MONROE - Joe Simler, a 2004 Monroe High School graduate, didn't need Donald Trump's blessing as the next apprentice to land a job with his favorite football team - the Dallas Cowboys.
"I get a lot of crap for that," Simler said of his allegiance to the Cowboys. "It's one of my flaws I guess."
When the Dallas Cowboys' new $1.1 billion stadium in Arlington, Tex. opens in 2009, it will have a Cheesemaker's touch. Simler, who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.B.A. degree in marketing, is charged with the task of selling tickets for the new stadium starting June 3.
"First of all, I felt relieved knowing I had something," Simler said. "It will be a great way to start my career. I wouldn't want it any other way coming out of college."
After applying for graduate school at Ohio University in sports administration, Simler read a story online about the opportunity with the Cowboys. Simler met Chad Estis, the Cowboys vice president of sales and marketing in March and he was informed later that month that he had the job.
According to the Cowboys' Web site, the new retractable-roof stadium will seat 80,000 and is expandable up to 100,000 for major events. The stadium design incorporates two open end zones with glass retractable doors measuring 120-feet high and 180-feet wide. The plazas outside these doors, one in each end zone - along with the three party decks in each end zone - create over 420,000 square-feet of entertainment space, or about 10 acres.
The season ticket prices for the 50,000 reserved seats in the new stadium range from 59 to $125 per game including two preseason games. Most reserved seats will require seat options, which range from 2,000 to $5,000 and will give fans the right to buy the same seats for 30 years.
Club seats at the new stadium will be $340 per game and will require seat options ranging from 16,000 to $150,000.
Cowboys fans are required to shell out thousands of dollars for season tickets. The team has no plans to sell single game tickets.
Simler said it's too bad single-game tickets may not be sold.
"The biggest challenge will be dealing with the prices for the club seats," he said.
There are other ways to purchase single-game tickets like e-Bay, Simler said.
Simler worked with Guest Services in the UW-Athletic Department the last four years. As a senior at UW-Madison, he completed an internship at Badger Sports Properties, a company which provides corporate sales, sponsorships and signage for the Badgers.
Over the last three summers, Simler has garnered recognition as an award-winning door-to-door student salesperson for the Southwestern Company, a Nashville, Tenn.-based educational reference book company. For three straight summers, Simler earned the company's Gold Seal Award for working 80-plus hours a week during the summer.
Simler will make one-on-one sales presentations to clients for suites, club seats and season tickets.
"When the new stadium opens, there will be a lot of opportunities," he said. "I just want to solidify a full-time position somewhere on a sports team."
One day Simler envisions a career in corporate sales.
"I just know I love sales," Simler said.
"I get a lot of crap for that," Simler said of his allegiance to the Cowboys. "It's one of my flaws I guess."
When the Dallas Cowboys' new $1.1 billion stadium in Arlington, Tex. opens in 2009, it will have a Cheesemaker's touch. Simler, who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.B.A. degree in marketing, is charged with the task of selling tickets for the new stadium starting June 3.
"First of all, I felt relieved knowing I had something," Simler said. "It will be a great way to start my career. I wouldn't want it any other way coming out of college."
After applying for graduate school at Ohio University in sports administration, Simler read a story online about the opportunity with the Cowboys. Simler met Chad Estis, the Cowboys vice president of sales and marketing in March and he was informed later that month that he had the job.
According to the Cowboys' Web site, the new retractable-roof stadium will seat 80,000 and is expandable up to 100,000 for major events. The stadium design incorporates two open end zones with glass retractable doors measuring 120-feet high and 180-feet wide. The plazas outside these doors, one in each end zone - along with the three party decks in each end zone - create over 420,000 square-feet of entertainment space, or about 10 acres.
The season ticket prices for the 50,000 reserved seats in the new stadium range from 59 to $125 per game including two preseason games. Most reserved seats will require seat options, which range from 2,000 to $5,000 and will give fans the right to buy the same seats for 30 years.
Club seats at the new stadium will be $340 per game and will require seat options ranging from 16,000 to $150,000.
Cowboys fans are required to shell out thousands of dollars for season tickets. The team has no plans to sell single game tickets.
Simler said it's too bad single-game tickets may not be sold.
"The biggest challenge will be dealing with the prices for the club seats," he said.
There are other ways to purchase single-game tickets like e-Bay, Simler said.
Simler worked with Guest Services in the UW-Athletic Department the last four years. As a senior at UW-Madison, he completed an internship at Badger Sports Properties, a company which provides corporate sales, sponsorships and signage for the Badgers.
Over the last three summers, Simler has garnered recognition as an award-winning door-to-door student salesperson for the Southwestern Company, a Nashville, Tenn.-based educational reference book company. For three straight summers, Simler earned the company's Gold Seal Award for working 80-plus hours a week during the summer.
Simler will make one-on-one sales presentations to clients for suites, club seats and season tickets.
"When the new stadium opens, there will be a lot of opportunities," he said. "I just want to solidify a full-time position somewhere on a sports team."
One day Simler envisions a career in corporate sales.
"I just know I love sales," Simler said.
