The Rundown: The Ultimate Podcast for Sports Event Presentation

Pressure, stress, long hours, and quick decisions are all part of working in live events. In this episode, Don sits down with mindset expert Ricky Kalmon to explore how top performers build confidence, stay focused under pressure, recover from mistakes, and avoid burnout. Ricky shares practical strategies for mental preparation, visualization, and developing the habits that support long-term success in live events and other demanding environments. If you've ever struggled with stress, self-doubt, or maintaining focus when the pressure is on, this episode is for you.

A great host shapes how an audience feels, reacts, and remembers a live event. In this episode, Lauren Thompson shares her playbook from more than 20 years in television and live event hosting with NBC Sports and Golf Channel. We cover her career journey, hosting philosophy, the three most important skills to be effective, how to deliver content authentically, her preparation process, and the most common mistakes hosts make and how to avoid them. If you want to become a host, improve as one, or manage hosts, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, Don sits down with John Bochiaro, Group Vice President of Game Presentation and Entertainment for the National Hockey League, to examine how league events are designed and elevated at the highest level. John shares his career journey and the design philosophy guiding marquee NHL events such as the Winter Classic, Stadium Series, and All-Star Weekend. He also discusses his role as liaison to all 32 clubs, insights from cross-league collaboration, his perspective on emerging technology, and where he sees the future of game presentation heading.

Behind every great event are decisions most people never see. Don is joined by Frank Supovitz, one of the most respected leaders in live sports and event production, to explore how those unseen decisions define successful events. Drawing from more than 35 years of experience with the NFL and NHL, including work on the Super Bowl, NFL Draft, Pro Bowl, Stanley Cup Finals, and NHL All-Star Weekends, Frank shares how decisions made early, under pressure, and behind the scenes shape the audience experience. Together, they break down eight critical decision areas that separate good events from great ones.

In this episode, Don sits down with Paris Buchanan, Senior Associate AD for Fan Experience and Creative Strategy at Auburn University, to take listeners behind the Tigers gameday experience. Paris shares his career journey, the philosophy guiding Auburn's approach to event presentation, and how he structures and leads teams to deliver seamless, high-impact fan experiences. He also discusses the planning process, creative strategy, and evolving technologies shaping gameday in college athletics, and offers valuable advice for the next generation of sports professionals.

Transitions are part of every sports career — joining a new organization, stepping into a different role, or adapting to a new culture. In this episode, Darius Smith, Senior Director of Game Presentation and Entertainment for the Washington Commanders, shares five strategies for approaching new opportunities with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Drawing from his experience with both the Commanders and the Minnesota Vikings, Darius offers practical insights for building momentum, earning trust, and making an immediate impact in a new environment.

When a team reaches the championship stage, everything changes. Event presentation shifts from team-driven to league-driven, bringing new challenges and added pressure. In this episode, Joe Legaz, Director of Game Operations and Live Experience for the Seattle Sounders FC, shares five key lessons from producing league championships. These behind-the-scenes insights won't appear on a highlight reel, but they're what truly make championship events successful.

In this special episode of The Rundown, the table is turned as host Don Costante takes the hot seat to share the story behind his new book, Beyond the Scoreboard: The Ultimate Guide to Sports Event Presentation. Hear how three decades of experience turned into Sports Business Journal Publishing's first book, and why it's a game-changer in the sports industry.

Season 3 kicks off with Jason Lodato joining Don for a conversation on the strategy and creativity behind unforgettable fan experiences. From his early days in the industry to leading game presentation for top teams and iconic venues, Jason shares how his journey shaped his event presentation philosophy and approach to gamedays. The episode takes a deep dive into one of the most climactic moments in sports—the team introduction. Hear how Jason brings this high-energy moment to life to ignite the crowd, set the tone for the game, and elevate the overall fan experience.

In this episode, Don interviews Sharon delPilar who shares her path to becoming the Production Stage Manager for Magic Mike Live.  Listen as Sharon illustrates the differences between stage management and production stage management and provides a behind-the-scenes look at what she does for the show.  Also, she identifies the skillset required to be successful in this field, outlines her self-development strategy, offers some resources for anyone looking to become more marketable, and much more!

In this episode, Don has a conversation with Chad Folkestad who shares his career path, event presentation philosophy, and talks candidly about storytelling and the creative process he utilizes to generate award-winning content.  Listen as Chad illustrates his methods for creating an organic environment that relies heavily on spontaneity.  They touch on a variety of topics including… keys to great storytelling, getting players to "buy in" to projects, tactics for generating content ideas, facilitating meaningful ideation sessions, getting ideas approved through leadership, and much more!

In this episode, Don interviews Andrew Johnson who shares his path to becoming the mascot performer for the Houston Texans.  Listen as Andrew breaks down the three areas every great mascot should focus on.  Also, he provides advice to those who manage mascots, identifies the ideal skillset for performers, points out some of the biggest mistakes made by mascots today and much more!  If you're a mascot, someone who oversees a mascot program, or you enjoy a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the sports industry… you're going to love this discussion!

In this episode, Don has a conversation with 16-year NBA in-arena host veteran, Ahmaad Crump.  Listen as Ahmaad shares his experience and talks openly about his path to becoming an emcee for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  During their conversation, they touch on several topics including communication between Game Director and Emcee, handling situations with multiple hosts, advice on becoming a successful emcee, common mistakes, and much more!

In this episode, Don has a conversation with Tim Tubito who shares his event presentation philosophy and takes listeners "behind-the-shield" revealing the NFL's methodology in facilitating two of their large-scale events… the NFL Draft and the Super Bowl. During their discussion, Tim uncovers logistical details that illustrate exactly why the NFL is considered a leader in the sports and entertainment industry. Listen as Tim provides insight into his role as Club Liaison, the pandemic's impact on the NFL Draft and Super Bowl, how technology was utilized to deliver enhanced experiences, and much more!

In this episode, Don interviews Michelle McComas who shares her career path, event presentation philosophy, and reveals entertainment best practices that have helped position the Chicago Bulls as a leader in the NBA.  Listen as Michelle speaks passionately about her strategy for utilizing and incorporating entertainment resources, development and recruitment of talent, the creative process for performances, importance of branding, how she measures success and much more!

There's one sporting event that goes beyond traditional fan engagement and totally immerses its spectators into the fabric of their brand like none other… The Daytona 500.  In this episode, Don interviews Sean Belgrade, Managing Director of Consumer Experience for NASCAR, who shares his event presentation philosophy and takes listeners behind-the-scenes of the Daytona 500, uncovering logistical details that have elevated the fan experience to mirror the prestige of the race itself.  During their conversation they cover preparation, immersive experiences, sponsor activation, driver introductions, and much more!

In this episode, Don and Brian talk candidly about the job search process.  Listen as they discuss several job seeking tactics that may get you thinking differently about the way you approach the sports industry's job market.  During their conversation they touch on important topics including the first step you should take before starting a job search, construction of a resume, impact of a cover letter, effective strategy for building a professional network, differentiating yourself in an interview, if an advanced degree gives you an advantage, helpful resources, and much more!

In this episode, Don has a conversation with Rob Alberino who shares his approach to achieving award-winning content.  During their discussion, a variety of storytelling topics are covered including how to generate initial concepts for stories, ingredients of a great story, workflow during the creative process, importance of developing characters, how to get players and fans to participate and achieve desired results, the impact a great editor has on storytelling, advice on developing one's storytelling ability, and much more!

In this interview with Don, Maurice shares his event presentation philosophy and provides a behind-the-scenes look at the NBA Bubble and the steps taken by the NBA to ensure proper execution of game operations.  During their discussion, Maurice details the days leading up to the bubble, the NBA's communication process, the comprehensive health and safety protocols, the on-site preparation and execution of gamedays, the technology that was utilized, life for staff inside the bubble, activism and much more!

In this episode, Don has a conversation with Jonny Greco who shares his game presentation philosophy and reveals his methodology for tackling the startup process with a new franchise.  Listen as Jonny reflects on the lessons he learned from Vegas, how he plans to approach the gameday experience for Seattle, sheds some light on his creative process, provides insight into the facilitation of his ideation sessions, explains the importance of proper execution, identifies the steps he takes in evaluating assets, and more!

In this episode, Don has a candid conversation with Anthony Bueno who is an Adobe Certified Trainer and Lead Consultant with Lumenbrite.  Listen as Don talks about the benefits of learning creative software and the impact it has on him professionally.  During their discussion, they talk about free versus paid resources, improving communication with production staff, understanding workflows and identifying key assets, recognizing realistic timeframes for projects, capabilities of software that spark creative and innovative thinking, and much more!

In this episode, Don interviews Danelle Winfield who shares her career path, event presentation philosophy, and reveals best practices that have helped position the Los Angeles Sparks as a leader in the WNBA.  Listen as Danelle speaks passionately about understanding your audience, developing team chemistry with staff, the importance of passing knowledge forward and more!

This episode features Former Head of Innovation and Creativity for The Walt Disney Company, Duncan Wardle.  During this interview with Don, Duncan shares his philosophy and some tools from his Design Thinking Innovation Toolkit.  He explains what what's wrong with marketing today, identifies the right mindset required for innovation, describes the key barriers to innovation and creativity, highlights several creative behaviors that enhance the collaboration and creativity process, provides suggestions for how to facilitate a successful ideation session, explains how to get your ideas approved and much more!

In this interview, Tracy Allen shares his best audio practices as we discuss our days working together in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs.  Listen as Tracy takes us behind-the-scenes of being an audio director for the Spurs and reveals his philosophy and techniques that has made him the best in the business.

This episode features Emmy Award Winning Producer and 2019 Information Display & Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame member, Diane Ferranti.  During this interview with Don, Diane details her event presentation philosophy, provides insight into managing staff, outlines her formula for creating impactful team introductions, gives the secret to developing successful contests, discusses digital production, highlights the latest technology she's most excited about and more!

April's episode has Don answering questions submitted by listeners. Hear Don's insight on a variety of topics that include: issues switching from NBA to MLB, using activations from one sport to another, what to do if you can't secure a full-time position, can't get "hands-on" producing experience but want to be a producer, ideal skill set for a producer, suggestions for how to ideate in-game elements, finding alignment with team operations, and how to combat negative statements that prevent innovation and more.

In this interview, Don chats with Jackie Maldonado who shares the Houston Texans event presentation philosophy and also provides her incredible insight into what it takes to produce an NFL game, establish effective communication (both on and off the field) and facilitate a first-class halftime performance.  Additionally, Jackie goes into great detail as to her path into the sports industry and offers tremendous advice to those looking to get into the industry as well as those already in positions.

In this episode, Don interviews Scott Cunningham who shares his event presentation philosophy and takes you behind the scenes giving you full access to the inner workings of the Atlanta Braves off-season planning process, partnership integration strategy and development of a new mascot program.  Topics include staff involvement, upper management's role, collaboration with other departments, creative process from inception to production, communication documents, maintaining control over in-game inventory, requirements for promotions, challenges between Event Presentation and Partnership Departments and much more.

Hear from one of the best emcees in the business.  In this episode, Don interviews Chris Miles and goes in-depth into what it takes to be a successful emcee.  Topics discussed include Chris' path to the mic, the preparation required before an event, tips on how to deliver a performance that connects with the audience, what separates a good host from one that is extraordinary, advice to those who oversee emcees, his overall philosophy and much more.

Costante Group is led by Don Costante, an expert specializing in sports and event management.  Since 1994, with more than 2,000 events produced Don has been creating authentic experiences for premier sports organizations such as MLB, NBA, WNBA, AHL, NAIA, EPL, NCAA and others. No detail too small, no problem too complex, his meticulous approach and robust experience is what it takes to deliver best-in-class events. The Rundown Podcast is a unique opportunity to hear from some of the best in the sports and event management industry that Don has worked with during his 25-year career. With episodes releasing in January 2020, guests from the NBA, MLB, NFL and many other sports organizations will provide insightful and realistic perspectives for what it takes to create authentic experiences to connect with audiences.