Coming into sports through the “side door” of real estate

At Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, Traub is vice president of business analytics, where he is responsible for leading data strategy and other key initiatives across the organization, namely in situations when analytics can be used to identify growth opportunities and enable solutions. Traub and his team also partner with IS+E’s ticket sales division to help them with pricing, inventory management, and revenue maximization, and to develop strategies for sponsorships, parking, and concessions.

“We plug into all key areas of our business,” Traub says. “We’re similar to internal consultants in a way.”

“We plug into all key areas of our business,” Traub says. “We’re similar to internal consultants in a way.”

Even though it’s been over a decade since Taylor Traub (MS SM ‘11) graduated from the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology with a master’s degree in sport management, he still keeps in touch with several of his classmates, texting them every week.
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By: Joanna Marsh
Source: School of Kinesiology
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It is, undeniably, a cool job. But it took Traub eight years after graduating from U-M to find his way to IS+E as he worked in various real estate jobs, keeping the lessons he’d learned in SM at the forefront and waiting for an opportunity to land a job in the sports industry.
“U-M’s classes really shaped how I think about problems,” he says. “I feel very well equipped… like there isn’t anything that could get thrown at me that I’m not armed to figure out. To me, that is very, very empowering.”
That’s because the lessons he took from the school have stayed with him. The relationships that he formed on campus and the opportunity to develop analytical skills were “the most profound experiences” in Ann Arbor, says Traub, who now works for Ilitch Sports + Entertainment (IS+E), which owns the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Red Wings.

Taylor Traub