Natalie M. Spedaliere is pursuing her Masters in Sports Business at NYU. Originally from the Bronx but currently living in CT., Natalie is living proof of that old adage “You can take the girl out of the Bronx, but you can’t take the Bronx out of the girl”. A lifelong Yankee fan, she is looking forward to serving as a summer intern with the Staten Island Yankees.

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Since the Staten Island Yankees inaugural season in 1999, they have been proclaimed the New York- Penn League Champions four times (2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006); in addition they have earned division titles in the same aforementioned years. Although the numbers have yet to reach the extraordinary achievements of the New York Yankees, it is no question as to why they have been coined the "Baby Bombers". However, the success of the Staten Island Yankees is also attributed to those who work "off the field", specifically, the administrative team known as the Front Office.

Matt Gulino is the youngest full-time employee of the Staten Island Yankees. He started his career with the Staten Island Yankees five years ago as a summer intern, and has worked as a seasonal employee in the box office since then. Initially, Mr. Gulino had minimal working knowledge of maintaining and controlling a ticket office, however, over the years, he has proved his exceptional competency through self-motivation, determination, positive interpersonal skills, and most importantly, clear, precise and articulate communication. This last and immeasurably valuable trait was certainly honed to a high degree of proficiency in his current studies of sports management at St. John's University.

Presently working in his first season as the full-time Manager of Ticket Operations, Mr. Gulino thoroughly enjoys his job. Although most individual's dream to make it to the major league level, Matt Gulino is quite content being part of minor league baseball. Able to understand the needs and wants of his clientele on this smaller scale, he believes that having the ability to deal with fans on a one-on-one basis is far more rewarding and beneficial to the organization. The goal is to have fans wanting to come back because of the personal attention they receive; to Matt and his team, they are not just a faceless accounts but rather fans you know by name. This familiar and cordial relationship serves as the basis for the extraordinary box office success of the Baby Bombers.

Mr. Gulino is involved in many aspects of the Staten Island Yankees daily business operations. He is a multi-faceted team player who consistently maintains an open line of communication among the club's different departments in order to have a knowledge base of the products and promotions. A typical day for the Manager of Ticket Operations generally starts at 9:00am, and depending if there is a home game, it concludes at least an hour after the last out. Strategy meetings are held on a daily basis to discuss the day-to-day operations of the Season Ticket Account Executives, Ticket Sales Representatives and Group Sales to ensure maximum efficiency and profitability. "Our daily strategy meetings are an integral part of our success. This enables us to always be prepared to face the challenges of our ever changing market," Gulino says. Mr. Gulino also represents Ticket Sales Department at select meetings and workshops, in addition to spearheading projects directly geared towards to increasing season and group ticket sales revenue for the team.

Presently, there are several promotions that allow fans to enjoy the baseball experience at low prices with freebies included as a bonus. Game-day meetings are spent reviewing that day's tasks. Each person whether he/she is full-time or part-time is given a "game-day sheet" that lists every single sales aspect of that particular game. Areas include the special events, promotions, rentals, picnic area, suites, and special guests. During the game, the manager and his staff are in constant contact by radio to ensure that the individual assignments are completed. If problems arise, (and they rarely do), they are taken care of in a discrete, effective and efficient manner.

Throughout the day, game or no game, Mr. Gulino assists the Vice President of Ticket Sales in the development and implementation of short-term and long-term planning strategies and processes; and he also creates and evaluates the incentive structure of the club's promotions. A member of his part-time ticket scanner staff, "Frank" while sitting in Mr. Gulino's office during a game last week, commented on the success of the marketing. "I have been working with the Staten Island Yankees as a ticket taker for eight years, and this is the first time that I have seen the team's advertising campaign attract people to the game. We have fans coming from all over the tri-state to enjoy what we have to offer. That's great!" As of now, due to the success of Mr. Gulino and his staff, the Staten Island Yankees have sold out 10 of their 38 home games, and they hope to add at least five by season's end.

In addition to Matt's numerous and diverse responsibilities, he is also assigned to hire, train, and develop the sales team. While working on with the Vice President of Ticket Sales. The primary objective of their collaboration focuses on creating and evaluating the sales structure in order to address retention of the current and future sales team. "Wins are always nice, but to create a fun and entertaining atmosphere for the fans, family and friends is a lot more satisfying. It justifies the hard work that was done to see the happy faces in the stands, and seeing them come back again and again". Matt Gulino's personal professional philosophy includes certain intangible factors which exceed the simple goal of selling tickets and meeting the bottom line.

Be sure to check out Matt Gulino and the Staten Island Yankees this summer, and reserve your tickets today for a fun, fan friendly experience at www.siyanks.com.

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