John Maher Case Study

The business of sports is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. All over the world, many people participate as players and spectators in a variety of sporting activities, creating opportunities for the marketing of a company’s goods and services. An important part of the business of sports is sports marketing, which revolves around understanding consumer behavior and motivating target markets to purchase goods and services. Sports marketing at Clemson University has many different aspects ranging from sports and technology and sport law to sponsorship and sports economics.

The curriculum focuses on the social, business and cultural aspects of sports through hands-on activities and real-world case studies. Sports management students are encouraged to actively engage the faculty, academic advisors and alumni mentors who have successful sports management careers. Sports management students regularly run campus-based student groups, such as the Sport Business Association and the Michigan Sport Business Conference. The sport management alumni is made up of the largest body of graduates in the U.S. They provide support and guidance through networking, mentoring, internships and exclusive career opportunities. This includes undergraduate research opportunities and membership in pre-professional clubs. Most graduates go onto careers in professional sport organizations and corporate

Sports of old were merely competitive activities rooted in heroism and romanticism. Sports activities today, however, have no such innocence or simplicity. Currently in America, the activities that make up our sports culture is not only the competitive events themselves but the processes and issues that underlie and surround them. Entwined in our sports culture is the giant business of mass broadcasting. Indeed, sports and the media go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly, like Mickey and Minnie, Darth Vader and Luke. They are intertwined and depend on each other to continue to grow. Sports media includes television, radio, magazines, newspapers, books, films, and, now, most importantly, social media devices provided by the

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to sit down and conduct a phone interview with Jordan Maleh. Jordan graduated from UConn in 2006 with a Bachelor’s in Sport Management and then his Master’s in Sport Management and Sociology in 2008. He currently works at the Big Ten Network in Chicago, Illinois as the Director of Digital and Consumer Marketing. As a graduating senior, this interview was very helpful to me because it gave me the chance to ask a professional in the sport industry, such as Jordan, questions about his experience at UConn and how he got his start in the sport industry and to where he is today.

New job openings are being created every day; new general managers, teams moving into new facilities, and league policies and rules beings changed. Which means, the sports industry is expanding rapidly and you just have to find something you like and be the best at it. I really enjoyed getting to her Mark McNeil speak considering the fact that now, I know I do not have to go law school to be a sports agent. I have gotten in contact with him and I think this is a big opportunity for me because as far as an internship goes and finding someone to learn from and someone who is willing to teach

Throughout the Michigan Sports Business Conference, undergraduate and recently graduated students were able listen to an impressive list of speakers speak about the sports industry and the digital age. This conference was able to create a smart and innovative agenda where various facets of the sport industry were discussed. Since people are extremely passionate about sports and would love to work in this field when they graduate from any university, MSBC put together this conference to attract top sport executives like Jaymee Messler, Erik Sorenson, and David Bowman to educate and develop the potential leaders of this industry. While every speaker and panel was fascinating to listen to, the speaker that was most captivating and alluring was the final speaker of the day, Jaymee Messler.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Felicia Crump who is the Chief of Staff at Harlem RBI. Her upbeat and welcoming attitude made talking to her very easy. From growing up in central New Jersey to attending school in New York and then UConn, Crump has been able to open many doors in her professional career. Though she was not always interested in Sport Management, sport was always a big part of her life, as she was a starter for Hobart and William’s women’s soccer team in upstate New York. While playing collegiate soccer, Crump was studying art history and graduated in 2002. She spoke about how there wasn’t a huge demand for jobs in art history and there were even less when she graduated. While trying to look for jobs she landed a position at

Instead of feeling pressure to conform as a student at the University of Georgia, I have found that being in college has made me value the importance of a higher education more so than I ever had before. During high school, my primary goal was to play well enough to receive a football scholarship. At that time, my focus was not on academics. However, since I've arrived at the University of Georgia, my entire concept of the value of a college degree has slowly changed. Rather than seeing just football in my future, I can now picture myself as a football player with a college degree. Consequently, instead of having a negative impact on my personal growth, college has helped me broaden as a person.

I recently listened to episode #233 of Troy Kirby’s The Tao of Sports Podcast. Kirby’s podcasts are released multiple times a week and cover all aspects of the sports industry. Kirby’s guest in this particular episode was Jamie Morningstar, who despite her relative youth has compiled an impressive resume in the sports industry. Morningstar, who is currently (or at least as of this podcast’s airdate on September 23, 2013) the Vice President of Ticket Sales and Services of Milwaukee Bucks, had previously been employed by the Detroit Pistons, Seattle Supersonics (later Oklahoma City), and Madison Square Garden. Over the course of the podcast, Kirby and Morningstar discuss the many intricacies of ticket sales including: relationships with season ticket holder, retaining ticket holders, what Morningstar looks for when hiring salespeople, and all the other work that goes into trying to sell out an arena.

understand his development of the idea that relationships in hockey provide an exception to general perceptions

This article continues to explain that once a sports marketer creates a product and advertises it on a small scale, “Sports marketers get ahead by gradually representing bigger, more important and more prestigious sports teams, companies, associations, and athletes.” In other words, sports marketers need to have a plan of action to promote their product on a larger scale over time. Also, sports marketers spend much of their planning on the aspect of promotion. Mihai verifies that the category of promotion serves to prove that the product is desirable through advertising, sales, sponsorship and public relations. If a sports marketer follows these planning steps, his/her work will lead to a successful product with a large margin of profit.

For the longest time I could not decide on a major and a career to study throughout college. When I came to Georgia Southern University I discovered that they had a major that was very interesting to me. Sport Management id the ideal major for my interest and me. Since I love sports I figured that this would be the career for me. A degree in Sport Management helps to prepare for success in sport related occupations.

Sports’ marketing is becoming more readily known as the vehicle that drives the sports business to success. It is “orientated toward consumers and about thinking, deciding and acting in terms of the final consumer. You have to know who your consumers are, what they want and need and use this effectively as a sports marketer orientating the drive more toward the market, not the product (Sports Marketing: The motor that drives the sports business

The career of a sport management professional offers a large number of various positions. One such career is that of a director who specializes in promotion and development. “Promotion and development directors are hired by sports teams and school athletic programs to design and implement promotional campaigns that will increase ticket sales” (Sports Management 1). The biggest part of their job is to provide a profit for the organization they are working for. Directors set up opportunities for the sports team to make money off of sponsors. They also set up deals with advertisers to pay a sum of money in exchange for their ads or products to be listed or shown at their sporting event (Sports Management 1). Good advertising and production of cash flow go hand in hand while promotion directors try to help them to succeed. Development and promotion directors play an important role in developing a profit for their organizations.

If your athletic skill isn't up to the pro level and you want to stay involved in your passion, a college education and internships are excellent starts to cracking into the business. Today, the sector is booming with new professions that join the