Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, co-owner of the New York Giants and Gotham FC, joined President
Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D., for the latest Sports Leadership Exchange Speaker Series,
as part of the Frederiksen Forum, discussing innovation, culture, women’s sports and
preparing the next generation of sports industry leaders.
President Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D. (left) and Carolyn Tisch Blodgett (right).
The business of sports is changing rapidly, but Carolyn Tisch Blodgett believes some
important fundamentals remain the same: build something people care about, understand
your audience, and create a strong community around it.
Ms. Tisch Blodgett, is the CEO and founder of Next 3, a strategic investment firm; co-owner of the New York Giants, and lead owner and
governor of Gotham FC of the National Women’s Soccer League. She shared those lessons
during the latest Sports Leadership Exchange Speaker Series, part of the Frederiksen
Forum, at the University of New Haven. She joined President Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D., for a conversation about leadership, innovation, and the evolving sports industry.
For Ms. Tisch Blodgett, the path to sports leadership was not as direct as she once
expected. Her family became co-owners of the Giants when she was six years old, and
she initially envisioned following a straightforward path toward eventually helping
to run the team.
That path took her through marketing and advertising, Harvard Business School, and
Pepsi, before she joined Peloton. Her experiences helped shape how she approaches
branding, entrepreneurship, and organizational culture today.
“Peloton ended up being such a transformative experience for me,” she said, describing
what she learned from helping build a product into a global brand.
‘There is no one size fits all’
Ms. Tisch Blodgett said her career experiences reinforced the importance of bringing
an entrepreneurial mindset to organizations of all sizes.
At the Giants, that has meant finding opportunities to innovate while recognizing
the traditions and experiences that matter most to longtime fans. She emphasized beginning
with, “a deep respect for the current fanbase,” before identifying areas where change
can make a meaningful difference.
One example has been the in-game experience. The organization used data and feedback
from fans to identify areas where it could make changes without disrupting traditions
that were deeply important to its audience.
The approach has included experimenting with elements such as in-game music and light
bands, while recognizing when an attempted change went too far.
“Understanding, what are the areas that feel so deeply sacred that you can’t touch
is important,” she said. “And then you ask where the areas are where you feel like
you can have an impact. “There is no one size fits all.”
President Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D., and Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, co-owner of the
New York Giants and Gotham FC, during a Sports Leadership Exchange conversation as
part of The Frederiksen Forum.
‘Everything starts with a product’
Ms. Tisch Blodgett also discussed her work with Gotham FC, which her family’s investment
group Next 3 acquired in 2023. What began as an investment opportunity became a much
more personal undertaking.
She said the decision to purchase the team was based on three factors: product-market
fit, the possible impact of a new media deal, and the potential opportunities even
a small increase in investment in women’s sports would provide.
“Everything starts with a product,” Ms. Tisch Blodgett said. “We had the best product.
The fans who knew about it really cared about it.
“What we didn’t really appreciate at the time was what was about to become the cultural
renaissance around women’s sports,” she continued.
Today, she approaches Gotham FC as both a business and a community asset. She emphasized
the importance of building a winning product, developing a passionate fan base, creating
a sustainable organization, and thinking in the long-term.
“Ownership at its best in general is where you are a steward of that community asset,”
she said. “You are responsible to create this asset in the best possible way that
you can, and to leave it better than you found it.”
‘Going really deep in one specific area’
For students interested in pursuing careers in sports, Ms. Tisch Blodgett encouraged them to focus on developing a particular expertise
rather than trying to master every part of the industry at once.
“The most important skill set you can build is going deep in one specific area,” she
said. Whether a student begins in ticketing, brand management, partnerships, or another
area, she said mastering that specialty can provide the foundation for taking on broader
responsibilities later on.
She also emphasized the continuing importance of live experiences and the ability
of sports to bring people together, even as technology and media continue to transform
how fans follow teams and individual athletes.
For Ms. Tisch Blodgett, that fan passion is ultimately one of the greatest privileges
of working in sports.
“There’s so few industries that people care as passionately as they do about sports,”
she said. “The privilege of getting to work in an industry that inspires that kind
of passion, that’s the gift of working in sports.”
