Note: The WJPZ at 50 Podcast has returned! If you or someone you know would like to be a guest, email JAG: jag@jagpodcastproductions.com
Our first guest back is Dan Girard, Class of 20120. on how WJPZ helps us find our footing, sharpen our voice, and build friendships that last long after graduation.
We start with Dan’s path to Syracuse, which begins as a sports fan in New York watching the 2003 Orange title run and dreaming about the Carrier Dome. He arrives on campus with a chip on his shoulder after not getting into Newhouse, but he soon learns that student media matters more than any label. Z89, Citrus TV, and WAER gave him the space to grow. Over time, WJPZ became the place where he realized he can truly do this work.
By junior year, Dan was fully immersed in Z89 Sports and helped lead a period when the department became deeper, sharper, and more respected. He describes a class full of talent that treats the station like a real destination for sports broadcasting. He also makes clear that the best part is not just the airchecks or the broadcasts. It is the bond formed during late nights in the station, hanging out next door at Citrus, and growing alongside friends who remain close to him today.
We also hear some great station stories. Dan recalls the perfect save by a producer who killed a hot mic just before an F-bomb went out over the air. He remembers Friday Night Football, Big East tournament trips, and the thrill of hosting after Syracuse beat West Virginia. One of his favorite moments came when Professor Rick Wright calls into his show.
After Syracuse, Dan chased sports talk radio and becomes a finalist in WFAN’s Fantasy Phenom contest. That led to a chance to host overnight on WFAN at age 22, which remains a career highlight. But he soon realized that radio was not the right long term fit. A master’s program and a key connection lead him to Collegiate Sports Management Group, where he has built a career in media rights, strategy, and revenue generation for sports properties. His current work blends broadcasting knowledge, business sense, and a genuine love of sports media.
We wrap with a brief chat about Esports, SU, NIL, and what the Syracuse basketball team needs to do - to get back on the map.
(00:00) Intro
(00:57) Welcome Dan Girard
(03:14) Growing up in New York and discovering Syracuse
(05:25) Choosing Syracuse after being waitlisted
(10:09) First steps at Z89 and CitrusTV
(12:20) Building Z89 Sports into a destination
(16:10) Friendship, late nights, and station culture
(18:45) Funny on air moments and the hot mic save
(22:28) Hosting after Syracuse beats West Virginia
(24:50) Life after graduation and WFAN Fantasy Phenom
(27:32) Why sports talk radio was not the long term fit
(30:20) Graduate school and finding a new direction
(34:10) Career at Collegiate Sports Management Group
(37:33) What Dan’s job looks like today
(39:33) Esports, community, and student opportunity
(41:33) Advising students on brand and content creation
(44:09) Syracuse athletics, NIL, and the road ahead
(45:57) Closing thoughts
WJPZ at 50 Dan Girard
Speakers: Jon Gay & Dan Girard
Dan Girard (00:00):
Syracuse had knocked off West Virginia in football the night before. Professor Wright (chuckles) calls in, “Is this the wise guys?” (Laughs) I just started dying on air.
[Laughter]
You get Rick Wright calling into your show, and you just felt like a million bucks because he's listening. He's listening to what you're talking about and agreeing.I'm like, “Ooh …” that's how I know you made it.
Voiceover (00:32):
For half a century, WJPZ Syracuse has been the greatest media classroom on the planet.
We've trained students from the 1970s to the 2020s on how to run a professional radio station.
But the lessons learned and relationships formed go far beyond studios and transmitters.
Taking a look back through the eyes of those who experienced it.
This is WJPZ at 50.
Jon Gay (00:57):
Welcome to WJPZ at 50. It's great to be doing the show again. I was nudged by today's guest to get back to it; I'm thrilled to have him.
I also didn't know a lot about today's guest until he destroyed all of us in Scotty MacFarlane's pandemic trivia and seemed to win every single week. He is an endless fountain of knowledge. He is from the class of 2012.
Welcome, Dan Girard.
Dan Girard (01:19):
Thank you for having me, Jag.It's great to be here. I'm glad that I was able to nudge you to revive the show that you're telling me offline that it's been a little over a year since you last did an episode.
Jon Gay (01:33):
This came about from a conversation at the Newhouse reception last weekend in Syracuse. We're recording this on March 6th, full disclosure.
And you sheepishly asked me, “Hey, I don't want to be presumptuous, but could I come on the podcast?” And I've had a number of people of the 110, 120 somewhat guests, “Oh, I don't know if I am worthy of being …”
No, if you worked at the station (from overnights to general manager to whatever you did or didn't do afterwards), you have a story to tell, and chances are people are going to relate to your story.So, I'm thrilled to have you on and I'm not sure chronologically how we're going to release the new episodes, but this is the first one we’re recording. So, thank you.
Dan Girard (02:12):
Oh, thank you, and it's an honor to be part of it. Z89, WJPZ was, if not the biggest part of my time at Syracuse, it’s definitely in the top two or three. I am a proud alum of the station as well as Citrus TV and WAER, but there's something about Z89 and my time there.
It was really the station that allowed me to really realize that I could do this at school and maybe at the time think, “Okay, I’ll make a career out of this.” It was really where I was able to hone my craft on a professional note.
But personally, it's where I really managed to meet a group of people that to this day (about 15 years later) are my dearest friends.And I'll obviously, give them shout-outs over the course of this conversation.
Jon Gay (03:04):
I was going to say you've answered all my questions in the first two minutes, so we're done, okay! Let me start with you where I start with most, though.So, you're a New York guy. How did you know about Syracuse? Find Syracuse, then find the radio station?
Dan Girard (03:14):
Playing and being a sports fan growing up in … I grew up first in Queens and Forest Hills, New York. Shout out to Forest Hill Stadium and Eddie's Sweet Shop. And then we moved in 2001 when I was 11 to Great Neck out on Long Island. So, I went to middle and high school out there.
My initial foray into Syracuse as a university was watching SportsCenter growing up, and I saw this monstrosity of a place where they were playing basketball at. And talking about, of course, the Carrier Dome.
And back then, it was when they had the curtain up behind the other bleachers that they would bring in, so it felt so massive. And it was massive. But to see it firsthand, they played basketball, and they drew that many people into this facility where they also happened to play football. How do they do that?
I would say it really took the next step forward.It was during the ‘03 title run that I got to at least familiarize myself with the university. I had no idea about the Newhouse program or the broadcast program or any of the alums at that time.
I was 12, 13-years-old. I was in middle school at the time. But seeing Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara go on this run and obviously win the national title.
Jon Gay (04:40):
It's funny because those are peak sports fan formation years, like 11, 12 (years old). So, it doesn't surprise me that they made such an impression with you.
Dan Girard (04:49):
It was like, “Oh man, it'd be cool to go to a school like this to watch a basketball team in a place like the Dome.” And over my high school career, I started to really do more in the sports coverage, journalism side of things, really without knowing for sure what it is I wanted to do.
I would write for the high school newspaper, Guidepost, at Great Neck North High School.Then I wrote for the town paper, The Great Neck Record. I did public address announcing my senior year in high school for our school's football and basketball teams.
Jon Gay (05:25):
Me too.
Dan Girard (05:27):
And I thought, “Okay, maybe there's something here.” But without really kind of fleshing out what it is I really wanted to do.
My brother, at the time when I was in high school (he's four years older), he was at BU. And I always thought I wanted to go end up in Boston, go to Boston University, because I just had that familiarity because my brother was there. I loved the city of Boston from the times I visited.
Got in, did not get the scholarship or relief that we were hoping for of being the brother of a soon-to-be graduate at that point. And funny enough, with Syracuse, I did apply for Newhouse. The first time I actually visited Syracuse was April of my junior year, and it snowed.
I drove up there with my dad, it was the first weekend of April 2007. And I'm like, “I don't want to go here.It's snowing, it's just dreary. This is how it is.”I'm like, “No, no way.” I then got into UMass and Fordham. I still applied to Syracuse, actually get waitlisted.
I remember at the time they had said there were some numbers: 0.000001% of people who are waitlisted get off the waitlist at Syracuse, which pretty much thought I was ready to go … I believe I was going to go to UMass, actually.
And it was early May of my senior year; I got a call from SU that I got off the waitlist for the College of Arts and Sciences.Still had to get everything squared away on the financial front and whether my parents — because tuition is what it is, it's only gotten worse.
Jon Gay (07:15):
Way worse now, yeah.
[Laughter]
Dan Girard (07:18):
And I remember it was Final Four weekend for the men's lacrosse team in 2008. They have this ridiculous comeback against Virginia (I want to say) in the semifinal.And it was literally during that game that we were watching.My mom and dad are like, “Okay, we can make this work.”
I started in the fall and onward from there, it still took me a little bit of my time on campus to really find my footing.I think I always had this chip on my shoulder because I didn't get into Newhouse.And to this day, even though I minored in it, I still don't consider myself a Newhouse alum.
I consider myself a student media alum.I still consider myself a Z89 alum, a proud Z89, Citrus TV, WAER alum. But I was under this impression as a freshman, like, “Oh, I needed to be in Newhouse in order to do all this.”
Jon Gay (08:19):
Spoiler alert (and I'm sure other Newhouse grads will tell you the same thing), I learned 10 times at WJPZ what I learned in a classroom in Newhouse. Newhouse is great, but at the end of the day, you aren't missing much.
Dan Girard (08:30):
I wish I had realized that sooner. And I wish I would have realized that for myself. Even in my time looking back as a student, I had this chip on my shoulder and annoyance of those who got into the program, got accepted, and were not capitalizing on the opportunities and taking advantage of being at Z, being at Citrus or AER.
You have this opportunity on a silver platter to get the practical experience that you cannot have in your classes, and you're just going to pass that up. So, I always add that annoyance factor. It's like, “You passed me over for these individuals?”Now, some of these individuals I would refer to would go on to be some of my best friends over time. But at the time-
Jon Gay (09:22):
But when you're 18, 19-years-old, you're full of piss and vinegar, right?
Dan Girard (09:24):
Exactly. It really took me until the end of my sophomore year that it clicked, it started to click. It started really to click over that summer I did an internship at ESPN Radio in the city, and I was like, “Oh, I can be on the sports talk radio thing.I can talk sports.”
And it's like, “I guess I have an okay voice for radio.” (Chuckles) This is my humility coming in,I'm like, “Oh, let's see what I can take with this.” And I really started to do more and do more reps and come down more often, and really sink my teeth into it. But I come back junior year, and it's like a house afire.
Jon Gay (10:06):
So, had you joined the station prior to junior year, or would you wait till then?
Dan Girard (10:09):
I stopped by Z really early in my freshman year. And I remember meeting Alex Silverman one of the earliest days I was there.
Jon Gay (10:16):
(Chuckles) Not a bad first person to meet at the station.
Dan Girard (10:18):
Not at all.Not really realizing it, but I was so intimidated at first. I was like, “Oh, what do you do to try and get involved with the station?” It really started more in my sophomore year, because I'd started my second semester as a freshman getting involved with Citrus.
So, at the time, I started to then connect with some of the folks that were doing both Citrus and Z. Obviously, they're right next door to each other.And so, I met, obviously, my closest friends to this day, Eric Silverman and David Suntup and David de Guzman, folks like that.
And through getting involved with Citrus and still finding my way there, I made my way more to Z. And then sophomore year really started to pick up. I started to write.And then I started to produce for John Jastrzemski (JJ) when he was hosting SportsLine 89 with Anish and going from there.
And then producing some of the other shows that they had. And ultimately, got cleared for sports staff, I want to say towards the end of my first semester sophomore year, if not the very beginning of the spring semester. I was like, “Okay, great, I'm cleared.”
But what was it I really wanted to do? What impact could I see myself making? And I was doing the stuff on the sports talk side, but I really wanted to obviously get as many on-air reps. And I was really trying to push and trying to do what I can and started to slowly but surely get some opportunities towards the end of sophomore year.
And then it really kind of had a groundswell from there into the summer. And then I come back as a junior, I'm on staff, but I really take the next step (significant steps) in the process. I'm hosting a couple of shows.
I'm still producing, I'm obviously doing my sports department responsibilities on air. And I ended up becoming sports talk director sandwiched between my junior and senior years under Silverman as sports director, who did a wonderful job at running the department then.
And it was an interesting time for the sports staff in general for Z amongst our class in particular, because there were a lot of us who did sports, but there were not at all a lot of people who did sports in AER. They were all doing sports at Z.
The sports director at AER, when we all started as freshmen, basically gave off this vibe and perception that made it very intimidating. So, a lot of the freshmen (fellow freshmen like myself) decided to not really get involved in AER and try to do the five o'clock cast to try and get cleared to desk. So, they all went to Z.
And by the time we all graduated, I think there were between 25 and 30 people as part of the sports department within our class alone. Because we got this groundswell that moved from, “We're not going to do AER,” but Z feels like the next best thing in their mind.When in actuality, it was just on par, and you're getting similar types of experiences.
So, that's really the key thing that stood out from my time there. The sports staff really coming into its own during our era. Now there were classes, a couple above us, the one above us, and then the ones below us that have a wealth of talent.
Wouldn't be going out on a limb by saying our class, the class of 2012, I think it really helped legitimize what Z89 sports was about because we made it a destination as opposed to, “Oh, everyone just kind of frolics over to AER because that's the one with the sexier name.” At least amongst the sports folks.
Jon Gay (14:24):
Yeah, I mean, I was one of those who started at both, and I found my tribe at JPZ more so than AER. I don't think I made it past my first semester sophomore year at AER, and I was never cleared to be on the air. Next thing you know I'm chief announcer at JPZ.So, it's not an unfamiliar story, both to me personally and to the podcast in general.
What are some of the memories (I'm going to follow up what you said a minute ago, Dan) from the sports department? Accomplishments, things that your class really did to help put Z on the map sports-wise?
Dan Girard (14:53):
I think a lot of it was just the coverage and just the professionalism behind the broadcast itself. Our era made it normal to do both equally and regard both with equal footing and measure.
Eric Silverman was not part of the sports department at AER, but he was just as talented as any of those who came in through that class.And I'm not saying that and I'm not going to suck up to him because he is (still to this day) one of my best friends. But it's a fact that the talent that we had in Z was, without question, strong.
We had a lot of people who brought different things to the table. Whether it was folks like Alex Brewer, who just had this technical savviness and sense on how to really construct a broadcast and engineer a broadcast. Obviously, he was GM and did a heck of a job in that role.
We had Eric Zalesnik, who was a TRF student.Eric's one of my best friends to this day. He wasn't on air, but he had this knack of engineering and producing seemingly every and all sports broadcasts that we had for whether it was Friday Night Football or women's basketball or women's lacrosse.
We had the play-by-play people who … I was not a play-by-play person.I didn't call one game in my time at Z, but I was a sports talk person. That was kind of the role I brought. And then I got to host my senior year championship weekend for Friday Night Football.
So, I'm tossing to the dome where games that are being called by a Silverman or Bill Spalding, who obviously has gone on to do amazing things and deservedly so, and Chris Lewis, who's now on CBS calling NFL and college, and Andrew Cannell and John Nolan, who's now the voice of The Fever.
I think the biggest thing is (yeah, we accomplish a lot professionally) it feels good that these are friends. That's the thing of it all, is these are people who I regard very highly as peers, as their classmates, but above all else, they are friends.
Some I'm closer with than others today, but that's just life coming in to really wreak its ugly face there. But for a lot of them, we all stay in touch. And it really was rooted in those long nights at Z, where you didn't really want to go back necessarily because we were all just bonding there.And we're going next door to Citrus and playing the N64 that we have hooked up there.
[Laughter]
Those are the memories that I look back on probably with the most fondness compared to anything I did on air. I mean, the on-air stuff was awesome. I'm not going to take any of that away. But it was just the bond and what you did away from the mic, away from the prod studio.
It was just that bonding time that we were all able to have and obtain and garner that I still look back on with a smile because it was the best time.
Jon Gay (18:22):
And for those not watching the video, we're doing video now, but for those listening to the audio, I'm smiling as you're saying this, Dan. Because what you're saying resonates with five, almost six, decades of JPZ students.
You mentioned tossing to the Dome for championship weekend for football. You mentioned the off-air staff playing N64 next door at Citrus. Any other funny stories that come to mind from your time there?
Dan Girard (18:45):
There is one, and I don't want to throw him under the bus, but he was a year above us, who — I don't know if Z89 still does this during the end of a sports broadcast, but they play Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money. That would be our close for all of our Z89 sports broadcasts.
Jon Gay (19:07):
That's wild because I remember that at Faegans at the end of the night, 10 years before you, okay.
Dan Girard (19:12):
And it honestly might've been rooted from that. So, that's actually something I'm just learning right now. Is that why that became the-
Jon Gay (19:20):
I don't know, it must've happened after I was gone, but that's funny.
Dan Girard (19:23):
Yeah, the go-to. And you start playing Take Me Home Tonight, kind of under the bed slightly. You're still talking over it to do your close.
Basically, the goal is you want to hit the close and you sign off right when the first chorus hits. And in this instance, this individual is hosting on Z. I forgot which sporting event it was. He was hosting, and then he hit the close, but he still has a hot mic.
And what's the old adage? “You don't want to have a mic going because you never know. You don't want to be near it.”Right when he hits the close, the chorus hits, but his mic's still hot. And he's like, “That's how you hit the close, mother-”
And the producer literally kills his mic right as he's ready to drop the F-bomb. And we're all in the studio, and we all (chuckles) … because we cut up the tape into auditions.
And it just became one of those meme things that we just kept going and just playing on playback constantly through the years. It would have been my junior year because he's a year above, but senior year. Just one of those mementos.I hope it's still saved somewhere in the archives at Z.
Jon Gay (20:54):
So, the producer actually killed the mic before the F-bomb?
Dan Girard (20:56):
Correct.
Jon Gay (20:57):
I was not expecting that twist.I thought it was going out over the air.
Dan Girard (21:00):
Oh, it was literally in the exact nick of time.
Jon Gay (21:05):
The value of a good producer.
Dan Girard (21:07):
Correct. Just the punctuality and the perfection. I'd want to hope, and I could be completely off; it might've been Zeleznik who was producing that. But if it was or whoever it was, just right on the ball.
We had those moments. They would broadcast a media cup between AER and the DO on Z during our junior and senior year. And there were some things that honestly went out over the air that FCC violations should obviously-
[Laughter]
But honestly, just the trips that we would have for the Big East tournament. I miss being in the Big East, but that's a whole issue for another day.
Jon Gay (21:50):
That’s a whole other podcast.
Dan Girard (21:51):
Yeah, exactly.And just doing the live hits for Friday Night football games and being able to travel to various high schools across the Central New York region, section three. And you're wearing your Z89 polo.
You've made it; feel like you're such a big deal, like you're covering the Star Wars game between Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse. And being able to host the shows, the Wise Guys and getting people who call in.
And I actually do remember my senior year. Syracuse had knocked off West Virginia in football the night before, Friday. It was a Friday night game they played.I was hosting the next morning. And Professor Wright calls in … I'm not going to ever do Professor Wright’s voice.
Jon Gay (22:44):
You can go ahead and do it. We all do an impression. It's fine.
Dan Girard (22:48):
He calls in, he’s like, “Is this the Wise Guys?” I just started dying on air. Calling in and talking about Syracuse football, and they had a big win the night before, would end up being the last one they would have that year. They went from five and two to five and seven and missing a bowl our senior year. But we're on this high because they beat a ranked West Virginia team the night before.
And you get Rick Wright calling into your show, and you just felt like a million bucks because you were like, “Oh, he's listening.” He's listening to what you're talking about and agreeing. And I'm like, “Ooh …” that's how I know you made it in my mind back then.
And the memories of all that and hosting the shows and having call-in guests. Tim Kurkjian, before Jeff even stepped foot on campus, he would have called and not really realized, like, oh, his son would end up coming to Syracuse and obviously being a huge part of WJPZ's history as well.
And those are just some of the mementos I just look back on with such happiness and such fondness, because it was such a vital part of my career development and my personal development.Obviously, I would not be where I am if it wasn't for Z. And just learning about some of those aspects.
But the friends that I made working there, and the friends that I have to this day through working there is honestly what I cherish most of all.
Jon Gay (24:42):
Well, you said where you are today, that transitions me perfectly, Dan. Because what you do fascinates me. Tell me about your career after graduation.
Dan Girard (24:50):
When I did graduate (I graduated in 2012), I still had this sports talk radio aspiration in place. A year before (so 2011) — I mentioned John Jastrzemski earlier, JJ, and obviously, JJ has killed it in this industry on multiple fronts.
WFAN, which if you work in radio, you know WFAN. You don't need to be from New York, you know WFAN. And back then, they used to run a contest called Fantasy Phenom. Sports talk radio hosts could apply, audition, and end up (if you win) getting a one-year contract to be an overnight host on The FAN.
So, JJ did it right after he graduated. He's two years above me. He didn't make it to the finals his first year right out of school.But he auditioned again in 2011 and ended up winning it all and became a personality at The FAN.
And obviously, the rocket ship was launched from there for him. I ended up submitting a video audition for it because I thought, “Well, you always have to live audition at Roosevelt Field Mall or wherever.”
Submitted a video audition, ended up passing that and advancing to the semifinals. It was like 36 people advanced to the semifinals. You go to … it was like a wine lounge.I forgot the name of the place, but in Tribeca near the studios in the city. They trimmed from 36 down to the final five. And I ended up being one of the five finalists.
And I ended up being on with Mike Francesa. If you go to my, I believe, Twitter or X page, I think that my profile picture is still me with Francesa from that show down at Bar A down the Jersey Shore in August of 2012, where I ended up finishing runner-up.
That led to me really getting my first job out of school because they were launching the National Sports Radio Network with CBS Radio later that year.Just by being a finalist for Fantasy Phenom, I was able to host a show on WFAN over the holidays that year.
It was a 1 to 3 AM Wednesday night/Thursday morning slot, which I'll probably never host a show on WFAN again in my life, but you can never take away the fact that I was able to host one show on The Fan at 22-years-old.
Jon Gay (27:30):
What a cool memory, yeah.
Dan Girard (27:32):
And that is something that I will have with me for the rest of my life. How many 22-year-olds could say they hosted a show on WFAN?
Friends calling me under aliases, like Nolan calling in, Kevin Brown, one of my best friends calling in under an alias and doing it for the first time in a long time.
And you know it's them.It's like, you know what? It just makes the two hours fly by. Led to working at CBS Sports Radio, more behind the scenes, board op, tape op, screening calls the whole nine yards.
Pretty quickly I found that I soured a little bit on the sports talk radio component. I thought maybe if I wanted to do it, I would love to have done it in New York. To travel to various markets and start your career. I think it was easy for me to say it while I was a student, like, “Oh, I'm willing to go wherever.”And then you realize, “You know what? Are you?”
Jon Gay (28:33):
I'll take that gig in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Dan Girard (28:35):
Right. I'm flying to Boise tomorrow, funny enough, for the weekend.And I'm like, “Oh, I would have worked in Boise at 22-years-old.” And like, “Would I want to do it at this age? No.” But it's no disrespect to Boise, but a New Yorker going out there, it's like you stick out like a sore thumb.
But also, just aspects of sports talk radio that I just felt was a little bit archaic. And I was feeling that it was archaic in 2013. I could have only imagined what it feels like 13 years later. And just the idea of like, “Oh, I have to watch all these sporting events, as I should, to earn credibility to go out on air and talk about it after.”
Do I really want to do that? I'm not a Yankee fan. Do I have to watch every Yankee game so I can be as buttoned up as I can to go on the radio and talk about whatever happened the night before or what's going on with this pitcher or this hitter?
Jon Gay (29:38):
Watching every Yankee game is my own personal hell. (laughs)
Dan Girard (29:43):
But you really have to devote yourself to doing that in order to have and put together the best possible show you can that would resonate with an audience. Because when you're doing shows like that, the callers drive those shows.
And if the callers don't connect and don't resonate with what you're saying. You're going to die on the vine. That's what I did at Z, where I did AER doing Double Overtime. They're the ones that drive you. You don't drive them.
From there, I decided to explore other opportunities.I moved over to CBS on the television side, worked in production as a researcher. But at 23, 24-years-old, I didn't really want to be the one to give up my weekends from August to April.
Mid-20s, that's the time when you're the starving artist in New York and everyone is trying to go out, find the cheapest bar you can and have the time of your life. And I also didn't love production to begin with back then, so I'm just going to continue with it just for the sake of it.
I ended up leaving. I ended up quitting after seven months, CBS. So, I leave without knowing what I wanted to do next. And on a whim, I decide, more last ditch, to go for my master's in sport management, which I started in the fall of 2014 at Brooklyn College.
Literally, the first professor of the first class of the first semester I take, I end up meeting someone who has now, for the last decade, been one of my bosses at CSMG. And they were launching this company, Collegiate Sports Management Group, around the time I started for my master's.
And what it is, is we are a sport properties and advisory group that works with a portfolio of clients, whether they're college conferences, schools, pro leagues, teams (runs the gamut) in providing a suite of services that is all about revenue generation.
So, that could be media rights, negotiation, and strategy. It could be sponsorship, it could be licensing, it could be ticketing, it could be business intelligence. And when I started, I was still doing some other internship, part-time jobs, still finding what it is I wanted to do in this world of sports marketing and management.
I originally thought I wanted to actually be an agent when I was going for my master's. A talent agent. The thinking was that I had known that there were previous Syracuse alums who worked at Z or AER or Hill TV, Citrus TV who ended up becoming talent agents and representing some of these aspiring talents.
Like Gideon Cohen and Jeff Feldman, they were agents, and they represented D.A., Damon Amendolara, and Gideon and Adam Shine. And so, it's like, “Well, I'm two years out of school. I have friends who are trying to get their feet wet and work their way up in this field. Maybe that's the path I want to take.”
I did an internship at a boutique talent agency when I was going for my master's, and I saw it's like, “Okay, absolutely not.”
Jon Gay (33:17):
(Chuckles) You got to do that sometimes.
Dan Girard (33:20):
Correct. And I found out — and the agent I interned under back then is still one of my closest friends and mentors to this day. Because he steered me like, “You don't want to do this.” It's too ruthless, and I don't feel, and I don't carry myself like I'm this ruthless guy.
Jon Gay (33:40):
No, if you were ruthless, you would have left Z and gone to AER (rimshot).
Dan Girard (33:43):
(Laughs) Exactly. Cutthroat.Now, I am an AER talk alum, but yes, I show love to anybody. If you twist my arm, I'm a Z89 guy through and through.
I was still going for my master's, finding my way working at CSMG, starting still very much in startup mode, and really not knowing what to expect because you're wearing so many different hats. You are kind of drinking from a hose.
And really over time, through various means, you start to really find your footing, and through work and client relations that we've had, we started to really get into the media strategy and negotiation world of representing conferences and schools and trying to figure out their strategy.
And I realized that was something I could really sink my teeth into because I always had this love and interest of the media industry as a whole. And I think a lot of that is shaped from my time at Z and at Syracuse. And having this interest in how it's evolved so dramatically.
And so, I can take that and have an innate understanding of those inner workings of how games are broadcast and produced, how games are scheduled.And just those nuances that I've always had an interest in and just put a marketing twist on it. And I'm like, “Oh, those jobs exist?”
Jon Gay (35:17):
It's like you're the sum of all your parts and all your experiences.They've all kind of come together. If some consultant comes in and tries to tell somebody something about a broadcast versus you who has been a host, been an engineer, and you can speak the language, you're instantly going to have more credibility talking to somebody on that side.
Dan Girard (35:33):
I think it's also not just, Jag, you having that credibility, it's also the conviction of having that love and interest in it.It's organic. It's natural to me. I've always been so enthralled by how you watch SportsCenter and why certain things are airing at this time of day versus others.
And how things are scheduled, and why is the national championship for college basketball on that Monday night? Why did they tip at 9:15 instead of 8:45, and now it's earlier?
Jon Gay (36:09):
Why is that, by the way?
Dan Girard (36:10):
Networks always have to maximize their commercial spots (laughs). And you always want to maximize the audience and those West Coast people. They still need to get some love as well. Everyone will have their own reasons behind it.
But for me, it's having that care and interest and passion of the broadcast side of things and the communication side of things. And then you bring in the marketing, you roll that up into a ball, and there you go. And I didn't know a role like that existed when I was an undergrad at Syracuse.
Jon Gay (36:48):
It may not have.
Dan Girard (36:49):
It may not have, or it still would be fleshed out a lot more. And I think it's going to continue to evolve as streaming becomes more prominent and seemingly networks and platforms come out of the woodwork by the day.It's a fascinating time.
I remember I had friends in high school saying, “You're going to be on ESPN.” I was like, “No, I'm not on ESPN, but I definitely talk to ESPN almost every day now in the role I'm in.” So, it was a very circuitous route, but I guess it was meant to be that I ended up doing what I'm doing. And I enjoy it.
Jon Gay (37:25):
Well, Dan, what are some of the things you might be doing on a given day? I know no two days are alike but give me a couple of things (we're recording this on a Friday afternoon) you worked on this week.
Dan Girard (37:33):
One of our conferences is renewing their streaming deal that's going to go until the end of the decade, and we're just redlining those agreements. You're on discussions with networks (whether it's CBS, whether it's ESPN), trying to negotiate windows to try and put championship games on.
You're talking with streamers and trying to carve out inventory. You're talking to conferences, some clients of yours that you're trying to figure out a production quote to receive from packagers to try and produce a game that they're trying to get on ESPN, ESPN2 for next season.
So, it really is this assortment.There is a common thread to it all. But the breadth of individuals who I've had the pleasure to connect with and speak to and have conversations with through this role is enormous.
And to have had the chance to attend the Final Four for the last four years and probably going again in a few weeks, and that's work. It is work because you have meetings galore, but then you have to go watch the games.
I'm going out to Boise tomorrow because Big Sky, one of our favorite clients, has their conference basketball tournament going on. You always want to be out there to show face to a great client of ours.
Jon Gay (39:09):
Will you get to tour the blue field while you're there?
Dan Girard (39:12):
I'll try to get to the Blue Field.I do have a meeting because we work a lot in gaming and esports, and we know the folks at Boise State very well. So, I'm hoping before I get out of there on Monday, I get a chance to see the Albertson Stadium and the Blue Turf because it's Blue Turf. Where else are you going to see that?
Jon Gay (39:33):
Alright, quick detour because I’ve got a couple more things I want to ask you about.So, you mentioned esports. Last weekend, I was in Syracuse. I walked through Shine, and there's that whole esports lounge.
And I probably last played Madden 15 years ago. So, this is a whole ... the fact that there's so much money in this and that people want to do this and be involved in this field for a living, it's fascinating to me.
Dan Girard (39:59):
And we work very closely with the head of the esports department at Syracuse, who we knew before he got hired and poached by Syracuse.He was at a small school in Virginia, Shenandoah. And look, it's the type of thing where this generation (the generation of current college students and soon-to-be college students) are gamers.
The esports competitive aspect to it is smaller.Players who compete in varsity are viewed the same way as you compete in Ultimate Frisbee. Shout out to Ultimate Frisbee.My time at Syracuse … to playing rugby.It's trying to be looked at in that same vein as a club sport.
And the engagement of also having an academic curriculum attached to it, which Syracuse has been one of the earliest adopters of at a school of that magnitude. And look, the fact is it brings community to those who are truly trying to find their footing on a college campus, which I know can be very daunting.
Jon Gay (41:16):
Like Z89 did for so many of us. What do you say to a parent who is a little snarky and says to their son or daughter, “So, you want to pay $8 million a year to go to Syracuse to major in video games or to spend your time playing video games?” How do you explain that to a parent like that?
Dan Girard (41:33):
I view it from the lens of “You can do a lot in tech. You can do a lot on cyber security.” All those layers go hand in hand with it. Honestly, in 2026, if you ask the question, “You want to major in journalism?” (Laughs).
Jon Gay (41:48):
Fair.
Dan Girard (41:51):
And I say that to laugh to protect myself from crying, because it is such a changing landscape to it all of how that industry has evolved.
And you're spending a lot of money, and the payoffs (at least in the early going) are not going to pay the dividends that maybe you'd all like to think. Especially in this day and age, it's content creation. Content is key.
So, how you evolve that is (if you're a Newhouse or if you're SU as a whole), what you do to quickly adjust your curriculum to make it more content-focused. Because that's going to be the differentiator versus, say, you combine broadcast and magazine into one digital journalism program.
Look, journalism ethics still should absolutely be in place. But at the same time, you need to create ways to develop your brand, develop a platform to harness your brand, and you can learn on the fly. That's really where things are going.
Look, I saw a lot of students last week, and you mentioned Bella. I think she has a clear idea of what her brand is. And honestly, that's a vital component for any current students that are trying to make this a career to find out most of all. What is your personal brand? Whether it's authentic to you, because that's really all that matters.
You just want to have that authenticity, so when you are putting out content to an audience, however big that audience is, it's original, it's organic, and it's as close to what you're all about as you could possibly make it be.
Jon Gay (43:52):
Yeah, for our audience, we were talking off air before we started about how impressed so many of the alumni were by both Bella and her staff. I'm trying to get them on for an episode here as well, her and her VPs.
Last question for you, Dan. This could be a 45-minute answer, but I'm going to ask you to do it in probably two or three.
Dan Girard (44:08):
Absolutely.
Jon Gay (44:09):
What the heck does Syracuse have to do to fix their NIL to get back on the map athletically?
Dan Girard (44:15):
I don't know if it's so much NIL as just having the right personnel in place.I know when we're recording this, Adrian Autry has not been let go, but by the time this gets released, maybe that will have changed, and by then, we'll have a-
[Laughter]
Jon Gay (44:32):
We know Wildhack is going to be out, so there's that.
Dan Girard (44:35):
A new athletic director announced, in all likelihood, a new head coach in the fold here. Look, Syracuse is a university, a private institution in the Northeast, does not have the cachet as it maybe once did, so you have to really go above and beyond to try in this generation of higher education to really stay ahead of the curve.
Obviously, there's a significant alumni base, there's a passionate fan base that is just chomping at the bit to see a winning program again. You also need an individual or individuals that can really give you a shot in the arm. Fred Brown did that in football.
That's really what men's basketball needs. In women's basketball, you have that with FLJ, with coach Legette-Jack.That's what men's basketball needs. And it might be a little controversial to maybe some of your listeners to say that they need to splinter from the Boeheim affiliation or the tree going forward.
I believe that's what they need to do to really get back and go and really move forward as a program because it does feel like it's a cloud that's hanging over right now.
Jon Gay (45:42):
I think that's a fair statement, and we've come full circle from you falling in love with that ‘03 team to where we are now, 23-some-odd years later.So, Dan Girard, Class of 2012, really, thank you for all your time today. You've been very generous, and we've covered a lot of ground.
Dan Girard (45:57):
No, thank you. This was great. Really, I had a wonderful time.
[Music playing]
Voiceover (46:01):
The WJPZ at 50 podcast is created entirely by the staff and alumni of the world's greatest media classroom.
It's hosted by Jon Jag Gay, Class of 2002.
Imaging by Maureen Cooper, Class of 1999.
And Ed LaComb, Class of 1985.
Podcast artwork by Marty Dundex, Class of 2001.
Follow WJPZ at 50 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube.
Or wherever you're listening right now.