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Dave Whinham - President and CEO Dave Whinham's career in sports began in 1980 when he was named an assistant coach at his alma mater, Grand Valley State University. Dave would coach football at the college level for seven years, serving two stints at GVSU and also coaching at Wayne State University and the University of Cincinnati. In 1988, Dave met head coach Tim Marcum and the late Gary Vitto, general manager of the Detroit Drive of the Arena Football League. He served as Marcum's assistant for four championship seasons, two with Detroit (1988 and 1990) and two with the Tampa Bay Storm (1995 and 1996). It was in Arena Football and through the influence of Marcum, Vitto, and others that Dave built his career, advancing from assistant coach to head coach (Columbus Thunderbolts 1991, Cleveland Thunderbolts 1992-93, Buffalo Destroyers 1999-2000) to general manager (Columbus 1990) to Vice President of Operations (Buffalo 1998-2000) to president (Columbus Destroyers 2003-04) of an Arena Football team. While never achieving much success as an AFL head coach, leading his teams to only one playoff appearance (Cleveland 1992) in four seasons, Dave was able to make his mark on the business side. As VP of Operations for the Buffalo Destroyers (and while concurrently serving as head coach of the team), Dave placed, trained, and directed a staff that produced record-setting sales numbers in all ticket sales categories, sponsorship sales, and merchandise sales. In 2002 Dave and Alan Risher formed The Team Sales Company. Now known as The Team: Sports, Entertainment, & Media, the company has provided outstanding service to all facets of the sports entertainment industry, including brokering of pro sports teams, comprehensive consulting services, live event production, and production of original television programming. One such client, the Columbus Destroyers, purchased its AFL club via The Team in 2003 and then, in a post-closing arrangement with The Team, named Dave as its first president. The Whinham-led Destroyers were again leaders in both ticket and sponsorship sales, boasting sell-out crowds throughout their inaugural season in Columbus. With their service to the Destroyers completed, The Team went on to provide strong results for a wide variety of sports, entertainment, and collegiate clients across the United States. Dave resides in Columbus, OH, with wife Jennifer and sons Will and Stevie Ray.
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Stephen Evans - Director of Operations Stephen has been with The Team: Sports, Entertainment, & Media since its inception in 2002, serving in varying capacities. As Director of Operations, Stephen oversees many of the day-to-day operations of the company. Stephen is also the creator and an executive producer of The Team's original television programming, including Going Pro and Emmy-nominated programs Cullen's Quest and Underground Vallie. While with The Team, Stephen also served as Vice President of Communications and Public Relations for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League from 2002-2005. Before to joining the Storm, Stephen worked in the communications office of arenafootball2’s Baton Rouge Blaze and Lafayette Roughnecks under Dave Whinham, who served as President of both teams. Prior to his career in Arena Football, Stephen covered Louisiana State University athletics for various media outlets. Stephen was Sports Director at KLSU-FM from 2000-2001 while also co-hosting LSU football pre-game shows on 1150-AM WJBO and serving as locker room correspondent for the station’s post-game shows. From 1998-2000, Stephen served as Editor and Publisher of Geaux.com, a pioneer of online college sports websites in America. Geaux.com was the official website of the LSU Sports Network and was the first website in the United States to produce a live broadcast on the Internet of a college football bowl game, a live women’s collegiate athletic event, and a live college football coach’s press conference. At Geaux.com, Stephen provided daily coverage of LSU athletics, including covering two College World Series, college football bowl games, NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, and numerous other NCAA and SEC tournaments and post-season championship events. Stephen, originally from Baton Rouge, La., graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Mass Communications.
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Kurt Luttermoser - Director of Business Development Kurt Luttermoser joined the staff of The Team: Sports, Entertainment, & Media in October 2006 as Director of Business Development. Kurt leads The Team’s efforts in sponsorship and marketing initiatives for new and existing business developments and also spearheads The Team’s efforts into the action sports industry. He has spent the past fifteen years in the sports-entertainment industry including the past five years under the NBA umbrella. From 2004-2006 Kurt was a front office member of Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) and the Detroit Pistons, a stint highlighted by the Pistons' back to back NBA Finals appearances and an NBA Championship in 2004. Kurt's direct responsibilities involved securing revenue for PS&E properties, including the Pistons, WNBA’s Detroit Shock, DTE Energy Music Theatre, The Palace of Auburn Hills, and Meadow Brook Music Festival. Prior to joining PS&E and the Pistons organization, Kurt served as Director of Marketing and Team President for the Huntsville Flight, an NBA Development League team. During his tenure as team president, the Flight enjoyed four of their five largest crowds, including a then NBA D-League record-best of 6,583. Under Kurt's helm the Flight led the league in revenue during the NBA D-League’s first three seasons. The 1992 University of Michigan graduate in communications began his professional career as a sports writer and columnist for a Michigan newspaper group located outside of Grand Rapids. The Elk Rapids, Mich., native then moved to Central Florida in the spring of 1994 where he served as the Detroit Tigers' Sales/Media Relations Director for the organization's spring training and minor league operations in Lakeland. While at Tiger Town, Kurt administered and directed the Tigers' youth baseball camps and served as public address announcer for the L-Tigers and Florida State League All-Star game in 1995. He also attended MLB’s Scouting Bureau’s scout schools in 1995 and 1996. Kurt then moved to the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League as Director of Sales and Operations in 1996. He stayed there for two seasons before returning as the Lakeland Tigers' GM and spring training Director of Operations. In 1999, Kurt was nominated for the Florida State League (FSL) Executive of the Year Award after chairing the effort to host the FSL All-Star game to Lakeland. Kurt also enjoyed a two year stint with Central Florida’s Polk County Sports Marketing (PCSM) group, heading up the agency’s Spring Training - Florida Grapefruit League initiatives while also developing and hosting PCSM’s Sports Central radio show.
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Steve Sefner - Director of Corporate Development Steve Sefner joined the staff of The Team: Sports, Entertainment, & Media and Revolution Enterprises LLC in March 2008 as Director of Corporate Development. Steve is responsible for recruiting Revolution franchisees, building corporate partnerships for both Revolution and The Team, and assisting with the training process for new Revolution franchisees. Steve has spent over twenty years in the sports industry in a variety of roles, most recently as the Senior Account Executive with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League and Columbus Destroyers in the Arena Football league. In that role Steve developed new and existing corporate sponsorship for both teams and created customized marketing solutions for his clients by helping them create awareness about their business. Prior to joining the Blue Jackets and Destroyers, Steve worked for Radiohio, Inc. from 2004-2006 where he developed new and existing state-wide corporate sponsorships for the Ohio State Buckeyes Football and Basketball Radio Network. At Radiohio Steve often led the department in sales and became their Network Seller of the Month. Steve also spent over eight years at Kent State University where he was the Director of Marketing in Athletics. Steve managed all marketing and promotions, grew corporate sponsorship, established a successful radio network that continually grew each year, and created the first coaches’ TV shows for football and men’s basketball, serving not only the producer, but also the host. In addition, Steve also served as the voice of the Golden Flashes where he broadcast over 300 football and basketball games, including several men’s basketball championship games (Mid-American Conference, NCAA First and Second Round, Sweet 16, Elite 8, and NIT). During his tenure at Kent State, the men’s basketball team enjoyed their most successful season ever in 2002 by making an appearance in the Elite 8. Steve’s previous experience includes a variety of broadcasting stints, including being the voice of the 2007 Columbus Destroyers Arena Football National Conference championship team. Certainly no stranger to Arena Football, Steve has followed the league since its inauguration in 1987 and was the voice of the Cleveland Thunderbolts from 1993-1994 as well as the host of the Thunderbolt Rap live TV show. Steve’s other broadcasting positions include TV sports reporter/anchor, broadcast instructor, and various play-by-play roles on the high school, college, and professional levels. Steve resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Heather and daughter Sarah Bella. |
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