Monday, April 10, marked the final “Pizza With the Pros” of the Spring semester, joined by Lindsey Masciangelo to discuss her experience within the sports industry. 

For 15 years Masciangelo has been involved in sports entertainment, business operations, marketing and public relations. Masciangelo spent time with the Philadelphia Flyers as vice president of marketing, and the Philadelphia Wings as the vice president of business operations. Being a part of the Philadelphia Flyers was the kickstart to Masciangelo’s success within the sports industry. 

Before joining the Flyers, Masciangelo was an intern at TD Garden and had the opportunity of traveling along the East Coast. The Wells Fargo Center is one of the buildings that Masciangelo was assigned to do promotions for the latest show happening. 

Masciangelo described, “Someone said, ‘Hey, instead of leaving and going to your next show you should stay here and do the family shows that come to our building.’ Great, I’m from Philly, I didn’t really wanna travel up and down the east coast if I didn’t have to, so I’ll stay in Philly.”

She continued, “So I started working at the building and then someone down the hall said, ‘Hey you seem pretty great. Do you like sports? Do you wanna work for the Flyers?’ So I basically walked down the hallway and had the opportunity to do marketing and PR for the Flyers.” 

Just by being in the right place at the right time, Masciangelo was given the amazing opportunity of working for the Flyers. Masciangelo made a point to students that they should take every opportunity that is given because they never know what it’ll lead to. If Masciangelo had never done the internship at the TD Garden, she would have never traveled to Wells Fargo at that given time to later receive the title of the vice president of marketing. 

Masciangelo also emphasized to students that Linkedin is a very important resource that everyone should be using.

“Basically in sports, everything happens when you know somebody else. It is more relationship-driven than any other industry.” Masciangelo stated.

Masciangelo suggested that students should make a list of 20-30 people they know and connect with them on Linkedin. Even if it’s an old teacher or a guest speaker, forming those connections will definitely help in the future.  

Masciangelo currently works for the newly formed company Playfly Sports, she serves as the vice president of events. Playfly was started by former Comcast Executive Michael Schreiber in the fall of 2020. Playfly started off by buying companies that sell ads and forming very strong relationships in college spaces to sell multimedia rights. Successfully, Playfly now has sponsorships with well-known universities and organizations such as UFC,  LSU, Auburn and Villanova. 

A student that attended “Pizza With the Pros” asked, “What are the differences between marketing normally, compared to marketing towards college and professional sports?”

Masciangelo stated, “You have a fan base that’s avid because they care about that school, they either go there or they used to go there. It’s the same thing with a pro team. It’s just knowing that audience and understanding your target market.” 

Overall, Masciangelo explained how there is no difference between marketing at the two different levels. At the end of the day, the same goal is to get butts in seats. But, it’s important to understand your audience and know how to lure them into the arena. 

Look out for upcoming news from Playfly Sports since this 2-year-old company is growing rapidly and always looking for new hires.

“Pizza With the Pros” will return in the Fall for a new semester of amazing guest speakers.

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