Photos by Ralph Freso
Rick Schlesinger took a long path to working in major league sports after a high school career in athletics didn't pan out.
The president of business operations for the Milwaukee Brewers told Grand Canyon University students they have many more resources when it comes to pursuing a career in Major League Baseball or other sports.
“We never had the privilege of having sports management courses. That wasn't a thing,” said Schlesinger on Tuesday as the featured guest of the T.W. Lewis Speaker Series at the Colangelo College of Business lobby. “Nobody even thought of that. So the fact that you guys have access to a sports management discipline is tremendous.”
Schlesinger encouraged students who are seeking a job in MLB business operations to gain as much financial knowledge as possible, from accounting to taxes to bank relationships.
“If you love marketing, there's no shortage of marketing opportunities in baseball, social media,” Schlesinger added. “… If you have a passion, there's so many opportunities to work in baseball, whether it's events or operations.
“If you want to sell, baseball is about selling. We're selling every day. We're selling the brand, we're selling experience, we're selling tickets, we're selling suites, selling partnerships. People who are really good in sales are going to be successful.”
Schlesinger graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with bachelor’s degrees in political science and history before earning a law degree from Harvard. He worked for a Los Angeles law firm before joining Walt Disney Pictures and Television.
His venture into sports happened when Disney bought the Angels baseball team. Schlesinger served as legal counsel for the Angels from 1998 to 2002.
The team won the 2002 World Series on Schlesinger’s birthday, and the following day, an executive from the Milwaukee Brewers asked him about joining their front office.
Schlesinger accepted two months later. He oversees the business side of a franchise that has attracted more than 2.5 million fans to American Family Field in 14 of the last 16 seasons (excluding the 2020 and 2021 seasons because of COVID) in an area deemed as a small market.
“I oversee ticket sales, sponsorships, broadcasting, public relations, media relations, community relations, broadcasting and nonbaseball events, like concerts,” said Schlesinger, who also manages marketing, social media and staff operations.
His duties also include meetings, answering emails and financial analysis for ownership. Schlesinger and business college Dean John Kaites, through Kaites’ company, worked with local governments to renovate a state-of-the-art spring training facility in Maryvale.
Schlesinger is at the top of a department that employs about 210 employees, and he welcomes interns.
“I'm a big believer in internships,” Schlesinger said. “There's so many sports teams if you want to work in sports, even if you … can't get a baseball internship.”
Summer internships pave the way for networking and gaining inexperience, which could lead to a job. But Schlesinger warned it’s tough for graduates to work immediately for a major league team unless they want entry-level jobs, like selling tickets via cold calling.
He added, “We need people who can write well, because when you're sending an email, if there's typos or grammatical mistakes, I'm a stickler for that stuff. I will tell you, I judge people harshly on their communication skills, and you have to learn how to work in a professional environment.”
Internships serve as an avenue for exposure, but it’s better to find out soon whether you want to work in that industry.
It’s also essential to maintain composure during the most extreme moments, as Schlesinger found out after the Brewers’ traditional sixth-inning sausage race in which Pittsburgh first baseman Randall Simon struck one of the mascots with a bat as she ran past the dugout.
After the incident, Schlesinger stepped out of his office, where about 20 media members and camera operators sought him for a comment.
“This is the worst thing I've ever seen happen in my life,” declared Schlesinger, who was criticized for acting hysterical.
Schlesinger called a senior executive from another team to tell him about it, and the executive told him, “The first thing is, don’t overreact,” Schlesinger said. “And I said, ‘It’s too late. I overreacted.’ ”
When the Pirates returned to Milwaukee later in the season, Simon apologized for his actions at a news conference, and Schlesinger posed for photos with him.
Schlesinger, who is Jewish but is in a mixed religion marriage, also spoke about his faith.
“From my perspective, you know your faith gives you the moral compass to act appropriately and ethically in our business,” Schlesinger said. “It's really about relationships, whether it's with John or dealing with politicians and getting support for helping this complex in Maryvale become a reality, whether it's getting the state of Wisconsin to fund $500 million for a ballpark (renovation).
“ … And you're only as good in your relationships as you are with your faith, with your moral compass, with your ethics. Mean what you say, say what you mean. Be honest, be respectful.”
Schlesinger said he benefited from the wisdom of mentors in law, entertainment and sports, with former Angels president Tony Tavares at the top of the list. Kaites, who moderated the speaker event, worked with Tavares in an attempt to buy the Arizona Coyotes hockey team and also marveled over his common sense skills.
“(Tavares) was a finance person, but he also had tremendous common sense, and he knew how to negotiate,” Schlesinger said. “I just absorbed everything that he taught me, and I still talk to him once a month.”
GCU students loved Schlesinger’s candid and humble words.
“It was really cool to hear how he dealt with challenges in his career,” said Justin Grace, a sports and entertainment management major who works in the spring training ticket office of the San Francisco Giants. “The (sausage) story was funny. But it was cool to see someone at a high level talk to someone like us.”
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio bought a majority share in the Norwich City Football Club two years ago, and Schlesinger elaborated on the increased involvement in American teams investing in European soccer teams.
That piqued the interest of Ross Thurtell, a business management major who said fans from his native England are protective of Premier League teams and don’t want it to turn into an entertainment league like the NFL and NHL.
“The biggest thing I learned was that someone so high up in that position and being so very well connected and in control of all facets of an organization could be so down to earth and be willing to give advice and help college students,” Thurtell said.
Next T.W. Lewis speaker: Arizona Supreme Court Justice William Montgomery, 10 a.m. Tuesday, Colangelo College of Business lobby.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at Mark.Gonzales@gcu.edu
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