The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Welcome to The Charleston Marketing Podcast, the podcast that dives deep into the world of marketing, with a specific focus on the vibrant city of Charleston. Join us as we explore the strategies, trends, and success stories that shape the marketing landscape in this historic and captivating coastal city.
Each episode of The Charleston Marketing Podcast brings you exclusive interviews with local marketing experts, industry thought leaders and Charleston entrepreneurs who have harnessed the power of effective marketing in the Lowcountry and beyond. From strategic communication, social media, PR, digital strategy and everything in between, we uncover valuable insights and actionable tips for our listeners.
The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Marketing on Ice: Stingrays Unleashed
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Rob Concannon's journey from hockey player to president of the South Carolina Stingrays is a testament to Charleston's magnetic pull. After arriving in 1995 as a player for the Stingrays, a friend's prophetic words—"if you go to Charleston, you will never move home"—proved remarkably accurate. Nearly three decades later, Rob has transformed from a "mouthy" left-winger to the visionary leader behind the Stingrays' remarkable success.
The conversation reveals how the Stingrays have mastered the art of sports marketing in a competitive landscape. Rob explains their creative approach to themed promotional nights, from Star Wars extravaganzas to Bluey appearances that draw thousands of families who might not otherwise attend hockey games. "In minor league sports," he notes, "you have to become creative in terms of attracting fans." This strategy has paid dividends as attendance soars and community excitement builds around the team's record-breaking season—52 wins, 109 points, and the prestigious Bradham Cup as regular-season champions.
Community engagement emerges as the heartbeat of the Stingrays' organization. The team's commitment to "Tikamolam"—repairing the world—manifests through their "Community Assist of the Game" program supporting local nonprofits, school visits, reading programs, and countless other initiatives that forge meaningful connections throughout the Lowcountry. These efforts aren't mere publicity stunts but genuine expressions of the organization's values, established by former owners Anita and Jerry Zucker and carried forward by current owner Todd Halloran.
As the Stingrays head into the playoffs with home-ice advantage, Rob balances present excitement with future planning. The team's participation in "ECHL Unfiltered," a documentary offering unprecedented behind-the-scenes access, further demonstrates their innovative approach to fan engagement. Whether discussing marketing strategies, player development, or community impact, Rob's passion for both hockey and Charleston shines through.
Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association
Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow, Mike Compton,
Produced and edited: RMBO Advertising
Photographer | Co-host: Kelli Morse
Art Director: Taylor Ion
CAMA President: Margaret Stypa
Score by: The Strawberry Entrée; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu
Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary and Mathew Chase
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Welcome to the Charleston Marketing Podcast, powered by the Charleston American Marketing Association and broadcasting from our home at Charleston Radio Group. Thanks to CRG, we're able to talk with the movers and shakers of Charleston, from economy to art, from hospitality to tech and everything in between. These leaders have made a home here in the Lowcountry. They live here, they work here, they make change here.
Speaker 2:Why let's talk about it. Hello and welcome to the charleston marketing podcast. Powered by the charleston american marketing association, we are recording the charleston media solutions studios. Big supporters of cama gotta give a big shout out to charleston's favorite dj, dj jerry's. Feel good with the beats at the beginning. Thanks to all of our supporters. What's up, guys? Stephanie here, founder of Stephanie Barrow Consulting, a digital marketing strategy agency here in Charleston, and one of your Camo Pass presidents I'm excited to be by my good friend and guest co-host, jake Cosmore. What's up, cos?
Speaker 3:Hey, what's up, stephanie? I'm Jake Cosmore and I'm the creative director and cinematographer for Coz Films, charleston's full-service video production company.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 3:And who do we have in the house tonight? We have Rob Concanon, the president of the South Carolina Stingrays.
Speaker 2:Let's go, Rays.
Speaker 4:Thank you guys.
Speaker 2:We are so excited. All right, so I was talking to you a little bit earlier and I noticed a very cool accent, so you're obviously not from Charleston.
Speaker 4:No, I came here in 1995, but for some reason, 29 years later, the accent is still here.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it. It's very distinguished, thank you. So what brought you to Charleston?
Speaker 4:What brought me to Charleston In 1995, I went to camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs out of college. Okay, and at the time they were affiliated with the South Carolina Stingrays. I didn't make the Toronto Maple Leafs, so they sent me to St John's, newfoundland, which was their AHL affiliate at the time. After a couple days there they said we want to send you to Charleston, south Carolina, to get your feet wet playing pro hockey. Okay, and I said thank you, but I'm going back to Boston. And after about three days in Boston a good friend of mine convinced me and said if you go to Charleston you will never move home. And I asked him why?
Speaker 4:I can't repeat the reasons on the air why he said to come to. Charleston, but he talked about the beauty of the city, the beaches, and at the time obviously it wasn't as busy as it is now.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 4:So I listened to him, came to play for the Stingrays in 1995, and here we are in 2025, and I'm still here.
Speaker 2:All right. So what position do you play, or did you play?
Speaker 4:I played left wing. Okay, Nice Forward yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I was a field hockey player, so Nice Shout out to the hockey player.
Speaker 3:But you haven't just played for the Stingrays. Why have you been to Charleston? You've also accomplished a lot.
Speaker 4:I mean you were a firefighter, a club owner and you got your graduate degree at the College of Charleston. Yeah, I got my undergrad degree. I never went back, so I went back there. So, yeah, to go, you know, touch upon some of those things, jake, I think after most minor league hockey players, even major league hockey players in baseball and football and basketball, you're you're used to playing sports your whole life. So you know I was at a crossroad. I think it went in 2000, 2001, and I decided to join the City of Charleston Fire Department. I was there for about six months. My personality wasn't probably the best for the job. There's a lot of downtime.
Speaker 2:Okay, I can see that.
Speaker 4:And I can't sit still. So I was always interested in I can't sit still Um. So I was always um interested in the, the, the restaurant and bar industry, um, especially the bar industry.
Speaker 2:but I haven't drank for 30 years so it was kind of like you know crazy to think that that somebody at least you're not getting in trouble for your profession.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I bartended a little bit and work, you know, a couple of door jobs in the summertime while I was playing for the Stingrays and make a couple of extra dollars. You know, when I used to work at Club Trio for a little bit, and my remember those days yeah.
Speaker 4:And my buddy wanted to transition out of Club Trio at the time and I always I loved it. It was only open two days a week. There was no food, it was just, you know, you go there at 1030, 1130 to dance and you know, have a great time. And he said I want out and I said, well, I wouldn't mind. You know seeing what the number is and seeing if you know if it makes sense for me and my wife at the time and she was the one who encouraged me to jump in so I did. We owned it for about six or seven years with another friend of mine and then I actually in 2011, I was asked if I wanted to be the president of the Stingrays. At the time, I had newborn twins in February of 2011. I had the trio. I took the job in April and then things started to happen real quickly with the Stingrays job and I told my wife after about a year, a year and a half. I just don't think we can do both.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that makes sense. We lived on King Street so when I would come home from Stingrays Games I'd walk right past King and Calhoun to where we lived and normally I would take a left to go to Trio and see how things were going. And you guys know the food and beverage industry is a very tough industry to be in Sure and if you're not hands-on or you're not an owner, Especially with young children at home.
Speaker 2:Yeah, probably been hard to manage all of that. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Twins too, and so you know I've been in this position with the Stingrays for the last 15 years, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Now I'll say you've hired some really excellent people. I work with a lot of them, some of my clients and everyone there is top notch.
Speaker 4:I appreciate that and I think in any business in an organization, you need good coworkers, you need good employees and you need to understand what motivates them and what doesn't motivate them and kind of how to push and pull at those certain times. And I feel very fortunate with the staff that we have this year on the hockey side of things and on the business side of things. They're doing a terrific job. Attendance is up, you know corporate partnerships, ticket sales and I just think like the overall buzz and morale for the team this past year is really at a all-time high and it's you know. You guys know we're in a competitive market. There's a lot of different things to do in Charleston every single weekend.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 4:The River Dogs are, you know, hugely successful. The Battery, the tennis tournament, you know, concerts there's other things You're competing with a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you built a pretty cool legacy brand here, thank you.
Speaker 4:Thank you. And we've been doing it for 32 years and you know, knock on wood, we've had a great year on the ice. Our coach got coach of the year yesterday. The team set all kinds of records with most wins, points. I can go down the list.
Speaker 3:He was giving me the stats on this. I mean, with 52 wins, 109 points and winning the Bradham Cup, you guys are going to the playoffs. How are you feeling right now?
Speaker 4:I feel awesome. It's been a. Really. It's just like you guys. When work is going well and people are happy and morale is up and the culture is good, it's contagious.
Speaker 2:Oh, it permeates your whole life.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it makes things better, it makes things more fun, it makes things easier.
Speaker 2:Ironically, on the way over here, when I was driving, I got the text saying about about the playoffs and like some, some promotion and you guys do a really good job. I feel like I'm getting the message out there. It's immersive on all your platforms.
Speaker 1:It's consistent.
Speaker 2:I have multiple clients who have partnered with the Stingrays and you know you have all these different opportunities. So if you're, if you're a small business, listening right now, um, they have all these incredible packages to market your business where you can. You know, for instance, my client, uh red plumbing, heating and air. They do, um, the warmups right. So you're, you're out there, you're watching the Stingrays play, and then there there's logos and logos and you know, a couple years ago we did like the kids takeover game. Can you talk a little bit about all the fun promotional opportunities?
Speaker 4:so you know, like being from boston, if you right, if you say the bruins are playing the canadians on saturday night 18 000, 20 000.
Speaker 4:The city shuts down the city shuts down, they're going to the game. In minor league sports it's it's a little um different um, and we have 36 home games, 36 away games. So you have to become creative in terms of attracting fans to come to the games. You know we had star wars night. This year we do spider-man. We, you know um, you know, share our suzy night for breast cancer awareness. There's always a different promotion or theme or something going on that appeals to folks who aren't necessarily the biggest hockey fans at the time. But then, once you get them to the game, sundays are geared towards kids and families. The game's at 3 o'clock. Our biggest game on Sunday this past year was Bluey's and we had both characters at the game.
Speaker 2:I love Bluey the cartoon.
Speaker 4:And we had 6,000 people on a Sunday. You know, early on, when I had the position, I was like what are you talking about? All this other stuff is important. We have plenty of hockey fans here we do, but not as many as we could appeal to. You know, doing these cool and fun promo nights and partnering with nonprofits and other organizations and companies and businesses who also want to jump on board and support the cause.
Speaker 4:Most of our specialty jersey auctions are tied into a donation back to, you know, the MUSC hauling center or the children's hospital or whatever else it may be. We've become smarter with that as well and ordering replica jerseys, because the you know, the auction jerseys go for like $500 to $1,000 to $2,000 and that prices out some folks who come to the game. So we've done a better job with getting replica jerseys that are a price point for folks who come to the games and want to go to it and they can go to the merch stand and get it. We've seen huge success with that this year. But it's really important to market the games with a promo around it, tie in our radio and TV partners to get the word out and then obviously get the support from some of our corporate partners as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I my. I'm on the PTO board of my kid's school and so y'all have been awesome. So they're Charles Pickney. Shout out Charles Pickney Elementary here in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2:We've partnered with you guys where we've bought like they've, we've had a link and you've been able to buy tickets and then we can all sit together as a group. And then I've worked with your marketing department to have some of the stingrays come to the kids school and do like the reading buddies program, and y'all are like walking around high five. You're all in our yearbook ps like all near, but like high five and the kids, all the boys, are like just sign my stuff and it's super. It's really cool what you're doing for the city of charleston.
Speaker 4:Thank you so yeah, community is big for the team. You know, we've always. You know, anita Zucker and Jerry Zucker were the old owners of the team back in the 90s when I played, and Mr Zucker always stressed the importance of giving back. Hockey's going to only be for a small period of time in your life and you have to make a difference. They still have a quote called Tikamolam it's a repair of the world. They have it on their suite at the game.
Speaker 4:So it's always been a huge part of the stingrays organizations, whether that's at school or going to the children's hospital, doing the reading program, teaching them how to play street hockey.
Speaker 4:Our front office, our players, they are so active in the charleston community and I think it.
Speaker 4:I think it helps them be better people but also, you know, shed a little bit of a spotlight on there's more to life than just playing sports and after hockey, you know you still got to be a good person, you still got to give back and things like that.
Speaker 4:So we're really proud of the amount of, you know, time we spend in the community, and not all of it is you. You know it has to do with money, it has to do with more. So, like you said, going to the picnic school bringing a puck or showing the kids how to play hockey high five of them and then it turns into interest for them and you're and the parents want to come to a game and, being 2025, it's so much more easier now to send out a FIBO link to you to send out to the school and who everyone wants to go and then they can do that. Back in the day we used to have to call everyone and it becomes hard to corral everyone together. Now it's just a link that everyone can just take it and go and I'm glad that pick me, elementary and a lot of the other schools have had a great time.
Speaker 2:Jake, you've been to some games this year, right.
Speaker 3:I've been to plenty of games this year. They're fun, aren't they? They are I, I. So I've had the pleasure of working with uh, the documentary team that's taking place on the stingrays, and so I've been up close and personal with some of the players of the ice and seeing the action on the on behind the boards, and it's been electric yeah, the action and the energy is like no other.
Speaker 3:I've never been to a hockey game until I started working for the documentary team on the Stingrays, and so the Stingrays was my first game, and after being to one, I was hooked ever since.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's funny, I have a daughter and I have a stepdaughter. My stepdaughter lives in Savannah and she went to school and she did her, like her fourth grade thesis project about the Stingraysrays, because, because you know, I'm bougie and my clients are bougie, so they let us go down there, like wear the helmets and be on the ice. And so she like brought in photos and videos and her stingray stuffed animal and now, like all these kids in savannah area are talking about the stingrays. It's, it's cool how you just like you've built this brand that, like you said, is not necessarily just for people who know hockey. Everyone wants to go.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean you talked about some of the. You know, sitting in the stands watching the game is one part of the experience, Right, but we offer different things for fans to be up close to the players.
Speaker 1:Like you had the bench experience, you sit on the bench.
Speaker 4:during warm-ups the players come over. You're curious is if they're in the zone or if they're going to interact with the kids, and then they spray water, they pick up a puck, they say hi to you guys. Hopefully you don't get hit with it on the bench.
Speaker 2:No no, no, we love it yeah.
Speaker 4:And then in the, and then After warm-ups when they go out for the starting lineup, you get the fan tunnel, the players high-five the kids and the parents and get to interact with the players in an environment that you normally don't think would be an opportunity to do. Savannah's become one of our rivals. They're only an hour and a half away. They are our.
Speaker 2:The ghost pirates, yeah, the ghost pirates.
Speaker 4:They do a really good job they do, but they're our closest team that we play against, which is great for traveling and the budget, because it's only an hour and 45 minutes away. But yeah, I mean there's a lot of different experiences. Like Jake was talking about, he's working with you know, echl Unfiltered. They've been covering the Stingrays for the whole season since the beginning of October and it's been great. It's been great to interact with Jake and some of his crew.
Speaker 2:Jake's so talented yeah.
Speaker 4:And I think in return, it makes them feel more comfortable. We feel comfortable with them and vice versa. We're able to be ourselves and at some point, get all the footage.
Speaker 2:I was going to say Jake mentioned the word documentaries. Jake, what have you all been working on?
Speaker 3:So they're doing a documentary called, I think it's Behind the Glass, where it's the unfiltered version of the Stingrays their Season, where we're interviewing the coaches, the players, micing them up on the ice and giving fans an insight of what they normally don't see Nice.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's called ECHL Unfiltered and we're the second team to do it. Last year they did it with the Idaho Steelheads. Tyler Nimmons, the producer of the show, was actually from Boise, idaho. So at the end of our board of governors meetings back in June, I told Ryan Creeland, the commissioner of the league. I said, if they do this again, we want to do it and I think, based on the season that we've had and the amount of excitement, that we've had that it's going to.
Speaker 4:once it's done and put together, it's going to be pretty cool and, like Jake was saying, it's interviews with the coaches and the players, but it's also like they're going to the apartments with some of the guys and seeing what they do behind the scenes or going to Ethos and where they work out and like. In the day of this thing it's kind of a little bit of like a hard knocks on. Hbo type thing.
Speaker 2:That's neat.
Speaker 4:But it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:When the players came to my kids' school like, the number one question was how many teeth do you have? Yeah how many teeth do you?
Speaker 4:have how many fights you've been in.
Speaker 2:How many fights you've been in how many teeth you've had and even one fourth grade child asked the guy if he was single and that was awkward the teacher quickly, but it was, it was.
Speaker 3:It was a moment for sure that's awesome so, speaking about fights, rob, you've had plenty of fights when you were a player um, I know a lot of teeth when you were a player.
Speaker 2:Do you have a lot of teeth? Yeah, I don't have teeth.
Speaker 3:Oh, I get it. A lot of people who aren't hockey fans don't realize that it's not just about the fighting. It's about teammates and sticking up for yourself and sticking up for your teammates. Can you touch on that a little bit?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean me specifically. When it came to fighting back in the day I had a big mouth, so when I ran my mouth I would usually either have to skate away from somebody to avoid them or stick up for myself, and sometimes it's more important to kind of stick up for yourself if you're going to run your mouth. But the game of hockey has changed so much and our league has changed so much. So much in our league has changed so much, so there are guys on our team who obviously have a role and more of a uh, physical presence and sometimes those are the guys who are, like you said, fighting to stick up for a teammate or fighting a similar tough guy on the other team. It's, uh, hockey's really the only sport that guys can actually fight one another and then get a penalty and then come out and play again.
Speaker 4:But sometimes things happen throughout the game that you know a bad hit or somebody high sticks somebody and you know a guy takes offense to it and he wants to go there and stick up for his teammate. You know we've the teams that have been successful for the Stingrays and we have one of those teams this year have been strong in the net defensively hard to play against, but also a physically hard team to play against. So that necessarily doesn't always correlate towards fighting, but I feel like, if there is times where teams want to take liberties or play a certain way, that we're going to be able to respond in a way that will probably be the aggressor and wind up having the advantage in that area.
Speaker 3:Nice. So when it comes to so, when I know for our hockey fans out there, when there is a fight that occurs, there's something called a penalty. You get a penalty for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And then one of your players gets taken off the ice and that makes a four and five situation off the ice, and that makes a four and five situation. How do you handle, um, those situations where the other team scores on, gets a, it gets a penalty goal against it and it results in a loss. How has the president of an organization how has experienced that? How do you handle that, those situations, and how do you instruct your coaches and players from there?
Speaker 4:yeah. So usually when guys fight it's actually kind of agreed upon 95 percent of the time. So each guy when they get into a fight they both get five minute majors. So that does not penalize a team. So you play five on five.
Speaker 4:If guys fight and they both get five minute majors, there are instances where somebody gets the instigator for fighting so they get an extra two minutes, where somebody gets the instigator for fighting so they get an extra two minutes and then the other team gets the power play. So in those situations I don't get mad. You know, sometimes in sports, especially in our league, it's a developmental league, the refs are young, they're new and sometimes you're watching the game and you're like that was a bad call or whatever. But for the most part if somebody's sticking up for somebody, jake, and they get an extra penalty and the other team scores on it, I don't get that frustrated. Actually we had the number one penalty kill in the league this year, like 86. So I'm confident that when situations like that happen the guys say no problem, we'll kill that penalty off that's good and um, you know, that's that's how we kind of our eye feel about.
Speaker 4:It's the ones where the refs kind of, you know the games are tight, or sometimes the refs, you know call the score like you'll be up three, nothing, and the next thing you know they're giving the other team power plays to potentially get back, and that's when it becomes a little bit more frustrating. But penalties are a part of the game and sometimes you get a. You know be be realistic about getting mad or not mad.
Speaker 2:Now, when you're marketing for your upcoming games, when you do your messaging, is it geared more towards the masses or is it geared more towards people who have season memberships or that kind of thing? I mean, how do you handle all of that? That's a lot of different audiences to hit at once.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I feel like the majority of our season ticket holders are diehard hockey fans.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So, we're not they speak the language of it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they're coming, no matter what.
Speaker 2:Got it.
Speaker 4:So, when it comes to those promo nights, I think it needs to be a combination of external marketing TV radio, ottv, sure and then internal social as well, um instagram, facebook, those platforms, um sometimes digital billboards yeah, you know what I mean there's pros and cons with those um the one right side of the the performance center.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have?
Speaker 4:yeah, we have. Those ones are the arenas that just give our date of a game. But then verde has a board across the street that we use where Tanger is that has pictures of two players right now and says April 18th and 19th. So it varies, you know, I think we. You know, we work with Jared Black and in the black marketing Jared's been a good friend of mine.
Speaker 2:forever he's been on our. Yeah, we love him.
Speaker 4:He's a great guy, so him and him and his crew do a great job of communicating with us as to what they're seeing on the back end of things, who's buying tickets and then trying to figure out where to strategically spend those marketing dollars to get the most bang for the buck, I feel like Charleston, is a last minute city.
Speaker 2:It is 100% a last minute city.
Speaker 4:And even last week when we started the marketing, we didn't really see any movement.
Speaker 4:And here we are Thursday before the day of the game, and today and yesterday you can start seeing the numbers kind of tick up. We try to educate the fan as well. Who's coming out to the game because I think it's cheaper and better to buy earlier. The more you wait to the last minute or you walk up to the game because I think it's cheaper and better to buy earlier, the more you wait to the last minute or you walk up to the game, those extra ticket master fees, the extra fees at the box office, they start to add up. That's why sometimes you know there are, you know, a fan occasionally who's like, wow, that was really expensive.
Speaker 4:And then you ask them how they got their ticket and they're like, oh, I walked up a quarter of seven and then it's like nine plus 11 plus the 24 ticket, when they could call the office talk to them about flex ticket that's a good tip for people, yeah it's um, we try to, we try to do that. And then with social media and stingrays hockeycom, there's a lot of y'all do a great job on social media.
Speaker 2:Your reels are very compelling and fun. And then now did you have bluey and bingo and the whole gang when you had the bluey night we had two, we had both characters, I think Bluey and I forget what the other one's name was, bingo.
Speaker 4:They went over. They went over really good, they did.
Speaker 2:Oh, I bet they did. Are you already working on your 2025, 2026 season?
Speaker 4:We are a little bit, you know, right now being, you know, in the playoffs and with the season ending regular season ending on Sunday, we've started to kind of you know, have the conversations.
Speaker 4:Yeah, have a little bit of conversations, but also focusing in on the playoff games Friday and Saturday and then the what-if situations, Like if we go to Orlando Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and lose, are we going to play Saturday and Sunday, which will be game six, Sunday and Tuesday, which will be game six and seven. So we're always trying to, you know, get ahead of things internally but probably stay present when it comes to, you know, the playoffs in general, because you don't want to just start thinking about everything else when you have games still to play. But it is important for our marketing folks and social media and graphic design to kind of have head starts on things, as opposed to me saying to them on Friday hey, we got to start marketing everything on Saturday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, that makes sense yeah.
Speaker 3:Are you worried about the Bradham cup curse?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 4:What is this no?
Speaker 2:What is this curse?
Speaker 4:So the Bradham pot, the Bradham cup, is, it's given to the ECHL team who finishes the year with the best regular season record and first overall.
Speaker 4:So that kind of like the stanley cup no, stanley cup is going to be the kelly cup, kind of like the president's trophy in the nhl, given to the team that finishes first overall. So we actually this is the second time we won it. The last time we won it was in 1996 97 I was actually playing for the team. So we won the, the Brabham Cup and the Kelly Cup that year and we were the first team to actually win the regular season championship and the playoff championship. The trophy came to the office yesterday. The staff was very excited to touch it and play with it and I kind of told them just let it be. We don't need any pictures, we don't need any media behind it. Don't curse us, don't curse it, just let it be there. But there is a little bit of Jake of you know trying not to you know Be overexcited, yeah be overexcited about it.
Speaker 2:That's cool.
Speaker 4:And maybe there is a curse, but we don't want to have one on our watch.
Speaker 3:So the last time I think it was, was it 20? Well, the last time the curse was broken was 2014. Was it? Yeah, I forget which team was it, but I was just you know, I was doing my research on it.
Speaker 1:It sounds like it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was a little bit nervous, but the fact that you guys won it in 96 and 97 made me feel a lot better.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, winning it is great from a marketing perspective is if you finish first overall in the league, you have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. So then I can start working closely with the North Charleston Coliseum, seeing when graduations, other events are going on and. I can kind of map out when we would be playing, because we are the number one seed throughout the whole playoffs. So that helps us tremendously from a marketing standpoint and getting the word out.
Speaker 3:As a coach's standpoint, are you allowed to pick and choose some of those games? So it's not like where you were talking about earlier, where you got stuck on a six-hour bus ride and then immediately had to go play. Are you able to be like all right, we're playing a away game, we can give our players a day off and then let's have the next two games on this day and that day?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean like right now we're playing Orlando in the first round. We're playing Friday, saturday at home. We'll drive down Sunday. Play there Monday. Tuesday will be a day off. Play Wednesday, thursday. Come back Thursday after the game. Play Sunday if we have a game six and 7. Yeah, so I mean the coach and I talk A little bit of downtime. Yeah, a little bit of downtime. You know what I mean, as you know it.
Speaker 2:But they're also probably pretty hyped. They're probably they are.
Speaker 4:But if you play like Friday and Saturday and then Monday, wednesday, thursday, you're playing five games in seven nights and it's playoff hockey. So it's not regular season. So I think even during the regular season this past year, jake, I think we did a great job of identifying like, if we had a three game and three night Monday, friday, saturday, sunday Monday was always off, but there were times later on in the year where we gave them Tuesday offer. We, we, we made them go down to ethos and go in the cold tub and the sauna and work out and do things like that. So it is important to balance. You know practicing and resting, but as you get into the playoffs you practice less and rest probably more.
Speaker 2:Do you do any like team building outside of constantly being together, like in the offseason?
Speaker 4:Well, at the beginning of the year I think the guys went on a little bit of a cruise like in the harbor. We took them to dinner the other night, you know to, to celebrate the the regular season. They really enjoyed that. Um, you know, we don't really have time during the season per se to to go out. Sometimes, like you guys, you're at work and you want to be left alone you're like, I just want to hang out, I just want to hang out and be by myself, sure.
Speaker 4:So I think sometimes that's important to them as well. With playing games community, you've got to kind of balance it and identify times where they may need to just you know rest.
Speaker 2:Okay, so what can we expect for the upcoming season Like? Is it going to be marketing wise? Is it going to be similar format to this year?
Speaker 4:Well, I mean, I think we have some time to. You know, go over the data. You know, we know that Saturday nights are our biggest night. Fridays are second. Sundays are third. During the week there's a lot of different things that families and people have to do, so we try to stay away from the weeknight games, that's smart. I think, obviously identifying the promo nights that were successful this past season Anything?
Speaker 2:around children seems to do well for you guys. Yeah, or the military, yep, the veterans.
Speaker 4:Military appreciation night is always good, yep, and then kind of start plugging those things in at some time. I mean, I think the first draft of the schedule came out the other day, so we have, you know, some dates with the coliseum because they have concerts and other things going on. Um, but we're we're, we're working on it quietly behind the scenes, but I think, um, you know, last year we ended the playoffs. You know we didn't make the playoffs in april, so we had a lot more time. But now we're going to probably just concentrate on the playoffs and and then work into that sometime in the next month or so.
Speaker 3:That's cool speaking of the coliseum uh kelsey ballerini, uh palette ballerini yeah ballerini came and played um the other night. She was wearing she was wearing a stingrays jersey.
Speaker 4:That is pretty iconic yeah sometimes you get lucky, like we had jelly roll there um at a game. No, he was at, he he played the night before we played yeah so we gave him a jersey and a hat and he actually came out with it on. And then the other night Kelsey Bellarini was there and I think everyone knows she loves Charleston she spends a lot of time At her banks.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Chase Stokes, so Kelsey's somebody in Kelsey's family or friend had her jersey on in the audience. So then she came out with Chase's jersey on towards the end of the concert.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 4:Which is pretty cool and fun. I mean, a lot of those artists do that at every venue and I think it's pretty cool that they actually do that.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure I saw the pictures of Stingrays on peoplecom, so I think you're doing great.
Speaker 4:It was on peoplecom, I'm pretty sure peoplecom, so I think you're doing. It was on peoplecom.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure really, yeah, we'd have to check that out.
Speaker 4:Yep, gotta know me.
Speaker 2:I'll make us look here. I saw it everywhere, that's awesome.
Speaker 4:Good to look it up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's pretty cool, and fun yeah, you guys are do this initiative where you kind of write a check and you give back to a nonprofit. You actually highlighted one of the nonprofits I work with the North Charleston pops awesome, and thank you for doing that.
Speaker 4:Well, that's our owner, Todd.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:That's Todd Halloran. There's a team in the NHL that does something similar and Todd really liked the idea and the team came to Charleston in 1993. The Stingrays the first year was 1993. Last year we did $1,000. So Todd wanted to do a little bit more this year, so all 36 home games. With the help of Sarah Shamlin, who does a terrific job with our community relations, we've identified organizations like the Pops. And then every game, todd calls it the community assist of the game, tied into hockey yep, yeah, and assist and um he's been.
Speaker 4:He's been really active in the charleston community and he wants to give back to organizations like the pops and other folks who could use a little financial assistance and help, um, so it's been really well received. Um, you know, todd's not a big guy on fanfare and things like that, so he's not really looking for. He's doing it for the right reasons, yep, and we're really proud of being able to kind of give back and help out the Charleston and the North Charleston community.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. I love it, I love it. Well, we've talked about a lot of fun stuff, so anything else you want any, any like fun little stories? You want to leave?
Speaker 4:us with oh stories.
Speaker 2:Like you know any crazy moments that we need to know about.
Speaker 4:I think we'd be here all day. I'm 54. I got a lot of funny stories, but no, I appreciate you guys, I have a fan that's in the stands with the suspenders.
Speaker 2:Do you know who I'm talking about?
Speaker 4:Mr Suspenders.
Speaker 2:He's called Mr Suspenders.
Speaker 4:He's called Mr Suspenders.
Speaker 2:We always try to like sit near him or try to find him.
Speaker 4:So, Mr, Suspenders has been doing that. Oh man, I think his daughter is an adult now.
Speaker 4:Okay, so he's been doing it since since the 90s, but I do have a funny story about that. So our head coach, jared nightingale, he has a friend named bud. Bud lives up in myrtle beach area, um, and when jared was playing in syracuse he met bud. Bud was the mailman, so they've remained friends ever since. So the other night at the last home game, bud brought his own suspenders oh gosh, so at an adjacent section, own suspenders oh gosh, so at an adjacent section. Mr Suspenders was on the Jumbotron and then we had a split screen on the Jumbotron and Bud was over there doing his suspenders dance and his fell off and it was just a little bit more messy than Mr Suspenders. Mr Suspenders is the pro, but the guys on the bench you could see them looking at Bud and Coach was laughing too because his buddy was on the Jumbotron. But I think that was a funny story to kind of chit-chat about. But Mr Suspenders and Bud, they had a little dance-off.
Speaker 4:They had a little dance-off, but it was cool.
Speaker 3:So, Rob, I have one more question for you. So I know your affiliate teams, both the Hershey Bears and the Washington Capitals, have had spectacular seasons as well where they're both finishing first in the AHL and the NHL. Has that helped kind of drive and bring the energy and some of the marketing towards the Stingrays as well?
Speaker 4:I would think a little bit. I mean, I think in Charleston we have a lot of folks like myself who are from the Northeast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm from Virginia, so the Capitals and the Capitals are.
Speaker 4:And the Capitals being affiliated with us. You know, we talk to fans sometimes and there are a lot who know that we are affiliated with them and then there are some like who might have just moved here, who didn't really know. But I just think, yeah, I think it does help. You know, with social media and the Hershey Bears do a great job of covering us Washington Capital their goalie played for us. The head coach of the Washington Capitals also worked for us for five or six years and coached here. So it's one of the strongest affiliations in the ECHL, nhl and AHL and we're proud to be partners with them. It's been like 18 years. We do have five guys who are actually NHL and AHL. We're proud to be partners with them. It's been like 18 years. We do have five guys who are actually under NHL contract. So that's always cool to be a part of that as well. But I think to your question, Jake, I think it does help a little bit that we're all doing so well and affiliated with one another.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Well, I love the stingrays. I think you guys are doing great things for the city and the community, so keep it up.
Speaker 4:I'm excited. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:I'm definitely going to a playoff game, so I'm excited, I'm going to.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, Rob. I appreciate having us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and thank you for employing Jake from time to time. Thank you Jake, good jake he's our boy he is.
Speaker 3:Can we get a?
Speaker 2:uh, let's go raise on three, one, two, three. I love it. All right, guys. Before we leave, we need to thank our sponsors. Obviously the charleston media solutions shout out to brian cleary, who's here helping us today uh, jerry feels good. And the american marketing association, and if you want to be a sponsor or a guest on our show, please reach out to us at podcast at Charleston AMA dot org and we will get back to you. All right, closes out Jake.
Speaker 3:Thank you for being with us today. Until next time, Charleston.
Speaker 2:Bye, stay, classy.
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