@SJUSprtsMktClub hosted John Franzini from Aramark on 4/18/13

On April 18, 2013, Saint Joseph’s University was honored to have John Franzini, Vice President of Retail at ARAMARK, Sports & Entertainment. This very interesting talk allowed us to gain insight into a multi-billion organization. Mr. Franzini touched on a wide array of topics ranging from how Aramark is involved in many different industries other than sports, the negotiations between different parties needed for retail space, and all of the various components that go into maximizing profit for one of their clients.

My favorite part of the lecture was viewing the proposals that he had presented to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to gain control of their food and retail operations. I found it very interesting that Aramark routinely bids on contracts for teams in every league and that they develop a new proposal idea for each team. Lastly, I was amazed that by simply changing a team’s store in their arena, and not their actual merchandise that Aramark was able to increase revenue for the New Jersey Devils by 40%.

Overall, a fantastic lecture gave students the opportunity to learn about a side of the sports industry that is not so widely publicized.

– by Shaun Gallagher, SJU’13