A Place of Work and Someone’s Dream: A Conversation with Nick Bavin
Nick Bavin is the Director of Corporate Partnerships at the Durham Bulls Baseball Club, American Tobacco Campus & Holly Springs Salamanders. He is skilled in the Sports Industry, Coaching, International Business Development, Event Management, and Market Research. Nick is a strong marketing professional with a BA Hons focused in Advertising and Marketing Communications from Bournemouth University. Nick is a 2018 Goodmon Fellow, through the Leadership Triangle Regional Program.
“We are a venue and a convener. And in 2020, we leaned on that part of our identity a lot more. We didn’t have baseball, but we had a stadium. We had a community spirit. And we were determined to turn it into something of continued use for the community. We put on a Black curated movie series in the Fall in partnership with PNC Bank, and will do it again this Spring. We turned the stadium into a golf course. We gave away all of our PPE that we had in the stadium, meant to be for people in the kitchen, but of course we didn’t need it. We took meals to hospitals in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield NC.”
Kristine: Nick, our interview is going to be published on May 11, Opening Day for the Bulls. How are you feeling about it?
Nick: Gosh, it’s just 11 days away now. Right now we live so much in the day to day. Like, what do I need to achieve today? There’s so many things to do, the list feels endless and it’s like, okay, what’s the priority? What do we need to get achieved? Let’s get through today. Go again tomorrow. And then suddenly it’s Opening Day.
Kristine: How many days has it been since you’ve played?
Nick: It will be over 600 days since the last Bulls game here!
Kristine: That’s a long time.
Nick: It is, and it’s funny, you know, I’ve been here eight years, and baseball season is 11 days away and I’m like, what did we use to do? How did we used to do that? What should we be doing 11 days before the game? After the last year, it’s reclaiming muscle memory. Especially with the change in velocity around how quickly things are opening back up — I mean, for a long time I thought there is no way that we would get to 100% capacity this year. And now suddenly we’re like, we could be at 100% capacity in June, and there are so many things that go into that. Staffing, cleaning, ordering enough beer! There are so many projects that get done in between each game, and you have to project the staffing level you need to get any number of things done. So now we’re getting ready, and planning for a lot of different scenarios, because if we are allowed to open at full capacity, we of course want to do it.
Kristine: You’re juggling a ton of different factors. I’m hoping we all get to safely come out to a game this year.
Kristine: Alright Nick, so I know you moved to the Triangle from London. What brought you here?
Nick: Let me take you back to 1979! I was born in Chicago to two English parents, and my dad was working for a bank in Chicago. We moved back to the UK when I was 5, but in the years after that, we came back to America for vacations and to see friends often. Growing up, I always envisioned myself moving back to the U.S. and after my career at IMG and for a sports research agency in London, I was just kind of burnt out from the big city life. So I looked at my then girlfriend, told her I wanted to move, and asked her if she wanted to come with me.
She rightly told me she wasn’t going to move to the US for any old reason, and that as a nurse she wanted to move somewhere where she could be a nurse and have a career. So UNC was hiring in London, she interviewed, got the job, and came home and said — “there’s this place called Chapel Hill, in this place called North Carolina, shall we move?” So we quickly called and emailed as many people in the States as we could think of to gather opinions, and every single person was like, it’s an amazing hospital and an amazing place. Fast forward a year, we packed two suitcases — that’s the truth, two suitcases, and we arrived in Chapel Hill with a copy of a rental agreement for an apartment. And that was, almost to the date, 10 years ago.
The plan was to come to America for a couple of years, travel, have fun, move back, have kids, buy a house, all that stuff. We have the house and the kids and the stuff, but we’re still here!
Kristine: What kept you here?
Nick: You name it and that’s a reason to stay. From something as simple as the weather, to the cost of living, to the people we’ve met — the Triangle region is just exactly what we wanted. It’s got trails, nice people, community spirit, the mountains and beach close by… it’s everything we were looking for.
Kristine: Speaking of the Triangle region, I went digging and found your Leadership Triangle application for the Regional 2018 program. In your application, you talked about wanting to leave a legacy in the Triangle community that your then two-year old daughter would be proud of. I’m wondering how you’re thinking about your legacy now.
Nick: Gosh, I’m really proud that I wrote that. I still feel like that. I’m really proud that I’ve taken the partnership strategy here and mobilized it in service of community. Such things as The Victory Garden that we have on Jackie Robinson with Blue Cross Blue Shield NC, the pollinator garden on Blackwell Street with BASF and Cree, the partnership we signed with United Way of the Greater Triangle this year. There’s a list now of partnerships I can look to and say that I’m proud of, things that I believe will leave a community legacy.
The stadium is such a good place to highlight what’s going on in the community and I want to make it easier for community organizations and Triangle companies to showcase what they are doing and celebrate their work here.
“There were some days in 2020 that we opened up the stadium, and anytime you see a kid walk through the gate and onto the field, you see their eyes get big and their face light up. You can’t help but react to that and realize, okay, this might be my place of work, but walking on the field, that might be someone’s dream. I want to be generous with this space because I know how impactful it can be. I don’t even know if I would call it generous… maybe just thoughtful, knowing the impact that a small gesture can have.”
Kristine: As a Triangle native, I see the Bulls as a community sports team. I see the games as a place to convene our regional community. I’m wondering how the last year has been for you — as you’ve been unable to host and play baseball games, but as you’ve still been working to support the community?
Nick: If you’ve ever heard me talk about the Bulls, I always say, a little controversially, we’re not a sports team. We’re so much more than that. When I talk to people about building partnerships, it’s about everything you just said — we’re a place that brings people together. You know, people come here for several reasons and a lot of the times, watching baseball is pretty low on the list. They say things like “I come here for my kids to have a great time” “I come here for the food, the beer and the community spirit” or “I come here to hang out with my friends”.
We are a venue and a convener. And in 2020, we leaned on that part of our identity a lot more. We didn’t have baseball, but we had a stadium. We had a community spirit. And we were determined to turn it into something of continued use for the community. We put on a Black curated movie series in the Fall in partnership with PNC Bank, and will do it again this Spring. We turned the stadium into a golf course. We gave away all of our PPE that we had in the stadium, meant to be for people in the kitchen, but of course we didn’t need it. We took meals to hospitals in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield NC.
For us, it was, okay, community is now number one, above baseball. Here’s what we need to do. What events can we do to keep us busy and give the community something positive in a bad year.
Kristine: I see a thread of generosity in you and your work. Has that always been there?
Nick: I have definitely not always been this way, and I think a few things pull it out of me. But also lets not overplay the generosity, a fundamental part of my role is to oversee revenue generation for the Bulls! But, I’m incredibly proud of where I work, the team here and the role I, and we, play in the community. I’ve worked here for 8 years. There’s a reason for that. I know the importance of what this stadium can be to people. There were some days in 2020 that we opened up the stadium, and anytime you see a kid walk through the gate and onto the field, you see their eyes get big and their face light up. You can’t help but react to that and realize, okay, this might be my place of work, but walking on the field, that might be someone’s dream. I want to be generous with this space because I know how impactful it can be. I don’t even know if I would call it generous… maybe just thoughtful, knowing the impact that a small gesture can have.
Kristine: What are you most excited about for the year ahead?
Nick: Gosh. I could keep you here forever. As a parent who has been juggling two kids at home and a full time job, I’m most excited about a routine! I am excited to know what my week looks like and that my kids are finally going back to full time school. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to go on vacation — we haven’t been home to see our families in the UK for 2.5 years. My kids want to see their grandparents! I’m also excited for live sports obviously! So many people have said that the Bulls returning feels like normal life is returning!
May 11 is Opening Night for the Durham Bulls. Get your tickets here — we’re excited to see you.
