Transcript

The transcript below has been lightly edited for readability and clarity. Click any starting timestamp to jump to that exact point in the YouTube video.

Podcast Introduction

[00:00] Don Costante:

Welcome to The Rundown Podcast, hosted by Don Costante, a nationally recognized event presentation expert with over 30 years of experience and author of Beyond the Scoreboard. This podcast takes you behind the scenes with industry leaders to unpack the insights, strategies, and creative tactics that drive unforgettable live experiences. Let’s get started.

Meet Jason Lodato

[00:27] Don Costante:

On this episode of The Rundown, I’m joined by Jason Lodato, Senior Director of Game Presentation at BSE Global, where he leads the live experience for the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Liberty. Jason’s career spans over 15 years across the NBA and MLS, with leadership roles at the Golden State Warriors, New York City Football Club, and the NBA League office. He’s also managed events at iconic venues like Madison Square Garden and Grand Central Terminal. A St. John’s graduate with a degree in sports management, Jason brings deep insight into the strategy and storytelling behind creating unforgettable fan experiences. During our conversation, we will touch on his career path, his approach to event presentation, and dive deep into the art and impact of team introductions. I’m ready to get started. Let’s meet Jason Lodato. Hi, Jason. Thanks for joining me on The Rundown.

[01:24] Jason Lodato:

Hey, John. Thank you so much for having me. Looking forward to it. It’s always great to catch up with you.

[01:28] Don Costante:

Now, for those listening, I should tell you that Jason and I go back a few years to our days working together on several NBA All-Star Jam sessions from 2003 to 2016. We had some fun back then, didn’t we, Jason?

[01:42] Jason Lodato:

We sure did. It was a lot of work and very hectic. I used to call you the general back then because you were my right hand, and you were the one that I relied on very heavily to help me get everything done and kind of keep things moving. So, yeah, we spent a lot of days and nights together throughout the country, and it was an honor to work beside you.

Jason Lodato’s Career Path

[02:01] Don Costante:

It was my honor as well. And before we get into today’s topic of team introductions, I’d like to begin by taking a moment and have you share your career path to becoming Senior Director of Game Presentation for the Brooklyn Nets.

[02:15] Jason Lodato:

Sure. Thank you for asking me. And this is something that I do get asked about a lot. And I’m very, very fortunate to, you know, worked in this industry for many years. And I was actually in high school. I had a dream, like many do, of becoming a professional athlete. I really wanted to play baseball. And then it came to a realization that, one, I wasn’t that good enough. And two, the chances weren’t great to have that become a reality. So I was in a career workshop in high school, and they had speakers from various colleges and universities. And Dean Beglin, at the time, from St. John’s University, was speaking to my high school. They were talking about sports management and the business side of sports. And at that time, I had no idea what that was. It was a very new elective in college and a new course. Now there’s a lot of different colleges and universities that offer that program. But at the time, it was one of the first. So I had no idea what that meant. St. John’s was a university that I wanted to attend. So I, on the spot, said, I’m going to study sports management and kind of figure out what it was. And I studied it. And obviously, you learn the intricacies and the ins and outs of the industry and what it means. And you learn a whole new perspective in terms of what goes on behind the scenes in sports. And, you know, as just being a sports fan back then, obviously, I had no idea what that entailed. I didn’t know what any of those things meant. And I studied it and I loved it. And I kind of took it from there.

[03:37] Jason Lodato:

And at the time, the Knicks were hiring for a fan festival that they were having. And I sent in my application, my resume. And I heard back from them a while after. And I said that they hired an outside agency and they would hold on to my information for future reference. And, you know, I kind of just put it behind me, didn’t even think about it. And a couple of months after that, the Knicks had reached out to me again and said that they were hiring for part-time game night staff members. Again, didn’t really know what that meant, but I certainly was interested. And I got hired to work part-time for them as a game night staff member. And I kind of started my career there, Don, and it’s evolved ever since. And I got hired a few years after that full-time at Madison Square Garden. So I worked on properties such as the Knicks and the Rangers, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Liberty at the time. They were under that umbrella and kind of just, you know, made my way up the ranks. So I’ve been very, very fortunate that I’ve been in the industry for many years. I don’t want to date myself, but lucky enough to have gotten in during college and just worked my way up the ranks. And I’ve loved it ever since. I’m still very, very passionate about it. It’s what I know. It’s what I love. It’s what I enjoy. And it’s been great. It’s been a great career so far.

League Level vs. Team Level Event Presentation

[04:45] Don Costante:

So answer the question out there from those that might be listening. What’s the difference between working at the league level versus the team level in event presentation?

[04:54] Jason Lodato:

Sure. I am very fortunate to have done both. I was at the NBA league office for about six years. I got to travel the world planning various different events and with the concentration on programming and entertainment and game ops. So the league, for the most part, they kind of they set the rules. They kind of dictate what you can and what you can’t do. Another thing that the NBA is very, very good at is they really establish conversation amongst all the teams. So you can talk about best practices and you can, you know, if you’re exploring doing a ticket offer on Tuesday nights and you’re struggling a little bit, they could literally link you up with any other team in the league and say, hey, you know, X team did this and they found it very, very successful. So the league is very good at maintaining relationships with the teams, making sure that you’re following the rules and all that stuff. But more importantly, sharing best practices. As game directors, we speak to the NBA and all of our colleagues around the league each week. We kind of just go through any topics that we want to talk about. If there’s any rule changes, if there’s any issues that we encountered, if there’s something new that we tried or something new that we discovered. So they’re very, very good at encouraging collaboration and conversation.

[06:02] Jason Lodato:

And it’s really not a competition. Obviously, the teams compete on the court, but on the business side of things, they want each team to succeed. So they’re very, very good at kind of bridging the gap and making sure that teams talk to each other and share best practices, kind of get together, talk about things, share ideas. So that’s really the biggest difference on the team side. Obviously, you bring to life the individual team’s vision. So it’s very much catered to that demographic, to that market, to your particular fan base, to the goals of the individual organization, where the league is more focused on the business side as a whole and making sure that things are running smooth. And again, just encourage a conversation. So it’s an entirely different experience. I will tell you that for me, I learned a lot working for both sides. So you just see things a little bit different when you work for a team versus a league and kind of have a league approaches dealing with teams. So I have that unique perspective of having kind of both sides of it. I have a lot of friends still in the league office and I rely on them heavily just to help out when I have any questions or need to balance an idea by them. So it’s very, very different, but it’s great. And again, very fortunate to have experience on both sides.

[07:14] Don Costante:

Yeah, absolutely. And it benefits the team that you’re working for at the team level with that knowledge and experience at the league level. I was in Major League Baseball for a number of years. There was no best practices being shared. I know more and more leagues are doing that, but it just surprises me that that’s something that is not a common practice. It’s kind of an exception rather than the rule.

[07:33] Jason Lodato:

Yeah, I agree, Don. And I spent some time in MLS. I worked for New York City Football Club and I helped start that club from day one. And one of the things that I tried to instill because it was still a relatively young league at the time was that type of collaboration and participation and encouraged my counterparts to get together. And we would organize internally just different meetings and workshops and visits with other clubs just to see what other teams were doing because the league didn’t do too much of it back then. I think they’ve come a long way since my days at NYCFC. But you bring up a really good point where the NBA, I think, does the best job in terms of all of the different leagues, just encouraging that conversation because it is really important. And again, the competitive side stays competitive on the pitch or on the field or on the ice, wherever it may be. But the business side of things, we can all benefit from just hearing what other teams do, what worked, what didn’t work. And the NBA is, I think, by far the leader just in terms of that communication. And shout out to their Team Business Operations department just for kind of bridging that gap and building all the relationships and maintaining it and being really an advocate for what we do. They want us on the team level to succeed.

[08:39] Jason Lodato:

And it’s really important for them. It’s good for business. It’s good for the league. So they’re very, very helpful and they want to find solutions. It’s not so much, hey, what can they ding you for? You know, what rule did you break? It’s really not about that. And I think that perception a lot of people have, too, where they monitor everything. That’s really not the case at all. It’s really, you know, they want everyone to succeed and do great things.

Building All-Star Teams and Learning From the Best

[09:00] Don Costante:

Now, teens have great staff, but surely at the league level, you have your pick to bring in people from across the league. Isn’t that a huge advantage when you are working on marquee events?

[09:11] Jason Lodato:

Yeah, absolutely. You know, you get to see and hear what other teams do and you see all these great programming ideas and great concepts. And you just hear about all these fantastic things that are being done around the league. So when you work on All-Star and you get to pick people from different markets and people that maybe you haven’t worked with them and you kind of know the work that they do and the work ethic and kind of what they bring to the table. It really, you know, All-Star was always about having, yeah, it’s the best players, but it’s also the best staff around. And you have the best of the best helping produce and direct and execute your shows and events at the highest level. So it was always an honor for me to get to work besides people like yourself and my colleagues and counterparts and friends throughout the league to help bring stuff together on my behalf and on the league’s behalf. So it was always an honor and a privilege, but it was really, for me, it was overwhelming because I got a chance to take a step back and see all you guys kind of do what you do every day and really admire it. And it was great. I’ve built so many great friendships and relationships. I’ve learned so much just from working besides people like yourself and it’s great. And these are still friendships and that I’ll maintain forever throughout my career.

[10:16] Jason Lodato:

So All-Star was, you know, it’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of hours and stressful moments, of course. But knowing that I had people like you by my side to help me get through all that much better and easier because it’s, again, the best of the best.

Critical Skills for Success in Event Presentation

[10:29] Don Costante:

Now, you talked about learning from those that were brought in. What skills, and I’m not just talking about All-Star now, but what skills have been most critical to your success as you’ve progressed through your various roles?

[10:42] Jason Lodato:

Well, Don, I came up really on the programming side of things and entertainment side of things. So I really didn’t come up in game presentation. I worked, obviously, I worked game nights for the Knicks on the execution side of things. But I was at the league office, I really focused on, you know, I’ve always had a knack for coming up with programming, coming up with good ideas, you know, building out different assets for corporate partners. And that was something that was always a strong suit for me. I always knew how that worked in terms of game presentation because I was always around it. So I knew how part A fit with part B to make part C. But for me, the game ops and calling games and producing games and directing games were something that came much later in my career. So being around people like you and the folks that I worked around at NBA All-Star, it was great for me because you had that game direction, that game production experience where writing a script and executing a script. And obviously, you know this better than anyone. I mean, what we do is literally detail to the second. So that was something where when I first started my career, I was really based on just ideas and concepts and coming up with something cool and different and fun. And, you know, you can come up with the best idea, but if you can’t execute it properly, it really doesn’t mean anything.

[11:51] Jason Lodato:

So I was always around people that were very, very good on the execution side of things. You can take my idea. You can bring it to life. You can say, ah, you probably didn’t allocate enough time for that or you need a little bit more time for this. So you didn’t think about the amount of time that we need to get on and off the court to execute that. So for me, All-Star was really great to work besides people like yourself that had the production experience, that had the game direction experience because it showed me a different side of the business in terms of time management and how to script things to the second. And now stuff is being broadcast where if you do a grassroots event and you’re in another country and it’s not being broadcast, if you need a contest to take a half hour, it can take half hour. It doesn’t really impact anything. But in our world, in the live event production world, everything is timed and everything is televised and you have a very short window. So that’s a skill that I picked up really working alongside people like yourself across different All-Stars and just really learning that side of the business and how to script and execute. I learned from the best. I really did.

Building NYCFC’s Match Presentation From Scratch

[12:54] Don Costante:

As you’ve developed later in your career, the directing role, producing games, talk a little bit or share maybe a pivotal moment or a project that really shaped your philosophy and event presentation.

[13:07] Jason Lodato:

Well, I would say my first big role in game presentation was when I worked for New York City Football Club and I was hired as a director of match presentation and events. And that was really kind of shaping what that program looked like. And it was a new club at the time. They were beginning play in 2015. I was hired in 2014 to really kind of shape what game days, match days looked like for the team. So I had to come up with what is the philosophy? How are we going to entertain fans from literally when they step on the grounds to they get to their seat to when they leave? And that was something for me that was new for me, but it was something that I was very, very passionate about. Like I mentioned before, I’ve always been keen to the programming side of things and really kind of coming up with new ideas. So that was the first time I actually had to develop a philosophy for a team and for a club and put together what does that look like? What does every moment of the day look like? And, you know, we take for granted our sports fans. You go to a sporting event and whatever programming entertainment you see outside and the music and the videos and all the things that kind of bring the game to life. As a fan, you just show open and that’s kind of what it is. I mean, I look at things in a different lens now, but as the person that was literally responsible for each one of those elements, for me, that was the first time that I really kind of felt a shift in my career, a shift in my skill set.

[14:24] Jason Lodato:

And that was a whole new level of responsibilities and something that I, you know, very, very proud of to start a sports club anywhere in the country is an honor. And to be able to do that in New York as a native New Yorker and just to see the team success now, it’s been great. It was an honor and that’s something that I took with me. And it’s a skill that, you know, I do and I take very serious every day. But that was kind of a big leap for me because that was just a whole new thing that I had to learn for myself. And I was constantly learning on the fly. It was a sport that I had watched on TV, but I wasn’t super versed in. So I just had to learn the intricacies of the soccer match and how different that is from an NBA game and how you entertain fans. It’s a completely different concept. The timing is different. The windows of time that you have to do it are different. Soccer purists are different than NBA fans. For me, it was eye-opening. And to me, that was probably the biggest kind of jump in my career that I took was to have primarily an NBA programming background. And now how does that translate to a whole new sport and a whole new program, a whole new team? So that was something that I’m super proud of. And I look back and I’m still kind of taken back by just all the great things that we were able to do there.

[15:34] Don Costante:

Well, you should be proud of that because anybody starting something from scratch with an organization, it’s an opportunity, but it’s a lot of stress and responsibility. Especially going into a sport that although you knew football or soccer, you had never really been around it. I remember working with Manchester City and being brought in to do consulting. It was the same thing. The atmosphere was unique. The one thing that I kind of leaned on was the fact that the core principles of event presentation apply anywhere and at any level. It’s just learning how to customize that to specifically the fan base. That was a lot of fun. And I’m sure that was the exact same thing that you went through, obviously, in New York. You talked about shaping that philosophy and then I’m really interested now in having you kind of share what is your event presentation philosophy? It doesn’t have to be specific to what you’re doing now in Brooklyn, but if somebody were to just ask you, Jason, tell me, what is your philosophy to event presentation? What would that be?

Jason’s Event Presentation Philosophy

[16:33] Jason Lodato:

Great question, Don. And for me, I think everyone has civic pride. Everyone is super proud of where they come from. So if you’re from New York or wherever you’re from, everyone is very, very proud to represent that city or that state, that market. So for me, I’ve always been about bringing out that civic pride. And I think by utilizing local traditions, really being ingrained in terms of what is popular within that market is always been something that has been near and dear to me. Again, I did it at NYCFC. You know, I worked for the Golden State Warriors for five years. I’m a native New Yorker. I was very, very nervous about moving to the West Coast because their program was so strong. Their game experience was so great. And shout out to BY and all of the folks that kind of brought that show to that level that I didn’t want to interrupt that. I was, you know, a native New Yorker. What I knew was New York and I knew East Coast culture and I knew the kind of the vibe of what people like here. I was very nervous going there because I didn’t want to interrupt anything. I didn’t want to do something to be disrespectful or I didn’t want something to miss the mark because that’s an East Coast thing. So I literally spent two years when I was ingrained in the local culture and going to local events and listening to local music and learning kind of their lingo and the way they do things.

[17:55] Jason Lodato:

And that’s when I started to kind of make my mark over there was just doing things that were very near and dear and true to that particular market. And I think it’s really, really important. I’ve always had that philosophy of take local traditions and do things that work well within your market that are organic and authentic to those particular markets and build your show and build your event based off of those principles. Don’t try to be another market. If you’re in Indiana, don’t try to be Las Vegas. Las Vegas is Las Vegas. If you’re in New York, don’t try to be Las Vegas. So having that philosophy, and I think there’s people that they admire what other teams do and they try to kind of replicate that in their own markets. And to me, that’s not an approach I’ve always had. You can certainly admire, you can respect, and you can adapt versions of what they do, but make it true to your particular market and do things that are, again, authentic to wherever you’re from. Because there’s always a way to do it that your local fan base will react to and they’ll respect it. They’ll be like, oh, that’s really cool that they took this tradition in this city and they brought it here, but they made it ours. So I think for me, that’s always been very, very important to me is really be authentic to the market that you’re in.

[19:07] Jason Lodato:

And that was true when I would plan events across the world for the NBA. I would always hire local people to help me put those events on because while they wanted an NBA experience and while I wanted to deliver them an authentic NBA experience, I wanted there to be a flair of local culture. And I wanted there to be a part of the show or the event that the locals could be like, oh, wow, they know we do that. Or that’s really cool that they integrated that. So for me, just again, being very true, organic and authentic to whatever market I was in was always been and has always been near and dear to me. And for me, that’s always been my philosophy is just kind of stay true to that. You mentioned before, Don, just having the basic principles of game presentation one-on-one. I think always having that top of mind, that’ll get you through any event, just knowing the right way to do things, the wrong way to do things. You can produce any type of event, just having that base for yourself. But I think just being mindful of where you’re doing it and what’s important to those fans that are coming out to see your show or game or event or whatever it may be and touching them and giving them a moment to be like, oh, that’s really cool that they do that. Or they know that that’s a thing. Like, how do they know that we do that when we celebrate locally?

[20:18] Jason Lodato:

Like really being in tune with those types of cultural moments is really, really important to me.

[20:24] Don Costante:

Oh, so well said. Making connections in your community and building upon those connections and using them in your event presentation to create the authenticity of your presentation in that market is so important. So well said, Jason. Let’s now dive into team introductions. Today’s topic. To me, team introductions are so pivotal to event presentation. They set that tone for the entire game-day experience. I personally see team introductions as the climactic moment where you want everybody in their seats ready to be part of something truly special. I’m excited to really explore from you your approach on how you create these unforgettable experiences. I think there are a lot of people out there in different situations. Some may be struggling right now as they’re listening to this podcast as to their introduction. Maybe it just doesn’t have enough sizzle. Maybe it’s just playing a video and they kind of roll from there. Maybe some people really feel they’re doing a great job, but they’re always looking for opportunities to improve. So today, listening to what you do, I think, is going to help a lot of people out there. So what is your philosophy to team introductions?

The Art and Impact of Team Introductions

Jason’s Philosophy on Team Introductions

[21:33] Jason Lodato:

Well, great question, Don. And as you mentioned before, that definitely is a moment that all eyes are on team introductions. And everyone tries to be in their seats for that. And I think for me, an important thing to remember when it comes to team introductions is that, yes, it’s for the fans. And obviously, that’s a moment for the fans to connect to the players. But I also look at it as it’s a moment for the players as well. That’s a moment for them to be out there as a team. If you have a rookie making their first start or a guy coming back from injury and this is his first game back, like introductions for teams, for the players themselves, are super, super important as well. So I think hitting the mark with introductions is very, very important for various reasons. Again, it’s a connection for the players and the fans. It’s also a moment of establishing that energy and home court advantage and home field advantage. That’s the time that you do it. So my approach is I really kind of look at every single element. You know, a lot of people look at team introductions as just like the intro video and the sequence of when you introduce the players. And, you know, while that is the introduction portion of it, there’s a buildup to it. There’s a blowoff video. There’s a pre-tip video. There’s moments that kind of lead up to the introduction.

[22:44] Jason Lodato:

So I try to take a step back and I look at every single moment leading up to literally the game starting. And how do you make each one of those moments special? How do you do something that’s unique and different, authentic to the market that you’re in? How do you showcase your players in the best light? So I try to take a step back, look at every single moment and figure out what we can do better, how we can change things up. I don’t know how baseball does it, Don. I don’t know how you did it for that many games. NBA season, it’s long. It’s 41 home games and you have preseason and you have playoffs and how to keep things fresh. And I think just really keeping up with the team, too, is very, very important. It’s great when the team is on a road trip because you get a little bit of a break and you get time to plan kind of your next home stand. But watch the games. Look for big plays. Look for key highlights. I think one of the things that gets lost is just how to keep it fresh and how to keep it new and adding new highlights and swapping out highlights. We try to do it once a month where we add new highlights and we take out old highlights and put new stuff in. And I think that’s always a good thing. Another thing that’s really helped the NBA, and I think that’s been really helpful to the NBA product, is just the implementation of new uniforms and different uniforms.

[23:57] Jason Lodato:

So now you can have various different show open. So you can have a city edition open and you can have a statement edition open and you can have an association open. And there’s new ways to kind of evolve the show open and different ways to do things. So I think that staying on top of what’s fresh, keeping up with the team, it’s super, super important. You can have eight games in a month and it’s hard to find the time to come up with something new. But I think just adding new highlights, changing a music edit, having different versions of your show open, I think is super, super important. But I think really taking a step back and looking at every single moment is crucial to the success of a show and to it not getting stale. And even if you change the tip-off video, but you leave the blow-off video for now and then you wait and then you swap that out. When you put all those pieces together, if you’re a season ticket member and you come to numerous games, you’re seeing and experiencing something new often. So it doesn’t feel like the same. So that’s always been my approach is you really just look at every element and how to make each one of those elements feel special as opposed to just focusing on the actual introduction. Which again is super, super important. But I think if you lose sight of all of the other moments around it and you just focus on the show open, I think that’s where some teams kind of lose the grand effect of what they’re trying to do.

[25:19] Jason Lodato:

Because you can have a great show open, but then you have a 90-second window before the ball goes in the air that like, that’s another moment that you can do something really cool and very special and you can create a tradition or you can do something musically that your team really loves. And I think for me, it’s looking at every single moment, literally that leads into the ball going up in the air. That’s kind of my philosophy is try to give the entire show that much love and attention as opposed to just focus on just the introduction sequence.

[25:50] Don Costante:

There is so much to unpack from what you just said. But for me, what just resonates right from the beginning is the fact that you’re focusing on every moment. You are so right. It’s not just about the player intro video. Once that video is done and the lights come back on, what are you doing next? Yes, you have the players being introduced, but you are so right in every sport after the player’s introduction. You’re going to have another 90 seconds to two minutes before the start of the game. I think a lot of people don’t realize that’s all part of the strategy of putting together what we call introduction to create the momentum to the start of the game. And that energy, like you said, not just for the fans, but for the players. What you just talked about is hitting them right where a lot of people are missing the mark. So well said.

[26:40] Jason Lodato:

Another thing to keep in mind, too, is like for me, the way I look at it is like you ramp up. And then I always say that you kind of turn things over to the fans at that point. So you give them all the ammo that they need to build their anticipation, their excitement. And then it’s like, all right, now it’s your turn. Now the ball’s in the air. Like, of course, we’re going to do things throughout the game. But like it’s that energy that you help establish that carries them throughout the rest of the game. So if you neglect that 90 second window in the NBA of like right before the ball goes up in the air, then all the air comes out of the building. It’s like, yeah, we had this great intro sequence and you just pat yourself on the back. Like that was really cool. Right. It’s like, all right, well, the guys are standing out there now and there’s no energy in the building. So that’s why it’s so important to really look at every single moment, every touch point for the players, every touch point for the fans, every opportunity to engage the fans and get them excited. It’s super, super important for sure.

Planning the Creative Process

[27:33] Don Costante:

Let’s dive a little bit deeper and now into the creative process, starting with when do you first start your planning process for team introductions?

[27:40] Jason Lodato:

Really, you know, all the time, Don, it never really ends. Honestly, you learn kind of what works, what doesn’t work. In real time, we have a game tonight, for example, and I’ll watch the intro sequence and I’ll come up with an idea or a concept or take notes of stuff that we want to do different for next season. So honestly, it doesn’t ever turn off. You’re constantly thinking about ways to evolve and make things better and make things different. I’d say you get really into the weeds with planning and you really develop a team around you to bring that vision to life and talk about what the vision is as soon as the offseason starts, because it takes a long time. And it’s one of those things that you want to do it right. You want to do right by the fans. You want to do right by the players. But then you kind of monitor throughout the offseason. What does the team look like? What is the team in terms of the players? What’s the personality of the team look like? Is that plays a part into it? What’s the thematic going to be? Are we coming out super gritty? Is it a big production? All that stuff takes a really long time. So you don’t really turn it off. But I would say as soon as the offseason hits, you really need deep in planning for next season and kind of figuring out the direction of where you want to go.

[28:46] Jason Lodato:

Because again, there’s just so many different things that you can do. There’s different approaches. There’s different mentalities. There’s so many intricacies that goes into a show introduction and player introductions that you really kind of just map everything out. And obviously, see what technology is out there. See what other teams are doing. See what worked, what didn’t work. Those are things that you’re constantly just kind of keeping your eyes open and watching to see if you’re inspired by something else that you want to try to implement into your show. My wife says it all the time. I don’t know how to go to a sporting event as a fan anymore. I’m constantly looking at all of the favor behind the scenes things. And I think that’s something that makes me better at my job is that I want to see what’s out there. I want to do bigger and better things. So it never really ends. You’re constantly just thinking of ways to evolve and grow and do things better and different. You want to put on the best show possible for your fans and for the players all the time. Never ends.

[29:39] Don Costante:

No, it never ends. And you’re right, going to shows and we’re always nitpicking, looking at every angle, the timing, the transition and execution, how things are being done. We can never just sit and just enjoy. As you talk about the creative process, it’s never ending. It really begins in the offseason. Are you taking a central theme into your player intros? Maybe it’s the organization’s theme for that year. Are you getting players feedback from the previous year or incorporating other types of organizational goals? And you talked also about in your philosophy of culture and community. Are you trying to create an open that reflects that culture, the history and community within your introduction so that it resonates more with your fans? Talk a little bit about that.

Aligning Introductions With Team Culture and Goals

[30:23] Jason Lodato:

Yeah, that’s a great point and a great question. Now, I think it’s super important to integrate all of those things. It’s like you should be aligned with your marketing department and you should know what is the campaign? What is the tagline? Like, what’s the mantra for the team going to be next year? And then obviously, we work very, very closely with basketball operations and they’re in tune with the players and what the players like and kind of any intricacies around the team. And then we’re going to be able to do a certain theme or something that the general public may not know, like a tradition that they do in the locker room or a particular song that they like. So I think it’s really just taking all of those different puzzle pieces. And of course, you don’t want the team’s look and feel to say one thing and then the show open, it looks entirely different. Your job in game presentation is to bring the show to life and bring all of the different components to life. So, yeah, there’s definitely different pieces to the puzzle and working closely with different departments. But I think that’s where our expertise comes in. And that’s where we’re able to say, hey, we think that we can bring this mantra to life in this way, knowing our fan base, knowing game presentation, knowing the different tools that we have access to that we can use to bring that vision to life.

[31:33] Jason Lodato:

So I think for us, it’s really taking all of those tidbits of information that’s important to the team and organization and ownership and management and the fans and the players. We take all of those different buckets and then it’s how do we bring the vision to life, knowing all of these pieces of information. So that to me is super important as well, because if you have an idea, but it doesn’t fit the look and feel of the team, then you didn’t do your job well. If you do something that you love, but the players are like, oh, we don’t really like that music or we would have gone this way or listen to your general manager could weigh in and say, this is not a direction I want to go. So I think just having that conversation and dialogue throughout the season is super important because you want buy-in from the entire organization. You want the players to love it. You want management to love it. And I think that is a conversation that’s consistently going on. It goes on throughout the season. It happens all the time. Feedback is super important. You know, Don, in our industry, and you know this better than anyone, no news is good news. But sometimes I like to hear the good news. Sometimes I like to hear, hey, the players saw what you did last game. Or, hey, we noticed that. We really liked that vibe that you went.

[32:42] Jason Lodato:

Or that we noticed in the timeout you tried this new contest. That’s cool. That, to me, is assuring. That means we’re moving in the right direction. That means that people like it. So, yeah, it’s super important to have buy-in and feedback and really just understand the goals. Every team, it doesn’t matter what sport. It doesn’t matter what league. It doesn’t matter if you’re an NBA champion or the last place team. Every single team in sports has a direction going into the season. So, being in tune on the game presentation side with what that direction is, is very, very important to bring the vision to life. Because, again, if the team is going to be about, you know, grittiness and talking about how prepared the team is going to be, then that’s the vision that we’re going to bring to life on our side. If it’s a totally different approach and you’re going to focus on young players and the future of the team, I’ve done it all. So, those things are super important to know because that’s how you bring the vision to life, is kind of knowing what the vision is and what the North Star is and what you’re trying to get to. Because I think that is the best way to showcase your players. And, again, the company and the team’s goals are super, super important to know and be lockstep and in tune with because that’s how you bring the show to life.

Working With Basketball Operations and Ownership

[33:54] Don Costante:

You mentioned during the creative process and developing your intro, the involvement of basketball operations and or ownership. Talk a little bit about how involved are basketball ops in ownership with the Brooklyn Nets.

[34:08] Jason Lodato:

Well, every team I work for, it’s different. It is different. Different. Yeah, entirely different. Basketball ops is very involved. They like to know what we’re doing. More importantly, why we’re doing it. If it’s something that we feel strongly in, they’ll support us. But we’re very engaged with them in terms of saying, hey, we’re going to try something new this game. This is what we’re looking to do. Especially if it’s something that impacts introductions, we like to give them a heads up to the players. No, because the players are very, very dialed into their own traditions. If they do something with a minute 15 on the clock, they’re going to do something at that same moment every single game. And I think a lot of fans don’t realize that. So if you do anything to interrupt their flow on a game-day, we like to give them a heads up. If we have a guest PA announcer, if we’re doing something special for introductions, if we’re going to have a guest MC or host, or we’re going to switch music up on them for a game. Like those are the types of things that we let them know immediately. So they can be prepared. They can provide feedback. They can give the guys a heads up. Our job is to entertain fans and to get the fans ready to have a great experience. But we can’t interrupt anything that the players do.

[35:12] Jason Lodato:

At the end of the day, they’re trying to win a basketball game. So our job is to make the environment and the atmosphere as best as we can for them, not to interrupt them. So, yeah, I think for us, it’s really just being proactive. And I think it’s always been about being proactive. Don’t wait until you do something, until there’s a change, until they notice it. And then you get that call going, hey, that was a little different. Why did you guys do that? Yeah. Which some teams do, and some people do. So for us, especially now in Brooklyn, if we change anything in terms of introductions, we always give basketball ops a heads up. And they’re great. The entire team is fantastic. They’re very receptive to what we do, how we do it, why we do it. It’s just that mutual respect and giving them the heads up of like, hey, this is going to be a little different for this game. Or, hey, ask around a little bit. See if the guys even notice this. Do they like this? Do they not like this? I think that’s really very, very important. We have a new head coach this year. And every head coach does things different. And things that are important for one head coach could not be important for your next head coach. So I think just knowing what’s important to Jordy Fernandez and what is he about? What is he like?

[36:14] Jason Lodato:

What is he not like? Knowing those things is very, very important. And I think just having that constant communication and dialogue with basketball ops is very, very important. Because, again, you’re representing them and you want to do right by them. And you want to put on the best show possible. And you want them to react to it. You want them to respect the show and to get that energy that’s needed on their end to go out and perform. So, yeah, it’s very important. Ownership as well. I mean, ownership comes to games and they’re involved. And they want to see that we’re putting as much energy and effort into the show as possible. So each ownership team is completely different. Some owners are very involved and some not so much. They pay attention. I promise you that. They all pay attention. But how much feedback they provide, it’s different based on how many games they go to and how important the show is for them. Some, the show isn’t as important as other teams. And I think every owner, same as general managers and team presidents and every team has its own kind of set of guidelines and standards and philosophies and goals and priorities. So every team is a little bit different. But as an owner, you want to make sure that you’re putting on the best show for your fans and for the players.

[37:21] Jason Lodato:

So owners definitely watch and they provide feedback when needed. And we know when they’re there. And you always want to put on the best show. And I think another thing for me, and I tell this to people all the time, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing the last place team on a Monday night or the first place team on a Friday night. Give the fans the same show, the same energy, the same entertainment, the same value every single night, regardless. If it’s a back-to-back and your team is tired and the team’s not playing well, it does not matter. You have to put on the same caliber show every single night, regardless of the opponent, regardless of the day of the week, regardless of the standings. And that’s something that I take pride in as well. It’s really just valuing each game as an opportunity because you don’t know who’s in the building for the first time, especially playing in Brooklyn. There’s so many tourists that come to games and that’s an opportunity to gain a new fan that they may not have been to an NBA game. And the Nets game is their first opportunity to see the NBA product. And we want them to leave going, oh, my God, that was so much fun. Like, I’m a Nets fan now. I’m going to watch. And that is something that we have the ability to control that. So it’s very, very important to always keep that type of mind, too, is it’s taking those principles, knowing what’s important for ownership and management, leadership for the players, for our fans.

[38:38] Jason Lodato:

But delivering that every single night, regardless of those factors that I mentioned. I think that for me is something that I take very, very important as well, because you don’t know whose first game it is. You don’t know who’s there. You don’t know who you’re entertaining. And it doesn’t matter the night of the week.

[38:52] Don Costante:

Exactly. You want to give them that same experience. Key takeaway, I think, for those listening, especially those early on in your career, what Jason’s talking about, communication. The GM does have an idea as to what they think event presentation should be, even though they’re concentrating on the op side. There is a philosophy. There is a strategy in their mind. It’s important, whether they’ve communicated that on the front side or not. If you’re in a position of event presentation, your job is to be proactive and to set those meetings to establish what those policies or what the parameters are going to be or how players can or can’t be used. Things of that nature, because you need to build the relationship. You need to build those connections with your ops and your ownership, because those are going to be important as you go through developing your overall event presentation. You’re going to need the players. You’re going to need the coaches. And you don’t want to start it off on the wrong foot by not communicating and doing things that are counterproductive to what they’re trying to accomplish. So well said, Jason.

Communication, Trust and Being the Expert

[39:53] Jason Lodato:

Yeah, Don, if I can add to that, too, because that’s a great point. And I think for me, that’s another thing that I’ve learned throughout my career is that, obviously, as a game ops professional, we’re the experts in that space. We know what works, you know, how to execute it. We can come up with the best ideas. And I think a lot of people, they try to you want to make your mark in the industry and you want to do something that sets you apart from anyone else. So I think what ends up happening with a lot of people, it’s, hey, I’m just going to do this and I’m going to try this idea and I’m going to go over the top and I’m going to do something really, really cool. I’m not going to tell anyone that it doesn’t need to know. And you do this cool thing and then basketball ops doesn’t like it. And it has the opposite effect of what you were looking for. So for me, what I learned in my career is that and it takes time to learn this because, again, you want to be that expert. You want to be the one that’s looked upon to do these cool things. But if you have the buy in from ops and you have the buy in from leadership and management and ownership and they trust you and you establish yourself as the professional. Hey, I’m presenting to you this idea. You like this idea. Now turn it over to me.

[40:59] Jason Lodato:

I’m going to make it happen for you. So I think you have to build that trust and then you’ll have the opportunity to do the cool things that you want to do because then they trust you as the expert in that space. And I think if you try to do it without their approval, without their sign off, without their input, I think that you do a disservice to yourself because then you have to reestablish that trust. And that can take a really long time. It depends on the team. It depends on the organization. It can be difficult to kind of get that trust back. So I think to your point, I’m like, you have to establish those relationships and then establish yourself as the pro. Hey, I’m going to present to you this idea and I know I can execute it the way I’m explaining it to you. What do you think about it? Don’t just do it on your own because you’re only going to take two steps backwards in trying to bring future ideas to life. So I think that’s really, really important. And that is a valuable lesson for me that when I was younger in my career, I definitely was one of those people that try to just do something new and cool and different. I don’t want to say push the envelope, but push the envelope a little bit, you know, not breaking rules, but just like this is going to be really cool. And luckily, it’s never come back to bite me.

[42:03] Jason Lodato:

It’s always been stuff that people have been supportive of. But then looking back, I’m like, oh, man, if I would have told the team, I probably could have gotten this out of it, too, or done this. So don’t always try to be the hero. Be the expert, not the hero. Important in our industry is that you’ll have the opportunity to do those things. And even more importantly, you’ll have the support of everyone on your organization to do those things. So if it doesn’t go well, it’s OK. You get up and you try it again as opposed to, hey, why did you do that? And then maybe it backfires on you. So that’s just another piece of information.

[42:33] Don Costante:

It’s a partnership without questioning. Getting them involved like that and being willing to try new things together, it’s OK to fail. You know, not that you’re going into a situation where you’re expecting to fail. But you take calculated risk. And I think a lot of people have learned, for whatever reason, not to take risk or they’re too afraid to try something in collaboration with even the ops department just because they don’t want something to come across as a negative or a fail. And I think that to your point, when you put yourself in a situation where you’re collaborating, you’re having the communication and you’re establishing yourself as the expert, they’re looking for you to take steps like that. I hope people listening are registering. The importance here overall is communicate. This next question, it’s not intended to spend a lot of time on, but I find it interesting. A lot of people have different capabilities out there with their facilities. And I’m now talking about digital aspects here. I’m just curious for you in Brooklyn. Do you guys produce all of your digital elements in-house or do you outsource some of those? And if you do outsource, what elements are you outsourcing in? I ask this because as people are listening, some people don’t have the type of staff to create their own stuff.

In-House vs. Outsourced Digital Production

[43:47] Don Costante:

So maybe they are outsourcing or maybe they are doing what they can to create what they can to establish an intro video and maybe some LEDs. And I’m just curious from you at the level that you’re at with the team that you’re at, are you producing everything in-house? Are you still outsourcing? Why are you outsourcing? What are those elements and what’s the importance of the quality of the elements that you’re putting out there?

[44:12] Jason Lodato:

Great question, Don. And we’re actually in the middle of a study now to just see what other teams do. We have a WNBA team as well, the New York Liberty Player Barclays Center. So we have two properties. We’re pretty much year-round in terms of basketball. So we’re taking a look back now and just seeing what other teams’ work-like models do and how they do it and their staffing. So I would say that about 90% of all of our digital creative and assets comes from in-house designers. We have about 10% or so that we have external vendors. They produce it for us. So it depends on bandwidth. It depends on what the request is.

[44:46] Don Costante:

What is that 10% though? What is that?

[44:49] Jason Lodato:

It’s more like game-day pumpers and anything game-related. Any partnership or sponsorship or assets, that stuff gets created in combination internally and with the external partner. Any of the requests for the most part of any game-related, you know, if it’s a lower third or if it’s a pumper or hype video or something that we want, a lot of that stuff gets outsourced just due to bandwidth. That’s something that we’re trying to figure out what the right model is in terms of like internal people versus how many vendors do we need to help us, you know, create that stuff. So I will say that something that’s worked well for us is just having a great relationship with your control room. Our control room at Barclays Center is top-notch. They had vendors that they work with that help them with projects. So they know the building. They know the specs. They know how content needs to be created and delivered and uploaded. So a lot of the times we’ll just ask if they have a vendor that they want us to work with. They, you know, they work for reasonable rates. And more importantly, they know the building and they know the technology and they know how to create stuff. And that saves so much time, Don, because as you know, if you create something and it’s not spec’d correctly or it doesn’t run properly or it’s a different bit rate or something like that, you can get in a lot of trouble and you can spend more time trying to get one piece of content to run properly.

[46:06] Jason Lodato:

So I think having the right external vendors to help you is super, super important as well. Because I think, again, a lot of the time that you’re on a tight budget and it’s a tight deadline and what we do, it’s based on pop culture. So there could be something cool, a social media trend that’s cool today that may not be cool next week. So we need something quick. We want to run something for tonight’s game. We want to build something quick. It can’t take a week to produce it because by then it’s not relevant anymore. So I think just having a vendor that understands our deadlines, you know, how deadlines work and more importantly, how to create it the proper way is very, very important. And I think this is something that a lot of teams struggle with now too. It’s just how much do you outsource versus can every team have four full-time motion graphics people? Probably not. It’s just not built in the cards for a lot of teams. So just kind of figuring out bandwidth capabilities and just the number of items needed. Barclays Center is one of the busiest buildings literally in the world. There’s always something going on. I think every team kind of has its own philosophy and approach. And for us in Brooklyn, it’s a little bit different because we’re blessed to work in a very, very busy building.

[47:12] Jason Lodato:

So we make as much as we can internally and outsource it.

Budgeting for a Well-Rounded Show

[47:15] Don Costante:

Well, I think I asked the question initially. Just a lot of people who are listening don’t have the resources financially or staff-wise to create maybe that player intro video. And when we’re talking about the main topic today being team introductions and your video is a very important element, is it worth the investment? Is it worth going to ownership and really telling the team we need to outsource this to create a polished intro video? Or is it okay to try to piecemeal something internally like a highlight video that could work? What’s your take on that? If you’re part of a small organization and you have limited financial resources, where are you putting your money on the digital side? Is it internally trying to create some staff positions and equipment? Or if you can’t do that, is it a good decision to outsource knowing that you need to create an intro video that is of a certain level of quality for your presentation?

[48:17] Jason Lodato:

Well, Don, that’s a great question. And I think there’s so many different philosophies and approaches. And, you know, people just feel differently, like, why spend $250,000 on a show open that runs for a minute?

[48:29] Don Costante:

What’s your philosophy, though, on this? What’s your take on it?

[48:32] Jason Lodato:

I think you do the best with what you have. And I think for me, fighting for more staff to be able to produce stuff year-round and different levels of things, to me, is most important. So if spending a ton of money on a show open is option A and hiring a full-time motion graphics person that you have access to year-round is option B, I’m going to go option B and get everyone involved to make the show open. Because then every single element of your show can be elevated. So I think for me, trying to be as resourceful as possible and really looking at the show as a whole is very, very important. Like I mentioned before, looking at every single piece to the puzzle where a lot of teams put all of their eggs in the show open basket. And I get it. Like, it’s cool and it’s a very special moment and you need to establish that moment. But then if the rest of your show is completely flat, I think you kind of miss the boat. So for me, I’d rather have a well-rounded show. Maybe you don’t have all the bells and whistles of a show open that has a ton of pyro and effects and stuff like that. But it’s authentic to the market. It’s good. It serves its purpose in terms of getting the fans excited, getting the players excited. But then the rest of your show, you have the ability to come up with other elements that are just as important and kind of get you through the whole game by spending a little bit less on the show open.

[49:54] Jason Lodato:

So I’d much rather have a well-rounded, well-balanced show than spending all that money on a show open.

[50:02] Don Costante:

I love that advice. And I think that’s needed for those listening to hear. Even those that are just in positions of oversee event presentation think they need the fancy player intro video. That’s 40, 50, 60 grand, whatever it may be. And that’s all you’re going to get. And to your point, allocate the money so that it’s not just about the show open, but a more established, well-balanced presentation. So I do love that.

[50:25] Jason Lodato:

Yeah. And I think in terms of how you staff it too, Don, like get people that are well-versed.

[50:30] Don Costante:

Exactly.

[50:30] Jason Lodato:

That have different skill sets. So maybe you get someone that has motion experience, but can do other things for you as well.

[50:37] Don Costante:

A wider skill set.

[50:38] Jason Lodato:

Yeah. Have a different skill set. But, you know, game presentation too, like we’re the show. So we’re the thing that everyone wants their work shown. So I’d rather have a pool of three or four people waiting for me to like say, hey, it’d be great if we had this. And they make it. And then they get to see it on the board and they get to see their hard work on the board. And then they’re like, okay, what’s next? I’d rather have that. And I have people waiting for you to give them more stuff to create. Then again, you put all of your eggs in one basket and you get through that. Remember the show open is the video itself is a minute and a half. You’re not filling a lot of time. It’s an important time, of course. So, yeah, I would definitely space it out across the entire show.

Using Technology, Pyro and Special Effects

[51:21] Don Costante:

You had talked a little bit about special effects with pyro and things of that nature. Talk a little bit about what you believe the role technology plays with team introductions. And whether it’s lighting or pyrotechnics, projection mapping, whatever it may be, how important is that? And I know obviously there’s a budget to that, which limits a lot of people from what they can and can’t do. And when you do have a budget, how do you decide what elements to include?

[51:47] Jason Lodato:

That’s a great question. And I think a lot of people only take into consideration the budget of like, hey, it costs X number of dollars to build this piece of equipment or to rent this piece of equipment or to buy this piece of equipment. But then you have to think of the labor that it takes to move that equipment every single game on and off the court. And a lot of people don’t take that number into consideration. So they just look at the, okay, it’s a capital purchase and we’re going to spend X number of dollars to buy these lasers. But then you don’t think of the rest of the cost. So cost plays a huge, huge role in terms of what you can and can’t do. I think it’s important for sure. Ticket prices go up every year. You know, they don’t go down. They don’t stay flat for the most part. They go up. So I think having that entertainment value is very, very important for fans, especially in a market like New York. There’s a lot of different entertainment options here. So I think utilizing technology is very, very important in a show, whether it’s a fan cam, whether it’s pyro, whether it’s special effects, whether it’s lasers, regardless of what it is, I think it has to be impactful. So you have to measure the importance of what you think makes the most impact on your show. Is using pyro for the national anthem and you’re going to spend a lot of money to do it, is that impactful?

[52:59] Jason Lodato:

Sure, it can make an impact, but like you kind of have to weigh your options. So I think having some balance of technology, obviously, if budgets allowed it, I would love to do more. Everyone would. I don’t think it’s mandatory. I think it’s nice to have if done right. And if it ties into the rest of your show, if you have an elaborate show open and there’s different cues that you can do something cool with pyro, and it kind of just puts the bow on it, I think that’s great. But I think to have pyro just to have it.

[53:28] Don Costante:

Exactly.

[53:29] Jason Lodato:

It’s got to mean something. So I think pyro and technology is a piece, another piece to the puzzle of what your show open looks like. So I think it is important to have an element of it, I think, because there’s so many teams that do it and leagues that do it. But I think you have to have a part of it, but have the part that works for you. And listen, a lot of the times it’s dependent on the technology that’s in the building and what your LED boards can work with and what it’s compatible with and how much physical space you have in a building and all those things come into play. So I think kind of knowing what the options are and then figuring out what the best option for you is based on all of the factors that you can control, the budget, the space, the labor issues. I think then you as the expert can make a suggestion in terms of, hey, I think we can utilize this piece of technology. Like pyro doesn’t really work for us, but we can do this. Could be really, really cool. Or we could do a fan cam that a lot of teams don’t do. Technology is such a wide space in terms of what is part of it that it doesn’t just need to be part of the show opener. It just doesn’t need to be flame effects door and player intros. I think there’s a lot of different ways to utilize technology. So it’s really kind of knowing what’s out there and whether or not you can do all of it, but knowing what your options are so you can pick the best option based on all of your factors and your show.

[54:46] Don Costante:

And it’s also knowing it needs to enhance the moment that you’re adding it to. And I’m talking about player introductions here, but obviously you might not be able to do it every game. And maybe it’s only one time a year. Is the right moment, and this is in collaboration with your ops and your ownership and leadership, but is the opening day the right moment? Maybe you have one or two or maybe three games that you’re putting everything into. You’re trying to create a wow that will be talked about, but you don’t have the financial resources to do it every game. That’s okay.

[55:18] Jason Lodato:

Yeah. It’s just understanding that as well. It’s not an all or nothing. It’s understanding this is what I’m able to do and how do we make it the most impactful. Yeah. And I think that’s, again, it goes back to communication. So if you communicate, hey, we’re only going to have pyro on weekend games and you remind your basketball ops, hey, it’s a Saturday night game. Well, don’t forget, we’re going to have pyro during intros and they like it. They’re an advocate for you. They can go back to ownership because the request coming from basketball is a little bit different coming from game presentation. It can actually help and benefit you to get those resources needed to be able to try and do more stuff. So, again, that’s where the communication comes in. We’re like, let them be your advocate and help push for your show and benefit your show. But there’s definitely nothing wrong with doing stuff for certain games. And I think that’s part of the process and that’s part of being an experienced game producer and kind of knowing your budget, knowing what you can do and when you can do prioritizing games. It’s super, super important to kind of know what you’re working with instead of just saying, oh, well, we can’t do pyro every game, so we’re not going to do it. Pick your spots. Pick your moments.

[56:21] Jason Lodato:

Like you said, opening night, whether it’s a big holiday season is very, very big in the NBA. We got a lot of new fans in the building during holiday season. So if that’s a time that you want to make your mark, so there’s nothing wrong with not having the budget to do something every game. Just, again, be the expert and you dictate when you are going to do it and have a reason why that that’s the game or the games that you chose to elect to amp those games up.

Music Selection for Team Introductions

[56:45] Don Costante:

One event presentation element that is probably the most important that we haven’t talked about when it comes to team introductions is the approach that you take to music selection. And we have already established that team introductions is more than just the video, but it’s the transition music out of that video into your player intros, your player intro music, the music you’re using to hype or to generate excitement as it leads to the start of the game and what that start will be. My question to you is, do you collaborate with players on the music or do you just focus on just what resonates with the fan? And is there a specific genre of music that you prefer to use? Let’s just talk first team video. Is there a particular type of genre that you like to use when you’re dealing with player intro video? And are you getting feedback from the players?

[57:33] Jason Lodato:

Well, in the NBA space, players, most of the players love hip hop. It’s something kind of near and dear to them. A lot of it has to do with the market as well. Obviously, Brooklyn is well known for hip hop music and music in general. When I was at Golden State, the Bay Area, they love their music. They love their hip hop. So traditionally, most NBA teams utilize some hip hop mix in their show open. So I think it really, again, it depends on what’s important to the organization, what’s important to the community around you. We talked before about civic pride. Like, is there a particular genre of music that works well in a different market that may not work at Brooklyn? So I think just kind of knowing what’s important. But for our players, for our market, I think people come to a game in Brooklyn and expect to hear hip hop during that moment. So that’s something that we utilize in our show open is hip hop.

[58:23] Don Costante:

And what about the selection of music throughout the remaining moments of team introductions?

[58:28] Jason Lodato:

Yeah, I think that is where we collectively, our music directors are outstanding. And that’s, we work very closely with them to just come up with something that is unique and different. Music is definitely a hot topic. Like, as you know, Don, it’s gotten a lot more challenging in the past few years in terms of usage rights and what you’re allowed to use and what you can’t use and what you could use in arena versus what goes on social media. So just knowing kind of the intricacies of the rules is obviously very, very important. You don’t want to get in trouble or get a fine for playing music that you’re not supposed to play. So just having the rights to be able to use the music is super important. So I would say like for anyone new in your career, know what you’re allowed to use and what you’re not allowed to use before you go down any production avenues, before you source anything, before you start to build anything. Because it could put a halt to your production if you get dings and you get fine. So I would say, you know, for us, it’s very collaborative in terms of having the players involved, making sure that it’s something that they like and they support. Some teams are different than others. Some teams, it’s 100% driven by the players and you give them choices and they pick it.

[59:35] Jason Lodato:

Other markets, it’s more we pick it and kind of run it by them for approval. So every team is a little bit different in terms of how we do things. But again, being authentic to the market where you represent is super, super important. And that’s playing in Brooklyn, playing in New York is very, very important to me and to our team and to have music that represents Brooklyn. It represents our team and our club and our players and our organization. So that choice of music is very important to us because, again, people come to a game expecting to hear a certain type of music. Yeah. And you have to stay on top of things. It’s one of those things that music can get stale and just knowing what’s popular, what are guys listening to. Our DJ spent a lot of time talking to players pregame. Our music DJs had a lot of practices for the team now. So he knows what the team is listening to, what the guys are listening to. So during warmups and pregame, a lot of fans don’t know that. A lot of the stuff that you hear pregame when the guys are out there warming up, getting ready to play, those are songs and artists that the players enjoy. So that really kind of gets them motivated. Where the show opens, it has to set the tone for the actual video. So you’re setting a video to the music. So the choices, what the players give, it’s a much tighter window because it has to achieve and check a lot of different boxes.

[1:00:52] Jason Lodato:

So it’s the players sign off on it, but they don’t always dictate what’s used in a show open.

Sponsors and the Show Open

[1:00:56] Don Costante:

Let’s talk about sponsorship for a second. Do you incorporate sponsors into your player introductions? And if so, how do you balance sponsor activations or branding while keeping the spotlight on your players?

[1:01:08] Jason Lodato:

We don’t. It has to fit. It has to be a natural integration. For me, I’m very, very particular about how and where and when we place partners. It has to be beneficial to the partner. It has to make sense to their brand. It has to make sense to our show. So I spend a lot of time trying to come up with partner integration ideas, offer them assets, come up with something new that’s important to them, learn what’s important to them, and then figure out something that works for them and for us as opposed to just, hey, what did we do last year? What do they do in this market? It doesn’t really matter what they do in that market. I want to do something that’s cool and authentic to us. So to answer your question about show open, we don’t currently have anything. I try to keep player introductions and to show open clear of partners if possible because it makes it more authentic to the team. I think it gets too sticky if you have a partner attached to it and it could kind of take away from the moment. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it, but it has to be the right partner. So I try to find other assets. We do something around the Liberty introductions that has a partner attached to it, but it’s very fitting and it works and we tried it last season. It was great. So it wasn’t necessarily the show open, but was part of the sequence, as I mentioned before, just kind of watching every minute leading up to the ball going in the air and tip.

[1:02:22] Jason Lodato:

So we do something for the Liberty, but not so much on the net side of things. So I think it has to make sense for both the partner and for us in order to be able to integrate it. And that’s a sacred moment. So it has to be the right. There’s so many other cool things that we can offer to a partner. It has to be a natural fit for us to be able to want to do that.

[1:02:40] Don Costante:

Well, that’s what I was going to say. I mean, it’s just to me, it’s a sacred moment. There are so many different opportunities to add value with a partner that is not necessarily or doesn’t have to be during the player intros or during the player intro video or whatever. I think that’s important to maintain, in my opinion, the organization’s authenticity in key moments. And I understand those are very marketable moments, but that’s also why there are key moments and climactic moments because fans’ expectations, players’ expectations are about creating the hype. In that moment, it’s not about anything else. And then there are certain opportunities that will lend from that point for sponsorable opportunities. So I agree with you. Let’s shift to entertainment resources. And now I’m talking more about engagement teams or mascots, cheer teams, whatever you may have. What entertainment resources are you utilizing in Brooklyn and how are they being incorporated?

Using Entertainment Teams and Mascots

[1:03:39] Jason Lodato:

Well, entertainment in the NBA, it’s a big thing. It’s incredible just to see the different types of entertainment teams and how many years ago only a handful of teams had more than one dance team. Now I challenge you to find a team in the NBA that doesn’t have at least two or three teams. So the entertainment teams across the NBA has changed so much throughout the years and plays a huge part to the show, especially, again, in Brooklyn. You can walk down any street in Manhattan and see a different type of performer. Great, like first-class performer on a subway car walking through Times Square. So for us, entertainment teams are very, very important. And we utilize them every game. We have a number of different teams. And it’s really just kind of sprinkling them in throughout each game. They really do a great job helping bring all our theme nights to life, too. So they’re very well-versed just in terms of being able to adapt to different themes. And they’re all obviously professional dancers and some of the best dancers around. So for us and our entertainment directors, they do a fantastic job just kind of curating the teams, the look and feel of the teams, the music that they dance to. And then we work closely with them to program them and give them spots each game. So they’re very, very, very important and a huge asset to the organization, too.

[1:04:54] Jason Lodato:

I think knowing how to utilize them, when to utilize them for the teams that don’t have a huge budget. And you say you don’t have a huge budget, but you have entertainment teams. Like, how do you incorporate them into a team night? How can you have them curate something special and utilize special choreography or do something different? Think outside the box. I think teams have more resources than they think in terms of the overall inventory of the team. A lot of times people just turn their attention to, OK, we don’t have a budget or we don’t have equipment to do it. But if you have an entertainment team, there’s a lot of different things that you can do. So for us, entertainment teams are a vital, vital part. More than any other team I’ve been with, just in terms of how they’re used and how we use them and how often we use them. Super, super important. So obviously keeping up with current trends and making sure that they know what’s going on in the pulse of New York. It’s ever changing and there’s always new trends and new stuff coming up. So again, our leads on our entertainment teams do a fantastic job of just knowing kind of what’s relevant, what’s cool, what’s not cool. Capitalizing on stuff when it’s hot. And if there’s a TikTok trend or something that like is really popular right now, it’s like they’ll perform to something tonight.

[1:06:01] Jason Lodato:

Like out of the blue, they’ll come up with new choreography and do something new and different and cool where it’s like, well, I just saw that on TikTok. Yesterday. So being able to adapt is very, very important. And I think we do a great job of staying relevant. Finding ways to plug them into your show. We only get X number of time out. So just making sure that it’s tasteful and well kind of thought out. That’s our job is, again, to take those puzzle pieces and put them into play.

[1:06:25] Don Costante:

I ask about the entertainment resources and how maybe you incorporate them into your team introductions because there are teams. I’ve watched their performances and I’ve noticed their entertainment resources aren’t being utilized for their team introductions. And I just think that’s a huge opportunity wasted because I think it’s important to think in terms of visuals. You have the digital visuals, of course, but how are you painting the picture on the floor or on the ice or on the field? How you bring it all together and use those resources that are available to you, that are branded to you to correctly put those pieces, like you said, into the puzzle that tell the story and create the moment. I think that type of visual is very important because once the eyes are off the video screens and lights come up and it comes to the floor, what are you doing? How are you creating that energy and what is the visual that people are seeing? And I think that the point of this question really is for those people that are out there, maybe that aren’t utilizing your entertainment resources. I just want you to think differently, but think about your mascot or your mascots and your dance teams and whatever else you may have available, drum lines, whatever. And how can you incorporate them to be impactful and do it in the right way?

[1:07:42] Don Costante:

Don’t simply incorporate them for the sake of incorporating them, to your point, Jason, but how do you do it the right way?

[1:07:48] Jason Lodato:

Yeah, and it’s important because that is such a pivotal moment, as we talked about. So even if you don’t have a ton of money, even if you do have a ton of money to spend on the video, like that’s only one part of it. You have an empty court. The players are close to the benches, like there’s nothing going on on the court. Then what do you do on the court? So I think utilizing your entertainment teams is really, really important. And that’s why you have them. So whether it’s utilizing a drum line, as you mentioned, Don, and you could put people in the stands or you come up with UD choreography on the court that’s specific to the show open, or you have a mascot. We incorporate all of our entertainers for a show open every game. It’s a great tool to have. It’s very visual. It’s very cool. It kind of brings everything together. And it sets the tone for the rest of the day. And it lets fans know like, wow, like the game hasn’t even started yet. Look at all that. It’s organized chaos. It’s like, I call it a circus sometimes because there’s so much stuff in a positive way. It’s like a great visual experience. It’s like you can look at the video board and you can listen to what’s going on and you look on the court and there’s lights going. There’s so many different ways to utilize your entertainment teams.

[1:08:50] Jason Lodato:

And I think that’s where communication, again, might come up with a vision. What’s important? If there’s a cue, we found it out a few games into the season. There’s like a visual cue in the show open that we didn’t know was intentional, but we turned it into a transition from the video live onto the court that we implemented five games into the season. Just from watching the video that many times, our entertainment director was like, oh, that’s actually pretty cool. We can do that. We can mimic that live on the court as it’s showing on the video. So it just gives you another opportunity to try something new, try something different, try something unique. And again, it goes back to just trying new things. And if it doesn’t work, you switch it up, but try it. But you have those assets, use them. And it makes them feel part of the show. They’re vital parts of the show. So just use them, like showcase them.

[1:09:35] Don Costante:

Well, chance get a chance to see them in a different light. Two words you said there was visual experience and they helped to create that. And I think it’s also a great way you mentioned that you could utilize your resources in the stands. What a great way to immerse your audience into your presentation. Anyways, great points. I think when we talked about thematic games and holidays and Armed Forces, my question to you, just as it relates specifically to team introductions, obviously with Christmas or with Armed Forces Day, your entertainment resources are addressed accordingly. Are you changing your player intro video as well?

Keeping Theme Nights and Introductions Fresh

[1:10:09] Jason Lodato:

So we have two different show opens that we utilize throughout the season. And it’s based on uniform play. I mentioned before, just having like city edition uniforms allowed us an opportunity. For military appreciation and different theme nights, we don’t always change the intro video. But what we will do is we’ll have guest PA announcers. We’ll switch things up a little bit. And we can add a color guard or something like that, what we may not do for every game. We’ll implement small additions to the opening sequence, but not necessarily the show open. So we can do things a little bit different and make it look and feel a little bit different. But it’s not necessarily retooling the actual introduction video. So, yeah, it’s really, again, just looking at every element, every moment and figuring out what you can do to tie in a holiday game or a theme night or Noche Latina or Hoops to Troops night or anything like that. It’s really just finding those moments of whether it be a costume change or a new flags or different personnel or a different PA announcer or introducing or saying something in a different language. So it’s just taking those moments and kind of cherry picking what we do to enhance that night to help bring it to life.

[1:11:15] Don Costante:

And you said early on in our conversation, you’re looking for ways to keep it fresh for the fans. So it’s a great way to remain innovative while maintaining consistency in your quality and tone. But these things that you’re talking about, great for keeping it fresh for those that are seeing the show day in and day out.

[1:11:31] Jason Lodato:

Yeah, absolutely. You have to look at every opportunity that you have to do that. And to us, we take for granted that we see the show every game and we’re around it all the time. But for a fan, switching one little thing or saying something in a different language or wishing people happy holidays, those little tiny touches that for us, it’s just like that’s a little minor thing. Like it really resonates with fans and they notice those things. And that’s what it’s all about. It’s when you hear feedback or you hear from someone or you had someone that went to the game. I was like, that was really cool that you guys did that. In my head, I’m like, I didn’t even think that was a big deal. But it is a big deal to somebody. So paying attention to those little minor details, especially around the holidays or like a thematic, regardless of what the theme is, like those little touches that you can do. They go a long way for fans and fans really, really pay attention and appreciate that. And that’s something that, again, it goes back to it doesn’t matter where team is in the standings. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. If you can leave someone with that impression of like, oh, that was really cool that they did that or they acknowledged the military in that way. They did that. One thing was really cool.

[1:12:38] Jason Lodato:

That’s what we do. And that’s what we do day in and day out. So it’s really important to just pay attention to those moments and think of every line item on a rundown as a touch point. Change the way you deliver it or say it or present it. And it goes a long way with people. So and it keeps your show fresh and it prevents it from getting to be the same show over and over again. So it’s important to do. And it makes you feel good, too. It’s why we do what we do.

Refreshing the Show for the Postseason

[1:13:02] Don Costante:

Exactly. You mentioned you have two show opens that you use throughout the year. If the Nets make it to postseason to the playoffs, are you making adjustments to the team introduction? At that point.

[1:13:11] Jason Lodato:

Oh, yeah. We look at it start of a new season. Everything kind of gets washed and you take for things that worked well, but you build all new inventory for the postseason. So preseason, you don’t really unveil. I don’t think any team really unveils anything new. You’re kind of just recycling stuff. So you have the regular season and in postseason, you really kind of start with a clean slate and you go through every single element of your show and you refresh it and you build something new. Sometimes you take something that worked well, if it’s a traditional thing or something that really get the fans going and the players love it. You can freshen those things up for the playoffs. But for the most part, you kind of start with a clean slate and build everything fresh and new for playoffs.

[1:13:51] Don Costante:

So cool. We used to do that with the Spurs as well. It got to postseason is by each round, you know.

[1:13:57] Jason Lodato:

Each round.

[1:13:58] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[1:13:58] Jason Lodato:

But it ramps up for sure.

[1:14:01] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[1:14:01] Jason Lodato:

And that’s where when you look at pyro and if you have the budget to do pyro, then how do you make changes to the pyro so it looks different every round? So do you add Anthem in? Do you add different cue points in your video? Do you come up with a video that has specific cue points for pyro? So that’s when you try to think ahead and you think like, all right, this round we can do this. But like next round, we’re going to add this. Fans aren’t going to know what to expect during the Anthem to run pyro. So you kind of have an idea in the back of your head of how you can elevate each round and how you can take things just that much higher and do something new each time. So it’s, yeah, it’s fun.

[1:14:36] Don Costante:

Those are definitely great times and it’s an opportunity to put together a whole new show. Speaking of trying new things, is there something you’ve always wanted to try, but you just haven’t implemented yet for your team introductions?

Future Ideas and the Use of Drones

[1:14:49] Jason Lodato:

Great question. I think something that I see a lot more of, the NFL does a really, really good job of this. And I think it hasn’t really scratched the surface too much yet in the NBA. But I think the use of drones in terms of how you shoot your show open, a whole new look and perspective. Like, yeah, there’s always new toys and there’s always different flame effects and pyro effects. That stuff is always cool to do. But I think how you shoot a show open can look entirely different. So you can build, and this is where budget comes in. And if you have a huge budget, you can build an extravagant set and you can do cool things on set and you can have different lighting effects. And that stuff is all cool, but it’s been done before. I think the way that a show open is shot is something that, to me, it’s very cool. And I would love to be able to try something different in terms of just the way a show open looks. And I think, like, drones can play a big part in that and, again, how it looks. That, to me, is like a cool use of technology that not a lot of people talk about. You know, especially indoors. Because, again, you can go to a halftime show at the NFL and you can see a cool drone show. Or outdoors, you can see that. But it hasn’t really evolved too much indoors yet. And I’m not even talking about the show open.

[1:16:04] Jason Lodato:

I’m talking about how it’s filmed. Yeah. Because you can’t really do anything above the crowd right now anyway indoors. But I think how you shoot it, I think there’s a lot there. I think about that all the time because I watch. And, again, there’s a lot of NFL teams that do it. And they do cool things with just how they shoot their players and stuff like that. But the NFL is so different than the NBA. Obviously, just in terms of how you shoot the players and stuff like that. Yeah, I’m not going to give away too much. But that, to me, is something cool that hasn’t been touched too much in the NBA yet.

[1:16:33] Don Costante:

That’s pretty cool. Last question pertaining to team introductions. How are you measuring success of your team introduction? What are the metrics that you’re using?

Measuring the Success of Team Introductions

[1:16:41] Jason Lodato:

A little bit of everything. We do a good job of surveying our fans after every game. We have very pointed, very specific questions that we ask that relate to the show itself to get feedback from fans. So I think what ends up happening in a lot of teams, you know, they’ll ask general questions in terms of the fan experience. And if you wait online an hour to park your car, that’s part of the fan experience. If you don’t want to pay $20 for a beer, that’s part of your fan experience. So for me, it’s always been important to ask very, very pointed questions about the show itself. The music, the emcees, the videos that they hear, the show open, our entertainment teams, questions that come back to us. So we can get real-time results and we can make changes if need be. If we see that our audio levels are not good and fans complain it’s too loud and that’s something that we see in surveys, we can adjust those on the fly. That’s not something we have to wait to the end of the season and be like, oh man, a lot of people complain about the noise levels. I wish I had known that. We look at that stuff in real time. So for us, it’s a combination of a lot of things. Obviously, our social media team does a really good job at just monitoring traffic, how often people tag us and stuff and post videos.

[1:17:57] Jason Lodato:

That’s really, really important. How fans react to it. I’m always a believer in listening to fans in real time, watching how fans react. For me, my role is a little bit different. So I don’t look at the video board during the show, but I don’t look at the court. I know what’s happening. I watch fans. How many people have their phones out and are recording it, listening to how they react to stuff. So getting that real-time feedback is super important. But obviously, looking at feedback that we get from the fans as it pertains to survey questions and very pointed, direct questions that we can make changes to. Because again, I know there’s some teams out there that they’ll only look at that stuff at the end of the season. And there could be something that you can change in real time. If people don’t like the music selection that you play, that’s something we can change. Give me an hour. We can change that. But those are the types of things that, for me, that helps us. And obviously, you know, feedback from leadership and management, all that stuff is super important. But obviously, we work for the fans. So fan feedback is super, super important. So just engaging with fans via survey and social media is very, very important.

[1:18:57] Don Costante:

I think the teams that are most successful are those that make it part of their strategy, that they’re going to measure success throughout the year, not just at the end of it, to your point.

[1:19:05] Jason Lodato:

Yeah.

[1:19:06] Don Costante:

And so very well said, Jason.

[1:19:08] Jason Lodato:

Thank you.

Final Thoughts

[1:19:09] Don Costante:

So we’re at the end. I always ask my guests at the very end for their final thoughts. For those listening to today’s discussion, what are your final thoughts?

[1:19:17] Jason Lodato:

Well, I would say networking is huge. Go to as many events as you can. Learn as much as you can. Write stuff down. Pick people’s brains. I think that’s very, very important. If you come into this industry expecting to know everything, you’re not going to succeed. I learn something new every day from every event that I go to by talking to people. So I think it’s really, really important to just try to learn something. Volunteer for as many events as you can. Obviously, people want full-time jobs and people want to get paid. And I get it. I started my career. I volunteer a lot of events. I worked for the NCAA. I did stuff at St. John’s. That was a way for me to just network and meet a lot of people. So really keep an open mind in terms of game presentation. Pay attention to trends. Watch what other teams do. Watch what other leagues do. If you subscribe to NBA League Pass, you actually get to see the video board feeds from every team in the NBA. So I watch a lot of NBA League Pass because I want to see what my colleagues are doing around the league. So you get to actually see, instead of going to a commercial during timeouts, you get to see how we program timeouts. Little things like that are really, really important because it can help you come up with an idea, to share an idea, to offer up an asset for a partner.

[1:20:34] Jason Lodato:

It just gets you kind of thinking about the show in a different way. So just take in as many events, as many shows, meet as many people, network, keep in contact with people. I encourage people and my colleagues around the NBA and around sports, if you come into a game, please give me feedback. I value when people like Don come to a Nets game, give me feedback, good, bad, or indifferent. Ask questions. Hey, I noticed you did this. Why do you do that? You’re only going to get better by encouraging that type of feedback. So ask people, if you work at a college or a university or a minor league team, invite veterans like Don, like myself, like people. Invite us out to a game and ask for feedback. That stuff is super, super important because you get so caught up in the execution side of things that it’s really hard to come up with new ideas on a game-day because you’re so focused on the execution side of things. So encourage your counterparts, your peers, your colleagues to give you feedback and be ready for feedback because sometimes it’s not always great. But that’s how we learn and that’s how we grow and that’s how we get better. So encourage feedback, ask for feedback, and you’ll continue to grow and watch as many events and shows as you can. And don’t get caught up in what other teams do, what other teams’ budgets are.

[1:21:53] Jason Lodato:

Put the best show on given your resources.

[1:21:57] Don Costante:

Wow, great advice.

[1:21:58] Jason Lodato:

Super important.

[1:21:59] Don Costante:

Wow.

[1:22:00] Jason Lodato:

Very, very important. Don’t get caught up in watching what other teams do because you don’t know the struggles that you may not know. So focus on your own show and focus on every moment and let other teams do what other teams do and you focus on your show.

[1:22:13] Don Costante:

What an incredible discussion today, Jason. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience. You know, you talked about you still are learning. I’m still learning and I learned a bunch today and I just want to thank you and I’ve really enjoyed our conversation.

[1:22:28] Jason Lodato:

Same here, Don. Thank you. It’s always a pleasure to speak with you. I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for you and your work ethic and you always put the show first and you’re great at teaching. And I think this is a great tool for those coming up and I thank you for inviting me and for doing what you do. And you’re the best, Don. You’ve been doing it for a long time at the highest level. And I think we’ve all learned and continue to learn from you. So thank you as well.

Podcast Closing

[1:22:56] Don Costante:

That’s a wrap on this episode of The Rundown. Have a question or want to share your thoughts? We’d love to hear from you. Just email TheRundown@CostanteGroup.comEmail The Rundown. Also, be sure to subscribe, share the podcast and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. On behalf of Don Costante, thanks for listening. Until the next time, this is The Rundown Podcast.