Joe Corbisiero joined the Amarillo Sod Poodles minor league baseball team in January 2019 to work as the manager of video production.
The Sachem alum caught up with Sachem Report to talk about the early stages of his career and his impact on helping grow a new organization, which serves as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
Corbisiero went to Hofstra for his undergraduate degree in business management and legal studies and got his MBA from the University of Central Florida.
Sachem Report: What from your Sachem experience helped shape your career?
Corbisiero: Since high school I always wanted to work in the entertainment industry, but I wasn’t sure what job exactly I wanted at the time. What was great about going to Sachem East was having the resources to introduce you to a few aspects of that industry. Our district’s radio station, WSHR, was definitely a game changer in terms of me discovering what I wanted to do with my life. Under the direction of Mark Laura, I was able to learn about the entertainment industry and broadcasting. While the average consumer argues about whether radio as an industry is dying, I believe it is the most valuable medium for students to learn about broadcasting. Through WSHR I was able to produce music radio shows, work the high school football broadcasts, and learn about all the metrics that determine the success of a broadcast and how to build your broadcast around reaching those goals.
SR: What led you to Hofstra for the next step?
Corbisiero: Mr. Laura was an alumnus of Hofstra University and often spoke of their great radio station, so naturally I ended up deciding to follow in his footsteps. When I was trying to decide on a college, I was undecided if I wanted to study business or communications. Hofstra was the perfect college for me to continue my journey into the entertainment industry as I could essentially do both. While on paper my classes were in the School of Business as a Management major, most of my time was spent in the School of Communication on the Radio Hofstra University airwaves. WRHU allowed any student at Hofstra to join the station no matter what their major was, which was perfect for someone like me trying to gain the skill set needed to marry business and entertainment.
At WRHU I got my first experience in professional sports by working on the New York Islanders radio broadcasts. If you’re not an Islanders fan, this may come as a surprise, but students at Hofstra over the past decade have been producing the Islander’s radio broadcasts. So, I was fortunate at just 19 years old to work as a beat reporter covering the team. Often times I’d start my day by walking across the street from campus to Nassau Coliseum to work that morning’s practice, only to run back to campus to hopefully make it in time for my first class that day. The experience covering the Islanders opened my eyes to the inner workings of a sports team’s front office. Over my three seasons covering NHL hockey I realize that instead of telling a professional team’s story I wanted to help create it. So, my senior year at Hofstra I started looking for MBA programs that focus on sports business and had a great network of people working in the industry.
SR: It’s amazing how one experience leads to another. So, covering the Islanders gave you that juice to stick with sports business?
Corbisiero: Eventually, I ended up at the University of Central Florida in the DeVos Sport Business Management graduate program. At UCF I had the opportunity to expand my network in the sports industry. Through the program I was able to travel and learn from executives in sports organizations across the country from the Seattle Mariners, Houston Rockets, and Baltimore Ravens, to the sports organizations in our backyard like the Orlando Magic and the Daytona International Speedway. I also spent a summer in Orlando working for the Florida Fire Frogs, the minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. That was my first time experiencing working in the minors and I absolutely loved it.
The minors are the perfect combination of professional sports talent with the constant mindset to innovate the pro sports experience for fans. Minor league teams are always looking to push the envelope when it comes to attracting not just hardcore baseball fans, but also families just looking for a fun night out. The Fire Frogs claim to fame was hosting a free beer night every Thursday. The marketing gimmick was they would give out free beer until the opposing team scores. Minor league teams always have crazy and fun themed nights to attract families to the ballpark and the best promotions usually get replicated by pro level teams like Star Wars and Superhero nights.
I decided that after finishing my masters I wanted to work full time for a minor league team. One of the directors of our program connected me with executives in the minors who listened to my goals and aspirations. Eventually through these connections I had a few job offers and ended up settling on moving out to Amarillo, Texas to help build a new ballpark and launch a new minor league franchise.
Working for the Amarillo Sod Poodles has been the most challenging and rewarding part of my career so far. I joined the team about two months before the ballpark opened and I don’t know when I will have as challenging of an experience in my career again. I was able to establish a unique engaging experience for our fans while also teaching my inaugural game day production staff how to run the audio video systems of a ballpark. I also worked with our communications team to help establish our brand not just in the Texas Panhandle, but across the country gaining national attention. In our first season we had 450,000 people come through out gates, despite the fact the Amarillo metropolitan area has a population of just over 300,000. We also won MiLB organization of the year thanks to our successful inaugural season. This just shows to me that at 26 years old I’m definitely heading in the right direction on my journey despite not knowing exactly what I wanted to do back in high school.
SR: People always hear about the grind of minor league life, but it looks like you have a vibrant stadium and franchise and it’s a modern experience I imagine?
Corbisiero: HODGETOWN is in the top tier of all MiLB ballparks across the country thanks to its fan experience focused design and the technology we have in the ballpark. Like many other ballparks built in the past decade, the focus has shifted from fitting as many seats as possible in a limited space to unique experience areas where people can both socialize as a group and enjoy the game.
I oversee all audio/video aspects at the ballpark, our MiLB.TV broadcast, and the video content we put out on our social media channels. Thankfully I have a lot of great toys at my disposal due to our ownership group investing in technology. We have a 35’x60′ video board, a very unique 6’x218′ left field ribbon board, and a booming sound system with speakers that cover our entire ballpark. My job is to make sure fans enjoy every second of their experience at HODGETOWN, so it’s a lot easier for me to get fans engaged in the game when they can hear you play a trumpet charge sound effect or music for the dance cam no matter where they are located in the ballpark.
While our ballpark is definitely up to date, the day-to-day work that goes into running it is the same as most other MiLB teams. It’s still a small front office of a few talented people wearing multiple hats. My role would typically be split up among several people at a major league team, but at the minor league level you put in a lot of hours of work trying to get as close to the major league experience as possible. It’s definitely a grind if you run a department of one like most minor league teams with someone in my role. There’s no one getting warmed up in the bullpen ready to take over for you when you’re exhausted near the end of a 10-game homestand working 12-14 hour days. The grind is definitely rewarding though when you have a packed ballpark full of fans having a great time.
SR: How has the pandemic affected you, your work, if at all?
Corbisiero: The pandemic has had a major impact on MiLB as a whole. While MLB was able to keep some revenue from their 2020 season through broadcast TV deals, the minors weren’t as lucky. Without being able to play this year or even hold other events in ballparks, many MiLB teams are struggling to keep up with bills. The last time a lot of these teams made significant revenue was during the end of the 2019 MiLB season last September. When the pandemic stopped baseball in mid-March, teams had already spent money on promotional giveaways, ballpark improvements, and other expenses with the expectation that they were less than a month away from making their game day revenue. Now most teams are trying to figure out how to survive going potentially 18 months without any event revenue.
Thanks to our team being located in the Texas Panhandle, we were fortunate enough to be able to hold events at 50% capacity so long as we followed all the COVID prevention procedures dictated by the state and local health departments. Our front office ended up working with other MiLB teams in Texas and Oklahoma to temporarily join up with the Texas Collegiate League in early June. The goal was to get in as many collegiate wood bat baseball games as possible in about a month and a half stretch from the end of June to the first week of August before college players had to report back to campus. Each TCL team had three weeks to put together a team of college players, ensure their ballpark could handle the new COVID health procedures, sell tickets and sponsorships, and the other typical preseason work that minor league teams usually have months to do instead of weeks.
In order to make up for a lost minor league season, we opted to host two teams at our ballpark in Amarillo. HODGETOWN ended up hosting 35 games in the 37 day stretch. When you hear about the typical minor league grind, you can crank it up to 11 thanks to the pandemic. Despite our front office going at a full sprint for over a month, we were able to safely get through our last minute pandemic season. We had no COVID outbreaks in our front office, in the two teams of college players we hosted, or in our game day staff. Despite all the new COVID prevention policies, the TCL season started to feel like we were getting back to normal really quick. I think as an organization we found a balance that worked and shows that there’s a middle ground between COVID prevention and still being able to hold large events.
That success actually helped us show that we can handle big events during COVID and we’ve been able to hold a few concerts and other events at our ballpark. Obviously, we’re limiting our capacity and socially distancing seating, but the pandemic forced us to innovate and find a way to keep our business going.
SR: Do you feel an increased sense of excitement with the Padres and their run from this past post season?
Corbisiero: Working for an affiliate of the Padres has been so much fun. They are an amazing organization to work with and I believe their player development staff will be rewarded with a World Series ring sometime in the next decade. The Sod Poodles, which is the Double-A affiliate, won the 2019 Texas League Championship. Often when you start seeing an organization’s minor league teams start having success and winning championships, it usually flows up to the MLB level as those prospects join the big-league roster. A few of the guys on their postseason roster came through Amarillo like Luis Patino and Adrian Morejon. Despite not growing up a Padres fan, it’s hard not to root for these guys after seeing them work so hard a year prior in Amarillo. Their team has some amazing young talent on the way, and I am really excited to see what they do in the majors over the next few years.
SR: Any players on the current MLB roster come through your team? Any good stories or memories with them?
Corbisiero: This year’s MLB trade deadline saw a ton of guys from the 2019 Sod Poodles roster make their way to different teams in some big trades which just goes to show how lucky we were to have a great team last year. One of those guys I’ll miss the most is Edward Olivares who ended up being traded to Kansas City. He was the definition of clutch hitter. My favorite memory at HODGETOWN was thanks to Olivares. It was Game 1 of the Texas League Championship, bottom of the 8th, bases loaded, game tied at 6. We had yet to win a playoff game in Amarillo. The Sod Poodles advanced to the championship round having to win three elimination games in a row on the road in Midland after losing the first two at home. Olivares hits a bases clearing double to deep center field and the ballpark erupts. It was the loudest I’ve ever heard our ballpark. Amarillo is a passionate baseball town that had not seen professional play since 1982. It was a huge moment for Amarillo and it’s great to think of how many kids will always think back to that clutch hit by Olivares as their favorite baseball memory.
SR: What’s the goal? What are you envisioning next and ultimately?
Corbisiero: I would love to work my way up to being the Creative Director for a professional sports team. I don’t have to stay in baseball, I’d be more than happy to jump back into hockey or another sport. Honestly a part of me loves that the Islanders are getting that new arena in Belmont. I think it would be really cool for me to come full circle and come back home to open up that new arena. Usually in sports you have to move to where the opportunity is which is why I was willing to make a massive change and move to as small of a place like the Texas Panhandle. I just really enjoy being a part of a sports organization that is either starting from scratch or opening a new chapter. You have that opportunity to make your mark and establish something new instead of just continuing what someone else started.
I take a lot of pride in what I’ve been able to accomplish with the Sod Poodles and the creative new experiences I am looking to roll out when the world goes back to normal. It’s still a blank canvas to me and there’s a ton of areas I want to improve from bringing our broadcast to the next level with more stats to creating more memory making moments for families during our entertainment between innings. Until I can find something like that at a professional team level where I can make my mark, I am more than happy creating memories and new traditions for baseball fans in Amarillo.