2013 Dynamic Dozen Top Local Sales & Marketing Executive: Dan Reiter

Dan Reiter was president of the St. Louis Cardinals – for one day.

Winner of a FoxSports Midwest super fan contest, Reiter spent the day at Busch Stadium as head of the $716 million organization, where he got the major league treatment touring the grounds, changing the scoreboard and taking meetings.

“I was born a Cardinals fan,” he says, recalling the win. “It was that day I knew I had to work for an organization as classy as the Cardinals.”

A southwest Missouri native, Reiter got his bachelor’s in business administration with a marketing emphasis from the University of Missouri, and spent time in the construction industry before joining the newly minted Double-A affiliate.

“It was because of that day at Busch that I came home and applied to work with the Springfield Cardinals,” Reiter says. “They were hiring account executives then and even though I never wanted to be in sales, I thought I would give it a go and as they say, the rest is history.”

Starting out his rookie year as an account executive for the Texas League team in 2004, Reiter worked his way through the department as a senior account executive, cooperate sales manager and manager of cooperate partnerships until hitting the home run just six years later to land his current position as director of sales and marketing in 2010.

Responsible for training, managing, tracking and leading a staff of eight full-time sales representatives, Reiter is the top ticket salesperson in team history and has created and instituted numerous Springfield Cardinal fan favorites such as community nights, the birthday program, educational days, the Promo Club and the Cardinals Youth Initiative.

“The fans are the big motivator for me,” Reiter says of his team’s sales goals. “Seeing the fans laugh and smile is what it’s all about. Those are memories being made.”

Attendance at Hammons Field increased to 352,674 fans under Reiter’s watch in 2012, up from 337,166 the prior year, but Reiter said he is most proud of the Charity Jersey program, which has almost doubled the previous years total, raising $49,251 for local charities in 2012.

“Charity jerseys were one of the first things I wanted to do and the fans have really responded to it,” Reiter says, attributing his success to the power of relationships. “I always tell the staff we are not networking, we are building lasting relationships with every fan we meet.”

Reiter also created the Cardinals Youth Initiative, a partnership with the Springfield-based Hamels Foundation, which has a dual mission to provide support for quality education in inner-city schools in the U.S. and establish a school in Malawi, Africa.

“The new program is meant to give even more children in the Ozarks the ability to attend Cardinals games, as well as promote all of the positive things the Hamels Foundation does in the community,” Reiter says.

Reiter is active in the community at large as a member of the Sertoma Club of Springfield and the Rotaract Club. Reiter also volunteers his time for the American Heart Association, as emcee for the Price Cutter Charity Championship and was a member of the Children’s Miracle Network leadership board.[[In-content Ad]]