Los Angeles Rams
The Rams’ return to Los Angeles in early 2016 provided an opportunity for Dan August, a born-and-educated Easterner who appeared to be settling into a long career at NFL headquarters in New York. It would require a step out of the comfortable and into a challenge.
He and his wife, NFL colleague Joanna Hunter, both leapt at the chance, joined the Rams and moved west. Their mission: Rebuild a fan base after a 22-year absence in a city full of other options for entertainment. But August’s particular specialty was even more daunting: Build a business that could sustain owner Stan Kroenke’s extraordinary expense of moving the team from St. Louis and building SoFi Stadium.
Dan August
Executive Vice President, Consumer Revenue and Strategy, Los Angeles Rams
Age: 39
Born: New York, N.Y.
Education: Dartmouth College, B.A., economics; University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, MBA
Family: Spouse, Joanna; children, Leah (8), Isabella (5)
Advice to my 20-year-old self: Stay true to yourself and continue working hard.
What my friends/family think I do all day: Sell tickets and talk football.
How I deal with stress in the workplace: Deep breaths.
Cause supported: Los Angeles Rams Foundation.
App I use most: ESPN.
First social media platform I signed up for: The Facebook.
Social media platform I use/follow most today: LinkedIn.
Person in sports business I’d most like to meet: Ryan Smith.
Sports business leaders should be more mindful of … : How globalization of sports is changing fandom with greater competition.
Most pressing issue facing my generation is … : Keeping up with changing consumer habits.
Today, August oversees the Rams’ full ticketing and suites business; stadium and event operations; strategy, analytics and retail; and food and beverage vendors. He helped build the Rams’ $600 million stadium seat license sales effort, and the team’s annual revenue today is among the top in the NFL.
Balancing the push for revenue and the need to build a generation of Rams fans in their new (old) city requires more than aggressive pricing. It requires a careful blend of revenue maximization and an eye to the community as the Rams try to appeal to high rollers and the next generation. That means pushing prices as high as possible for high-demand games in order to “give us more space” to do more group deals and community programming for lower-demand games, he said.
August credits his success to the hard-work example set by numerous NFL colleagues and retired Rams defensive end Aaron Donald: “You’re working hard even if your team’s 5-11, just because you want to keep putting good things on tape and lead in the right way.” — Ben Fischer
Back to the Forty Under 40 home page
