletes. The ones that enjoyed practice, and worked just as hard in practice as they did in games. Whenever you have athletes like that that come along, and you partner that with talent, there’s when you get Hall of Fame-type athletes. And, so, it’s interesting that you say that, because it’s so hard to get in and to stay in. And if you have that attitude where you really enjoy the process – and not just the games and all the benefits. If you enjoy the process, that’s where you can really have some staying power in the industry.
Derek Thomas: The little things matter. Even used that saying in my personal life. So the little things that you do, whether it’s in your workplace, in your personal life, little things like that matter, and they add up. The little things add up to big things. I do remember that, absolutely. I think we got kind of the same speech the next year, when we went back to the Super Bowl, and it’s things that our ownership/executive team constantly reiterate to us as an organization, as well. If we can take care of those little things, whether it would be for a coach or a player, then it does impact how they would potentially perform on a game day.
And the little things matter when it’s talking about our fan base. There are things that we can do to make a fan feel great on a game day. We only get 10 opportunities at home a year to meet our fan base, take care of our fan base, making sure that they’re enjoying the entertainment piece of the game as much as possible. So, in those – a smile, a handshake, a, “Thanks for being here.” Those little things, they really do matter. So, no, I love that you brought up that story.
Jim Reese: All right, now, on to another… on to a serious question about students that want to work in marketing or corporate partnerships or sponsorship. Advice for them, as far as how to prepare for that while they’re still in school? Any thoughts on that?
Derek Thomas: Absolutely. Intern, intern, and intern more. I look at internships as a “no harm, no foul,” great way for students to find out what they like. Test what they like. And I did several internships over my collegiate career, professional career. But I don’t think I looked at it from the perspective of… the intern is going into a brand, an organization, with an opportunity to learn about that brand, that organization. The character of that organization. Find out if it’s even something that they would want to work… a field they would want to work in, an ownership group or an executive management group that they would want to work for. What is the corporate culture? So, I always try to tell college students, when I’m talking with them, it really is – an internship is a “no harm, no foul” way to test… see if it’s something that you even like, if they’re people that you even like. How do you fit in that corporate culture? Is it something where you could see you growing professionally in that corporate culture?
And if you try something in marketing and you’re like, “Gosh, that’s not really my cup of tea. I didn’t really appreciate that,” then maybe you reach out… premium seating, or whether it’s business analytics and strategy. Find out what your strengths are, and then try to seek that position, if you can. That’s something that I usually come back to. And usually, I mean, internships are six months, a year, a summer. So, usually, it’s an opportunity to just keep growing, keep sharpening your tools, find out, trying to fine-tune the departments that you have interest in. Ask questions. Make sure that you’re – whoever you’re rolling up to as an intern, ask them, “How did you get into this industry? What internships did you do that got you to this place?” I think really clear, good, thought-out, inquisitive questions will get you a long way, as well.
And then, trying to find those mentors in the industries that you can stay in touch with as you’re approaching those different internships. I think that’s just another great perspective to have, as you’re looking to build your portfolio and look to grow in the industry.
Jim Reese: That reminds me of a student that did an internship one time – either an internship or a volunteer opportunity – and the person came back and said, “Well, you know, that was a complete waste of time. I didn’t enjoy it.” And I said, “Whoa, wait a minute. Your focus just narrowed. You just realized that there’s an area that you don’t want to work in. That means you just got more focused on where you’re going to end up working.” And so…
Derek Thomas: Yeah, for sure. It’s an audition both ways. The brands are looking at the intern to see if they’re somebody that they could see growing in their organization, and the intern should be looking at that organization, or brand, or sports team as, “Is this something that I want to do as a career?”
Jim Reese: Absolutely. We are winding down, Derek, and so I’ve got one last question that I ask of everyone. And that is what’s next for DT? What’s next for Derek Thomas? What do you see yourself doing in maybe the next three to five years? Is it the same position, or do you have some personal goals?
Derek Thomas: Love it. Well, the next thing for DT and the Denver Broncos is getting the NFL schedule release. So, that’s like Christmas for us. So, we can’t plan our lives without the NFL schedule times and dates. So, looking forward to that. You start to focus on shorter-term things on the calendar to make sure that your professional career is moving forward. I love what I do, Jim, I really do. I have for 28 years. Went to school for this. Wanted to always be on the business side of sports. Would love to win another Super Bowl, like we were joking earlier. Would love to hoist another Lombardi trophy in my career. So, hoping that our current coaching staff and players can get us back to that position. So, that’s the hope and goal for sure.
It’s a young person’s game. So, I mean, it keeps me young. Our staff is probably usually between 25 to 35, so it’s a young staff, so that helps keep me young. I really enjoy that piece of it, as well. We do have a lot of great tenured employees with the Broncos that have been good friends for a long time. Love working with them. I can see myself still doing this for a long time. I mean, as long as I feel like I still have the passion and the desire, and I ask two questions, pretty much every year: Do I love what I do? And do I love who I do it for? And those are both answered yes every year, then I want to keep on this Broncos path. But down the road I can absolutely see, maybe, some sort of a consulting role coming into play. Might sit on a couple of boards of a few foundations here in the Denver area. So, I do enjoy doing that as well. I think those would be great things to shift to later in life.
But sports is in my blood. It always has been. Always will be. It would be hard to find greener grass if I were to leave the sports industry, for sure.
Jim Reese: Brings me to another question that you’re going to laugh about. Are you still working with CU?
Derek Thomas: Yeah, absolutely. Still kind of help as a consultant, go up and, and speak to classes. So, we hire – our organization does a really good job of hiring interns. We probably are 15+ interns total as an organization every year in various departments. You’ve sent us a lot of great students over the years, so it’s – I enjoy working with universities to make sure that we’re out and trying to secure the best talent that we can. So, I’ve always enjoyed those roles.
Jim Reese: As we wind up here, anything that you’d like to share that I may have missed in my questions? Or anything that you think that students would like to know? Or just words of wisdom?
Derek Thomas: Just want to thank you. I think you’ve been a tremendous mentor for me along the way, and I know for several of your students along the way. And you’ve had an unbelievable career in the sports world as well, so appreciate you. There has to be some “stick-to-it-iveness” to get into this industry. And some tenacity to get into this industry. So, that’s something that I would always want to pass along to students that are thinking about this, as well. You’re going to get nos probably more than yeses. So, I think it is important to have that tenacity and aggressiveness to… If it’s something that you truly want to chase, you’re going to have to chase it hard, and potentially for a while, before you find that role that gives you your first launch pad into this industry. So, just make sure that it’s something that you love, it’s a passion industry, and that you’re willing to chase it.
Jim Reese: I think that’s great advice, because people that want to work in sports and are not willing to take “no” for an answer are the ones that usually make it. Great advice for our students. Well, Derek, thanks again. We really appreciate it. For those listeners at home, and for our students, we thank you for your continued support of our Voices In the Field podcast series. For those that have seen the classic sports movie, “Rudy,” Rudy Ruettiger will be our next guest. Until then, on behalf of myself and my colleagues from the APUS sports management program, this is Jim Reese saying so long.
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