Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Fleming
Hi Todd, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Fleming joined the PGA Tour and the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches as Vice President and Executive Director in February 2024.
Prior to joining the PGA Tour Fleming served as SVP, Global Sales for Legends, which is a full service agency with over three thousand full time employees and over thirty thousand employees worldwide.
Fleming, on behalf of Legends defined and established new partnerships Internationally and Domestically across the Professional Sports and Event Hospitality landscape with the focus on maximizing revenue generation.
While at Legends Fleming oversaw the partnerships with Futbol Club Barcelona (FC Barcelona), Atletico de Madrid and AS Roma. In addition to these industry changing projects internationally Fleming has played a critical role domestically within a myriad of sports and entertainment properties and partnerships inclusive of, the USTA, the USGA, SoFi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, George M. Steinbrenner Field Renovation for the New York Yankees, Circuit of the Americas and Lower.com Stadium, home to the Columbus Crew Soccer Club.
Prior to joining Legends, Fleming served as the Vice President of Sales and Service for the Charlotte Bobcats and Time Warner Cable Arena of the National Basketball Association. In this role Fleming oversaw the Bobcats and TWCA’s Suite department, Premium sales division, Season Ticket sales staff, Group sales staff, Inside Sales staff and Service staff.
Prior to joining the Charlotte Bobcats organization Fleming held the position of Sales Manager for the Dallas Cowboys and Cowboys Stadium. In this role Fleming was responsible for the development of a sales staff, the sale of season tickets, club seats and suites for the Cowboys. Cowboys Stadium holds the distinction of being the largest sports sales project in the industry. Fleming was a key member of the management team that led the project to generate the most revenue ever produced from a new stadium development.
Prior to joining the Cowboys organization Fleming served as the Director of Ticket Sales for the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association. In this role Fleming was responsible for the development of the Nets Sr. Level Sales staff and Inside Sales staff. These staffs were responsible for selling suites, premium seating, season tickets and group ticket packages and set franchise sales records during the 2005-2006 & 2006-2007 seasons and assisted in the strategic planning for The Barclays Center sales campaign.
Before coming to New Jersey and the Nets, Fleming served as Manager of Ticket Sales for the Miami Heat. Fleming was responsible for overseeing the Inside Sales department and the Group Sales department in Miami. During Fleming’s tenure with the Heat, they set franchise records in new tickets sold and revenue.
Fleming broke into the sports sales industry in September of 2000 with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a Sales Consultant.
Fleming was awarded the prestigious Sports Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” awarded in 2018.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing is smooth in the world of business, especially when you are consistently working to change, evolve or elevate brands, events and people.
There have been several difficult moments throughout my almost three (3) decade career, which I have outlined below.
1. Early in my career and during my very first managerial role, I was working for the Miami Heat and was tasked with overseeing the development and advancement of their Inside Sales program. Inside Sales is the training ground for future sales personnel for teams and the industry. I had recruited twenty-four (24) talented individuals from around the country to move to Miami to start their career. Things were off to a roaring start and their development was progressing nicely and then we hit the jackpot with the trade and signing of Shaquille O’Neal. To the outside world, and to us inside, this was literally one of the greatest things to ever happen to a salesperson and the entire organization took advantage of what Shaq brought to the table. What the outside world might not understand is that there is a finite set of seats, suites, and experiences and each day we were closing out of the inventory. We ultimately sold out the season and I was faced with the unfortunate role of letting twenty-four (24) individuals go due to the lack of inventory to sell now and in the future. It taught me a great deal about emotional intelligence and how you have difficult discussions with talented people who did nothing wrong, outside of leverage a moment in time where everything was on their side in the sales game.
2. The other difficult time in my career centers around people again. In any business as people and you chase your goals and career advancement that sometimes means you need to move cities, states, etc. Having people you have a work relationship with or friendship with leave, or you yourself move on is a mix of emotions. You are excited and happy but at the same time moving on from people you have close rapport with is never easy.
It’s also one of the main reasons why I choose to help start and be a part of the agency we started called Legends. Legends began for a myriad of reasons, but one key component was those who started the agency really liked working with each other and were great friends and didn’t want to stop working with each other.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The PGA TOUR is the calendar of golf throughout the forty-two (42) week so golf annually. What most won’t know is that the PGA TOUR itself only controls and delivers (meaning owns and operates) six (6) of those tournaments. The Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches is one of those events and we work annually to set the standard for what it means to attend a live event across the globe but especially in South Florida.
My role is multi-faceted where I oversee all aspects of the event in Palm Beach. Everything from our title partnership and presenting partnership, thru our local and regional sponsorships, to hospitality and ticketing, through operations and servicing and culminating in our community impact initiatives. I view this through the CEO mindset of setting the vision and theme for our event annually and setting the expectations of strategy, process and delivery that puts our fans and clients in the best possible position to realize their objectives through our PGA TOUR event(s).
What sets us apart from others is also the element I am the most proud of. Our brand is the longest standing brand or event in South Florida, with over 50+ years in the region. To be able to sustain that long is something to be proud of but in 2024 and 2025 I took the tournament through a major rebrand. We needed to change the narrative around the event, and everything was on the table to be addressed. We brought in new vendors to replace longstanding vendors that just weren’t delivering at the levels I wanted for the future, I redesigned the venues bringing more modern experiences, commpletely overhauled the food and beverage experience to reflect more local South Florida vendors to make the culinary and beverage experience hyper local and added a touch of color to every segment of our grounds to bring in the colors we see in South Florida in our everyday lives. In the span of nine (9) months I forged the event into a new era that is more modern, more hip, providing better experiences at every turn and is something that the players and our fans can be proud of.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
To follow all the exciting elevations and opportunities please visit thecognizantclassic.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thecognizantclassic.com
- Instagram: @pgatour and @cognizantclassic
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognizant-classic-in-the-palm-beaches/
- Twitter: @the_cognizant and @PGATOUR
