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ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – Brett Phillips meets with a group of young fans before the Tampa Bay Rays’ game between the Washington Nationals at Tropicana Field June 19, 2026. (Scott Audette \/ Tampa Bay Rays)<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Rays<\/p>\n
What is a brand engagement executive? To Brett Phillips, it is everything and more. He would have it no other way. If it is talking to a fan about his experience in the 2020 World Series<\/a>, a moment that captivated the sports world, then great. It is just as dandy if he is in a suite talking hardball with a corporate sponsor. After all, any fan and any potential connection on the business side are vital.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s exactly how I wanted it,\u201d said the former major league outfielder, at Tropicana Field a few hours before a recent Tampa Bay Rays game. \u201cThe title of \u2018Brand Engagement Executive\u2019 is broad for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n If it means carrying stanchions with retractable crowd control belts and stashing them away behind home plate after meeting with roughly 30 youths down the right field line, which a nattily attired Phillips can be seen doing prior to games, then that\u2019s what he will do. Anything to help anyone at any time. <\/p>\n \u201cIn getting ready for a Major League Baseball game, there are so many departments that are having to work together in unison to make this all happen, which I am beginning to realize,\u201d said Phillips, a sixth-round selection of Houston\u2019s in 2012 and who spent all or part of three seasons with the Rays during an MLB career that saw him play for five teams in seven years. \u201cAs a player, I just didn\u2019t know. Now that I am on this side of the game, I want to make myself available to every department.\u201d<\/p>\n The 32-year-old Phillips might as well be the 19-year-old version of himself playing in Greeneville, Tenn. for the Astros\u2019 rookie-level affiliate. Like that young minor leaguer of 13 years ago, he is a sponge absorbing all of the information that he can in order to make this new chapter in his baseball career as fulfilling as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to start on the ground level,\u201d he said of a discussion he had with CEO Ken Babby prior to his hiring<\/a>, which was about an hour later. \u201cI want to think of myself as the rookie ballplayer that I was. I have no idea what this (new responsibility) looks like, but what I know is if I can learn everything that goes into this, work hard, and be a good teammate, then the sky\u2019s the limit just as it was when I was a player.\u201d<\/p>\n Nobody needs to sell Phillips on helping with season ticket initiatives, broadening the season ticket holder experience and enhancing corporate partner efforts because, frankly, it is second nature for him to share how much the Rays have meant to him since his youth. Hence, the many caps Phillips currently wears fit as snugly as those he wore while patrolling center field and right field at the Trop.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to believe in the product you are selling in whatever industry it is, right?\u201d he emphasized. \u201cI believe in the Rays so much that it is so easy for me to share my experiences. So, when I\u2019m talking to people and selling something, I am not actually selling. That\u2019s because I believe in this experience. I love nothing more than telling my story.\u201d<\/p>\n Developing baseball and business skills<\/p>\n Phillips grew up about 15 miles from Tropicana Field in Seminole. He spent much of his youth attending Rays games, at least until he was drafted by the Astros out of Seminole High. He made his MLB debut with the Brewers in 2017 and was acquired by the Rays from Kansas City in 2020. <\/p>\n Phillips played 210 of his 393 career MLB games with his hometown team, and launched what was easily the most memorable<\/a> of his 31 career home runs. If all of that wasn\u2019t awesome enough, which it certainly was, working for his hometown team is something that is difficult to put into words.<\/p>\n \u201cFull circle,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, coming here as a kid who absolutely loved the Rays and the game of baseball, and now this? The pride I feel is tremendous and I am so blessed. How can I not pinch myself and say, \u2018Wow, this is incredible.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – Brett Phillips leads a tour for Premiere League Legends at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on April 17, 2026. (Davida Franklin \/ Tampa Bay Rays)<\/p>\n Tampa Bay Rays<\/p>\n The business of baseball is something that has long intrigued Phillips, which is a byproduct of how he was raised. His mother, Jody, moved from Illinois when she was 13 and put in nearly four decades working for Clearwater-based Frontline Communications<\/a>. She ascended into a senior management role in what, at least earlier in her career, was a male dominated field. <\/p>\n \u201cShe started at 17 years of age as a filing girl,\u201d Phillips noted with tremendous pride. \u201cHer work ethic and her joy in what she always did is the reason why I am where I am today.” <\/p>\n Phillips\u2019 father, also named Brett \u2013 the father is Brett James Phillips and the son is Brett Maverick Phillips, a middle name that is commonly used among family and friends \u2013 is a Connecticut native who the younger Phillips describes as having been an \u201centrepreneur\u201d and a \u201cbusinessman.\u201d Put it all together, and it is easy to understand how he built strong business acumen even as he was building a strong physical skillset that led to the big leagues. <\/p>\n \u201cIn a sense, I have had a business background from observing my parents,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a player, I always made it a point throughout my career to observe people around me who were working in different roles in baseball. They were people who I respected, or who I felt did a great job in whatever area they were working. I attempted to observe what they were doing, and I wanted to take a little piece from each of them and put those pieces in my back pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n Phillips intrigued by what fans have to say<\/p>\n Many Rays fans have been making their way to the ballpark since the team\u2019s inaugural season of 1998. What drives a fan to return year after year after year? Is it the quality of the on-field product? Is it a favorite player or two? Is it simply the love of baseball? Phillips wanted to discover the answers from long-time season ticket holders.<\/p>\n \u201cWith some of them, the reasons are \u2018time with my dad\u2019 and \u2018time with my kids through the years,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cPeople come here to get quality time together without any of the noise.\u201d<\/p>\n The lack of noise can be inviting especially if it is someone taking in a game with little concern for more than one\u2019s thoughts. <\/p>\n \u201cI chatted with a businessman who comes here by himself, and he said, \u2018When I\u2019m here at a baseball game, I\u2019ve had the best ideas come to mind,\u201d Phillips recalled. \u201cI asked him why, and he said it is because this is his happy place. I found it quite interesting that many of the reasons that keep bringing people back are not necessarily tied to the players themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n While Junior Caminero can be excused for interrupting those lost in reverie with yet another 400-foot blast, and the foghorn that is likely heard a couple of miles away at Albert Whitted Airport, Phillips has come to understand there is much more taking place than the crack of the bat and painting of the corners.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game doesn\u2019t necessarily revolve around us, and we may at times think it does, or all of the time think it does,\u201d he said. \u201cI say that lightheartedly, but also seriously. There are so many more activations and so many more cool things to do that maybe many fans are not necessarily here to watch the game. Maybe they\u2019re here for another reason. I found that very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n Phillips retired as a player on his terms<\/p>\n When the White Sox released Phillips from a minor league deal in May 2024, three weeks before his 30th birthday, he was not ready to pack it in. Not with that right arm of his. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat every coach told me is that, from the outfield, I had the strongest arm they\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what got me drafted.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s what got him thinking about taking the mound.<\/p>\n ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Brett Phillips takes a selfie with a young fan prior to an MLB game against the Baltimore Orioles on July 15, 2022 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI hadn\u2019t pitched since Little League,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even throw an inning in high school, but I always had a great arm. So, at the end of my career, for me to look myself in the mirror and say I exhausted every option to play this game that I love, I needed to at least pursue it.\u201d<\/p>\n Following consultation with his wife, which was a formality because of how supportive Brianna has always been, it was time to toe the rubber and give it his all.<\/p>\n Phillips\u2019 effort at the National Baseball Congress World Series<\/a> in July 2024 with a Texas-based team led to the Yankees signing him, and he made one appearance that season with the Class A Tampa Tarpons. Phillips signed with the independent Kane County (Ill.) Cougars in 2025 and appeared in four games, allowing 11 earned runs in three innings. Though a torn labrum did not help matters, the challenges of transitioning to being a pitcher led to retiring as a player<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just too much at the ripe age of 31,\u201d said Phillips, who mopped up in four games with the Rays and one with the Angels. \u201cI could throw a good fastball when I felt good, but other than that, I would not have been able to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n But he gave it a shot, which is what he wanted to do.<\/p>\n \u201cI left the game the way I wanted to leave the game, and that was having fun pitching,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Phillips is now pitching the Rays and having an absolute blast the minute he walks into Tropicana Field a few hours before game time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy that this is my job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. 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