Tailgates, Tickets, and the Truth About the Event Biz

In this jam-packed episode, Mike sits down with Savvy Seats founder Tommy Gucciardo at Radio Garden State HQ to dive into the chaos, strategy, and heart behind one of the area's most ambitious ticketing and event brands. From running massive tailgate activations outside MetLife to redefining customer service in the secondary ticket market, Tommy keeps it real about what it takes to build a brand that’s about more than just selling seats.

🔑 Key Topics Covered:

• How Savvy Seats got started after Tommy walked away from a successful partnership
• The grind behind running 40+ tailgates a season — and why MetLife wasn’t the long-term answer
• Why American Dream became home base for Savvy Seats' flagship events
• The real difference between Savvy Seats and the big aggregators like StubHub, Vivid, and GameTime
• What it’s like to help other entrepreneurs and creators bring their events to life
• Why transparency, trust, and text messages beat hidden fees and customer support limbo
• How the dynamic pricing game really works — and why it usually backfires if you're playing chicken with ticket prices

💡 Quotes To Remember:

“Every ticket is a VIP ticket — because you’re my customer.”
 “Everybody has big dreams and small pockets. That’s why we help make it real.”
 “If you’re not delegating, you’re not building a business — the business is owning you.”

🎟️ Listener Perks:
Use code RGS10 at savvyseats.com to get $10 off every ticket purchase, every time — whether it's Knicks, Yankees, Springsteen, or Stone Pony.

📍 Where to Find More:
All tailgate events, ticket options, and Savvy Seats’ DIY ticketing platform can be found at savvyseats.com. Whether you're an artist, entrepreneur, or just trying to see Taylor Swift without selling your car, this is your go-to.

🎧 Powered by the New Jersey Lottery.
 📻 Keep it locked to Greetings From the Garden State and Radio Garden State – and keep New Jersey loud.

Transcript

Tommy Gucciardo [0:00 - 0:00]: Foreign. 

Mike Ham [0:14 - 0:26]: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of Greetings for the Garden State. I'm your host, Mike Ham. We're here at the home studio today, Radio Garden State hq. We're here with Tommy Gucciardo, founder of Savvy Seats. Tommy, welcome to my home. 

Tommy Gucciardo [0:26 - 0:28]: Thanks for having me. I got a surprise when I came in. 

Mike Ham [0:29 - 0:31]: Yeah. Duck punched you, literally right in the nuts. 

Tommy Gucciardo [0:31 - 0:33]: Right. That was a good feeling. Good way to start. 

Mike Ham [0:33 - 0:38]: I mean, I did warn you, sort of, but I didn't really give you the full. Like, she's going to just come for you. 

Tommy Gucciardo [0:38 - 0:39]: No, I got. 

Mike Ham [0:39 - 0:40]: Yeah, you got the full. 

Tommy Gucciardo [0:40 - 0:41]: I got the full effect. 

Mike Ham [0:41 - 0:47]: The full hello. Honestly, like, I mean, maybe a term of endearment, because she does that to Chrissy's dad. 

Tommy Gucciardo [0:47 - 0:47]: Okay. 

Mike Ham [0:48 - 0:51]: And that's really, like, you're the only other person that's. That's happened to. 

Tommy Gucciardo [0:51 - 0:57]: So I feel. I'm honored. I'm honored today to be in your house and get kicked in my nuts. Thank you. Thanks. 

Mike Ham [0:57 - 1:02]: Drove here in the shitty weather and it took you forever, and then you got punched in the nuts as soon as I opened the door. So. 

Tommy Gucciardo [1:02 - 1:03]: Good way to start. 

Mike Ham [1:03 - 1:19]: Yeah, a great way to start, but. All right, so I think maybe what we'll kind of start out with is how you and I met. We met at American Dream, doing one of your tailgates, which was a phenomenal event. It was the kick. It was the opening. 

Tommy Gucciardo [1:19 - 1:20]: It was the opening weekend. 

Mike Ham [1:20 - 1:22]: Weekend for the jets, right? 

Tommy Gucciardo [1:22 - 1:23]: No, I think it was the Giants. 

Mike Ham [1:23 - 1:24]: The Giants. Giants. 

Tommy Gucciardo [1:24 - 1:25]: Giants opening weekend. 

Mike Ham [1:25 - 1:32]: Giants opening weekend. And you ran those for every Jets Giants home game from the whole season? 

Tommy Gucciardo [1:32 - 1:33]: Yes, right. Yes, we did. 

Mike Ham [1:33 - 1:47]: Let's just talk about those a little bit because I thought it was really cool. You mean had like a gaming thing. You had a cigar roller, you had drinks. Happy dad was there. Food. A DJ. Obviously US FanDuel was there, too. It was. I mean, that was an impressive kind of kickoff event. 

Tommy Gucciardo [1:48 - 1:58]: Right. It was a lot. We put it together in a very short period of time. We weren't sure if we were going to do it, and we ended up doing it and. Yeah. You know, like, part of what I like to do is give people an experience. 

Mike Ham [1:59 - 1:59]: Yeah, right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [1:59 - 2:03]: I mean, you know, you can go to a tailgate in the parking lot, have a couple of drinks. 

Mike Ham [2:03 - 2:03]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [2:03 - 2:18]: Eat a couple of hot dogs and, you know, go into the game. But I want somebody, when they come to our tailgate or anything that we do at savvy seats, you know, whether we're going to a knick Game, whether they're going to a Yankee game. Yeah, anything. I want them to know that it's an experience and we want to be part of that. 

Mike Ham [2:18 - 2:18]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [2:19 - 2:33]: And you know, showed it in our tailgates. You know, we want to make sure that there's things for everybody to do. Not everybody just sits there and drinks. You know, maybe the wife comes or maybe, you know, the husband doesn't drink or the wife doesn't drink. And it's not always about drinking. It's about having a good time. 

Mike Ham [2:33 - 2:50]: Yeah, it was cool just because, you know, like, I mean, we have friends that do, you know, their own tailgates, have been doing tailgates for forever. But it was just kind of like a cool different experience to do it. You know, at American Dream, it's not like you're far away. You're literally. What is it, like a 10 minute walk? 

Tommy Gucciardo [2:50 - 3:07]: It's not even, it's a five minute walk. So sometimes some of the lots like J and K, you gotta walk for five to walk five or six minutes, you know, anyway. But people get confused because they see American Dream, it's on the other side. It's a walkway, but it's a five minute walk. It's very simple. Yeah, the parking there is a lot better. 

Mike Ham [3:07 - 3:07]: Oh yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [3:07 - 3:14]: You know, if you take that five minute walk after the game, you'll be out quicker than going in some of the premium lots over there. 

Mike Ham [3:14 - 3:21]: Can we talk about like, cuz. So that first one that you did that I was at, that wasn't the first one that you had ever done, right? 

Tommy Gucciardo [3:22 - 3:37]: No, I've done tailgates in the past, previous years. Yeah, I was always in the parking lot. I was always, you know, in the MetLife parking lot. And you know, I just felt I couldn't expand it. And it's really, you know, MetLife doesn't want you to be there. You know, you take away from them. 

Mike Ham [3:37 - 3:37]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [3:37 - 4:10]: And I understand that, you know, everybody has a business, everybody spends money and you know, I wanted a place where we can grow it into a real business and give people an experience. You know, hopefully maybe the jets and Giants notice and you know, we do something with them going forward. So, you know, that's the goal of this thing. The goal of this thing is to get the right people around it. Like last year we had FanDuel, we had Happy dad there. Last year we had big sips. We, you know, five Hour Energy came, you know, so that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to bring real brands in. There to make it an experience for people. You know what. 

Mike Ham [4:10 - 4:19]: So how did something look like the tailgates that you were doing, whether it was at MetLife or the stuff that you're doing at American Dream? Like, where did that come from? Were you just kind of, like, into doing that? 

Tommy Gucciardo [4:19 - 4:38]: Like, you just know, I never. I never. You know, that's not something that I ever thought about. So, you know, I was. Before I was at Savvy Seats, I was partners in a company called Ticket Bash, and we had a person, you know, we always ask, do you guys run buses to MetLife? You know, everybody always wanted to go to MetLife. 

Mike Ham [4:38 - 4:38]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [4:38 - 4:56]: And we started with a bus with a guy with a grill and, you know, a couple of beers, and then it went to drinks, and then it went to a dj, and then I partnered with somebody else there. And then, you know, it just, you know, it just became into something. 

Mike Ham [4:56 - 4:56]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [4:56 - 5:05]: And my partner at the time, he always used to say, after we became successful at it, he says, you thought this would never work, and now you're, like, knee deep in it, you know. 

Mike Ham [5:05 - 5:06]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:06 - 5:11]: And, you know, because I didn't understand it and I didn't know what it was, and, you know, it's a lot of work. 

Mike Ham [5:11 - 5:12]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:12 - 5:18]: Especially when you have the bus. So you're bringing a bus from, you know, New York over, you have 100 people, 200 people on a bus. Bringing them there. 

Mike Ham [5:18 - 5:19]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:19 - 5:25]: Getting them there, setting up a tailgate, getting the food, getting the DJs, a lot of logistics, and it's, you know, it's a lot of work. 

Mike Ham [5:25 - 5:26]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:26 - 5:31]: To run that one event. People don't realize we don't come into the parking lot that day and say, hey, everybody, come here. 

Mike Ham [5:31 - 5:32]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:32 - 5:34]: You know, there's a lot of manpower behind it. It's a lot of work. 

Mike Ham [5:34 - 5:35]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:35 - 5:35]: And. 

Mike Ham [5:35 - 5:42]: And then to do it essentially every week, really, you know, because it's. If it's the jets or the Giants, generally, one of them is home. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:42 - 5:43]: Yeah, it could be, like, at least. 

Mike Ham [5:43 - 5:45]: You know, sometimes twice. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:45 - 5:50]: Yeah, it could be. Yes. It could be a Friday and a Sunday and a Monday night game or Sunday and a Thursday night. 

Mike Ham [5:50 - 5:50]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:50 - 5:57]: So, you know, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of time. And, you know what I like out of it is when I get the call the next day. 

Mike Ham [5:57 - 5:57]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [5:57 - 6:17]: I had the great, greatest time. You know, my group was excited. You know, that, to me, makes me happy. You know, it's not just about, yeah, do I want to make money? Do I want to run a business? Of course. But there's also that side of that I want people to. To know that we took the time to make your day a good day. 

Mike Ham [6:17 - 6:17]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [6:18 - 6:38]: And sometimes it was some phone calls that you get at, you know, 8 o' clock after the game, and somebody's drunk all day, and they're like, the bus is hot. It's really hot. The bus is broken. All right, so would you like me to stop the bus there? Wait on the side of the road for three hours to get into another bus? 

Mike Ham [6:38 - 6:38]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [6:38 - 6:49]: Or do you just want to bite the bullet for 30? So sometimes you have to, like, deal with some people that you don't want to, and then the next day when you call them to, you know, say, listen, I hope you had a great time. Sorry about what? Problem. You know. 

Mike Ham [6:49 - 6:50]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [6:50 - 6:55]: So. But that's. That's what you get with tailgates. But to me, it makes me happy. 

Mike Ham [6:55 - 7:03]: Yeah. Let's also talk about savvy seats, because I like. I think it'd be good to just kind of define all the stuff that you're doing and then how they, you know, coexist. 

Tommy Gucciardo [7:03 - 7:03]: What. 

Mike Ham [7:05 - 7:21]: So for people listening radio, Garden State, partner with savvy seats within the last, like, couple weeks, I think so code RGS10 get you $10 off your. Your first purchase on savvy. All your purchases, all your purchases. Even better. So let's talk about savvy seats. 

Tommy Gucciardo [7:21 - 7:22]: Sure. 

Mike Ham [7:22 - 7:25]: We'll kind of talk about what it is, and then we'll, you know, we'll kind of go from there. 

Tommy Gucciardo [7:25 - 7:44]: So once again, you know, to. To go back, you know, I was partners with. With a company, Ticket Bash, and, you know, it got to a point. You know, sometimes when you have partnerships and when you're a partner, it's sometimes, no matter what, even in, like, relationships, sometimes you go your separate ways. You know, we're not hearing one another, we're not talking. And I respect him as a businessman. 

Mike Ham [7:44 - 7:44]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [7:44 - 7:52]: I respect him as a friend. And it was just not going in the right direction. And I felt it was a good time for me to start something new. 

Mike Ham [7:52 - 7:53]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [7:53 - 8:11]: Right. And, you know, we still talk, we still communicate. It's not like, you know, even though we're in the same space, we're really not competing with one another. I have my own stuff, he has his own stuff. And, you know, but I did learn something being there. Right. How to treat a customer. The customer is the most important person. 

Mike Ham [8:11 - 8:11]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [8:11 - 8:18]: And I used to go to my partner, I'd be like, man, you give these people so much time you give, you know, your heart and soul to them. 

Mike Ham [8:18 - 8:18]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [8:18 - 8:32]: But I understand it because, you know, like, I never did that part of it. I always ran the tailgate part of it and the operation side. Now I'm in the, you know, dealing with the customers, dealing with everything. And I see, you know, what it takes to make a customer happy. 

Mike Ham [8:32 - 8:33]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [8:33 - 8:41]: And sometimes you can't make them happy. Right. But, you know, what I try to do is give them the best service possible. That's why I say every ticket is like a VIP ticket. 

Mike Ham [8:41 - 8:41]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [8:41 - 8:43]: Because I want to treat you good. 

Mike Ham [8:43 - 8:43]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [8:43 - 8:52]: You know, and I'm not knocking StubHub and I'm not knocking Vivid. I'm not knocking Game Time. Their companies, they're just aggregators. It's like going to Expedia. 

Mike Ham [8:52 - 8:52]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [8:52 - 9:25]: They're getting a feed from somebody. They're getting my ticket. You're a broker. I'm a broker. We put all our tickets in a pot. We send them out to all these exchanges, and they make a fee when I sell it, and they make a fee when you buy it. Right. So how do we combat that? Right. I give customer service. Like, you call Game Time or Vivid, you might be on a hold for two hours. You're gonna get somebody really quick with me, whether it me or somebody from my staff, we're gonna help you. We're gonna solve the problem for you, and we'll get you into any venue. Right? 

Mike Ham [9:25 - 9:25]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [9:25 - 9:29]: Like, that's what I want people to have a seamless experience. 

Mike Ham [9:29 - 9:29]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [9:29 - 9:40]: I have so many people that, that one of my biggest clients actually called me randomly, like 8 o' clock in the morning, looking for, like, $8,000 worth of tickets. 

Mike Ham [9:40 - 9:40]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [9:40 - 9:47]: And I'm like, what does this guy really want? Like, you know, like, I was so skeptical. Skeptical. Skeptical. Sorry. 

Mike Ham [9:47 - 9:48]: It's all good. 

Tommy Gucciardo [9:48 - 9:48]: Yeah. 

Mike Ham [9:48 - 9:49]: Kick to the nuts. 

Tommy Gucciardo [9:49 - 9:55]: Right. First day with the new tongue. Right. You know, and I'm like, why is this guy calling me randomly? 

Mike Ham [9:55 - 9:55]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [9:55 - 10:03]: Right. And then we started talking. I started getting into it. You know, he had tickets that another company couldn't provide for him. 

Mike Ham [10:03 - 10:03]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [10:03 - 10:12]: And he was stuck at the gate with no tickets, which is a disaster. Which is a disaster. Right. And, you know, so we started talking, and now he's one of my top clients. 

Mike Ham [10:12 - 10:13]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [10:13 - 10:15]: Right. Because I give him that service. 

Mike Ham [10:15 - 10:15]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [10:15 - 10:24]: And he. Like, last week, his son was at the Nick game, struggling to get his. My pass is disabled. So if you have a different Ticketmaster account than your. 

Mike Ham [10:24 - 10:25]: Yeah. Oh, yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [10:25 - 10:29]: Then your, you know, your Apple Wallet, it'll say disabled. And Everybody panics. 

Mike Ham [10:29 - 10:30]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [10:30 - 10:42]: So I told him what to do. I walked him through the process. His kid was at the gate. He said, thank you, I love it. Had a great time. Right? That's what we do. Get somebody on the phone from StubHub five minutes before tip off and explain it past disabled. 

Mike Ham [10:42 - 10:42]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [10:42 - 10:43]: Never going to happen. 

Mike Ham [10:43 - 11:19]: No. And that's, and that's, I think, you know, obviously the customer service side of it is, is a big thing. But like when we, when, when Amber had reached out initially about, about the partnership and everything, and I was kind of going through it and some of the stuff that we had done with, with Radio Garden State was like highlighting all the different concerts and stuff like that going on around New Jersey. And my. One of my partner Chris would do like all of it. He would put together like three minute long things and a concert calendar and all this kind of stuff. And we were just like doing it because we thought it was a good thing to do. And eventually I just was just like, you gotta stop doing that. It's like so much work. 

Tommy Gucciardo [11:19 - 11:20]: Right. 

Mike Ham [11:20 - 11:48]: For nothing. Like we're not making any it. Right. You know, and we're promoting like, granted, like our thing is to promote creators, but we're also promoting venues that, you know, or ticket links or whatever that don't do anything. And then when this came about, I was like, oh, that's interesting. But I wonder where, where they're getting like where they could get tickets at. So I started like punching in like, you know, PNC Bank, Art Center, MetLife, Stone Pony, like all these things. White Eagle hall, all these spots that are on savvy seats. 

Tommy Gucciardo [11:48 - 11:48]: Right. 

Mike Ham [11:48 - 11:54]: So it's not like it's, you know, there's like different venues or like lesser ven. I mean, it's all the same stuff. 

Tommy Gucciardo [11:54 - 11:55]: No, it's all the same stuff. 

Mike Ham [11:55 - 12:18]: So, you know, I mean, to like you talk about Knicks games and whatever, like Yankee games, Knicks, you know, I'm sure there's a whole bunch of different things that I haven't even dove into yet. But, but so it's like a legit, you know, like right on par with every other thing that you just mentioned. You know, but there are the customer service benefits, you know, there's. There's different kinds of fees and whatever. So, you know, that's all important to know too. Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [12:18 - 12:22]: So. So a lot of times what I tell people is I might not have the cheapest seats. 

Mike Ham [12:22 - 12:23]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [12:23 - 12:26]: But I could also guide you in the right direction. 

Mike Ham [12:26 - 12:26]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [12:26 - 12:34]: People just always generally look on StubHub and they say, oh, I see this seat for $100, but you don't realize that it's a limited view seat. 

Mike Ham [12:34 - 12:35]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [12:35 - 12:49]: That's behind the pole. And you're not going to see half the game. Right. At least I could walk you to a different seat or tell you this is what you should do or this is how you should look at it, you know, So I give them a perspective that, you know, they might not be looking at. They're just looking for cheap. 

Mike Ham [12:49 - 12:49]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [12:49 - 12:53]: But now I'm getting you the same seat because I could save them money. 

Mike Ham [12:53 - 12:53]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [12:54 - 13:01]: Based on what they're looking on StubHub, and they could pay the same amount of money, you know, that they were gonna buy the cheapest seat for. 

Mike Ham [13:01 - 13:02]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [13:02 - 13:03]: But have a better ticket. 

Mike Ham [13:03 - 13:03]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [13:03 - 13:04]: So that's what I try to do. 

Mike Ham [13:04 - 13:09]: Yeah. Yeah. Because, I mean, I think, like, that's at the. It's just the experience level, you know? 

Tommy Gucciardo [13:09 - 13:09]: Yeah. 

Mike Ham [13:09 - 13:13]: I mean, there's some places where, like, you know, you talk about, like, a stone pony. It doesn't matter. 

Tommy Gucciardo [13:13 - 13:15]: Yeah. You go in there. 

Mike Ham [13:15 - 13:22]: But then there's, like, things that you talk about, you know, Like I remember going to, like, a Fenway park one time sitting, like, halfway behind a pole. 

Tommy Gucciardo [13:22 - 13:25]: Yeah. There's, like, certain sections that have, like, one seed is, like, right in the pole. 

Mike Ham [13:25 - 13:39]: Yeah. And it's like, why do they think this is a good idea back in 1908? You know, but I guess they weren't thinking back. Yeah, I guess not. But. But I think that that's. That's interesting. But the, like, savvy seats and, and the, the tailgates, those are kind of like all intermingled, right? 

Tommy Gucciardo [13:39 - 14:07]: Yeah. Well, it's a different division. Right. So we have a ticket division which, which deals with all the, you know, the, the. The higher profile stuff like the Stone Ponies, like the Met Lives. And then we have the, the events that we curate. And we also help curate other events, too. We just did a couple of events. Wag Waj magazine, we helped them with an event. We just did an event for. For a young guy who's just started and who has, you know, a nice brand. We did something for him. 

Mike Ham [14:07 - 14:07]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [14:07 - 14:13]: You know. You know, so we do other things. You know, it's not just. We're not just a ticket broker. We're not just a tailgate company. 

Mike Ham [14:13 - 14:14]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [14:14 - 14:21]: We put events together. We help sponsor, we help get the venue. So we do other things out there that are just not in the ticket, you know, Arena. 

Mike Ham [14:21 - 14:30]: Right. And so when you were the original company that you were with partners. With. You were doing events and stuff with them, too, or was that more just like on the ticket end? 

Tommy Gucciardo [14:30 - 14:34]: And then we did one or two events, but that was always my passion. Right. Like, getting. 

Mike Ham [14:34 - 14:37]: Were you doing events before that, too? Like, putting stuff on at all? 

Tommy Gucciardo [14:37 - 15:08]: Well, I was with Ticket Bash for, you know, 10 years, you know, the last, you know, 15 years of the industry. Ten of them was at Ticket Bash. Two of them was with Savvy Seeds, you know. Yeah. So, yeah, we did a couple of events there, but it was just like. That didn't fit what we tried to do. Yeah, we had a different mindset then. But that's something I like to do. I like to ticket the event. I like to be involved, you know, get the event started, get the. You know, get the venue, you know, bring all the people in, bring the sponsors in. That's what I like to do. 

Mike Ham [15:08 - 15:30]: Yeah. And when you're putting these things together, like, I'm curious, like, you mentioned a couple events that you put on. Not just the tailgates and all that, but, like, you're able to help, you know, whoever kind of curate an event and put it together. Can we talk about maybe, like, have there been events that you've put together that you're like, oh, shit, this was, like, really cool. Like, I can't believe we were able to pull XYZ off. 

Tommy Gucciardo [15:30 - 15:34]: It was one of our first events. It was Jacques out at Stereo Garden. 

Mike Ham [15:34 - 15:34]: Okay. 

Tommy Gucciardo [15:34 - 15:39]: And, you know, I did. That was my first, like, real foray into it. 

Mike Ham [15:39 - 15:39]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [15:39 - 15:41]: I had no idea what I was doing. 

Mike Ham [15:41 - 15:42]: I was just like, I love that, though. 

Tommy Gucciardo [15:42 - 15:49]: Throwing stuff against the wall, seeing if it's stuck, you know, it was tough. I mean, we didn't make money on it. 

Mike Ham [15:49 - 15:50]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [15:50 - 15:53]: We took a little bit of a loss, but it was a learning process. 

Mike Ham [15:53 - 15:53]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [15:53 - 16:02]: And now I see what needs to be done, you know, and, you know, sponsorship is real important when you're doing these events. 100%, you know, and ticket sales. 

Mike Ham [16:02 - 16:03]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [16:03 - 16:15]: You know, those are the way you drive, you know, you know, traffic in there for the sponsors. But it also helps with the. You know, with paying some stuff. And the sponsors also are very important because you get the right sponsors in. 

Mike Ham [16:15 - 16:16]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [16:16 - 16:18]: And that helps you promote the event. 

Mike Ham [16:19 - 16:19]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [16:19 - 16:21]: You know, and they help promote the event. 

Mike Ham [16:21 - 16:21]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [16:21 - 16:23]: So, you know, everything works hand in hand. 

Mike Ham [16:23 - 16:42]: Yeah. When you're. When you're putting these together and, like, someone comes to you and they're like, tommy, I really need some help putting together an event. And are there things that, like, is there kind of Like a. Almost a limit on what they should be doing or is there. If they have a vision and they think they can execute it and. 

Tommy Gucciardo [16:42 - 16:47]: Well, it all comes down to dollar and. Right. Like, everybody has big dreams in small pockets. 

Mike Ham [16:47 - 16:47]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [16:47 - 16:58]: You know, they want the, you know, rose petals when they come out. You know, they want, you know, all the top, you know, people at the event. And it doesn't happen like that. You know, it takes time. 

Mike Ham [16:58 - 16:59]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [16:59 - 17:04]: You know, sometimes you have to start small and work your way up and get to that point, you know, but everything takes money. 

Mike Ham [17:05 - 17:05]: Oh, for sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:06 - 17:12]: And, you know, like I said, you know, ticket sales and sponsorship is a big. But you can't run an event based off sponsorship. 

Mike Ham [17:12 - 17:12]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:12 - 17:16]: Like, you can't rely on a sponsor to cover your venue fee. 

Mike Ham [17:16 - 17:16]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:16 - 17:19]: Of 50,000, it could be helpful. The venue fee. 

Mike Ham [17:19 - 17:19]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:19 - 17:25]: But, you know, you should have that covered already before you. That was the one thing that I didn't realize. 

Mike Ham [17:25 - 17:25]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:25 - 17:30]: Like I should know. Or the events going to cost me 30,000. I should have that ready to go. 

Mike Ham [17:30 - 17:31]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:31 - 17:33]: If I get no sponsors and no ticket sales. 

Mike Ham [17:33 - 17:33]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:33 - 17:39]: You know, that's. That should be the mindset. Most people go into an event. You're laughing because, you know. 

Mike Ham [17:39 - 17:40]: Oh, I know. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:41 - 17:47]: You know, you shouldn't go into an event thinking that the ticket sales and the sponsorship is going to cover. 

Mike Ham [17:47 - 17:47]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:47 - 17:51]: You know, hopefully that happens. But you have to be prepared. 

Mike Ham [17:51 - 17:52]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [17:52 - 17:52]: You know. 

Mike Ham [17:52 - 18:02]: Yeah. And then when you're like, let's just take, you know, if you're doing. Help create an event and they have kind of like a vision, but you'll help. Help in a sense, like, guide them to. 

Tommy Gucciardo [18:02 - 18:02]: Yeah. 

Mike Ham [18:02 - 18:07]: Like, that's why you think also, like, would make sense for an event like that. Like. Right, right, right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [18:07 - 18:24]: That's why I have a staff for that. That's not my Right. You know, I have, like, Amber, who does that. She's phenomenal. She sees everything. She has great vision. And. And, you know, and it's. And her vision is not like you have to spend X amount of dollars. She does really good with what we have. 

Mike Ham [18:24 - 18:24]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [18:24 - 18:39]: You know, she knows how to work within a budget, and that's important. And make everybody feel important. Right. Because that's the whole thing. You know, you want to be. You want to have, you know, a cohesive event. Right. Nobody has to be fighting with one another. 

Mike Ham [18:39 - 18:40]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [18:40 - 18:44]: You know, like, this vendor can't be mad at that vendor. You know, we just have to keep everything flowing correctly. 

Mike Ham [18:44 - 19:01]: Yeah. So going into 2025, obviously, you have the. The football Tailgates. And there's, you know, again, like, however many Jets, Giants, tailgates there will be. But you're also working on more stuff. Right. There's more stuff that you're doing at American Dream for Life. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:01 - 19:03]: Yeah. We're working on some of the soccer there. 

Mike Ham [19:03 - 19:04]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:04 - 19:09]: Doing some events there. We're doing Chris Brown Oasis. We're doing WWE SummerSlam. 

Mike Ham [19:09 - 19:09]: Cool. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:09 - 19:22]: So we are putting some stuff together that, you know, hopefully, you know, helps us get ready for the football season. Yeah. Last year was. Was a little bit of a. Was a little rough. The tailgate was a little. I'd be 100% honest, I bit off more than I could chew. 

Mike Ham [19:22 - 19:23]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:24 - 19:31]: I was used to doing it one way and then it went from, you know, being this, like part time. Not part time, but. 

Mike Ham [19:31 - 19:32]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:32 - 19:40]: Like this little thing into a monster and it kind of consumed it. And I made that one mistake of not having the right amount of money to back it. 

Mike Ham [19:40 - 19:40]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:40 - 19:43]: And, you know, listen, it's part of business. Right. You take lumps. 

Mike Ham [19:43 - 19:43]: Yep. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:43 - 19:47]: And you keep moving forward. You know, we started late. We started in August. 

Mike Ham [19:47 - 19:48]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:48 - 19:54]: So a lot of people didn't know we were there. Now we're starting. Now we're starting to market it. Now we're starting to go back to our old people. 

Mike Ham [19:54 - 19:54]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [19:54 - 20:03]: I brought in a partner, game day hospitality, who does probably 300 events throughout the country in a given year. 

Mike Ham [20:03 - 20:04]: That's helpful. 

Tommy Gucciardo [20:04 - 20:10]: So they know the. They know the ins and outs and they're giving me some, you know, it's my event, they're curating it with me. 

Mike Ham [20:10 - 20:10]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [20:10 - 20:13]: But they're giving me some really good advice. 

Mike Ham [20:13 - 20:13]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [20:13 - 20:16]: On how to build it and how to make it into something. 

Mike Ham [20:16 - 20:23]: Yeah. You know, because, I mean, look, all those different things you just mentioned, you know, like WWE versus, you know, Club World cup games versus a Jets game. 

Tommy Gucciardo [20:23 - 20:24]: All different. 

Mike Ham [20:24 - 20:43]: So different, you know, so unique. Such a different clientele, other people that you have to, like, market to, you know, so there's like a lot of. A lot of moving parts to make sure that that event, you know, like, people are like, oh, I went to the Savvy Seats event for the tailgate for, you know, SummerSlam. And then later on they're like, oh, we're going to a Jets game. You know, let me check and see if, you know, they're doing this. 

Tommy Gucciardo [20:43 - 20:58]: It's funny you say that because, like, if you have a business or you have something, there's always like a demographic. Right. Like 25 to 40% for me even. You know, I hate to Say it. But there is one demographic. Anybody that goes to an event. 

Mike Ham [20:58 - 20:59]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [20:59 - 21:01]: As long as you're over 21. Right. Because there's 21 plus. 

Mike Ham [21:01 - 21:02]: Yeah. Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [21:02 - 21:06]: You know, and a lot of times those same people that do wwe, like you said. 

Mike Ham [21:06 - 21:07]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [21:07 - 21:08]: They might be Giant fans. 

Mike Ham [21:08 - 21:08]: Yep. 

Tommy Gucciardo [21:08 - 21:11]: Or they might like, you know, they might like soccer. 

Mike Ham [21:11 - 21:11]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [21:11 - 21:19]: So it kind of like all works together. And, you know, it's just an interesting dynamic. Like, everybody that's listening to this. 

Mike Ham [21:19 - 21:19]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [21:19 - 21:27]: I bet you 85% of them either went to a concert this year, went to a football game, baseball, or some sort of live event. 

Mike Ham [21:27 - 21:27]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [21:27 - 21:29]: Or thought about going to a live event. 

Mike Ham [21:29 - 21:30]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [21:30 - 21:31]: You know, so it's a big market. 

Mike Ham [21:32 - 22:04]: Yeah. The Mayo Performing Arts center is the heart of arts and Entertainment in Morristown, New Jersey. MPAC presents over 200 events annually and is home to an innovative children's arts education program. To see Impact's upcoming schedule of world class concerts, standup comedy, family shows, and more, head to mayoarts.org or just click the link in our show notes. Yeah. Can we talk about two? And I'm just curious because, like, you and I have both worked with American Dream in different capacities. Obviously, like, them setting you up in that spot over there. That's a pretty good spot for you. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:04 - 22:11]: It's a great location. And, you know, I'm happy that they let me use that location. And. And, you know, some of their resources are very helpful. 

Mike Ham [22:11 - 22:12]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:12 - 22:18]: You know, I try not to lean on them that much. You know, I try to do it, you know, because it is my brand and it is me. 

Mike Ham [22:18 - 22:18]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:18 - 22:23]: I'm using their space. But they're very helpful. They're very open to listening and they want it to be successful, too. 

Mike Ham [22:23 - 22:24]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:24 - 22:33]: Because, listen, the more people that see it at American Dream, if we're doing, you know, 30, 40, 50 events a year, and there's 600 people, and that's our capacity. 

Mike Ham [22:33 - 22:34]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:34 - 22:39]: At every single one of those events now it's 600 more people that might not know what American Dream was about. 

Mike Ham [22:39 - 22:40]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:40 - 22:42]: And now they. They know what American Dream is about. 

Mike Ham [22:42 - 22:43]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:43 - 22:50]: So it works hand in hand, you know, and all these people that are walking by and we use their name, you know, like, so I give them the, you know, it's at American Dream. 

Mike Ham [22:50 - 22:50]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [22:50 - 22:57]: So people know now, you know, so it's. It's definitely good to have them in as partners. 

Mike Ham [22:57 - 23:19]: Yeah. And then speaking of partners, like we talked about, Amber, we talked about, you know, game day hospitality. You're partnering with this this year, and then obviously American dream. But, like, when you. I'm just curious because I find myself running into this essentially all the time. Like my first ever Jersey Fest event. I did. Every. Every detail was me. 

Tommy Gucciardo [23:19 - 23:19]: Right. 

Mike Ham [23:19 - 23:24]: Like, I just took on. I was like, there's no one that's gonna know exactly what my vision is for this. 

Tommy Gucciardo [23:24 - 23:24]: Right. 

Mike Ham [23:24 - 23:35]: Except for me. And I didn't have anybody that was working for me. So I was like, I just gotta do it myself. Right. You know? Did you run into that or were you smart enough to not do that out of the gate, putting together some of these events? 

Tommy Gucciardo [23:35 - 23:37]: Well, yes and no. 

Mike Ham [23:37 - 23:37]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [23:37 - 23:43]: Yes and no. Because I am a very. Like, when I take on something I want, it's me, me, me, me, me. 

Mike Ham [23:43 - 23:44]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [23:44 - 23:49]: You know, I have to be in control. I have to run everything. And what I realized is that doesn't work. 

Mike Ham [23:49 - 23:49]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [23:50 - 23:58]: You have to delegate. If you don't delegate, you're in for problems, you know, because at the end of the day, it's always. It's all in here. 

Mike Ham [23:58 - 23:59]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [23:59 - 24:41]: It's all in your brain. Right. And if you don't tell somebody your vision or your ideas or you don't have anybody backing up your visions and knowing what they are. Cause, listen, I don't claim to be the smartest person in the room. I'm probably one of the dumbest people in the room. But I have drive and I have ambition. And that, to me, is more important. Right. And I want people smarter than me around me to teach me and show me. That's why I brought a guy. Like game day hospitality. John is phenomenal. Like, he spits everything about a tailgate. Like, I get on the phone with him and it's like a half hour later. I didn't say one word, but it's done. But. No, no, no. But I. But. But I learned a tremendous amount. 

Mike Ham [24:41 - 24:42]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [24:42 - 24:44]: Like, I'm okay, shutting up now. 

Mike Ham [24:44 - 24:44]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [24:44 - 24:51]: I used to like it to control the conversation. But if you understand something, I'm not gonna try to think that I'm smarter than you. 

Mike Ham [24:51 - 24:51]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [24:51 - 24:52]: And tell you how to do your business. 

Mike Ham [24:52 - 24:53]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [24:53 - 24:54]: I'm gonna listen and learn. 

Mike Ham [24:54 - 24:55]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [24:55 - 24:57]: And that's really important. That's a good way to think about anything. 

Mike Ham [24:57 - 24:58]: Oh, for sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [24:58 - 24:58]: You know? 

Mike Ham [24:58 - 25:07]: Yeah. Yeah. But I think also, too, like, it has to be. I think maybe one of my. This is. I'm not trying to make it about me. 

Tommy Gucciardo [25:08 - 25:08]: You can. 

Mike Ham [25:08 - 25:31]: I mean, like, I do have some. Some sort of. I am good. A good delegator. But I do have, like, you said, like, a little bit of a Control issue, because it's just like, it's so important to me to make sure that it goes off correctly. But then also, like, I do while I'm trusting, just kind of like in life, when it comes to, like, a business thing that. That, you know, a reputation is riding on it. 

Tommy Gucciardo [25:31 - 25:32]: Right. 

Mike Ham [25:32 - 25:39]: I'm very protective of that. So I do have sometimes, like, a hard time finding the right people, but it seems like you are finding the right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [25:39 - 25:52]: I'm starting to find the right people now. And, you know, listen, I'm always open to. To. To have more people come in. The right people. I want people. Listen, I learned it. You can't do anything by yourself. 

Mike Ham [25:52 - 25:52]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [25:52 - 25:57]: You can't build. You can't build a real business by yourself, because then the business is going to own you. 

Mike Ham [25:57 - 25:58]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [25:58 - 26:21]: Right. You need people that are around you and it's okay. Like the other day, I'm sitting there and, you know, I'm on email threads with, you know, everybody. Like, I hate being on an email thread because half the time I don't read them because it's for other people to deal with. I'm just in it. But then when I don't see reply all. Yeah, I see them because I saw them. And then I look back, I said, now I'm sending out, like, whatsapps. 

Mike Ham [26:21 - 26:22]: Like, yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [26:22 - 26:28]: Did you respond to this person? Did you? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. But then I say to myself, like, why am I doing that? 

Mike Ham [26:28 - 26:30]: Sure. Like, if you trust them to do the job. 

Tommy Gucciardo [26:30 - 26:32]: If I trust them to do the job, let them do the job. 

Mike Ham [26:32 - 26:33]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [26:33 - 26:35]: Right. And if. And if they don't, then it's shame on them. 

Mike Ham [26:35 - 26:36]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [26:36 - 26:47]: You know, because at the end of the day, a bonus might be affected. Future business might be affected where they're gonna get a residual from it, you know, So I have to look at it that way also, you know, put trust in people. 

Mike Ham [26:48 - 27:09]: Right. So all the stuff that you have going on, I mean, you seem like somebody that's ambitious, and in our conversations, I've noticed that. I mean, are there things beyond some of the, like the tailgates, obviously, the events, savvy seats that you're like, this is kind of like, what, I want to do this too, or, like, add a piece. Add a different, you know, pillar of the business sort of thing? 

Tommy Gucciardo [27:09 - 27:13]: Yeah, I think for me, it's more like I like to watch stuff grow. 

Mike Ham [27:13 - 27:14]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [27:14 - 27:34]: Like, I enjoy that and I want to be around people, and that's why I have Amber with me now, because, you know, eventually, you know, that's going to be our passion. Right. You know, doing these events or helping somebody, you know, a young artist or some young entrepreneur get to the next level. 

Mike Ham [27:34 - 27:35]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [27:35 - 27:37]: You know, in this industry. And that's what we're looking for. 

Mike Ham [27:37 - 27:38]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [27:38 - 27:42]: You know, that's going to be our passion down the road. Like, the ticket business is a great business. I love the business. 

Mike Ham [27:42 - 27:42]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [27:42 - 27:46]: It pays the bills. You know, the tailgate business stresses me out. 

Mike Ham [27:46 - 27:46]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [27:46 - 28:01]: You know, because it's, you know, like, I was talking to some people and they're like, they do, like, monthly events and some people do quarterly events. And then when I say, you know, we're gonna do 40 events in six months, they're like, are you out of your mind? 

Mike Ham [28:01 - 28:02]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:03 - 28:04]: You know, like, it's a lot. 

Mike Ham [28:04 - 28:05]: It's a lot. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:05 - 28:05]: It's a lot. 

Mike Ham [28:05 - 28:11]: It's something like that. Because it's not like, you know, it's like a full on, like you said, experience type thing. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:11 - 28:19]: Yeah. And it's not like everything is set there. Right. Every week we gotta go and we gotta. We got to build it every week. So it's. Every week we got to go and put the tents up. 

Mike Ham [28:19 - 28:19]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:19 - 28:22]: Make sure the stage is there. Make sure the VIP section is together. 

Mike Ham [28:22 - 28:23]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:23 - 28:28]: Make sure we have the front gate ready. Make sure the food vendors are in there. So it's a lot of work. 

Mike Ham [28:28 - 28:34]: And then you and I talked about it. I mean, I've had an experience recently where somebody doesn't show up and then you're. You're fucked. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:34 - 28:35]: Right. 

Mike Ham [28:35 - 28:36]: You know, like, you know, so what's your. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:36 - 28:37]: What's your plan? 

Mike Ham [28:37 - 28:40]: Yeah, what's your plan B? Or do you even have a plan B? 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:40 - 28:40]: Right. 

Mike Ham [28:40 - 28:49]: You know, or what's the timing look like to make it. To fix it? You know, and if you don't have one and if you're not prepared for it, things go awry. But. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:49 - 28:50]: But that's all part of the learning. 

Mike Ham [28:50 - 28:50]: Exactly. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:50 - 28:55]: Right. And, you know, you have to take it. You can't. You can't get mad over it. 

Mike Ham [28:55 - 28:55]: Yep. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:55 - 28:57]: It's part of life. Things happen. 

Mike Ham [28:57 - 28:57]: Yep. 

Tommy Gucciardo [28:57 - 29:03]: And you just make it go. Right. You fix the problem and then you figure out how. How not to do it again. 

Mike Ham [29:03 - 29:12]: Yeah. I'm also curious. I should have asked this at the very beginning, but getting into the ticket business, was it just something that just kind of like. 

Tommy Gucciardo [29:12 - 29:28]: It was just something random. At one point in my life, I was like, in between something, you know, I had a business that. That didn't work and I was just like, stressed out. And my partner from Ticket bash was at a place, and he's like, why don't you just come here for a little bit? 

Mike Ham [29:28 - 29:28]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [29:28 - 29:38]: Hang your hat. And I did it for four, you know, three or four years, and it was cool. It was fun. And then I kind of went. Did something else. And ticket business always draw. Drew me back. 

Mike Ham [29:38 - 29:38]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [29:38 - 29:40]: You know, I like to go into events. 

Mike Ham [29:40 - 29:40]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [29:40 - 29:45]: I went to Knick games. I was going to Yankee games, and I was like, why don't I do this as a living? 

Mike Ham [29:45 - 29:46]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [29:46 - 29:56]: And then, you know, he split from the person that he was working with. He was managing something. He was running the company. And then he started his own place. And he's like, I need somebody. 

Mike Ham [29:56 - 29:57]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [29:58 - 30:04]: You want to do operations? You want to do back end? And I'm like, all right. You know, and I left the job that I was at. 

Mike Ham [30:04 - 30:05]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [30:05 - 30:11]: And, you know, because I was from business to, like, even when I was working at the ticket business was kind of my own business within a business. 

Mike Ham [30:11 - 30:12]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [30:12 - 30:19]: And then I went and I worked somewhere, and I'm just not. I don't do well with bosses, you know, I just don't do well. 

Mike Ham [30:19 - 30:20]: You know, like, I get it. Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [30:20 - 30:24]: You know, I beat to my own drum. I'm sorry. I have the entrepreneur spirit in me. 

Mike Ham [30:24 - 30:24]: It's just. 

Tommy Gucciardo [30:24 - 30:33]: That's the way I am. Right. And, you know, I left something that was pretty decent to go on to something that I had no idea about. 

Mike Ham [30:33 - 30:33]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [30:34 - 30:41]: And I worked, like, 13 hours a day. I helped build his business. And then after a period of time, he says, you know, why don't we become partners? 

Mike Ham [30:41 - 30:42]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [30:42 - 30:56]: And then we were partners for, like, seven, eight years, you know, and like I said, it was great. It was great. But it came to a point that, you know, he had different visions. I had different visions. You know, he had more equity, you know, money involved in it. 

Mike Ham [30:56 - 30:57]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [30:57 - 31:05]: So, you know, that was bothering him, that was stressing him out, and I understand that. Never mad, never upset. It just. It just. We had to go our separate ways. 

Mike Ham [31:05 - 31:06]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [31:06 - 31:15]: And then, you know, I started this. I wasn't sure, like, should I start something? Shouldn't I start something? Maybe I'll do something else. And I said, you know what? I know the business. 

Mike Ham [31:15 - 31:15]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [31:15 - 31:22]: I know how to start it. Like, if you told me I was gonna go from like, this to, like, a pizzeria, you know, maybe you tell me I'm nuts. 

Mike Ham [31:22 - 31:22]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [31:22 - 31:27]: You know, like, what do you know about pizzeria? Except, you know, look at the sauce. You could eat it. Yeah. 

Mike Ham [31:27 - 31:28]: Good pizza. Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [31:28 - 31:33]: I could Eat it and cook it, but I can't, like, manage a business. And then I say, you know what? Let me just give a shot. 

Mike Ham [31:33 - 31:34]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [31:34 - 31:35]: And, you know, here we are. 

Mike Ham [31:35 - 31:39]: Yeah. So I'm just curious, too, because you got the Knicks sweatshirt on. 

Tommy Gucciardo [31:39 - 31:40]: Yeah, baby, let's go. 

Mike Ham [31:41 - 31:46]: When this comes out, hopefully they've advanced it. Be the final. 

Tommy Gucciardo [31:46 - 31:50]: Right. I think it would be by the finals if quoting to June 10th. Yeah. It should be right around the final. 

Mike Ham [31:50 - 32:13]: Yeah. So fingers crossed for that. I just found it, like, I listened, you know, grew up listening to wfan. Listen to wfan. Even still when I'm not listening to Radio Garden State, which is what everyone should be listening to anyway. But they were talking about, like. Like the Knicks game two or no, game three. Get in. Price was like, fifteen hundred dollars. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:13 - 32:17]: Yeah. You know, they. They kind of like. It wasn't 1500. 

Mike Ham [32:17 - 32:18]: Okay. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:18 - 32:25]: I mean, it was for a second. It was there, and then it. Yeah. So what happens is a lot of time people don't know what the game is going to be. Right. 

Mike Ham [32:25 - 32:26]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:26 - 32:31]: So 1 and 2, you know, is going to be one price because, you know, you know, you're playing that game. 

Mike Ham [32:31 - 32:31]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:31 - 32:39]: So think about this, right? They went to Boston on two games. If they were down.02 going back to New York, that game three would be a zero. 

Mike Ham [32:39 - 32:40]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:40 - 32:45]: You know, maybe that would be a little bit, you know, higher than the rest of the series because people are going to want to see them come back. 

Mike Ham [32:45 - 32:46]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:46 - 32:52]: Maybe they're going to win. They lose that game. Game three, the next game is going to be like ghost town. You know, you could give the tickets away. 

Mike Ham [32:52 - 32:53]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:53 - 32:55]: So you got to remember, a lot of times those prices are up. 

Mike Ham [32:55 - 32:56]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:56 - 32:58]: Based off the first two games. 

Mike Ham [32:58 - 32:58]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [32:58 - 33:03]: And then once the demand comes in and people aren't paying 1500, then it's kind of like. 

Mike Ham [33:03 - 33:03]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:03 - 33:04]: It's like the stock market. 

Mike Ham [33:04 - 33:05]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:05 - 33:08]: You know, it starts leveling out. It starts coming down. 

Mike Ham [33:08 - 33:17]: And they were also, like, talking about, too, like, you know, if you wait till like, 30 minutes before a game, sometimes you'll see that number come down and then. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:17 - 33:17]: Yeah. 

Mike Ham [33:17 - 33:19]: Your budget is whatever. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:19 - 33:26]: Yeah. You know what? That always bothers me, like, when a person has that kind of mentality. 

Mike Ham [33:26 - 33:26]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:27 - 33:35]: Like, all right, so, you know, let's say you're looking at it all day. You spend your whole day watching. Watching a ticket. 

Mike Ham [33:35 - 33:35]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:36 - 33:39]: You know, you know, you're going to work or you. You're with your family. 

Mike Ham [33:39 - 33:40]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:40 - 33:46]: You know, and you're doing stuff during the day, and every five minutes, you're looking at a phone to see if it goes down $25. Right. 

Mike Ham [33:46 - 33:47]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:47 - 33:51]: And then. Yeah, you might get lucky and you might save yourself 50 bucks. 

Mike Ham [33:51 - 33:51]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:52 - 33:55]: 99% of the time, that backfires on you. 

Mike Ham [33:55 - 33:55]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:55 - 33:58]: And you spend more than you would at the beginning of the day. 

Mike Ham [33:58 - 33:59]: Yep. 

Tommy Gucciardo [33:59 - 33:59]: You know. 

Mike Ham [34:00 - 34:00]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [34:00 - 34:07]: So, you know, like, that's why, you know, you come to a guy like me, I'm gonna guide you, and I'm gonna say, I'll look at it during the day. 

Mike Ham [34:07 - 34:07]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [34:07 - 34:10]: You don't look at it. This is your price. We'll try to get your price. 

Mike Ham [34:10 - 34:11]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [34:11 - 34:11]: You know. 

Mike Ham [34:11 - 34:12]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [34:12 - 34:13]: And then I'll just pull the trigger for you. 

Mike Ham [34:13 - 34:23]: Yeah. It was helpful to have the. I think the best piece of what savvy seats has to offer is just the. The customer service end of it and. 

Tommy Gucciardo [34:23 - 34:24]: The knowledge of the business. 

Mike Ham [34:24 - 34:25]: Right, the knowledge of the business. 

Tommy Gucciardo [34:25 - 34:26]: Because, listen, sometimes I'm wrong. 

Mike Ham [34:26 - 34:49]: Sure. You know, it's hard to, you know, you're predicting things. You're, you know, whatever. But obviously, if you have, you know, a knowledge of, like, what's happened in the past on these types of games or whatever, you know, that that's helpful because, like, I mean, I don't. I go to some events. Not a ton, but I don't know, like, just. We'll just get whatever ticket we get and we'll go figure it out when. 

Tommy Gucciardo [34:49 - 35:03]: We get there, you know, so. So just to give you an example, let's talk about that. Right. Week, you know, Mets played the Yankees. Right. Soto's first game back. They called for rain on Friday. You could have bought the seats the beginning of the week at, let's say, 100 bucks. 

Mike Ham [35:03 - 35:04]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:04 - 35:06]: Right. Because they thought it was rain. Nobody wanted to go. 

Mike Ham [35:06 - 35:06]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:06 - 35:09]: The week before, that ticket was like, 130, 140. 

Mike Ham [35:09 - 35:09]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:09 - 35:19]: It dropped because of the rain. The day before, they had no rain in the forecast or it was going to miss them. The seats went from 100 to 150 bucks. 

Mike Ham [35:19 - 35:19]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:19 - 35:21]: Because now there's demand for it. 

Mike Ham [35:21 - 35:21]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:21 - 35:27]: So now all the people at the beginning of the week, they go, all right, I want that ticket that you told me was 100 or 125. 

Mike Ham [35:27 - 35:27]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:27 - 35:29]: Well, it's at 160 now. 

Mike Ham [35:29 - 35:29]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:29 - 35:36]: So, like, you know, you can't, you know, expect that to still be there. And they know. Yeah. You know, they know. 

Mike Ham [35:36 - 35:36]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:36 - 35:44]: They just played, you know, little, you know, little coy. Oh, yeah. I want those tickets that you showed me the other day at 100. Yeah. Those aren't there anymore. 

Mike Ham [35:44 - 35:45]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:45 - 35:55]: But, you know, I do my best to tell people. I give them all the information. Right. Like, and I always tell people, listen, they're calling for rain right now. This ticket could be a lot higher. 

Mike Ham [35:55 - 35:55]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [35:55 - 35:59]: If there's no rain and some people will take the shot and some people aren't. 

Mike Ham [35:59 - 36:00]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [36:00 - 36:15]: Like, how many calls on Friday? I must have got 20 calls on Friday. You know, now that everybody's chasing it, then, sure. Now you're chasing something to save $25 or $30. It always. Listen, I know money's tight, and I know. But sometimes you just have to realize. 

Mike Ham [36:15 - 36:15]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [36:16 - 36:20]: To know you have that ticket in your hand, whether it's a $75 ticket. 

Mike Ham [36:20 - 36:20]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [36:20 - 36:25]: On Friday or $200 ticket. You know, you go into the game, you don't got to stress. 

Mike Ham [36:25 - 36:25]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [36:25 - 36:30]: And you go from there and, you know, just, you know, have the experience. Have the experience. 

Mike Ham [36:30 - 37:07]: Yeah. I think it's interesting, too, because, like, you know, we obviously, between the radio station and even with the podcast, too, we work with a lot of, like, artists and, you know, all that. And just the way, like, when different venues, how they sell tickets, and we've worked with venues before and, like, whatever platform that they use to sell those tickets, and then you start, like, getting under the hood and seeing, like, the fees and. And all that. They crush you on fees. Like, you can see that, you know, in some cases, see that $100 ticket on a. On a platform, and then go to book it, and it's like, next. You know that that ticket is now 175, like, some crazy number. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:07 - 37:10]: Now they changed that. Now everything's all in pricing. That just came into effect. 

Mike Ham [37:10 - 37:12]: Good. Well, that's helpful. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:12 - 37:14]: But it is helpful, you know, because. 

Mike Ham [37:14 - 37:15]: Awareness of it. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:15 - 37:22]: Yeah, right. Exactly. You know, but I still get, you know, I used to get people all the time, you know, before that was the all in pricing. 

Mike Ham [37:22 - 37:23]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:23 - 37:30]: They would show me a ticket. They say, hey, listen, you know, you always say you could beat the price. And they show me the seat, and it's $100. Right. 

Mike Ham [37:31 - 37:32]: Click on a couple. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:32 - 37:33]: I said, you know what? Do me a favor. 

Mike Ham [37:33 - 37:34]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:34 - 37:38]: I said, I'll do it for you. I go and I check out, and I send them the screenshot. 

Mike Ham [37:38 - 37:39]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:39 - 37:47]: So it's $175 now. Right. I said, yeah, I could definitely beat that price for you. I can do it, like, for 125. Whatever the number is. 

Mike Ham [37:47 - 37:47]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:48 - 37:52]: But. But it's just funny how, you know, they know. They want, you know. 

Mike Ham [37:52 - 37:53]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:53 - 37:54]: They just want to test you. 

Mike Ham [37:54 - 37:55]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [37:55 - 38:02]: But now everything's all. All, you know, all in pricing, which, you know, which I like because it's easier for me. 

Mike Ham [38:02 - 38:02]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:02 - 38:04]: Because now they know what they see. 

Mike Ham [38:04 - 38:04]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:05 - 38:07]: And now when I tell them, listen, I can get that fee out. 150. 

Mike Ham [38:07 - 38:08]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:08 - 38:11]: I just saved them x amount percent on their money. 

Mike Ham [38:11 - 38:11]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:11 - 38:14]: You know, if I save you $25. Still. $25. Right. 

Mike Ham [38:14 - 38:14]: 100%. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:14 - 38:17]: And I always tell people that $25 just bought you two drinks. 

Mike Ham [38:17 - 38:18]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:18 - 38:23]: Or bought your hot dog, bought your parking or something. Well, you look at it that way. 

Mike Ham [38:23 - 38:44]: Yeah. You know, I think that's. That's good to know, too, because, like, you know, I mean, a lot of the stuff. Labels that we work with, artists that we work with, they always talk about how, like, the ticket. Ticketing stuff and live events, how that just whole system was. Has been very, like, for lack of a better word, broken sort of. And just. It's hard to, like if you're a smaller artist, but it's fun. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:45 - 38:47]: It's funny that you say that. I don't mean to cut you off. 

Mike Ham [38:47 - 38:47]: No, no, go. 

Tommy Gucciardo [38:48 - 39:00]: Because they don't understand what happens. Right. They give a company like Ticketmaster the. The. The. The ball, and they run with it. Right. And they put it out there. Ticketmaster is one of the biggest crooks. 

Mike Ham [39:00 - 39:00]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:00 - 39:04]: If you look at it, you know, they'll do dynamic pricing. Right. 

Mike Ham [39:04 - 39:04]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:04 - 39:12]: That. That seat will be 100x amount of dollars in the middle. In the morning when it first, you know, the presale happens. 

Mike Ham [39:12 - 39:12]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:12 - 39:27]: And then they see how many people are clicking on it. They see all the data. They see all. And then they start doing dynamic pricing. So that same seat, you know, 101, row two, seat five and six, nobody bought it earlier at $150. 

Mike Ham [39:27 - 39:27]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:28 - 39:36]: But everything around that was bought. And then an hour later, It'll be at $175, but it'll say official Platinum on it. 

Mike Ham [39:36 - 39:37]: Interesting. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:37 - 39:39]: So what is that? Right. That's them. 

Mike Ham [39:39 - 39:40]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:40 - 39:42]: Seeing that people are buying the seats. 

Mike Ham [39:42 - 39:43]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:43 - 39:47]: And they're just raising it $25 just to get another $25 out of it. 

Mike Ham [39:47 - 39:48]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:48 - 39:55]: Or, you know, it's a Yankee game. And that same seat. That's $50 face value. 

Mike Ham [39:55 - 39:55]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [39:55 - 40:01]: Is now $150 face value. You know, the Twins or the Mets. 

Mike Ham [40:01 - 40:01]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:01 - 40:02]: It's the same seat. 

Mike Ham [40:02 - 40:03]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:03 - 40:04]: But it's a better game. 

Mike Ham [40:04 - 40:05]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:05 - 40:11]: You know, so that's how, you know, people get hurt. That's how the. The. The. The regular consumer gets hurt. 

Mike Ham [40:11 - 40:31]: Yeah. Because, I mean, like, Even, even some of the stuff that we've done in the past, like we'll put a ticket, I'll be like, this is a good ticket price for this and I'll put it out there and then, you know, like people will go, start clicking through. And then even on a 15, 20 ticket, you're still seeing 5, 10, whatever bucks in in fees and all that. Just because it's like, you know, whatever the, the processing stuff is. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:31 - 40:33]: But you have to pay for credit card. You have to. 

Mike Ham [40:33 - 40:35]: Yeah, exactly. Cover all those. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:35 - 40:37]: You know, like when I do my events, I just factor it all in. 

Mike Ham [40:37 - 40:38]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:38 - 40:40]: When you see the price, it's 25. 

Mike Ham [40:40 - 40:41]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:41 - 40:54]: I don't hit you with anything else. It's nothing else. And that's all my stuff. Right. The, you know, the processing fee, that's what I'm looking, you know, I know what I'm gonna make and I know it. And I rather me make 8% less. 

Mike Ham [40:54 - 40:54]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:54 - 40:59]: Then pass it along to the client and make, let him make, you know, he pay 8% more. 

Mike Ham [40:59 - 40:59]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [40:59 - 41:01]: Because now he's more apt to come back and work with me. 

Mike Ham [41:01 - 41:03]: Yeah. Because it's upfront, honest. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:03 - 41:14]: They know what's going on. You know, there's no trick, there's nothing. All right, so at the end of like when you're doing my tailgate, the only add on could be, do you want a 50 cent text? Right. To get your ticket? 

Mike Ham [41:14 - 41:14]: Yeah. Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:14 - 41:17]: That's the only add on. There's no tax, no nothing. Everything's built in. 

Mike Ham [41:17 - 41:27]: Yeah, I like that. The other thing too, with the tickets and I don't think we talked about it, but people can use savvy seats to ticket their events also. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:28 - 41:33]: So that's our event platform. So that's where it gets a little confusing. My savvy seats is different. 

Mike Ham [41:33 - 41:34]: Okay. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:34 - 41:35]: Than my savvy seats events. 

Mike Ham [41:35 - 41:36]: Got it. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:36 - 41:46]: So savvy seats events. Yes. It's much like an Eventbrite, you know, you know, ticket web or any one of those companies where you can go on and you could actually put your own event on there. 

Mike Ham [41:46 - 41:46]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:47 - 41:53]: And market it to your people. You have complete control. You know, you could build it into your site. 

Mike Ham [41:53 - 41:53]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:53 - 41:55]: You can make it your own site. 

Mike Ham [41:55 - 41:55]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:55 - 41:58]: You know, so there's a lot of different things. You become your own box office. 

Mike Ham [41:58 - 41:59]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [41:59 - 42:11]: And the benefit of that is, you know, maybe we're comparable to Eventbrite, maybe with two or three points less than Eventbrite. But the thing is, you put your own card in there, you put your own processor in there. 

Mike Ham [42:11 - 42:12]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:12 - 42:16]: So when you get paid, when somebody buys a ticket, you're getting the money. 

Mike Ham [42:16 - 42:17]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:17 - 42:20]: Right. It's not waiting. You don't have to, you know, you don't have to pay a vig. 

Mike Ham [42:20 - 42:21]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:21 - 42:22]: To get your money before. 

Mike Ham [42:22 - 42:22]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:22 - 42:33]: On weekly payouts, or you put your. Your credit card processor in there. You know, depending on what you use, it could be 24 hours, 48 hours after a sale. It's in your bank. Bank account. 

Mike Ham [42:33 - 42:33]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:33 - 42:35]: And I think that's helpful because that helps you fund. 

Mike Ham [42:35 - 42:36]: Sure. It gives. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:36 - 42:37]: Yeah. 

Mike Ham [42:37 - 42:38]: It gives you an idea and, you know, a budget. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:39 - 42:44]: Yeah. Now you could maybe use that money for marketing. Maybe using that somewhere else. Exactly. Marketing. 

Mike Ham [42:44 - 42:44]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [42:44 - 42:45]: So it helps you. 

Mike Ham [42:45 - 43:11]: That's cool. Yeah. I mean, like, listen, I'm excited about the fact that we partnered up because I do think it provides a lot of value, especially like, you know, we. I. Before you leave, I'm gonna have you show me how to do it. But the. The events piece of it, I think is another good thing for us just because, you know, I think for us, especially with the people that we're working with, like, like an indie creator or a band or whatever stuff like that is, is helpful for us to give them value. 

Tommy Gucciardo [43:11 - 43:17]: Right. And the same thing how I look at the ticket business. Right. Like, if somebody's calling me for. For a ticket for an event. 

Mike Ham [43:17 - 43:18]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [43:18 - 43:23]: How I help them get, you know, the right ticket. We put that same philosophy into the event platform. 

Mike Ham [43:23 - 43:24]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [43:24 - 43:33]: So if you need somebody to help you with marketing, we have Amber and my team there. Right. If you need help for sponsorship, you have Minnie and myself to help you with the sponsorship. 

Mike Ham [43:33 - 43:33]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [43:33 - 43:36]: So, you know, like, we're here to help. 

Mike Ham [43:36 - 43:36]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [43:36 - 43:39]: Right. Obviously we want to make money too, just like you. 

Mike Ham [43:39 - 43:39]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [43:39 - 43:56]: But we're here to help and put you in the right direction. Also helping you, like, Eventbrite's not gonna get on the phone with you and, like, walk you through how to set it up. And you'll have to do one of these, you know, these calls that last 10 minutes. You call me every day. I'll put you in touch with. With my back end. 

Mike Ham [43:56 - 43:56]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [43:56 - 44:12]: They'll help you. They'll help you create the event. They'll help you show how to do everything. They'll show you how to pull reports. Like, we're here, we're not. You know, we understand that it's. Life is confusing enough as it is, for sure. And I. Sometimes I think there's too much technology and it confuses you even more. 

Mike Ham [44:12 - 44:12]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [44:12 - 44:14]: You know, but you Know, we're here to help. 

Mike Ham [44:14 - 44:15]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [44:15 - 44:21]: We want you to be happy. We want the people that go to your events to be happy. In turn, they buy more tickets from you. 

Mike Ham [44:21 - 44:22]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [44:22 - 44:28]: In turn, you do more events with us, and in turn we're happy. Right. So, you know, it goes around. It's a full circle. 

Mike Ham [44:28 - 44:39]: Yeah. No, I love that. So people are listening to this and they're. They want to learn more. They want to, you know, know about savvy seats. They want to know about the tailgates. Where are some places you would send them to go do that? 

Tommy Gucciardo [44:39 - 44:48]: The easiest place to go is savvy seats dot com. Right. Right on the home screen. There's a tailgate zone in our menu. There's the event platform. So it'll take you to everywhere you want to go. 

Mike Ham [44:48 - 44:48]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [44:48 - 44:58]: But the best place to go with savvyseats.com you could search for any event that you want to go to. And you go from here, all our tailgates will be on there, and that's the easiest place to find us. 

Mike Ham [44:58 - 45:18]: Yeah. Thank you for coming through, making the trip out, sitting with us here and all that. I think this was phenomenal. So I appreciate it. Thank you. And a little insight because, I mean, like, you know, I hear stuff and I. I see my own stuff, but kind of getting like a little bit more under the hood on some of these things is cool. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:18 - 45:21]: Yeah, it's definitely. It's definitely an interesting business. 

Mike Ham [45:21 - 45:21]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:21 - 45:27]: It's in the limelight right now, you know, because like I said about the, you know, the all in pricing, some stuff they want to do. 

Mike Ham [45:27 - 45:28]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:28 - 45:31]: And, you know, we're not the bad guys. 

Mike Ham [45:31 - 45:32]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:32 - 45:40]: You know, we're not the. We're just trying to help. We're trying, like most ticket brokers are, you know, in the business to help people. 

Mike Ham [45:40 - 45:40]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:40 - 45:44]: You know, we're not here to hurt anybody. We're not here to manipulate markets. 

Mike Ham [45:44 - 45:44]: Sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:44 - 45:48]: And, you know, as much as ever, you know, there's. There's bad people, like in every business. 

Mike Ham [45:48 - 45:49]: Oh, for sure. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:49 - 45:52]: You know, there's bonds, bots that come in and, you know, they. They hurt us too. 

Mike Ham [45:52 - 45:52]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [45:52 - 46:07]: Because I can't give you a. A ticket, like, with all that Taylor Swift stuff. Like, I feel bad, like, you know, customer comes to me and says, listen, I want to take my four kids to see Taylor Swift, and they're all eight, but you're spending $6,000. 

Mike Ham [46:07 - 46:07]: Oh, my God. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:07 - 46:08]: You know, that hurts me. 

Mike Ham [46:08 - 46:09]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:09 - 46:11]: You know, I get it. I'm a parent. 

Mike Ham [46:11 - 46:11]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:11 - 46:23]: You know, I know and that's the other thing too. You got to look at the people. Like you know, when you, when your eight year old girl is harassing you. I'll never take another gift for the rest of my life. You know, those people are going to buy, you know. 

Mike Ham [46:23 - 46:23]: Right. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:24 - 46:27]: Just be quiet. Yeah. Here's your ticket. 

Mike Ham [46:27 - 46:27]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:27 - 46:29]: If it gets me two birthdays, I'm good. 

Mike Ham [46:29 - 46:29]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:30 - 46:33]: But it hurts, you know, like I don't want, I don't want anybody to spend that kind of money. 

Mike Ham [46:33 - 46:33]: Yeah. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:33 - 46:35]: You know, I don't. Right. 

Mike Ham [46:35 - 46:44]: Because I mean, you know, while I think it, you know, also goes back to like what your budget is to have that experience and all that too, but to give them the best experience. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:44 - 46:44]: Sure. 

Mike Ham [46:44 - 46:49]: The best experience leading up to that experience, I think is, Is the most important thing. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:49 - 46:52]: Yeah. When a parent's forking over eight, nine grand, there's no good experience. 

Mike Ham [46:52 - 46:53]: They must love that kid to go. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:53 - 46:55]: To a concert in the last three hours. 

Mike Ham [46:55 - 46:59]: Seriously, there's no pact with people. Oh, my God. 

Tommy Gucciardo [46:59 - 47:00]: I don't think that's a good experience. 

Mike Ham [47:00 - 47:02]: No, no, not. I mean, I don't. 

Tommy Gucciardo [47:02 - 47:03]: For the kids, it's happy. 

Mike Ham [47:03 - 47:36]: Yeah. The kids love it, you know, but they'll forget it eventually, so. All right, so savvyseats.com is the, is the website to go to. If you're going there to get tickets, make sure you use code R10 for $10 off every time you go and buy, which is amazing. Also you can check out some of our other hosts have their own codes, which you can, you could see and use and all that. We would appreciate it. So, Tommy, thank you again for coming through. And this has been the Green RSA podcast, powered by the New Jersey Lottery. I'm Mike Ham. We were here with Tommy Gucciardo today from Savage Seats. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time. 

Tommy Gucciardo [47:36 - 47:47]: All right, thanks for having me. Do you want to. You do all my baby, do you. All right. 

Mike Ham [47:48 - 47:52]: Oh, tell me before you go all. 

Tommy Gucciardo [47:52 - 48:21]: The way do you all. Sam.