How to Win at the Sport of Business – Mark Cuban
If you have a spare $5 (that's right $5!) you should grab a copy of Mark Cuban's book How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, go on do it we wait right here.
Listen to this week's podcast to learn more about the very first #sportsgeektrip & how Sean used Twitter & Linkedin to end up in a suite at the AAC holding Dirk Nowtizki's pants.
Until Next Week
Listen to Harf Time on Wednesdays (at 2:45pm) when Sean Callanan discuss sports digital with Daniel Harford.
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Podcast transcription
Harf: Now Sean Callanan’s all over that sort of stuff at Sports Geek, our digital sports media guru. Good day Sean.
Sean: Good day Harf how you doing?
Harf: Going well thank you. Going well what’s on today?
Sean: Well today I want to do something different, I want to do Sports Geek book club.
Harf: Right yes.
Sean: Book Club – and you know I wouldn’t be Sports Geek if I didn’t actually bring in the book, but I haven’t got a book it’s on the iPad obviously.
Harf: Of course it is.
Sean: And talking about Mark Cuban’s book “How to Win at the Business of Sports”.
Harf: Now Mark Cuban for those who may not know.
Sean: Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
Harf: Yes he is.
Sean: And if you’re listening to this on an iPhone or via the – via the internet over a computer, you have Mark Cuban to thank. He’s one of the guys that started streaming radio over the internet, that’s how he made his money.
Harf: Is that right? I didn’t know that.
Sean: So yeah he pretty much put his – put a microphone up against the old wireless, streamed on the internet and that company became broadcast.com and he sold it to Yahoo for over $400 million.
Harf: Of course he did.
Sean: And you know as you do what do you do once you’ve got $400 million, you go and buy and NBA team.
Harf: You buy an NBA team.
Sean: So I like to think Mark Cuban’s a sports geek just like me, he’s just got a little bit more money.
Harf: So what’s it called the book again?
Sean: It’s called “How to Win at the Business of Sport”. So it amalgamates a lot of his blog posts, you can catch up with him at blogmaverick.com, where he’s commenting on business and sports and things like that. But he also sort of takes a bit of back story into you know how he started his business, how he stated you know initially was selling computer set ups and things like that and then he came along to broadcast.com and goes into a little bit of the stuff about the Mavericks, but also some really good business tips and you know how about – how about going – going about your business.
Harf: Right, clearly a man with – who’s had enormous success.
Sean: So when I did, back in 2010 when I did my first SportsGeek trip to the States, and where I
went to LA, Dallas and New York, part networking and part secret shopper, and you know – – –Harf: Secret shopper.
Sean: – – – seeing what the teams were doing, one of the goals was actually to meet Mark Cuban
and so I did – I tweeted him and I emailed him and things like that. Unfortunately he didn’t take any meetings, doesn’t take meetings during the season, but he was kind enough to email me back, you know, there’s not many multimillionaires that do email me back, but good story from the Mavericks/Lakers games. A couple of days earlier I was at the LA Dodgers, checking out Dodgers stadium, meeting with some of the people at the Dodgers, doing as I do, tweeting it, hash tagging at sportsgeektrip, and Jill Dots, someone I’d never tweeted with before, tweeted back to me and said you should come to a game, you know, in season. I said you know I’d love to I’ll be sure to be coming back to a Dodgers during the MLB season. And then she goes I should be in Dallas when you’re in Dallas, we should meet – meet you at the Lakers/Mavs game. And so I turned up – – –Harf: Just a random meeting.
Sean: – – – just random meetings, and that’s what it’s about, that’s what Twitter is great for, to meeting people randomly. So I turned up to the Mavs/Lakers games, I cheekily tweeted Mark Cuban, I said “hey I’m 20 rows behind you, come and say hello” but I’d also connected with via Twitter and then via LinkedIn, which is a great business networking tool, with Brad Mayne who is the CEO of the American Airlines Centre, so again I tweeted Brad and said “I’m checking out your facility”, you know, we’d had some emails back and forwards, we hadn’t teed up a meeting, half way through the second quarter I’m watching Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki go at it, I hear “Sean” there’s Brad Mayne the CEO of American Airlines Centre, he goes come up to the suite.
Harf: No way.
Sean: He says come up to the suite, and here I was in a bit of a dilemma, I was meant to meet Jill at half time.
Harf: Bad luck Jill.
Sean: I just claimed the I’ve got no 3G I can’t contact you.
Harf: There’s no dilemma there my friend.
Sean: So I’ve gone up to – gone up to the suite and Brad was very polite he goes “Sean we’ve got some Fosters on ice for you” and I went “thank you very much Brad I’ll drink them all but Australian’s don’t drink Fosters”.
Harf: But it’s rubbish.
Sean: Yeah exactly. And as he was introducing me to the people in the suite, he goes “oh this is Jill” who tweeted me two days earlier she was in the box talking to Brad and convincing him you’ve got to get Sean, SportsGeek up into the super box.
Harf: But she didn’t tweet you and tell you where she was.
Sean: No she didn’t.
Harf: So she was giving you no love.
Sean: Yes exactly.
Harf: She was up there already.
Sean: She was up there already. So she was part of the Venue Managers Association in the States, which Brad was a part of being a CEO – – –
Harf: The power of Twitter.
Sean: – – – the power of Twitter. So the very next day I got a tour of the – tour of the stadium. Went into the Mav’s locker room and Brad goes here you go, what are they? Dirk Nowitzki’s pants.
Harf: Of course they are.
Sean: Picture of me with Dirk Nowitzki’s pants. So that’s why the Maverick’s won the title that year obviously.
Harf: Everyone needs a photo of Dirk Nowitzki’s pants.
Sean: But check out that book Mark Cuban.
Harf: What’s it called again?
Sean: “How to Win at the Business of Sports”. It’s only $5 in the Amazon store.
Harf: That’s why he’s a star, the Sports Geek, that’s why we have him on the show. Thank you pal.
Sean: No worries mate.
