Event Recap: Brian Friedman ('95)

On Friday, September 27th, the Sports Business Society was pleased to present its first in-person speaker of the year, Brian Friedman (’95). A graduate from CALS, Friedman is currently in his fourth year as the Chief Financial Officer for the New York Jets.

On his current role...

Friedman kicked off the discussion describing what responsibilities came with his position, and what tasks he was expected to complete on a daily basis. In his role, he told listeners, he oversees everything financial within the Jets organization, requiring him to know “a little about a lot.” He put his own twist on a popular phrase, describing that his job requires him to be "the jack of all trades, master of all trades." Learning about all fields is an essential aspect of his job, equipping him with the knowlege challenge experts and monitor investments put forth by the team in all areas. For that reason, there is no standard day for him--but he was not one to complain. "The variety of tasks," he explained, "keeps things interesting."

On his uncommon transition...

Before joining the Jets, Friedman was the CFO of Blissworld, LLC, a spa and retail product company. When asked about his career path, he told the audience of what he called “the common transition from women’s skin care to football.” While he may have gotten laughs, he viewed the transition as logical. He never fully understood the skin care products he was selling, but his job wasn’t to convince women to buy the product--that’s not in the CFO’s job description. For the same reason, he later pointed out, Jets owner Woody Johnson didn’t care nor ask whether or not Friedman was an avid Jets fan, but instead if he could get the job done.

Friedman stressed that he values every step in his path toward being where he is today. When giving advice to the students later in the discussion, he explained that he felt “the days of taking one job and staying there for life are over.” He thinks that if an individual only works at one place for his/her entire life, that individual will not be able to see other ways of getting things done. The knowledge received in early jobs, he continued, is even more crucial than compensation. Learning curves should be steep, and if they begin to level off, he advises for an individual to do something about it to make it steep again. He doesn’t believe he would be where he is today without his earlier positions and the knowledge, skills, and abilities he attained through them.

On hosting Super Bowl XLVIII...

With the Super Bowl coming to New York, Friedman was asked numerous questions concerning his feelings and approach going into the mega-event. While excited, Friedman illustrated the extreme difficulty behind the preparation. He constantly has to go through every conceivable thing that can happen during the game, but as he told the crowd, you never really can go through every possible situation.

He was in New Orleans for last years Super Bowl, sitting in the same box as the event planners and big names responsible for the game that year. The lights went out during the 3rd quarter, postponing the game for 34 minutes, causing a frantic scene in the box he was sitting in, and perhaps making him second-guess the pleasantries behind hosting the Super Bowl.

In any case, he explained, he is happy to bring such an amazing event to New York--or, technically, New Jersey. "On Sundays, Metlife Stadium is already the fifth largest city in New Jersey," he said half-serious, we can only imagine what it will be like when that Sunday in February brings the largest annual sports event to the bright lights in the Meadowlands.

His advice to students...

When asked to give advice to students who may want to pursue the same career that Friedman did, he told the crowd to go out and learn. He pointed towards the learning curve alluded to earlier and told the room to understand a skill, and go for things--don’t stay on the sidelines. The best business advice that he claimed he’s ever gotten to this day is that it’s “better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission." Make mistakes, learn from them, and don’t stop learning. Friedman clearly remembers what it was like to be in the students’ shoes, and seemed passionate and sincere while sharing this advice.

As always, the Cornell Sports Business Society extends its thanks to alumni like Brian Friedman who take time to share their experiences with our members. The information and insight people like Friedman provide to our group is unique and indispensable, and we hope that this is the first of many great events with him.

Event Preview: Three Questions With Brian Friedman ('95)

On Friday, September 27, the Cornell Sports Business Society is pleased to be hosting Brian Friedman ('95).  Friedman is currently in his fourth year as the Chief Financial Officer for the New York Jets.

Friedman is responsible for all financial planning and daily accounting operations for the team, financial oversight of the team's interest in MetLife Stadium and all internal and external reporting to the NFL and various other agencies. Additionally, he oversees information technology and practice facility operations.

Prior to joining the Jets, Friedman was the chief financial officer of Blissworld, LLC, the owner and operation of Bliss spas and seller of a full line of retail skin care products. At Bliss, he was responsible for all financial operations.

Before joining Bliss, he was the senior director of finance for the Columbia House Company and prior to that held several finance roles of increasing responsibility at Polo Ralph Lauren. Friedman began his career at Price Waterhouse and is a certified public accountant.

Friedman graduated from CALS, majoring in AEM, and has an MBA from Columbia University.

 In preparation for our event with Brian, we conducted a 3Q interview that would help preview the content that will be covered on Tuesday.


(1) What do you find to be the most fulfilling part of your job in your fourth season as the Jets' Chief Financial Officer?

In a word – Sunday. The most fulfilling part of my job is being part of an organization that millions of people are so passionate about. Seeing all the work show up on Sunday’s is a great feeling. Whether it is fan experience at the game or advertisements during the post-game show, being in a role that touches every part of the business, when that business is football, is just fantastic.

(2) What is it like to be involved with the planning of the first ever cold weather Super Bowl?

It is a tremendous experience to see how an event of this magnitude takes shape. The number of people involved with planning and executing a Super Bowl is unbelievable. The necessity to imagine every unimaginable scenario and plan for it is something to witness. When indoors your biggest issue is to make sure the lights stay on, with our stadium the list of potential issues is endless.  

(3) Friday will be your first-ever event with the Cornell Sports Business Society. What are some of your objectives in engaging Cornell students who may be interested in careers in sports and/or finance?

My goal is simple – to try and leverage my experience to help current students achieve their career goals. I am very fortunate that I get to work in a job that I have a passion for in an industry that I have always been interested in. My experiences at Cornell had a huge impact on my life and gave me a foundation to achieve many things throughout my career.

BONUS:  What do you miss most about your days at Cornell?

I miss the freedom, the camaraderie, spending every day with lifelong friends who are now spread all across the country. During my summer job before my senior year, my boss told me to enjoy Cornell because life is like one giant final exam. Truer words were never said – enjoy the time here.

Brian will be speaking to the Cornell Sports Business Society in person on Friday, September 27th. Please join us in Ives 105 at 4:30. For more information, check out the event on Facebook.

 We hope you can make it!

Prospective Point: From Superstitious to Super Bowl

All made possible by a jersey, a dream, and a fan

By: David Abada

There is a difference between being superstitious and being sports superstitious. I do not believe in any of those wacky superstitions that you can while reading Huckleberry Finn. But I do believe that, in sports, I directly influence the success of my team.

For most crazed sports fans like myself, it’s hard not to be superstitious at all times. However, I save the superstitions for important games. We're not talking about a Red-Sox Yankees game in the middle of July or a Giants-Cowboys game in mid-November, but games that directly correspond to whether or not my team makes the playoffs or stays in the playoffs. If the Giants have three games left in the season, and they need to win all three, that’s when I begin my journey.

I have an insanely large list of factors that I believe influence the flow of the game. To be (somewhat) exact, I have at least 30 I can think of such as: what I wear, where and how I sit, whether I should move at all during the game, what I eat, how my hair is, what songs I have listened to that day, what friends I have texted or emailed, and the list goes on and on.

My superstitions start in small doses, and as the tasks get greater, more factors, in my opinion, have a larger affect on the game. During the NFL's Divisional Round, I will move around in my bed during the game. But when it comes to the NFC Championship, I won’t move an inch. The Giants need my attentiveness at all times.

You may think I’m crazy, but hey, I love sports. Now I know I’ve been talking a lot about what my superstitions are, but I actually have some life applications where, I think, my superstitions, or dedication, have paid off.

Back in 2007, when my Giants made their first run, I wore my Plaxico (Burress) jersey and black Adidas pants with white stripes (and red Haynes boxers, but I won't go into detail about that). With that jersey on, sitting on the couch next to my dad, the Giants won their game against the Buccaneers and their game against the Cowboys. I was feeling great. I had my spot, I had my outfit, and I had two wins to go before I was a Super Bowl champ (I like to refer to myself as a member of the team, so what?). But then I heard the news: I had a bar mitzvah on the night of the NFC Championship game, and I could not get out of it. Now if the circumstances require it, I do make amends to my superstitions. So I wore my suit and tie, but I also had that jersey and pants in my pants pockets bundled up. The Giants won, and the Super Bowl was coming up. I decided to wear just my Plaxico outfit for the Super Bowl, and when that didn’t work out well I put my suit on over the outfit during halftime. The Giants made a key stop in the 3rd quarter while I sat in a reclining position rubbing my stomach, so I proceeded to remain in place for the duration of the game, and sure enough, WE WON.

I thought that was the end of my superstition troubles, but I learned the following year that these superstitions change yearly, and that they only apply to one team.

Towards the end of the season, when the Giants needed wins to make the playoffs, that superstitious feeling ran through the air of my household.

The scene:

It’s late in the season, and sure enough, my Giants are playing poorly. I’m sitting with my dad and my little brother, and my mom is doing whatever she does in her room. The game is so painful to watch, so I decide we need a little change in the house. I go upstairs and watch in my room, and to my surprise, the G-men prevailed. That’s when I knew where everyone would be stationed the rest of the run. I even began to accumulate more and more of my customs and by the first week of playoffs, I knew the outfit I would wear for the run: an Old Navy Giants long sleeve tee shirt and gray Nike sweatpants. My dad even busts out his retro number 56 LT jersey (the one and only LT) back from when he was a kid for the NFC Championship. He said the Giants never lost big games when he wore the jersey, so he had to use it at certain times.

The Giants win and we are off to the Super Bowl to face Tom Brady again. A bittersweet, but in retrospect, totally shocking thing happened the Thursday of Super Bowl weekend. My dad told me that I was going to the Super Bowl in Indy with my cousins and two siblings. You might think I am a crazy, and that’s all fair game because who would not want to go to a Super Bowl right?

Wrong.

I was so nervous that I would taint the Giants fortune by going to the Super Bowl that I nearly backed out had it not been for the Bar Mitzvah reminder: certain circumstances require amendments. My family forced me to wear a Giants jersey to the game, and it was the Super Bowl so I agreed (of course I wore my Old Navy/Nike combo underneath). Nonetheless, it was hard for me to cope with the fact that I would not be in the safety of my home in my room watching by myself. (The Giants always won under these circumstances, by the way.) The jersey was a big dilemma, too. Would it ruin the luck of my other outfit even if I switched back to it? Should I not wear the jersey and look like an embarrassment of a Giants fan who refuses to wear a jersey to THE SUPER BOWL?

You all know how the story ends, but I think I played my part in helping the Giants get there. I wore my jersey, and going into the second half, I thought it was going to be easy. But Brady’s quick score to start the second half changed things pretty quickly. I began to wonder if I should take the jersey off. Late in the third quarter, I DID take it off because the Giants had gotten nowhere, and almost unbelievably, they knocked home a field goal. In terms of my outfit, the rest is history. I wore my original playoff run outfit and they won big, hooray!

The seating arrangement was a different story. I did not get up once during the game, not even during the half time show. I sat with my legs crossed and my arms folded, not moving an inch until the clock struck zero and the confetti was flying (I have some confetti in my room now).

A tough decision for sure, but the Giants won, and I really feel accomplished. This may sound cliche, but I truly believe I put the team on my back. A luxury box, a Super Bowl ticket, all of that means nothing to me if my team does not win. Call my crazy, call me superstitious, call me whatever you want, I love my Giants, and I love all of my sports teams, so I am willing to put behind selfish desires to see them win. You can say I’m crazy, but I contend that I am a dedicated, true, die-hard fan.

Would you go the distance for your team?

I sure as heck know that I would.

David Abada is a prospective Class of 2016 Cornellian. His sister, Dani Abada, is an Assistant Sports Editor for the Cornell Daily Sun.

Prospective Point will run periodically through the semester. Any prospective Cornellian who is interested in writing, please email Geoff at gjr52@cornell.edu