For my penpal assignment for the semester and this class, I chose my father’s college friend, George Murphy. I have known Mr. Murphy for most of my life as he has known my dad since 1995. They both attended Marshall University and both majored in sports marketing and sports journalism. Since graduating from Marshall in 2000, he moved back to his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. Right after moving back home he immediately applied to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pittsburgh Penguins and was eventually hired by the, then struggling Penguins. In 2003 when he was hired the team was bottom five in the standings and in terms of market for a hockey team. He stated that the first couple of years were a bit rough with him familiarizing himself with the market while the team struggled on the ice. However, in 2005 the team drafted Sidney Crosby and began to turn the team around financially and performance-wise. From 2007 until 2021 the team held the longest-running sellout streak in all major sports history which they still hold to this day.

I recruited George pretty easily for this penpal project because he has been heavily involved with me and answering questions I have about the industry. He readily and excitingly agreed to be part of this project for me and even offered again to answer any questions I would ever have about anything. Ideally, I will continue to grow this relationship and hopefully, it will lead to a job opportunity in the future. At the very least, this will be a key networking opportunity that might allow me to catch on and get a job in this market in a different area. His connections span most of the directors of ticketing for each team in the NHL but also he has many connections across different professional sports.