Stickhandling a rise from intern to the Vancouver Canucks’ Director of Marketing

There are 18,910 seats in Vancouver’s Rogers Arena and Greg Sargent has examined every single one. In his early days as an intern with Canucks Sports and Entertainment, Sargent was tasked with double checking seat name plates across the entire stadium. The “character building work,” as he describes it, was made easier only because he was so passionate about sports, his hometown hockey team, and the brand.

Sargent stayed with Canucks Sports and Entertainment for eight and a half years, eventually taking the helm as Director of Marketing. In that multi-oriented role, Sargent led marketing efforts for four franchises: the Vancouver Canucks, the Vancouver Warriors, the Vancouver Titans, and the Seattle Surge. He was also responsible for promoting all concerts and events held at Rogers Arena. 

As he was working his way up and taking on the complicated marketing portfolio, Sargent felt compelled to pursue more education, but he also wanted to maintain his career momentum. The UBC Part-Time MBA (now known as the UBC Professional MBA) meant he could do both. 

Holding his own in the boardroom 

“I eventually progressed into meetings at work where I didn’t feel like I had the foundational understanding that I needed to excel,” recalls Sargent. “When our CFO would talk about pay back periods on our capital investments, or our revenue executives shared their annual sales plan, I felt underequipped. I had never done any of that before.”

Sargent set out to find a graduate program that would help him thrive in fast-paced, corporate settings. As an undergraduate student at UBC, he majored in English Literature and minored in Commerce. The taste of business education years earlier had piqued his interest.

“An MBA seemed like the perfect way to get foundational learning in all of the areas that a business leader would need, whether that’s human resources, accounting, or corporate finance.” 

Choosing the right program 

When he weighed the benefits of full-time versus part-time studies, Sargent says two considerations swayed the decision. The first was financial. He had personal goals related to one day starting a family and forgoing a salary during his studies didn’t seem to make sense. 

He also didn’t want to pause his career progress. “The Canucks was such a unique opportunity and I was just starting to build some exciting career momentum. I knew that if I took a year or more off, it would be really hard to get back into the same position.”

Lessons that have set him ahead  

Sargent graduated from UBC Sauder in spring 2018, and he was promoted to the director level just a few months later. Five years on, when asked what lesson he draws on daily, his answer is definitive: strategic planning frameworks. 

“The ability to take a business need or problem and craft a strategy within a framework that is not only well directed but also easy to communicate and rally others behind – it’s invaluable. I use strategic planning frameworks almost every day and have developed reporting and operational models off of those frameworks that have set me ahead in my career.”

The best part of marketing: sending ideas into the wild 

Sargent believes that to be a successful marketer in today’s dynamic digital landscape you have to operate at the intersection of technology, data, and creativity. 

“What I love about marketing is that you get to test and learn so quickly,” he says. “It’s cool to send new ideas into the wild, and use technology to track how they perform and where you can improve for the future.” 

As someone who progressed from intern to director of marketing in the competitive world of professional sports, Sargent attributes his career development to his dedication to self-learning.

“I’m a strong believer that having the ability to self-teach is one of the most powerful skills you can develop,” says Sargent. “Given how fast things move today, you’re going to have moments where you don’t have the knowledge or experience that you need, so having the ability to take that away and brush up your skills on your own is a massive difference maker.”

Embracing change when opportunity calls 

After having spent nearly a decade at Canucks Sports and Entertainment, other opportunities came calling. In 2022, Sargent joined Calgary-based software company StellarAlgo as Senior Vice President, Partnership Solutions.

The company currently helps over 130 of the world’s leading sports and live entertainment teams, leagues, and sponsors better understand, grow, and action their customer data. In January of this year, the NBA signed a multi-year partnership with StellarAlgo to bring their platform to all 30 NBA franchises.

Now, the company has eyes to bring their technologies to major brand sponsors. Sargent was brought on to help start up a new growth division that supports sports teams and brands in executing data-driven sponsorships. 

“Today, when the CFO of Toyota comes and asks ‘Hey, what did this partnership drive?’, there’s a lot of shoulder shrugs in the boardroom. Our platform, StellarActivate, helps show them exactly what impact their sponsorship investment is making.”  

Sargent’s latest role is a departure from the more traditional sports marketing that defined the early years of his career. As he leans in to the next chapter, he encourages new graduates to keep an open mind when it comes to navigating their professional lives. 

“There’s a lot of pressure on young people to feel like you have it all figured out,” says Sargent. “You’re going to change careers a lot, you’re going to test and learn. You’re going to try things and move around. Having a crystal-clear path of where you’ll be in ten years is no longer realistic. Your career is going to change lots – embrace it and all the opportunities that come your way.”