Jim Rushton was the Chief Revenue Officer, Senior Vice President, of Tickets, Corporate Partnerships and Integrated Media for the Miami Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium from 2009 - 2013 (Nov '09 - Jan '12 - SVP Corporate Partnerships and Integrated Media; CRO Jan '12 - Sep '13). In this capacity, he was responsible for all revenue associated with the Miami Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium, including tickets (suite, club, season and individual game); corporate partnerships (exclusive and non-exclusive sponsorships and intellectual property rights); and integrated media (television, radio, print, digital, mobile and social media); as well as all audio, video and text media distribution partnerships.
Rushton joined the Dolphins from Entercom Communications where he spent 16 years, lastly as Vice President Sports of Sales and Marketing for Entercom and Entercom New England. He was responsible for all revenues associated with WEEI Sports Radio Network including the Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics radio networks and the New England Patriots Monday/Friday radio network.
During his tenure with Entercom, Rushton helped establish WEEI as one of the most successful all-sports stations in the United States (growth from $8m to $49.5m in Annual Sales). In this time, the Red Sox radio network grew to become the highest grossing play-by-play franchise in all of Major League Baseball. Rushton was also a pioneer in integrating the radio businesses for which he was responsible into a multi-media platform that activated advertising/sponsorship campaigns utilizing audio, visual, text/mobile, experimental and sports media assets. This included the launch and development of WEEI.com
Rushton re-located to South Florida in mid-November 2009 and was part of the team that renamed the stadium Sun Life Stadium, hosted the Orange Bowl, Pro Bowl, BCS Championship and Super Bowl, and negotiated a new multi-media broadcast agreement with Clear Channel Communications, Univision Radio / Interactive, and CBS Television. He also integrated the Dolphins audio, video and text media assets, established the Dolphins "3 Stadiums," "Content First, Media Device Second" and "Dolphins Business Alliance" sponsorship and integrated media strategies; and launched new integrated media programming including Dolphins 5th Quarter Post-Game Show, "The Finsiders" Game Day and Non-Game Day Programming, "Finsiders Final Drive" on NFL Network in South Florida and Fox Sports Florida, "Dolphins All-Access" Monthly Television Magazine Show, and "Juntos Con Los Dolphins" Hispanic Programming. These efforts resulted in 35.5% growth in Sponsorship and Media Revenue moving the Team from #18 to #12 in NFL Sponsorship Revenue.
While leading the Ticket Sales efforts, Rushton implemented strategies to engage fans thru the "Fin Club" Loyalty Program, utilize micro-targeting sales marketing to identify fans most likely to attend games, as well as, evolve the ticket sales business to respond to the rapid changes in the marketplace. The evolution of the strategy resulted a unique Revenue Generating Content Marketing Model and the Team selling more total Ticket Units and Revenue than the '12 Season prior to Kickoff for the '13 Season, while finishing #1 or Top 3 in multiple NFL YOY Ticket Sales Categories.
Since leaving the Dolphins, and relocating back to Boston in late 2013, Rushton has been involved in a variety of Revenue Activation Strategy Projects including the San Diego Padres, Boston Celtics, and Eastern Bank to name a few. These projects have involved unlocking the value of various marketing assets by setting a vision, establishing a strategy and implementing flawless execution. The San Diego Padres grew Sponsorship Revenue by 15.5% YOY and set a record for the highest gross revenues in Club history.
Rushton has a track record of community involvement through the development and support of a variety of charity initiatives including the WEEI Hot Dog Safari to support Cystic Fibrosis, the Worcester Cold Storage Fire Radio-thon to support the families of the six fallen Worcester Firefighters, the Jimmy Fund WEEI / NESN Radio-Telethon to support Dana Faber Cancer Institute, the Dolphins Special Teams Unit Community Volunteer Organization, and the Dolphins Cycling Challenge to support the University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center. Jim has completed six Boston Marathons, two Ragnar Relay Runs from Miami to Key West and three 170-mile Dolphins Cycling Challenge bike rides.
