Auburn Game Face

Written by: Neal Reid

It takes an army to pull off a successful sporting event, and Ben Harling and his team at Auburn Sports Properties play a major role in putting together the finished product seen and enjoyed by thousands of fans, students and marketing partners alike.

As general manager, Harling leads a team that handles everything from creating and managing corporate partnerships and overseeing live sponsorship elements, to coordinating radio broadcasts and television shows for Auburn Athletics events. The tasks are numerous and diverse, and Harling’s team wears varying hats at collegiate sporting events of all kinds.

“We try to be a one-stop shop for brands that want to connect with Auburn Athletics, whether through promotions, advertising, sponsorships, experiences, you name it,” Harling said. “Whatever our brand partners want to participate in, we can direct them to the sports and asset mix that fits their objectives. “I love finding meaningful and authentic opportunities for our business partners to engage with the Auburn Family. There’s nothing better than having a client experience the power of the Auburn brand firsthand, whether it be inside Neville Arena, on our digital platforms or the radio network.”

The variety of roles and responsibilities Auburn Sports Properties undertakes is largely what makes the group such a crucial part to the overall operation of sporting events on the Plains, and Harling is proud of his team’s versatility.

“We’ve got people on the partnership development side going out and cultivating business relationships, we’ve got a service and fulfillment arm, and then we also have our broadcast operations,” Harling said. “Day to day, we’re strategizing with any number of groups throughout the Athletics Department, including marketing, video production, event management, communications and so on.

“During the week, we can have one foot in the marketplace, where we’re going out and meeting with businesses’ chief marketing officers and marketing directors, while also operating within the athletics ecosystem to bring everything to fruition, whether that’s videoboard promotions, giveaways or corporate hospitality.”

An orchestration of epic proportions

On a men’s basketball gameday, Harling’s squad works long and hard at Neville Arena to help create an atmosphere like none other in college basketball.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said, of the scene inside Neville Arena. “Having been here before, what Coach Pearl and his staff have done is nothing short of transformational. The demand over the last five years, when you talk about sponsorship sales, I mean it’s night and day. It wasn’t too long ago when we were practically begging people to come out and had to do a lot of incentives and giveaways. And now, as we all know, it’s the place to be.

“It’s amazing what we’ve done with the students. Them getting here three hours-plus before games, that’s changed how we’ve done promotions and activations, because they’re rushing in as soon as the doors open.”

That gameday experience is a great marketing tool for Harling and his team, one that often translates into corporate partnerships, new sponsors and a groundswell of interest in everything Auburn. Maximizing everyone’s experience at games is the ultimate goal.

“We want to get prospective clients and partners to a game and let them feel it, hear it and see it in person,” Harling said. “There’s nothing better than bringing them in to experience the passion and pageantry surrounding an Auburn gameday.

“Driving revenue for the program is obviously critically important, but part of that also is finding a good fit for elements that will enhance our fan and student-athlete experience during games. If we do that, it will in turn create value for our partners.”

Whether it’s coordinating in-game marketing promotions or presentations, producing the radio broadcast, distributing game programs or managing advertisements, attention to detail, achieving supreme efficiency and effectively managing the litany of gameday activities and components is of the utmost importance to Harling’s team. They want to be successful at each event, all while flying under the radar and creating seamless transitions during the game flow.

“My goal on gameday is, if we’re doing it right, hopefully then it’s smooth and everything’s clicking,” he said. “Win or lose, when the clock hits zero, we hope it was an incredible environment and hopefully we helped to amplify that.

“A lot of times, what we fret over at the game is something that 95% of the people in the arena have no idea it happened. There may have been a five-alarm fire drill going on behind the scenes, but if we handle it correctly, nobody’s the wiser.”

Auburn student workers are part of Harling’s team, as well as an important component of Auburn Athletics’ operation. They work countless events, mostly behind the scenes, filling crucial roles and gaining first-rate experience during their college days.

“We employ students during the year to assist, mostly when we have hospitality events and helping with our entertaining of clients and partners,” Harling said. “Marketing also relies on student workers, and we coordinate with them when it comes to fan promotions on the court and that sort of thing. They absolutely are a great resource for us to have because we’re a pretty lean staff, as far as our full-time personnel.”

Labor of love in ‘The Loveliest Village’

The South Carolina native grew up a Clemson fan and went to work for those Tigers after earning a sport management degree there. After a stint working for Auburn from 2011-12, Harling returned to Clemson before trading in the orange and purple for burnt orange and navy blue once again and returning to the Plains in 2016.

“All I’ve done is work in intercollegiate athletics since I graduated, so this is the only life I know,” said Harling, who also has worked at Troy University and the University of Central Florida. “I love the team atmosphere, and I love being involved with various sports on a daily basis. I also like the business aspect of it and the fact that we’re able to interact with such a wide array of companies and develop not just professional relationships, but friendships.

“Here at Auburn, there’s nothing better than hosting someone at an event for the first time. You hear them say, ‘This place is special,’ and ‘It’s not like this everywhere.’”

Harling and his wife, Jill, have thoroughly enjoyed their time in Auburn, where they are raising two children—10-year-old son, Walker, and 6-year-old daughter, Camryn.

“Auburn was probably the only place I could convince my wife to move at the time,” Harling said of their return to the Plains. “We had just had our second child, but [Jill] loved Auburn as well. So, we decided this was a great chance to get back in this community.”

Being part of the Auburn community is important to Harling, and he relishes the opportunity to fill a special role for Auburn Sports Properties.

“Working and being ingrained in a college atmosphere and in college athletics, I don’t think there’s anything more exciting than that,” he said. “Starting with an idea or a concept, then bringing that to life and seeing it on gameday and how that can impact our fans, that’s the most fulfilling part to me.”