Today we’d like to introduce you to Ko Yamamoto.
Ko, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The industry has very large barriers to entry, including requiring sizeable funds to make deposits on speculated events. Eg., you have to deposit on something that may not happen (such as a certain team making it to a championship game).
Also, successful programs are so vital to our clients that it is almost impossible to convince an entity of your ability to perform without a solid track record. There is no second chance when an event is once-in-a-lifetime.
Our company had to take large risks will all the captial we could raise on specific events that absolutely had to happen or everything would be lost on the first go-round.
Slowly, we built our reputation through being so customer-focused, that a net-loss with satisfied clients on a program would be considered a solid victory from every angle. We feel that cutting our teeth in that atmosphere and sticking with that game plan over the last two decades has allowed us to achieve our goals.
We now work with NFL teams, college football teams, Alumni Associations, celebrities and Fortune 500 companies across the nation.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
A small business over time, almost always will encounter struggles, of course.
In our niche industry, however, we are constantly challenged by the parameters of our clients’ programs. That is actually what the customer is expecting from our company, in a sense.
Whether it is ensuring 3,000 tour participants are flown on private charters from one city to another for a Rose Bowl during the busiest flight dates their cities have seen in years to finding a way to have Fortune 500 VIPs get through immigration screening into the USA so that they can catch a police motorcade to an Eagles concert put on just for 90 people. It is the intensity of the job and our ability to achieve success under that constant pressure that is both the struggle and the power of our company.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
EB Sports is one of the nation’s leading sports tour operator and destination management company, targeting large group markets including corporate, team and fan clientele. Utilizing the creative talent and experience of our event specialists, EB Sports is committed to producing the highest quality tour packages and achieving the greatest customer satisfaction.
Composed of an experienced and dedicated group of event specialists, EB Sports utilizes its industry knowledge in travel and destination management to offer the most complete, value-packed tour packages possible, stunningly luxurious, one-of-a-kind experiences and customized creations tailored to specifications of the most exacting clients. The EB Sports production team has created large-group tour packages for private and corporate clientele to a wide variety of special event destinations across the nation and around the world. Our commitment to meeting and exceeding the needs of each individual client virtually guarantees customer satisfaction and an amazing participant experience.
We are most proud of the fact that we started over 20 years ago in an incredibly difficult industry to not only break into but also in which to survive. We are still growing and thriving and looking forward to our next adventures!
We are different specifically because we have put complete emphasis on end-customer satisfaction. This seems like it is a very common goal, however, with the nature of our business, it would be very easy to let quality or certain components of a program slip. Especially from a financial sense. That never enters our minds and I have to believe that’s why we have seen so many competitors disappear (some even disappear, reappear and then disappear again!) while we just finished renovating our offices downtown and are looking forward to hosting clients during the next few years when the College National Championship and the Super Bowl are in Atlanta!
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was very academic, I hate to admit. But, since I was in Canada, I was skating and playing hockey too – mandatory! When I got to college, I was very into special events as an extracurricular activity. I soon learned I was very good at it. To my knowledge, I ran the largest bus trip to an away football game in school history – 5,000 people in 96 school buses to the team’s season opener – making it a “home away from home game”. P.S. – We won!
Contact Info:
- Address: 342 Marietta Street NW, Atlanta, GA
- Website: www.ebsports.com
- Phone: 678-500-1760
- Email: info@ebsportstours.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ebsportstours
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ebsportstours
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