Summer Spotlight: Benjamin Trexler '25

By: Robert Correas-Rivera ’24, student correspondent

Ben Trexler ’25 is a Ticket Sales and Sponsorship intern for the Reading Royals, a Philadelphia Flyers ECHL affiliate team in Reading, Pennsylvania. The ECHL is the Premier "AA" Hockey League with 28 teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces and enters its 35th season in 2022-23. Trexler is a part of the University's Royal Experience Internship Program. 

Here, he answers questions about his experience.

Describe a typical day at work.  

"I arrive at Santander Arena around 8:45 a.m. every day. From here, all the interns and supervisors meet in the marketing department office to discuss what we want to accomplish that day. Some examples of what we discuss during this time include choosing what our focus sales calls will be for that day, either season tickets or group outings. We also discuss who we want to call or whether we will spend most of the day researching and brainstorming marketing or sponsorship ideas. 

After this, the interns go to our own office room, spread out and make sales calls to whomever we were assigned to that day. We follow a point system when making calls and aim to reach 35 points daily. Each sales call is one point, an email sent is .5, and a sale is 10. Every day I do my best to have meaningful conversations with different people and try to get them and their company out to a Royals game. 

On Thursdays, the Royals marketing department holds their weekly meeting where the interns can sit in and learn how marketing decisions are made. I find this very interesting and learn a lot about how final decisions are made for professional sports teams."   

What is the time frame for your internship?  

"My internship started on May 22 and will end on August 10."  

What are some skills you have learned?  

"So far at this internship, I believe I have gotten noticeably better at speaking with people and holding meaningful conversations with them. I feel this skill will be very useful in many aspects of my future. Whether it’s at a job interview, speaking with clients or collaborating with coworkers, communication is a key aspect of any job and I believe this internship has prepared me for this.  

Another skill I have improved on so far at this internship is my sales pitch. As my supervisor often says, 'You have to sell the sizzle.' I feel like my confidence and sentence flow when trying to convince each potential customer to come to a Royals game has improved greatly. This is another skill that can come in handy in my future, especially if I end up pursuing a sales job."

What do you enjoy most about your job?  

"I most enjoy the people I work with. I started a week later than every other intern, so I wasn’t sure how well I would fit in with everybody. After just the first day there I felt like I belonged. It has been a pleasure working with these guys so far and I hope to keep in contact with them even when the internship is over."  

What were your expectations going into the job? Does it match the reality?  

"Coming into the internship, I kind of just expected to be in an office all day making a whole bunch of calls to households to try to convince them to come to a Royals hockey game. After working with the Royals for a month now, I can confirm it is not nearly as repetitive as I thought it’d be. Every hour or two, our supervisor comes in to talk about the calls we’ve made that day and answers any questions we have. This helps break up the day and prevents each day from being call after call. 

We also do a lot more than just making calls. As I mentioned, every Thursday, we sit in on the marketing meeting, as well as working on our own marketing project, where we are each assigned a theme night. With this theme night, we have to think of pregame, mid-game and post-game activities, along with possible giveaways and sponsorships. 

At the end of the summer, we will present this project to the marketing department, where they can consider some of these ideas. Working on this project lets me take breaks from making sales calls while still being productive and beneficial to the Royals."  

How do you feel that this job has prepared you for the real world?  

"This internship has helped me get a feel for what its like working in sports, as well as helped me improve my sales and general people skills. Working within the sports industry has always been dream of mine and with this internship I got to experience what the environment is like working with a sports team, and really enjoyed it. On the other hand, improving my sales and general people skills can help me in many aspects of my future just like I mentioned earlier." 

Tell me a bit about you.  

"I am majoring in business analytics with a minor in mathematics. I grew up in the small town of Exeter, just outside of Reading, Pennsylvania. I am currently entering my junior year here at the University and am set to graduate in the spring of 2025."