DC United Recap
On Tuesday, March 26, the University of Maryland Sports Business Society welcomed James Arnold, James Clark, and Adam Fremd. Arnold, Clark and Fremd work in the ticket sales and service department for D.C. United.
Adam Fremd is currently the manager of inside sales and provided insight into the challenges and experiences of his 4 ½ years at D.C. United. Fremd discussed the shifting perspectives of the sales tactics as the club has dramatically changed last year.
“We learned how to you sell experience, how do you pretty much sell without a superstar, and then with Audi Field shifting with Rooney coming on board, it just made the conversation a lot easier,” Fremd said.
Fremd used his minor league baseball experience to pitch experience and culture to his potential customers. In his current role, he manages an introductory sales team that has face-to-face interaction with fans. Additionally, he is tasked with ticket sales with D.C. United’s USL-affiliate Loudoun United.
James Arnold is currently a co-director of the ticket sales and service department and has been a part of D.C. United for eight seasons. Arnold talked about the professional growth and creativity that he has achieved throughout his time at D.C. United.
“Control what you can control,” Arnold said. “We could never control the venue that we played in, we could never control the outcome on the field, but we could control our attitude and effort as professionals when we walked in the office every day and how we directly impacted our fanbase.”
Additionally, Arnold talked about the importance of building strong relationships and interacting with fans behind the scenes of the on-field product. Tactics like promotional nights, the supporter group and reconstructing the culture of D.C. United have allowed for the recent successes. Arnold seeks to continue to propel D.C. United as he overlooks the department with James Clark.
James Clark is also a co-director of the ticket sales and service department and has worked at D.C. United for six years. Clark discussed the unique opportunity to struggle, learn and mature in his trying first years at the club and how those years of hard work and creativity have led to rewarding benefits.
Additionally, Clark referenced the MLS’s already existing growth and future potential. He has an optimistic view on the future potential of the club and the league as it works to slowly compete with the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL. Clark later discussed the importance of corporate partnerships to ticket sales which provide sustainable and high cost sales. Since the introduction of Wayne Rooney and the transition to Audi Field, there has been a lot of success, but Clark remains focused on ensuring a positive and rewarding culture for the future.
Arnold, Clark and Fremd all talked about the importance of selling an experience and promoting the right culture. This is true about ticket sales but also about your individual career. Clark said it best: “Don’t chase something specific, don’t chase a title, don’t chase a role, don’t chase anything like that. Find a culture, or a leader, or a team or something that connects with your passion and follow that.”
