FALL 2021 | 15 SPEAKERS MIKE REYNOLDS Mike Reynolds is the President and General Manager of Clipper Magazine Stadium, home of the Lancaster Barnstormers. On October 28th, he visited Kutztown University as a featured speaker to discuss his growth in the sports business industry. Mike shared his experiences and valuable advice to succeed in the industry. In 2003, Mike graduated from Johnson & Wales University with a degree in Business Management. Through his internship experience as an undergraduate, he discovered an interest that led to pursuing a career in the sports business industry. This led to Mike’s first job as a Consumer Sales Representative for Connecticut Sun, a WNBA team. His time there helped him learn to work with groups and business leaders. After four years and five seasons of working for Connecticut Sun, Mike transitioned to a Director of Ticket Sales role for the Houston Comets. His position there was noted as a turning point that influenced his growth. Mike joined the team during a financial crisis and managed to learn from the situation. While most would not take on this position, he preferred to use this experience to strengthen his drive and resilience. A year after working for the Houston Comets, Mike took on a similar role for New York Liberty before he left the sports business industry. He stated that it is hard to get back into this industry; however, he was successful in returning not once, but twice. In 2010, he returned to a role as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Reno Bighorns, an NBA G-League. Mike thought he would leave after the team changed ownership, but was offered a higher-up position as Team President, which made him the youngest Team President on the NBA team. Mike left the sports industry a second time in 2013. It was not until 2016 that he returned once again. This time he became the President and General Manager of Clipper Magazine Stadium. At the stadium, Mike and his team test rules for major league baseball. These rules are tested to explore strategies that will garner the most audience engagement. At the start of the pandemic, Mike had the unfortunate task of reducing staff. While they could not hold baseball games, Mike and his team sought to remain engaged with the community. They reached out to hospitals to offer their parking lot as a COVID-19 testing site. All of these actions showed that they “wanted to be part of the community’s success in moving forward.”
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