Mason Fuller, a senior from Plymouth, is flourishing at his ticket sales internship with the Boston Celtics. He started this job right before his senior year at Merrimack, and these first couple of months have given him valuable experience. He was able to use his skills as a marketing and management major to earn this position and stand out as the only sales intern for the Cs. More specifically, his role in sales is reaching out to clients interested in season tickets and group packages, such as those who went to Celtics playoff games last season. He reaches out to about 200 clients a day at the most, which according to Mason, goes a lot quicker than you’d expect.
“Being the only sales intern, I get to see a lot more than if there was a group of five to 10 [interns],” Mason said. “[TD] Garden holds less than 20,000 people, so you’re capped on what you can do and then you think about tickets that are already bought. You’re selling such a little amount…so how you can maximize that is the biggest thing.”
The group packages can be a tricky aspect of Mason’s role as a salesman. He’s responsible for booking packages with halftime arrangements such as kids playing basketball or dancing on the court . He referred to this allotment of tickets as a “puzzle”, as he tries to fit the big groups of 20 to 40 people into the seats. Gamedays are different for Mason, as he helps the kids get on the court before the game.
“Say someone is dancing on the court before the game and they’re in a suite. We’ll go down from the suite, and bring them down to the court,” Mason said. “Same thing with…the national anthem when they have the little kids in front of the players. So [we] make sure that all runs smoothly. [It’s] not just booking it, but then making sure the operation side of it goes smooth as well.”
Mason recalls his experience in staffing sales with Roessell Joy last summer as a key internship before getting with the Celtics,
“Everyone there was young and lively, so it was cool to be in my first office experience with people who were 25, 30 [years old], who just went through what I’m going through.” Working with the Celtics gives Mason an advantage, as he’s confident in selling a product from the defending NBA Champions.
“I’ve been a lifelong Celtics fan so it makes it a lot easier for me…I think [it’s] a great product.”
Being active on LinkedIn and messaging people on the site is something that he recommends to anyone trying to get an internship. However, it’s important to ask the right questions.
“Don’t be like, hey, can I get a job?” Mason said. “Say hey, I’m really interested in this. What can I do to set myself apart? The biggest thing is networking, and you have to build your network too. Going out and introducing yourself to people is the biggest thing.”
Mason looks to continue his success with the Celtics this fall, and he hopes that this opportunity can turn into a full-time job down the line.
