Jason Masherah
Director of Sports Brands – Upper Deck
We had the awesome opportunity to have Jason Masherah speak to our class. Jason is the Director of Sports Brands at Upper Deck, which includes MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLS. If you are unfamiliar with Upper Deck, they began as a domestic trading card company in 1989, and have evolved into a worldwide Sports and Entertainment giant. They have exclusive autograph memorabilia deals with the biggest names in sports, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, and Derek Jeter, among others. When you think trading cards or autographed memorabilia, you think Upper Deck. They are based locally in Carlsbad, California.
Jason began by detailing his journey from an undergrad student at Michigan State, to an MBA student at Indiana University, to his current employment with Upper Deck. He explained to the class the steps he took getting into the position he is now, and gave us some great tips on how we can position ourselves for success in the sports industry.
Jason then gave us some background on what he does in his position at Upper Deck. He explained to us an interesting case study he was presented with during the beginning of his employment, which was to resuscitate a product, Fleer, which was just purchased by Upper Deck. Fleer had just gone through bankruptcy and had a negative stigma amongst the collecting population. The steps he took to revitalize the product resulted in it being the highest revenue producer for Upper Deck. Personally, as a collector, the 20th anniversary set Upper Deck produced through the Fleer brand was incredibly innovative, and was really well received by the collectors at large.
A huge thanks goes out to Jason from the SMBA ’10 class for taking the time to speak with us and giving us great tips for pursuing our future careers in the sports industry!
Sam Batarseh, SMBA ‘10
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