Ep.252 w/ Joe Lynch of Premier Talent Relations

SPEAKER 1: What is up everybody? Welcome to episode 2 52. Today's guest, Mr Joseph Lynch of Premier Talent Relations. He is going to be putting on two shows in the central New York, Western New York area.

SPEAKER 1: We're gonna talk about that. He represents young athletes as well and building a, a community here in the New York state level, which is very cool. He reached out to me maybe about a month ago and, you know, worked out where we're gonna have, man, I'll be set up at his first show which is in gate cai and he's gonna have some autograph guests.

SPEAKER 1: He's gonna tell us all about those autograph guests kind of the, the inner workings of putting on a show and, you know, everyone thinks it's easy and, and I don't want to make it, you know, not that it's, it's, you know, surgery, but there's a lot to go into it, especially when you have autograph guests and, and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER 1: So we're gonna learn about what he's doing, his show, how he got it off the ground and what's coming in the future and, getting to know him. He's a really nice gentleman that, that cares about community. So, very important, to me as well. So, without further ado, let's get the show started.

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SPEAKER 1: Happy to be joined by my next guest on the sports card shop, guest line from premier talent re relations, CEO Mr Joseph Lynch Joe. Welcome.

SPEAKER 4: Thank you. Appreciate you being here.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. So tell us, you know, I know a little bit about what you do. Not, not everything obviously but, you know, somewhat but for those maybe listening or, or never heard of Premier Talent Relations, sort of what you do, what kind of things you, you do.

SPEAKER 1: And, and that sort of stuff. We, we got a show coming up, we're gonna talk about, but it's more, it's more to it than just, a show obviously.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah, I appreciate that. So, we started in March March 8th 20 23. My kids and I decided that I want to do something together with sports. My daughter is a sophomore in college. Huge, exciting, big into sports.

SPEAKER 4: My son is a senior in high school, big into sports. And so we decided to take a little bit of a, a roller coaster ride and focus on some nil type deals for high school athletes. That was kind of the, the start up of it, the goal of it.

SPEAKER 4: And along the way, we were going to kind of break it into four different areas. So the first area was nil which is name image of likeness. The second area was just meeting some awesome people along the way and getting them hooked up with appearances. The third thing is doing clinics for youth and really focusing on giving back to kids. And then the fourth thing is my son is a huge sports car collector.

SPEAKER 4: And so he's big into it and we thought we would do two big shows a year and really focus on making it affordable, not only for the vendors, but also affordable for the kids to meet some professional athletes and still be able to spend some money while they're getting some autographs. So that's kind of the, the, the base of our business and, and what we're doing.

SPEAKER 4: And I've been fortunate enough we currently represent seven athletes. But I've connected with way more athletes than I expected in a, in a five month, six month span.

SPEAKER 4: And so I'm helping other, card shows and other, you know, restaurants and, and businesses book these peop, book these players or these athletes for, you know, appearances, autograph sessions, clinics, et cetera.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, no doubt in the nil. Anyway, I mean, unless you're living under a rock, you realize how big of a deal, this is, you know, for many years, I'm sure, you know, remember, you know, it was the old debate, you know, should college athletes be paid to? The universities are making money, from them and their performances.

SPEAKER 1: And, but it, it's always a slippery slope you're gonna get, you know, I, I, I'm glad that some young athletes, male and female can, can earn some money, you know, you think going to college it's hard to hold down a job and, and whether even if you're not playing for, even if you're just a student, between your studies and, and school work.

SPEAKER 1: But then you add in the fact that if you're, you know, an athlete on top of that makes that degree of difficulty, even more.

SPEAKER 1: I, I always felt like there should be something but you know what the answer was? It's, it's, it's so difficult but, you know, now we have it, I like it, you know, me personally, I want to get your, you know, but also I think there's, you know, create some issues.

SPEAKER 1: You got, you know, athletes, sort of, it's, it's, I call it like the free agency of college, almost like in a professional sports, we see a, a player, you know, get a new contract from a new team and they're in a new, I, it sort of brought that element to the college.

SPEAKER 1: I think it, it makes it easier for a player maybe if he doesn't like the, money deal or even, even besides money, you know, he didn't get enough, he or she didn't get enough playing time.

SPEAKER 1: And I, I am out of here, and maybe a promise is made at a new school and that sort of thing. And so you see a lot of movement, if you will, from, from athletes, while I, you know, so I agree that they need to be sort of, rewarded for their, their work, so to speak.

SPEAKER 1: You know, and also there's that other side to it where, you know, you just have a lot of bouncing around or, hey, I, I'm, I'm out of here. Hey, who's, who wants me to sort of, think some of your thoughts on the landscape and, and, and, and now someone who's really on the front lines, right there. Yeah, I, I.

SPEAKER 4: Look at it a little bit different, because I'm not shooting for the super big athletes, I'm looking for the underdog guys, the offensive linemen that nobody looks at the linebackers who nobody wants special teamers.

SPEAKER 4: But not only for high school and college really about these athletes who played in the pros who after their contract is done, they don't have anybody that does anything for them and, and not everybody I won't say, you know, but there's a, there's a huge population that is out there interested in coming to these card shows, interested in doing autographs.

SPEAKER 4: And when I grew up as a kid, I always thought an agent was Jerry Maguire, right?

SPEAKER 4: Like that's the only type of agent you could be, but there is sports management, marketing and branding agents and what with the nil being so big for high school and college, it's also big for pro athletes. So if you can build a relationship and you can find a common ground and you find these athletes who want to give back to the community.

SPEAKER 4: It's an awesome opportunity and it, and it's not something to take advantage of on the flip side of that. Like you were talking about, there are opportunities out there for colleges, high schools to recruit these young athletes and say, hey, you know, over in, in this school, you know, you get a restaurant deal.

SPEAKER 4: If you come over to me, you get a brand new car, you get a car deal, you know, you'll be able to play here, you get starting time. So that is it, it is in the mix 100%.

SPEAKER 4: I'm not at that level, I'm not looking to be at that level.

SPEAKER 4: I really wanna, you know, our, our first athlete that we signed is actually a kid I've known since he was five years old. He's a quarterback for a football team here in the western New York.

SPEAKER 4: But he doesn't get the kudos cause we're a school that loses a lot. We're a school that, you know, doesn't throw the ball a lot, but he's a four sport athlete. He does a lot of really good things in the community.

SPEAKER 4: And so, you know, I haven't hooked up with a restaurant here locally. He gets a percentage of meals, that are sold with his name on it. And you know, the, the hardest thing for us is navigating New York State Athletic Commission, making sure that he doesn't lose his academic eligibility.

SPEAKER 4: If he wears a Gate Shila shirt into, you know, a restaurant and the restaurant he's at, somebody takes a picture and says, oh, you know, he's advertising his school. That's not what we're about. So, it's, it's about finding these athletes who are looking for representation, who want to get back to the community.

SPEAKER 4: Do c clinics, do camps, you know, I, if they can make a little bit of money so he can save up for college, great the college athletes, if they want to make a little bit of money so they can, you know, spend money on gas and meals. And I'm all about that. I'm all about helping wherever we can help and, and make it right.

SPEAKER 1: It's nice to hear you, you know, talk about maybe like when we talked about certain positions that don't get as much of the love as, as some of the skill set positions.

SPEAKER 1: And you know, with, with high school and, and couch would even men, like even even pro ale who still want to do some things. And you mentioned that that community, the word community, which is not just a word, it's a natural thing. I think that's important.

SPEAKER 1: And and, and so you, you know, you mentioned that you're, you're sort of unaffected by some of the bigger names, but how much of that trickles down do you do? You know, you don't have to mention names. But do you, do you have someone, maybe you're trying to work with and they just have sort of dollar signs in their eyes or they sort of.

SPEAKER 4: So, all of the guys that I currently represent are, are very much community based. I, I make sure that I meet with them and talk to them about what I'm looking to do. And, you know, at the end of the day, I want this to be my full time job, but I know it's, it takes, it takes a while to build something and, and build a rapport.

SPEAKER 4: A little interesting, you know, I won't take up a lot of time, but within a, within a month of owning our business, I had Eric Dior if I represent. He was our first signing and he's the coolest guy in the whole wide World.

SPEAKER 4: He's from Cuse played in Syracuse has a great community vibe in Syracuse, but he wasn't doing everything he could outside of Syracuse. And so him and I had a conversation, I booked him at a clinic up here in Rochester and we just connected and it was a great connection.

SPEAKER 4: The next day I met Chris Joseph and, and Chris Joseph signed on and a week later, Eric was named to be the general manager of the Alumni basketball league. And so I was asking him about that. I'm like, hey, we should bring that to Rochester. That would be really cool.

SPEAKER 4: And he's like, oh, you need to talk to this guy named Ricky down in DC. And so I called this guy named Ricky. Literally, I think Ricky and I were separated at birth. I, I, I've never met somebody so like me, but so well connected in the basketball community.

SPEAKER 4: And he's, he's the VP of operations for the Alumni basketball league. And two days later, I'm on the phone with Cream Rush who played with the Lakers and played in Minnesota or Missouri. I'm sorry. And, you know, they wanted me to come on and do game day operations and business development.

SPEAKER 4: And so I had the opportunity to speak with II, I mean, a myriad of names. Tubby Smith, Jim Boeheim, buddy Boeheim, Jermaine Jones, Mario West, you know, the list goes on, I met Vernon Davis during this process. You know, it's just, it's, it's been chaotic and it's something that I've been able to experience with my family, which is awesome.

SPEAKER 4: And it's fun like we're, we're in the sports World which is a very small community and if you do people right and you treat people right and you, people want to work with you.

SPEAKER 4: And when they hear about you, you know, you're getting phone calls from people that you, you didn't even know whatever, know you like, ask me eight months ago that I would have met Vernon Davis a month after my business opened. I would have been like, what, like, seriously.

SPEAKER 4: But, you know, we've done some really cool things and, and we're expanding a little bit more. But I don't wanna be an agency, like I'm not looking to have 2030 40 50 60 guys. I wanna have relationships with those many guys.

SPEAKER 4: So that, you know, if you called me up and said, hey, Joe, I'd love to get somebody on the podcast. Do you know anybody that played for the Red Sox? I'd be like, yeah, let me hook you up, let me get you somebody.

SPEAKER 4: Or no, but I know a guy who knows a guy that, you know, can get you somebody. So that's kinda, we wanna go slow and steady and, and eventually I do want this to be a career but it's, it's gonna take some time.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, you, you, you wanna build it right? And, you know, and so like you said, Rome wasn't, you know, the old cliche, right? Rome wasn't built in a day.

SPEAKER 1: You jump right in like, has it been, in your opinion, has it been harder than you anticipated about what you anticipated or, or even potentially easier than you anticipated?

SPEAKER 4: I think every line that we're doing is different. So getting the guys to buy into what I'm selling has been easy. Because if, if, if you find a guy that has a story that they wanna tell and they have nobody doing this for them. It's, it's very easy because I'm a doer. You know, I wanna find them something to do.

SPEAKER 4: It benefits me, it benefits them in terms of the clinics. You find people that want to do clinics. Those are easy. Like, but the hard part of the clinics is not, everybody knows all the guys that I'm bringing in, right? Like, so, you know, I'm looking, I'm, I'm working with somebody out of state right now for a clinic for Eric.

SPEAKER 4: Well, Eric Syracuse, right? That's what people know Eric Th is Syracuse. So trying to get them to understand the impact he had as an orange man, the impact he had in his community back in Michigan. You know, it's, it's huge. That's my job. Like I have to sell him to these. So that's a little bit harder.

SPEAKER 4: I would say the third thing that's hard with our line of business is appearances at like restaurants and stuff because people don't understand the value of different guys. There are certain guys out there that will charge 20 $25,000 for a two hour appearance.

SPEAKER 4: And there are guys that will charge 2000 and you'll hear people say, well, I'm not gonna pay 2000 for this guy and I'm like, I want this guy and I'm like, well, you wanna pay 18,000 for him you can have that guy for two hours. So my goal is a guy like that is to build a relationship with him so that I can get him multiple gigs versus the one offs.

SPEAKER 4: But what I've learned is a lot of those guys charge that much because they don't want to do those appearances. You know what I mean? They're not interested in going out and then in terms of the card show, I, I mean, it's, it's an interesting take.

SPEAKER 4: I've done several events. I own a disc jockey business. I announce, you know, sports all the time. I, I'm always doing events so I'm, I'm events are not an issue to me, but for me, it's always about relationships with the events. So before I even scheduled our show, I made sure there was no other shows locally on our date.

SPEAKER 4: I made sure to call around check with all the other vendors. Well, the, the, the people hosting the shows, I guess the promoters and make sure that I wasn't gonna step on anybody's toes because being new, when you walk into somebody's territory, everybody becomes territorial.

SPEAKER 4: And so for me, the hardest part is making sure that I get to know people, you know, by name. I get to know faces. I go to these card shows, my son goes to all of them because he loves them. So he's out shopping while I'm trying to shake hands and kiss babies.

SPEAKER 4: And, you know, the hardest thing is really getting the vendors to buy into what you're selling. And, and I learned that as we go into the next segment probably, you know, my tables were priced pretty high initially, which I, I don't think they were high compared to what I'm bringing into the show.

SPEAKER 4: But after talking to a few vendors, I said, all right, you know what, I'll run a special in September, see how we do. With the understanding that, you know, you're getting four athletes at a show, there's not a lot of shows that bring in four athletes.

SPEAKER 4: And so, you know, you're gonna sell more at the show because of the four athletes and because I'm having a new school district that I'm well connected with. So, you know, it's, it's not about a local Elks club or, you know, a hotel. I, I it's nothing like that.

SPEAKER 4: It's, it's a totally different vibe and I just have to, I have to build it and continue to support other local promoters and make sure that I get their support when we do ours and, and it's everybody wins in this, everybody that, the vendor, the promoters, the kids, the families, the fans, everybody wins. So that's, that's kind of once again back to the beginning of your question, the, the job itself is awesome.

SPEAKER 4: Like there's nothing I, nothing more passionate about than sports, you know, meeting people and, and helping people and giving back to the community, the hard parts are the things that I think nobody likes, right is, you know, people being upset with you about something or people not understanding the leg work that goes behind giving people bookings because I don't get paid unless they get paid.

SPEAKER 4: Right. So it, it doesn't matter what I'm doing, if, if nobody books them, I could work 40 hours on, on one opportunity for somebody and they're like, nah, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER 4: So yeah, so it's, it's a mix of emotional days and at the end of it, if everybody's happy, it's a win for everybody. So that's kind of the goal. Yeah.

SPEAKER 1: Iii I like something you said too. Very, very important. I wanna, I wanna mention, you know, you mentioned like when you're looking at dates to put on a sports card show, right? You, you care about, hey, is there another event that is a, a conflict with it? I don't wanna step on toes, right?

SPEAKER 1: You hear maybe not, it may, maybe not locally but you hear in other states, I've, I've know promoters, I've talked to them be like, hey, this, you know, I just had a friend of mine, he, he went to a show in Pittsburgh and they had another show literally in the hotel across the street. So you have two shows sort of competing with each other. Now, some might argue.

SPEAKER 1: Well, they, that's kind of good cause maybe someone would go to both shows. But to me, I think I like you. I would want to be sort of the, the only thing that weekend and, and in fairness to myself or in your case yourself and the other promoters who are doing their due diligence.

SPEAKER 1: And, you know, you also, you know, you wanna set you might, you know, there might be fu future or current relationships there as well. So you don't want to get off on the wrong foot. Potentially a lot of times you hear it like it's a cutthroat and people don't care and they're like, I'm just gonna do whatever the heck I wanna do if it happens to be the same day.

SPEAKER 1: So be it and then you get some, some bad blood or some, you know, back channel talking and, you know, like you said, you know, then, then people can lose or it's just a, a bad experience and you, you, you, you even in here and you explain it right, you care about, you know, the vendor, you care about the customers, you care about, you know, the people coming to the show, that's refreshing to hear because a lot of times with show promotion, some of that stuff's not always present in, in your case, it is present and it says a little bit, well, it says a lot about sort of how you operate and some of the ethics, that you have and, and, and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER 1: Thank you. Yeah. So, you know, your son is sort of probably the, the knowledge base for being a, a sports card guy has, has this process gotten you maybe like, are you, are you collected or you, you know, have you, have you, have you been sucked in and, and became one of us as like.

SPEAKER 4: No, I, I tell him all the time, like, when I was a kid, you know, if I had a Michael Jordan card, you had a Shaquille O'Neal card. That's what we traded, right? Like, oh, you like Shaq? I like Michael. Ok. Let's make a trade now. It's like colors and numbers and autographs and I'm color blind. So half the time he's like, look at this card and I'm like, I don't even know what that is.

SPEAKER 4: But y you know, it's, it's awesome to see the Hobby pick up the way it has specifically over the last few years, especially during COVID when people were doing a lot of online stuff.

SPEAKER 4: And it amazes me the amount of opportunities out there for cards, both in value and in terms of collectibility and, and, you know, personal collections, P CS, like, I've learned a lot of the lingo. So there's things my son says and I'm like, oh, ok, that makes sense.

SPEAKER 4: But we don't, I mean, we go to a lot of card shows. I mean, and he, he does a lot of, stack sales on Twitter.

SPEAKER 4: And I'll throw a plug at the end for his Twitter handle in case anybody wants to jump on the stack sales. But, he does a lot of that and, you know, he's somebody that just is passionate about sports cards and he knows his stuff way. So, for me, no, it's not even, I'll, I'll help run the shows. I'll set up and organize an events. He'll, he'll talk to me about names that he's interested in or, you know, ideas that he has.

SPEAKER 4: But he's, he's done an awesome job with the card side of it. Way, way more knowledgeable than I'll ever be or ever wanna be time.

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SPEAKER 7: Let's go. You are listening to the Sports Card Nation podcast.

SPEAKER 1: Speaking of, of the show, you got the, the premier sports spectacular October 21st. Before we get into who's gonna be there, how many tables where it is? All the, all the important stuff, you know, now that it's coming up, you, you know, you're, you know, we're about a month away.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I asked you about the degree of difficulty with some of the other stuff. Talk about you know, putting on this event, it's not here just yet but get every day or a day closer.

SPEAKER 1: Again, has it been, you know, obviously your son sounds like he's been a big help, in the process. Has it been, is d you know, more difficult than you thought about what you expected? Kind of like that, same question. But now with, with the, the card show, side.

SPEAKER 4: Of, so I think it's, it's a weird type of difficult if that makes sense because it's not hard. I have a location already hooked up because I have a relationship with the location. Getting the athletes wasn't a problem. I think the problem is getting to know the vendors and getting to know what's going to draw them in and building a trusting relationship. Right?

SPEAKER 4: So that's the hardest thing for me and I have a lot of support from other promoters. So I'm thankful for that.

SPEAKER 4: But at the same time, like the vendors have to trust you and they have to think that, you know, this is gonna be something I wanna come to twice a year. This is gonna be something I wanna come to because they treat us well.

SPEAKER 4: And if they decide to do more than two shows, I know what it's gonna feel like. I know that I'm gonna be able to have good communication. I know that, you know, there's gonna be support systems in place when I get to the venue, I'm not gonna feel like, you know, rush to do something.

SPEAKER 4: And so for me, the difficult part is getting those relationships because I don't know the players, like once I have an email list and once I have relationships, then it, it's, it's cake, right, like then it becomes just the next one is gonna be 10 times easier.

SPEAKER 4: So yeah, that would be the hardest part. But like I said, I have a lot of support from a few of the promoters locally, which is really helped me, make connections and, and being able to go to the shows and hand out flyers like there, not a lot of places that will do that, but the few promoters that I have relationships with have been awesome about it. So I'm thankful for that as well.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that, that's always great when you can, you know, lay that groundwork and have those sort of open doors rather than a door closed in your face or someone that's territorial or just maybe just playing grumpy, just like that. And, so it's always, it's always nice. And then you can build on those, right?

SPEAKER 1: That's, that's a foundation and then you can build on it. So, well, let's talk about the show itself. It's October 21st, but talk about, it's your show. I, I, I'm not gonna steer your Thunder, you know, where is it tables? You know, who's there signing, hours? All that, all that, good stuff and important stuff.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah. So, it's being held at Gates Tlight middle school and the coolest thing about that. For me, me when I, when I've been to all of these shows and been able to compare is we have both the gym and the cafeteria. So it kind of opens up the vendors tables so people aren't so tight.

SPEAKER 4: We'll also set up a trading area for the kids to be able to make trades and open packs and do all the cool things that the kids like to do while they're there. We'll have Js A there to certify the authenticity of the four autographs.

SPEAKER 4: So that's an awesome opportunity that I learned from my son.

SPEAKER 4: We'll have isa grading there submitting grading cards. That was new to me as well. I met a vendor who did that locally. I know you do SGC, I think, right? Is that what you did?

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I'm, I'm SGC sponsors the show. And so here at the Syracuse Shows at the fairgrounds, I'm a a representative for them, for cards. And so, yup. Yup. And there's, you know, so there's more than one grating company and to, you know, it's, it's like Burger King and mcdonald's like some people like the whopper, some people like the Big Mac, I just like hamburgers.

SPEAKER 1: So it's like, so, you know, and, and there's plenty of choices and, and so, and you can always, you know, you can always expand on that as you, as you grow the, the, the shows and, and, and your business and then that sort of thing. But, yeah, go, go ahead too. I don't.

SPEAKER 4: No, that's ok. So the show will run from 10 to 4.

SPEAKER 4: And there is a $5 admission for 13 and over. Just to kind of cover some other expenses.

SPEAKER 4: The four guys that we have coming in, Jim Leitz will be there. He'll be signing from 10 30 to 12 30.

SPEAKER 4: Darryl Talley will be signing from 1 to 3. Larry Johnson will be there from 12 30 to 2 30 and our newest signing, Calisto WWE Calisto will be there from 10 to 12 and he actually replaced Buff Bagwell and, and there's an interesting story.

SPEAKER 4: So about 20 years ago, I was a semi professional wrestler, so I have a lot of relationships with some of these guys that are old school legends that I had brought in as a promoter as well as a wrestler and Buff and I go way back and, you know, he has a little bit of a history if you read about it with, not some good choices.

SPEAKER 4: And over the last year he's done an amazing job with his sobriety. And so up until just a couple of weeks ago, he was so excited to come back to Rochester and meet people, see fans and he got a call and asking him to speak at a recovering alcohol and an addict meeting on the 21st. And so he called me up, he apologized.

SPEAKER 4: And, you know, fortunately I was able to find a replacement that is a wrestler replacement because I have a lot of wrestling fans that signed up for autographs and I would have felt awful.

SPEAKER 4: Had I, you know, had I not been able to do something, but the piggyback on that discussion, even when I talk about relationships, when I knew Buff canceled, I called everybody personally that signed up for autographs to let them know, hey, do you want me to ship your money back or do you want me to, you know, you want to just keep it for Calisto?

SPEAKER 4: And the appreciation that I got back for the those phone calls was, it was awesome. Like people were thankful that I made the calls personally and didn't just, you know, have them show up at the show and be like, hey, Buff didn't make it. You got Cleo now.

SPEAKER 4: And the autographs for all the guys are 25 each or you can get all four for 80. That is one item per person.

SPEAKER 4: There's no, no item they won't sign, so that's awesome. And if somebody doesn't want an item, I'm providing eight by tens.

SPEAKER 4: So when I, when I get somebody signed up for an autograph, I email them, ask them what they're doing to make sure that, you know, we have enough eight by tens for everybody.

SPEAKER 4: And they'll be able to get a picture with the athlete, they'll get the autograph and, you know, that will be 25 bucks. I feel like it's worth it for those, those four guys.

SPEAKER 4: It's not expensive and it still gives the kids, the opportunity to meet a former professional athlete and then go spend some money with the vendors, which is a huge, huge deal for me because if a vendor is spending money to be there, I want them to make some money too. We'll have some raffles going on. We have an autograph, Kevin Durant, basketball.

SPEAKER 4: That will be raffling off. We have, Gems Cancer Foundation will be there. They'll be raffling off a lot of different sports, memorabilia. I think we're giving away six prizes, that they're bringing, we'll have pizza. I have sweet confections who's bringing us some cookies to sell.

SPEAKER 4: So we'll have, we'll just have a good time. It's a big, wide open area. It's, Gates Chaley Middle School. You know, as we get closer, I'll, I'll let everybody know the entrance door, but we'll have signs up and you know, a lot of parking and, for me the coolest thing is the school supports it.

SPEAKER 4: So it's a huge school district. And I think, you know, when you talk about attendance to a sports card show, you never know. Right. Like, you never know what you're competing against.

SPEAKER 4: You know, the regular, you know, car dealers and car buyers are gonna show up, they're gonna be there, the collectors are gonna be there. But how do you get new people in there? Right? How do you get people that maybe like they go to the store and they buy a pack of Pokemon and they're like, oh, what do I do with this now?

SPEAKER 4: So how do you get them there? And how do you get the kids that are four and five and their parents are buying them pack of baseball cards and they have no clue what they're doing, but now they walk in and there's, you know, 30 40 tables of sports like holy cow.

SPEAKER 4: So that's, that's a great opportunity for us to give back to the community. Once again, everything you ever hear me talk about will be community based with our business because it's, it's about the kids and it's about families and, and allowing relationships to develop no matter what that looks like. So yeah, that's our show on October 21st. I'm super excited.

SPEAKER 4: I, I haven't met any of these guys in person. Yet. So I've talked to all of them on numerous occasions to make sure that I didn't miss a beat with any of them because once again the relationships with them are just as important as, the vendors.

SPEAKER 4: And they're looking forward to coming to Rochester.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And I wanna, I wanna piggy back up, a couple of things you said, starting with, with Buff Bagwell. Unfortunately, I have another commitment that was important to and obviously outreach. And, and, and instead being clean and sober, he's, he's doing that and this gives him an opportunity to, to help others.

SPEAKER 1: It's not where, hey, I'm going to the beach instead of, I'm going to the beach, I won't be there. It's you know, this is an important thing in, in, in the, in the game of life. And so, that's understandable. You, you, you've, you've got Calisto there. So it's not like, and, and something you did that II, I gotta say probably 60% of promoters wouldn't do.

SPEAKER 1: I mean, a again, II I, it's speculation with, with numbers, but I've heard of this happening before. So I know it happens in, in this fashion. A lot of times someone cancels an athlete cancels and the promoter doesn't say anything. People will, will travel in and, oh, you know, sorry.

SPEAKER 1: We just found out I, you know, but you're, you're very transparent, very upfront. Like you said, you called these individuals that had maybe pre-ordered and just kind of, hey, this is what's going on. This is, and I think people will appreciate that.

SPEAKER 1: I know if I was on the other end of that call because I've seen that the other, I've seen that happen the other way, where someone cancels and people don't find out till they're already there and it kind of leaves a, maybe a bad taste in their mouth or maybe a promoter, you know, a little white line like, hey, I just found out when maybe that's not exactly the truth, but yet you did that, all above board in the right way.

SPEAKER 1: I think it speaks of volumes about what kind of person you are and what kind of business you're trying to run, like you said, heavy community, right? That, that's another thing sometimes lacking from people who, who try, you know, who do what you do or trying to do, what you do even, you know, mentioning like an air for the kids to trade, right?

SPEAKER 1: You get the kids at the forefront of your mind of, of, you know, for an experience, for they have an enjoyable experience because they're the future, right? An old guy like me, you know, the, the, the sands going through the hourglass.

SPEAKER 1: So with that next generation that's gonna carry the torture the Hobby forward again and, and, you know, that you, you sort of, you have your finger on that pulse and it's, it's refreshing, to hear and, I mean, the, the, you know, the, the names you have and Jim Laver is a, a World series hero.

SPEAKER 1: You know, whether you're a Yankee fan or just a baseball fan, you know, about him, you know, Larry Johnson, the grandmama, you know, and, and, and back in the, the, the nineties, he was, a force and, and you know, Nick Charlotte Hornets.

SPEAKER 1: And so, a lot of great people and you know, like you said, that you can take a picture, Js A, in my opinion, is the best authenticator in the business and you know, and, and isa grading there for, for grading needs.

SPEAKER 1: So you really seem to do your homework or due diligence sort of the cover every base and, and a lot of times, you hear with, with first those when with a promoter, they sort of miss some things and, and, you know, and, and listen, no one's perfect, right?

SPEAKER 1: But you're doing your due diligence and trying to, you know, check all the boxes so that everybody from attendees to the, the athletes themselves, to the vendors, and, and, and, and people in premier talent all can enjoy the day. And that, and that sort of thing. Are you, are you, are you counting the days down now? As you, as you draw near.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah, we're, we're definitely counting them down every single day making sure that the I's are dotted and the TS are crossed and, you know, once again, still communicating, trying to get the word out about the vendor tables.

SPEAKER 4: You know, I am shooting, I know sometimes people hate the competition, right? Like somebody's like, oh, there's gonna be 100 tables there. So, you know, I don't want a table but, you know, we have an opportunity to have 70 tables. We're at about 35 right now.

SPEAKER 4: You know, I, I'd like to see it get up to 50. I think that's a good number for a first show.

SPEAKER 4: And having the price drop for the month of September.

SPEAKER 4: And, and just to be clear, I don't know how many people listen to this but, you know, the people that did pay ahead of time when the prices were higher, I did give them money back when I lowered the show so that once again, relationship focused, because I want them to know like I'm not gonna charge you, you know, the original price and then run a special and be like, hey, sorry.

SPEAKER 4: But you know, really, if you book after September 30th like those, that's where the table prices, it's gonna be supply and demand at that point in time.

SPEAKER 4: Because I, I feel like over the next couple of weeks we're gonna see some people come in, and, and book tables last minute, may maybe multiple tables at 50 bucks each.

SPEAKER 4: So, yeah, I mean, it, for me once again, I, I've said it a million times during this podcast and this interview, conversation, it's, it's really just building reputation and, and making partnerships and opportunities for kids.

SPEAKER 4: And even, you know, you throw yourself under the bus being the old guy. Listen, if you want to trade at the trading table with your, your older partners or your friends or whoever, listen, no problem with me. I have no, no shame in my game. It's all right.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. No. And you know, another thing, another brother, your cap, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you some, some shine here. You know, even like you said, that anyone that prepaid at a, at a higher level now with the special, you've sort of, you've compensated them the difference. That's an old, you know, cell phone provider, trick, right?

SPEAKER 1: You, you were one and the new special and you're stuck, right? You, you know, you're not doing that and, that again, speak volumes to, you know, your morals and ethics and, and how you, you know, how you care and, and you're not, you know, you're not looking to just, hey, I'm just doing this show and I'm out of here, that type of thing.

SPEAKER 1: I don't really care. You want your building, your building your, your company, your brand and you want people to enjoy it and come back and then more people, you know, word of mouth as you probably well know, is, is one of the best advertising you can get. So, obviously this will air before the show.

SPEAKER 1: And then I usually any show I attend Joe, I will do like a follow up broadcast, just sort of a review, like a recap episode. So that's, that'll be something that, people can hear, how to show up. Not yet come yourself and, and find out, find out yourself.

SPEAKER 1: But for those that may be and, and, you know, we, we're, we're worldwide podcast. So, you know, for people that are, are not, unfortunately not close enough to attend, they can at least hear how it went and, you know what it was like. So, I, I always usually, do a, do a show recap of any, any event that, that I attend.

SPEAKER 1: So, but again, it sounds like you, you're, you know, you're, you're ahead of the curve compared to sometimes other promoters I, I, you know, heard about and, and how they, how they do, you know, run their business.

SPEAKER 1: And, again, that's re refreshing to hear. So I appreciate you making, some time. I know you're busy getting all this you know, as we approach that you and all the other stuff, it's not like you're just doing the show, you, you've got other Irons in the fire as they say as well.

SPEAKER 1: So I appreciate you making some time, take all the time you need Joe give out all that information, Social Media websites ha Social Media handles. You mentioned even mentioning your son what your son does give out as much of that as, as, as you deem necessary.

SPEAKER 4: So, pretty much anything you look at Social Media wise, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are all Premier Talent Relations. So that's nice and easy.

SPEAKER 4: If you are looking for stack sales, my son's card, Twitter handle is main event cards. Just like the main event of a wrestling show, a boxing match, just the main event cards, you can find him on Twitter. He does stack sales on a regular basis.

SPEAKER 4: And then our website is www Premier Talent Relations dot com and all updates, all of our people that we represent are on there anytime there's news or anything surrounding those guys, or women, that will be up there. Once again, we're slow and steady growing.

SPEAKER 4: We currently represent Eric Dior, Chris Joseph Jonathan coachman, the coach, Jermaine Jones. So if you work in a company or anything, Jermaine Jones does a great job with mental health. He was just on the cover of mental health magazine. It's a big thing going on right now in the World.

SPEAKER 4: So, you know, give, give us a call for Jermaine Tim Redan, local major league baseball player, great guy, and then former WWE tag team champions Demolition. We also book them and help with them. So, you know, definitely check out our website, follow us on any of the Social Media.

SPEAKER 4: And you know, definitely buy some cars from the stack sale, however that works, just know you stack them and you buy them and it's great. So good types.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, and we'll, we'll, we'll we'll, we'll get that stuff out there on our Social Media as well, Joe, like I said that and do some cross promotion and you know, and, and get that book hopefully going and I guess we'll, we'll see you here in a few weeks as, as we head towards the, the premier sports spectacular, looking forward to it.

SPEAKER 4: Thanks John. I appreciate you.

SPEAKER 1: Appreciate Joe making some time for sports car nation busy guy but a great guy and just getting to know him through the interview and a phone conversation and I'll see him here in a couple of weeks at his inaugural show and I'm sure it'll be well organized.

SPEAKER 1: He got his ducks in a row and you know, hopefully he's successful. We, we can always use more shows in this area, of central and western New York. I know, I, I've talked about something, maybe being too many shows.

SPEAKER 1: Not the case, for this area. So I don't even mind traveling a little bit, to the west, part of New York. It's not that far. So hoping him, continued success and that these shows go well and, becomes a, a natural curry thing. So, appreciate, Joe joining us today.

SPEAKER 7: Time for our Hobby is the people announcer of the week.

SPEAKER 7: This is Mike. This baseball card life. And remember the Hobby is the people, if you'd like to be the Hobby is the people announcer of the week, do a WAV or MP3 file and send it to Sports Card Nation PC at gmail dot com.

SPEAKER 8: That's a wrap for this week. Huge thanks to you, the listeners out there because without you, there is no ice.

SPEAKER 8: If you like the show, we truly appreciate positive reviews. Big ups to our great guests who drive the show and our awesome sponsors who make it all possible. Sports Card Nation will be back next week but don't forget to catch either Hobby. Quick hits or cod Mens coming up on Monday.

SPEAKER 8: I'll leave you with this.

SPEAKER 8: How do we change the World? One random act of kindness at a time.

SPEAKER 8: Remember the Hobby is the people.

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