REGISTER

Knoxville Ice Bears—Selling the Experience

Dave Feather, Executive Vice President, Knoxville Ice Bears

Selling the Knoxville Ice Bears in East Tennessee is so much more than selling the hockey game. Our goal is to engage our fans from the time the doors open until the final buzzer . . . and maybe a little after. We strive to create terrific intrinsic value in a ticket, and the way to do that is by selling it as an experience.

Hockey is definitely a contact sport on the ice, but is also one off the ice. This is one of the few sports options remaining where you need to be present to really capture and enjoy what we have to offer. How we sell the game is different depending on our audience and, as such, we look to emotionally engaging terminology that resonates with people thinking about attending an Ice Bears game.

We don’t view our year as a hockey season, rather, as 28 unique, specific events. For over five months, we have the opportunity to engage, excite and entertain the folks that come through our turnstiles. Each night, we look for ways to make it special for those fan groups.

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Dave Feather is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he also played hockey for four years as a member of the Tennessee Ice Vols. While on the team, UT competed in the ACHA National Tournament twice. Dave graduated with an undergraduate degree in Sports Management and earned his MBA from the Haslam School of Business.

He worked for the Knoxville Ice Bears for two years as Director of Corporate Partnerships (2003 – 2005) before working with the Charlotte Checkers (2005-2006) and the Reading Royals (2006-2007). While with the Checkers, Dave served as the Director of Sales and secured the first-ever naming rights to the Charlotte Checkers home ice. In Reading, Dave was the Ticket Department Manager, where he managed the second-largest season ticket base in the ECHL.

In August 2007, he returned to the Knoxville Ice Bears as Director of Corporate Partnerships and Group Sales. In May 2009, Dave was promoted to Assistant General Manager where he assumed the duties of managing player immigration, as well as other administrative hockey operations responsibilities. He was promoted to Executive Vice President in summer 2016, and is more involved in the daily operations of the Knoxville Ice Bears, in addition to previous sales responsibilities. Dave resides in West Knoxville with his wife, Amy, and their son, Brody, and daughter, Reagan.