Jeremy Benjamin, Manager Of Game Presentation For The Vancouver Whitecaps FC On His Unique Journey In The Sport Industry

1Tell us about your role as the Manager of Event and Game Presentation for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. What does a typical day look like for you?

Within my role, and through collaboration with my amazing team, we manage all in-stadium fan-facing, promotional and technical content including videoboard and LED content, audio, concourse visuals, and pyrotechnics, from conception through to planning and execution.

At the same time, we produce and direct match-day stadium scripts and run of show to drive forward the best sporting atmosphere we can provide for our fans and supporters.

In essence, I think of us as storytellers that want to provide memories for everyone that comes through our stadium every game while providing revenue generating opportunities and tying in larger brand objectives for the club.

Every day presents its different challenges so I would say that there is never a “typical” day.

Whether it is figuring out how best to activate at different community and theme nights, building scripts, looking at how we can take something to the next level, drive revenue, or getting assets ready for the stadium, each day is different and exciting.

That is what makes this job unique!

2Take me through your journey leading up to your current role with the Whitecaps. What were some important moments and lessons you learned from the countless roles you've held? Any specific people you want to highlight that helped with your career development and overall comfort with your current managing game day events and presentation?

I always knew I wanted to work in sports, but it was kind of a pipe dream.

After university, I was convinced I was going to go into law school because my degree (Major - International Relations), lined up perfectly for it. I was fortunate enough to travel right after graduating and it inspired me to come back and at least try to work in sports.

Whatever the job was. I was lucky to get my foot in the door four years ago and haven’t looked back.

Through my journey, I learned that you can’t do anything in your professional life alone. Whether that is through my support system like my family and friends, or my colleagues and mentors that inspire me and drive me forward daily, it is something I am beyond grateful for.

I owe the position I am in now to a lot of amazing leaders that I have been lucky enough to work with from day one.

Each person I have worked under has had different unique approaches that I look to incorporate into my leadership style. I really think you are a by-product of those that have come before you and I am lucky to say I have worked with some of the best.

Today, I am fortunate to work under a mentor and boss who is trusting, supportive, listens, and I know always has my best intentions at heart. A prime example of how I to try to lead today and how I aspire to be like in the future.

3You started in grassroots and community driven marketing, where you were involved in lots of hands-on fan engagement and events. How important was that experience for you now that you manage game day events and presentation? How important is it for you to learn and understand more about the Whitecaps fanbase and community?

As I mentioned, when I first started with the organization, I was just trying to get my foot in the door. I started the week after coming home from travelling.

In my first role as Coordinator, Grassroots Marketing the objective was to get out into the community at different events, look to generate quality leads, and to educate people on our brand. As a lifelong fan myself, it was easy for me to be excited about sharing how fun it was to be a part of the ‘Caps community.

Being on the ground was very important for my career development as I was able to have firsthand conversations of what fans wanted to see when they came to games. I learned what they liked and didn’t like.

Little did I know then, but it helped provide a base for when I moved over into Game Presentation. I learned that Vancouver fans are passionate and that matches were a place where everyone felt welcomed.

Today, I carry that over and try to create as inclusive a space for all our fans to enjoy. To this day, I still learn from our fanbase and do my best to integrate our supporters and different communities for our theme and community nights. Our club is really nothing without our fans so learning and understanding more about them is essential to driving attendance and excitement.

4How difficult was it dealing with Covid the last few seasons? Obviously at first, sports were effectively shut down, but when MLS resumed play there was months of empty attendance. As someone who works in game presentation and gameday events, this must have been an awkward dynamic. Can you take us through some of the challenges and unique strategies you and your team employed (including hosting home games in other teams stadiums)?

During Covid, we played home matches out of three different stadiums, in three different cities. From MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, to Portland and finally Salt Lake, we had a fair share of challenges looking to integrate our show into different stadiums. Completely empty stadiums for the most part at that.

Each stadium along the way, we pivoted to provide premium advertising space and opportunities for our partners, delivered excitement and energy for our players and staff, and integrated a show that would be impactful for both audio and visual on broadcast.

Every stadium provided its different set of challenges as they were all different, with different capabilities, but we rolled with the punches like we always do.

As a team, we did our best to always be adaptable and open to new ideas. That was probably one of the best strategies and approaches we took in a very difficult situation.