The Road with Many Stops featuring Chris Paizis

By: Rayoni Matos

To work in the sports industry we all know it takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice, determination, and a little bit of luck. In each of our journeys we seek experiences that not only shape and develop us but allow us to grow genuine relationships with others in our fields. Through each interaction we are able to continuously build our knowledge, and relationships with each individual we come across, this is true both in life, and in sports. In sports business this is truly valuable because we are able to showcase, and highlight not only our experiences but ourselves and who we are. We all have great aspirations, and in this extremely competitive industry, the questions are how do we stand out, and how do we differentiate ourselves from the pack. In this article we spoke to Seton Hall Alum Chris Paizis. Chris is not currently in the sports industry but has great experience in many facets of the business. In our discussion we will break down his experiences, and he will provide us with valuable insights from his journey, while advising us on specific approaches we can all take to make ourselves valued, and irreplaceable assets to those in the sports power in the sports world. 


Chris, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

“Hi, my name is Chris Paizis, I was born and raised in New Jersey. Growing up I always knew I loved sports and wanted to work in sports in some capacity. Like many of us, I realized in High School that I wasn’t going to go pro, so instead I dedicated myself to knowing about all the teams at my school. I knew every stat for every sport team, soccer, baseball, basketball, football, you name it. I have always had a great interest in Broadcasting and the Business side of Sports. I worked in the sports industry the first five years of my career but currently work in consumer products for household products for Reckitt Benckiser, (RB), a health, hygiene company who own brands such as Lysol.” 

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Where did Chris go to school and what did he major in?

Chris initially had no intentions of staying in his home state for college, in fact Seton Hall was the only school in New Jersey he applied for. He applied to Seton Hall as a favor to his mom, who mentioned that they provided a Sports Management Program. After visiting Seton Hall, and being able to meet with the Dean of the Business School, Chris knew there was nowhere else he wanted to be, he applied and got in. He went to Seton Hall for both his Undergraduates and Graduate Degrees. He received his bachelor’s degree by majoring in Sports Management, and having a minor in Broadcast & Visual Media. He obtained his Master of Business Administration from the school in 2015. 
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How involved was Chris within the Seton Hall community?

Freshman year: 

Chris became a part of WSOU— Seton Hall’s College Radio Station. In being an underclassmen he had learn the systems, examine sports casting opportunities, 
he manned the phone lines, and really did anything he could to have continuous involvement with the station.

Sophomore Year: 
Continued to work with WSOU and gained experience in play by play action for Men’s Basketball, and did Soccer and Baseball prior to that.

Junior Year: 

His junior year Chris really focused on trying to build a relationship between Seton Hall Athletics, and WSOU. In order to do that he realized he had to really get immersed with the Athletics Department. His way in was being able to get an internship in the Athletics Department working with Pirate Blue. Pirate Blue in his words, is basically the funding and donation arm of Seton Hall Athletics. 
“I realized that there was an opportunity where the radio station at the time had a luke warm relationship with the Athletic Department, they definitely worked with them but they kind of worked more for them, rather than with them.” 
In being selected as assistant sports director for WSOU, it really opened up his opportunities in broadcasting games, he now had more priority over games he wanted to call, and was able to travel with the team more. His main goal in this new position and also working in Athletics was to solidify the relationship between those two parties. 
“With that I really wanted to focus on building a relationship with the Athletic Department. I thought that was a huge opportunity we were missing because they just didn’t have that relationship. There was a trust that needed to be built.”

Senior Year: 

Elected to being the Stations Sports Director, which was a goal of his from the beginning of his journey with WSOU. 
“I was still working at Pirate Blue a lot, so I was really trying to build those relationships not only with the current Athletics Department but also the alumni, and kind of really broadening my reach. I think that’s a big thing that people don’t really think to do while they’re in school is broadening their reach. You know outside of just your professors and classmates, who can you talk to. At the end of the day there’s a lot of really successful people that come out of whatever school you go to, and they’ll always have an affiliation and pride for their university, which means they want to help people from their own school. So I just kept doing that and learning from people.” 

Post-Grad: 

Young Alumni Club; Currently the elected Co-President— The club is based off a group of students that have graduated from Seton Hall in the last ten years. 

“Our club is dedicated, and organized to coming up with different plans, events, and initiatives in engaging with the most recent alumni.” 

—Internships and Out of School Work Experience 
New York RedBulls: Internship that led to him being hired as a Box Office 
Representative for 7 Seasons, on a part time basis working weekends and game days. 
- Held two different internships with the RedBulls - Gained Experience with; Partnership Marketing, Corporate Partnership Deals, 
Contracts, Marketing Partnership Activations - As a Box Office Representative he worked hands on with; Player Relations, 
Premium Service Ticket Management, and Day to Day Ticket Sales 
New York Mets: Held an internship in the Mets Public Relations Department 
- Chris says this experience was where he really learned about PR, he interned during the Bernie Madoff scandal, the decision on whether to trade or not trade star player Jose Reyes 
“I learned how to deal with angry Mets fans all the time, both on social media, the newspaper, the press, phone calls, everything. It was exhausting but well worth it.” 
FOCO: Sports Licensing Product based company, selling bobbleheads, scarfs, ugly sweaters and more. 
- Throughout his two and a half years there he had three roles; Licensing Coordinator, Product Development, and Marketing and Licensing as an Associate 
Topps: Brand Manager for E-Commerce 
“I oversaw all aspects of the E-Commerce business, from product development, to strategy building, backend launching, everything. It was grueling but it was an incredible experience because I learned the ins and outs of e-commerce and learned strategies on how to build good products.” 
How did you get to where you are now? 
“In November during the year I was working for Topps, I was reached out for a position at Fanatics and a position at RB, and Fanatics is obviously the king of consumer products. The position was for MLB Nike Apparel down in Florida, or RB which was going to be consumer product focus, which is what I do now in New Jersey. It was tough, it was probably the toughest professional decision I had to make, it was do I take a job at a company like Fanatics that is like the Amazon of sports, or do I think its the right opportunity, and the right time to leave the sports industry, broaden my research, broaden my strengths and skillset, and expand my knowledge. You know things happen for weird reasons, I never thought I’d not be working in sports right now but the timing honestly couldn’t have been better for it, I don’t know what my life would be if I was in Florida right now, I don’t know if the role would be there, if anything would have changed, and what COVID would have done to it. I ended up going to the one company that makes a product that is so high in demand, that is so fascinating and I’m learning so much day in and day out about how to be a better project manager, and how to strategically build new products, using the right key metrics.” 
Best Advice he would give to any of our readers? 
- “Don’t be afraid to take a challenge to something that you’re not comfortable with.” 
- “Be accessible, if you’re accessible people will come find you, everyone wants 
people that want to work.” 
- “Don’t burn bridges, specially for people coming into the sports industry. The sports 
industry is tiny, between the people that work in the industry it’s very small and everyone knows everyone." 
- “Expand your reach and your knowledge in a sense that, you don’t limit yourself to one specific area of an industry. Expand it! Get as much experience as you can because the most important thing that you should learn when starting in an industry, especially if you are still in college is, it shouldn’t be about learning the things you like but rather learning the things you don’t like, and that’s the biggest thing.” 
What is your dream position or role in Athletics if you choose to come back? 
“If I could have one job that I would never leave, it would be Seton Hall Director of Athletics, 100%. I would stay in that role as long as they let me be in it. 100%.”