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| Brook Peterson, left, and David Gallagher own Bravo Sports Marketing, which is marking its 20th anniversary this spring. |
Iowa is
filled with passionate Hawkeye supporters, but David Gallagher and Brook
Peterson are among the few who have made a career out of their fandom.
For the
past 20 years, the two University of Iowa business school graduates, through
their company Bravo Sports Marketing, have been hosting corporate tailgates,
arranging hotel accommodations and selling memorabilia to fervent Hawkeye fans
like themselves.
"We
mixed two passions together, loving sports and loving the Hawkeyes, and
bringing it together to make a business of it," said Gallagher, who with
Peterson is marking their business's 20th anniversary this month.
The two met
in graduate school pursuing their MBAs at UI, and they worked together as
marketing interns for the Athletics Department.
In 1994,
the Hawkeyes were coming off a pair of ho-hum football seasons and season
ticket sales were dwindling, so UI athletics administrators discussed creating
a new sales plan to draw large groups or corporate groups to games. Gallagher
and Peterson seized the opportunity.
"Dave
and I were just finishing school, and they didn't necessarily have the staff to
do it, so we formed our company and put together a proposal to do it,"
Peterson said.
The two
have been in the sports hospitality business ever since. Today their North
Liberty-based company operates the Hawkeye Village, the corporate and
large-group tailgating area that hosts hundreds and sometimes thousands of fans
on football gamedays.
Bravo
Sports has a contract through UI's multimedia partner, Hawkeye Sports
Properties, to sell ticket and tailgate packages for the Hawkeye Village, which
provides food and entertainment before home football games at the Duane Banks
Baseball Complex near Kinnick Stadium.
"A lot
of the people we attract don't have season tickets or regular tailgating plans
set, so we create that environment for them," Peterson said of the
corporate groups they work with. "A lot of times we also have an alumni
association from the opposing team there, so it adds to the spirit of gameday
for everybody."
And
Gallagher and Peterson aren't just busy during home games. Their company also
secures blocks of hotel rooms for Hawkeye fans for select road games, and they
organize events in other cities in conjunction with Hawkeye games. For
instance, they've arranged a Hawkeye Day at Wrigley Field and have hosted
tailgate parties before bowl games.
The company
also has branched out to merchandise sales over the past decade. In 2004, Gallagher
and Peterson partnered with UI to salvage nearly 8,000 bricks from Kinnick
Stadium that were left over from a renovation project to sell to fans.
They're
also a licensee for Hawkeye merchandise and currently produce and sell
everything from T-shirts to posters to bowl buttons, and they supply local
retailers with Hawkeye items.
"They're
great examples of two young guys who love the Hawks, who are entrepreneurial
and who have been able to evolve as the business world evolved over the last
couple of decades," said UI associate director of athletics for external
relations Rick Klatt, who has worked with Gallagher and Peterson over the
years. "They are able to identify some things that private entrepreneurs
like themselves can do much more simply, more efficiently than the university
could. They certainly help us tell the Hawkeye story."
The
company's success is tied largely to the success of UI's sports teams, for
better or worse, depending on the season. And right now, with the men's and
women's basketball teams coming off NCAA tournament seasons, and the football
team fresh off an Outback Bowl appearance, it's a good time to be in the
Hawkeye business.
"The
schedule and how well Iowa is doing is a big part of it," Peterson said.
"We do a lot better in a bowl season than when they go 4-8 — that affects
us significantly. And it's not just the ticket packages; people buy fewer
T-shirts and collectables. It's funny how when things start rolling, like they
are in basketball right now, people want to show their Hawkeye pride."
As for the
future, Gallagher and Peterson have begun coordinating pregame parties for
companies at sporting events beyond the University of Iowa, including at NFL
and NHL games, and will continue to look for new opportunities, they say.
"But
our first passion, love and responsibility is with the Hawkeyes,"
Gallagher said.
From Press Citizen
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