Sales and Sponsorship Course with AEG's Bill Pedigo

Over the past couple weeks, my classmates and I have truly been blessed with a priceless opportunity to learn about sales and sponsorship from the best in the business. This was no typical course, as our professor was Bill Pedigo, Director of Global Partnerships, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). Our first class was held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, and the final two classes took place at the world-renowned Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. We were continually engaged in group discussions and mini workshops throughout the duration of the course, which allowed us to get creative, voice our thoughts and opinions, and receive real-world feedback from the personal experiences Mr. Pedigo has had over the course of his career in sponsorship sales.

Sponsorship is a part of virtually all sports today, and whether we end up directly selling sponsorships or not, we will each interact with corporate sponsors at some level during the course of our careers. In fact, we sell every day whether we know it or not, so the goal of this course was to develop an approach to selling that at the end of the day satisfies the needs of clients, leads to sales, and most importantly, creates long-term relationships. The idea is that if we can break down the sales process for sponsorships, we can break it down in other areas of our lives as well, which can prove to be extremely instrumental over the long haul.

We knew from the moment we arrived at the Home Depot Center that we’d be in for a treat as the players from Chivas USA, an MLS franchise, came trotting by after practice. I had never been to the HDC before, and I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised that even my lofty expectations for this facility were exceeded. AEG developed and operates the Home Depot Center, a $150 million national training facility designated as an “Official U.S. Olympic Training Site” by the United States Olympic Committee. The site includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling, lacrosse, rugby, action sports, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. Once classes had concluded, we received a full tour of the compound and discussed the facility’s vast array of sponsorship inventory as Mr. Pedigo answered questions from the students as we reached each distinct venue.

The trip to the HDC was just the beginning of the first-class treatment Mr. Pedigo and AEG would offer us during the course. The following week, our classes were held inside the Staples Center in downtown LA. AEG’s Staples Center is world’s most profitable arena, conducting over 300 events annually. We began class on Thursday afternoon with a full tour of the Staples Center, again discussing the sponsorship inventory and explaining the way in which each corporate sponsor attempts to engage fans of the various franchises who call the facility home (Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Sparks, and Avengers). After the tour, we sat down in one of the special events suites to conduct the evening’s class, which concluded with an NHL game between the L.A. Kings and Florida Panthers. This was the first NHL game for many of the American students in class, and the first live hockey game for many of the international students.

Our assignment for the evening was to rate the top three in-game elements/experiences and describe the reasons for our rankings. Also, we were tasked with creating three new in-game sponsor activations for the L.A. Kings, specifying a target company or category for each. All-in-all, it was an unforgettable afternoon as the AEG-owned Kings held on to beat the Panthers in a thrilling 3-2 victory. I’d have to say that the “Toyota Human Spheres”, a sumo-suited hockey challenge on the ice, was my favorite experience.

The following morning, we received a surprise visit from the Director of Premium Sales at AEG who also shared his experiences and offered valuable insights into the processes and tactics used by AEG to leverage each of their operations. We had the opportunity to listen to a few excerpts from sales guru Greg Bennett, and we followed that up with some role playing among our classmates to practice what had just been preached. As someone who has been interested in sales and sponsorship since entering the SMBA program here at SDSU, this was perhaps my favorite and most beneficial experience throughout the entire year. I actually got to play one of the roles in the exercise, selling a fictional sponsorship for the Dodgers to Benedikt, my classmate from Germany, who was representing BMW. Bill Pedigo coached me during each part of the conversation, which made it an incredible experience.

We concluded our course with a trip outside to learn about AEG’s newest development, L.A. Live. L.A. Live is a $3 billion urban development project directly across from the Staples Center, and it will be home to the Nokia Theatre, 200 premier condos, 10 floors of a Marriott-Ritz Carlton five-star hotel, 11 restaurants, ESPN and its first live broadcasting outside Bristol, CT, headquarters for several large companies, and much more. The L.A. Live project is the beginning of turning downtown L.A. into a true tourist destination whether sporting events are being held or not. It is expected that more than 600 annual events will occur in the urban community with over 20 million eyeballs trafficking the area. The final project for the course is to identify two prospects that we feel would fill the last two L.A. Live Founding Partnership positions and explain why we chose each partner. We’re tasked with not only identifying companies that fit in with the business model and don’t conflict with existing exclusivities, but also coming up with a creative “signature element” of the sponsorship that will make it an ideal sponsorship for AEG’s corporate partners.

Corey Price (SDSU Sports MBA ’09)

About AEG

AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, is the world’s largest investor in entertainment and sports facilities; the world’s largest presenter of live sports and entertainment events; world’s largest owner of sports teams and sports events; owner of the most profitable sports and entertainment venues; world’s largest developer of sports and entertainment sponsorship and naming rights; has invested billions of dollars in sports, entertainment and media projects’ and reaches billions of people each year through its facilities, events, music, theater, festivals, sports, films and media assets. AEG has a long history of success in the global sports and entertainment industries including the STAPLES Center, Nokia Theatre Times Square, Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie (TX), the El Rey Theatre (Hollywood, CA), the WaMu Theatre (Seattle, WA), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), and three just opened arenas, Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), Prudential Center (Newark, NJ) and The O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River which includes a 20,000 seat arena and over 650,000sf of leisure and entertainment use; sports fanchises throughout the world including the L.A. Kings, L.A. Riptide (MLL), the L.A. Galaxy and Houston Dynamo (MLS) in addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the L.A. Lakers (NBA).

Gene Upshaw – The greatest individual influence on the NFL to date

Anyone who has any interest in the NFL must know what Gene Upshaw meant to the game. On September 2nd I attended a memorial service held for Gene Upshaw at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. I had already planned a trip to DC over one of our breaks prior to the unfortunate passing of Mr. Upshaw. Mr. Upshaw was a board member at The Potomac School, where I was the Assistant Controller before attending the SDSU Sports MBA program.

Mr. Upshaw did a tremendous amount for the NFL both as a player and an executive. He was a Hall of Fame guard who played for the Raiders from 1967 – 1981. Then after being a player he entered the executive ranks as the NFLPA’s Executive Director for the past 25 years. Among the several things he did for both the NFL and football as a sport three or four things stuck in my mind from research regarding his Executive Director career.

In 1987 Upshaw began the fight for NFL free agency, which was years after MLB had won free agency in the mid 70’s. In constructing the ‘93 CBA he risked a lot and was able to get NFL players free agency. Recently, he was also able to guarantee the players 60% of the total league revenue. Currently, the NFL has the longest streak of labor peace in the four major American professional sports (NBA, MLB, and NHL). Though the owners did opt out of the current CBA, there is still time for them to negotiate since it won’t expire until the end of the 2010 season.

One area Mr. Upshaw was criticized with was the retirement benefits for players no longer in the league. There are several players out there who did sacrifice their bodies for the game, but I think some other professional sports have had issues with their retirement plans. I also think Mr. Upshaw did not get the press exposure he should have when he explained some of the reasoning. This is a Gene Upshaw quote from an article by Mike Sando at ESPN.com earlier this year (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225087):

"Everyone can talk about all of the money we have in the pension plan. We have as much liability as we have assets; in fact, we are a little underfunded.

"But we are not going to take a pension from guys that have one coming and give it to someone else. We have to solve it a different way and we will."

From the quote it should be pretty clear that if they take from the current players they’ll be even more underfunded with the current liability exposure. I even recall last fall reading an article about some type of increase to the retirement benefits, but it didn’t make much press at all.

A thought I had is that Mr. Upshaw may have been thinking of conceding a % or two of the revenue sharing to be reapplied to the pension for all current and past players. Not sure how much that would be exactly but to pay the premium for disability benefits or dump into the pension probably would help. It would even make sense for the owners to share in matching the same % to the pension or benefits.

As I mentioned when I was in DC earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend Mr. Upshaw’s service at The Kennedy Center. A former co-worker of mine at Potomac currently works at The Kennedy Center and I spoke with several other former co-workers I saw at Mr. Upshaw’s Memorial which was an amazing event.

The music was amazing at the service and you could feel the emotion in the room before it started. When the service started Mr. Upshaw’s brother spoke and mentioned the significance of the number 63. In 1963 Gene Upshaw graduated high school, he wore #63 during his career in the pros, and he passed away at the age of 63. Some of you probably noticed the GU – 63 symbol that was on the fields & jerseys opening week of the NFL and is currently on the back of the player’s helmets. His brother also mentioned the things that were important to him like his sons, family, car and life. This was the first of many insights to Gene Upshaw the human being. He was a very amazing person and touched a lot of lives, but didn’t desire anything in return.

A couple of Mr. Upshaw’s sons spoke at the service along with several NFL figures. Each person gave insight into Upshaw as a person. Some talked about his passion for golf, costco, and public storage. A couple speakers mentioned him being late or fixing door knobs if someone’s office door was loose, all of which made him down to earth like everyone else.

Where he differed was in his desire to fight for what was right. He had a big heart and cared about others which made him a good Executive Director to fight on the players behalf. He also fought for others in his personal life outside of football. Another thing speakers mentioned was that he never complained. He just kept going and continued his hard work, which we all can learn from.

John Madden, who coached Upshaw on the Raiders, mentioned how Upshaw was the type of player a coach would occasionally seek out for guidance because of his leadership. At the end of Mr. Madden’s speech he was very emotional and you could tell how much he cared about his lost friend.

Tom Condon, SBJ’s #1 Most Influential Sports Agent, spoke about Upshaw who was one of his best friends and clients. Mr. Condon was funny, a great speaker, and also told of his admiration for Upshaw as a player before they met. A couple of the speakers mentioned that Mr. Upshaw’s wife had wanted them to keep their stories funny and concise. When Mr. Condon was in college he tried to imitate Upshaw’s (who was in the pros) elbow & arm pads only to have his coach make fun of him for even trying to compare himself to the professional.

Overall the speakers all spoke with great emotion, friendship, and complete respect for Upshaw. It was very unfortunate that Mr. Upshaw passed away, but he was able to touch & influence so many lives. He worked hard for everything he achieved, but also was human and cared about people.

Here are a few Upshaw articles I recommend reading that also served as some of my sources in addition to the several people I spoke to inside football and fans that followed his playing & executive careers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/sports/football/22upshaw.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
· Gene Upshaw, N.F.L. Union Chief, Dies at 63

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=munson_lester&id=3549586
· When Upshaw spoke, everyone -- including owners – listened

http://sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60060
· New NFL season opens, labor talks loom without key player

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225087
· Upshaw: NFLPA won't take from current pensions to help ex-players

http://www.nfl.com/news/story;jsessionid=6853F2F7363BC0FADBCA0D0848E3DEB9?id=09000d5d80a72310&template=with-video&confirm=true
· Tears, laughter at Gene Upshaw memorial service

If there are any mistakes I’ve made please let me know as I’m always open to correcting my mistakes.

Ben Seiz

1st Padres Game

Just as I was starting to feel guilty about not watching a Padres game at Petco Park this season, I was saved by divine intervention. With the MLB regular season winding down to its last weekend, I thought I missed the 81 chances I had to experience my first Padres baseball game in San Diego.But this weekend, over a dozen of my classmates and I were given an opportunity to volunteer for the “Shirts off Their Backs 2008” program hosted by the San Diego Padres. This program gave the fans an opportunity to purchase $1 scratcher tickets and the lucky winners would win 2 free tickets to the season finale on Sunday and also a signed Padres jersey right off the players back on the field, at the end of the game.

We were really excited to participate and raise money for the Padres Foundation that benefits pediatric cancer programs and youth baseball. As an extra incentive for volunteering, we were also given tickets to watch the Padres game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.Considering this was my first live baseball experience, I was really excited and looking forward to a good time. To be honest, baseball is not my favorite sport, but the “experience at the ballpark” is very unique. The experience starts about 90 minutes before the start of the game with kids taking practice swings at the “Park at the Park”, just beyond the outfield fence. As the crowd started piling in, it was great to see a large number of fans taking a shot to see if they were one of the “chosen ones” to get the free tickets and the player’s jersey. The not-so-lucky fans also accepted defeat gracefully by recognizing that the proceeds went to a good cause.

Petco Park is recognized as one of the best baseball stadiums in the country. The various activities that engage fans of all ages makes a day/night out at Petco Park a great experience for the entire family. I also came to realize how good we (the students in the Sports MBA program) have it here in San Diego. Not only do we have access to all the great things San Diego provides as a city, but as die-hard sports fans we have access to two major sports teams right in our own backyard. After tonight’s experience I truly understand why baseball is known as America’s “National Pastime”. On behalf of my classmates, I would also like to thank the Padres for having the Sports MBA class out at Petco and giving us an opportunity to contribute to a good cause.

Soccer United Marketing – Part Two in LA

This is a continuation of Brendan’s “Viva Mexico!” post on June 16th. Since then four of us are interning with Soccer United Marketing (SUM) and specifically helping with game day operations. In addition to this we are currently working on a project for the MLS looking to utilize new media with the Hispanic market.

On Monday, September 22nd we needed to leave class early to make it to LA by 4 PM in preparation for the Mexico vs. Chile game. The game was held on Wednesday Sept. 24th, but we had to head up there a couple days early to prepare. That Monday night we presented the first phase of our project to the MLS & SUM Director of Hispanic Business.

Tuesday, we headed to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where the game was held. We primarily helped sponsors this day with any questions or setting up their areas in Futbol Fiesta. All of us got opportunities to work with key SUM sponsors and their activation agencies. Some of the sponsors we helped out were Allstate, Home Depot, and Adidas and some of the sponsor activation agencies were Octagon and Relay Worldwide.

On the day of the game there were more operational type duties ranging from preventing ambush marketing to escorting players or executives. We once again got opportunities to work with sponsors like Budweiser, AT&T, Jose Cuervo, and Coke. I worked with sponsors on the field level before, during and after the game including half-time. Prior to the game Nissan hosted a pregame on field exhibition game that had Marcelo Balboa among other former soccer players. Then we helped Allstate and other sponsors with field tours before the game. After the game we worked with Coke and Budweiser for Mexican National Team player signing in hospitality areas.

We were really busy throughout the game and it was unfortunate that Mexico lost 1 – 0. Next we’ll be flying to Phoenix in November to work another Mexican National Team game. A couple of weeks later we’ll be traveling back to LA, but this time to The Home Depot Center for the MLS Cup. We’re looking forward to the next two events and it’s been an amazing opportunity so far getting to work with several people from SUM & MLS.

Building PETCO Park

PETCO Park has established itself within the sports industry as not just a great venue for baseball, but a fantastic venue for entertainment. On Mon. September 22, the class had the opportunity to discuss its design and construction with three of the most important individuals involved.

During our morning class, with Coach Dennis Green, Erik Judson stopped by to discuss not only his experience with PETCO Park, but also analyze the current stadium issue which the Chargers are facing. Erik is currently working with JMI Sports, but was with the Padres front office during the stadium development and construction. Erik remains very close to the Padres organization as JMI Sports is owned by John Moores, who also owns the Padres.

During our afternoon class with Richard Andersen, Hadrian Predock, and Alan Petrasek not only spent some time talking with the class, but also sat in and offered feedback on a class presentation. The presentation was on stadium architecture and design and what the future holds for that segment of the industry. Hadrian was one of the lead designers of PETCO Park and the insight he was able to offer on the design elements put into PETCO Park was literally something no one else could offer. Alan, who works with Clark Construction, was able to offer a ton of insight on the factors that influence a project of this size, along with the struggles which this unique project had to overcome.

Not only does the program have tremendous access to a top tier facility, but the information and discussion with these three individuals offered a great understanding of the years of work that goes into making a project like this be successful.

Some Great Trips!

In the beginning of September I had the chance to go to a bullfight in Mexico City. Even though it is not a sport, it has great similarities in its structure as a form of entertainment. The bullring I went to is located inside a restaurant called ARROYO. This place specializes in not only Mexican food but Mexican traditions as well. Besides the bullfights, which they have organized every fall for eleven years now, the place offers a Mexican Traditions Festival that includes from food to crafts to music and dancing spectacles.

I also had the opportunity to talk to some bullfighters and business people involved which is a great way to understand what they do. It is really obvious that the bullfighters are good athletes; they need a set of physical skills to be able to do their job.

Overall it was an incredible experience because the festive environment among the fans and the passion and sensibility they have makes it a unique spectacle.

I also had the opportunity to travel to New York a few weeks ago specifically to visit both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, both on their last year. My brother and I had tickets for a Braves@Mets game on Friday and for Rays@Yankees game on Saturday. However the first game was postponed because it rained.

The next day we went to the Yankee game in the afternoon. I have to say that it was an incredible experience just being there as a baseball fan, one that I will never forget. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to go to Shea Stadium, so after the Yankee game we made it to the Braves@Mets second game of a double-header. It was a very long day with a lot of baseball, but it was a great day, one of the best days.

Veronica Nogueira

Afternoon at PETCO Park

Something that is very important to success in the sports industry is having the ability to work with individuals which have similar and/or different characteristics than you. Last week, the class was treated to an afternoon at PETCO Park to discuss this very topic.

As many people have heard, our class is lucky enough to be working with Richard Andersen from the San Diego Padres. Richard is the Executive Vice President and General Manager of PETCO Park. On any given event night, Richard will have approximately 1600-2000 employee’s which he and his staff are supervising and working with to make that event a success,

Part of what we discussed was that it is extremely important to understand the strengths and weaknesses which your individual personality may bring to an organization. An important takeaway here is that no personality is better than another, but that there are different ways to apply your personality to the organization. Finding the right balance between co-workers can have a significant impact on the overall success and tone of the organization.

During our class session at PETCO we analyzed our self-assessment tests (DISC personality assessment), and engaged in an open discussion on how to achieve the maximum amount of success while working within a large organization such as the Padres.

This was a great experience, and one which the class responded very well too. With the class just getting started, there will without a doubt be more posts to come. Stay tuned!

de Lucha Libre - Mexico

Just a couple weeks ago, a couple of us had the unique opportunity to travel to Mexico City. Part of our trip was spent attending one of the countries most popular sporting events, wrestling, or more commonly known as "de lucha libre" (http://cmll.com/).

Wrestling in the United States often connects itself with Hulk Hogan, Randy Macho Man Savage, and many others, but wrestling in Mexico takes on a completely different level of excitement.

We attended the matches in a couple thousand seat arena in Mexico City where the fans were passionately engaged in the action for the two-plus hour event. Much of the event had similarities to a US event, but the connection between the fans and the athletes was unlike anything we had seen before. The level of enthusiasm, and knowledge the fans have on the history of the sport and its competitors was a terrific experience, and one we will never forget.

Most importantly, the masks which you can purchase for 80 pesos (about $8) at the event, are awesome.

Rugby Camp

Peter practicing a dive pass

An opportunity arose through my work with the USA 7s group to spread the gospel of rugby to the youth of San Diego. It has become quite clear that one of the best ways of growing a budding sport in the US is through the grassroots level. We have partnered with the YMCA of La Jolla to become a feature in their summer sports camp. This year, numbers were low and, subsequently, very manageable. I worked with Dan Lyle, the USA 7s tournament director, on the week-long curriculum for the group of 7-12 year olds, and I put it to practice all last week.

Aidan with a form tackle

The kids learned the basics of the game, from passing to kicking to tackling, along with some of the intricacies of the sport, including offsides and scrums. The majority of the sessions consisted of drills and practical exercises, followed up by a fun game to put what they just learned to use. It was a lot of fun working with the kids, seeing them progress over the course of the week. By the end of our five days together, they were able to play a game of touch rugby with minimal stops, with some of the kids working some strategy in on their own.

YMCA/USA 7s Rugby Camp '08

They particularly liked when Dan came out for one of the sessions. Having a true legend of the sport run around with them (not to mention someone 5 times their size) was a treat they won't forget for a while. Without being prompted, every one of the kids mentioned how they couldn't wait until they could come back next year. One of my bigger goals enrolling in this program was to help expose rugby on a large scale to the American public. The more I've been immersed in that issue, the more I realize it will take similar efforts like this by many in their local communities all over the country for the sport to really take hold.

Gearing Up for Football Season

SMBA IV had the opportunity to meet and discuss many current issues with NFL Senior Manager of Football Operations and Development, Merton Hanks. The former Pro-Bowler was in town for a few hours Thursday night to meet with the SDSU football team and graciously allowed us to meet with him.

Mr. Hanks discussed his many responsibilities for the NFL ranging from college relations to approving fabrics for NFL jerseys and even working with former Representative Jim Leach (R-IA) to propose a bill to ban Internet gambling.

Some topics discussed with Mr. Hanks included the current stadium issue faced by the Chargers, opportunities in the NFL, the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement and the effect the recent loss of Gene Upshaw, the Executive Director of the NFL Players' Association, will have on the organization.

We greatly appreciate Mr. Hanks' valuable time as we know it is a busy time of year!

Sports IV Meets Lacrosse

For a majority of the summer, I have worked with Major League Lacrosse's Los Angeles Riptide. The Riptide play out of the Home Depot Center and have experienced a lot of success this year. The team recently completed its third season by playing their final game at OCC in Orange County.

The game before that last game I was sitting outside of the locker room with head coach John Tucker. When asked if I was ready for the move of the game, I told him I was excited since it was moving to my home town. He said that it would be great if we could get a good crowd for the last game, since the team has worked so hard to get to this point and the guys on the team were 'great guys who deserved the support.' From there I got the idea to try to recruit people to come.

Since the game was an hour closer to San Diego than normal, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try to introduce lacrosse to my classmates (on top of my normal babble about lacrosse during class discussions). The ticket managers for the team felt the same way. They put together a special package for my classmates to come -- not only could SDSU Sports MBA students purchase discounted tickets, but they would also receive a Riptide hat (it was more exciting apparently than we could imagine).

I felt like this was a big challenge for me. The organization now knew that I was trying to get people to come to the game, so it was important that I exceed expectations with the opportunity. Lucky for me, my classmates were supportive and 9 people made the trip to OCC!

The game could not have been any more perfect for a first time spectator. It was the last game of the regular season, we had already secured a spot in the playoffs, and we were playing the San Francisco Dragons -- our coastal rivals. There seems to be some historic rivalry between the two teams that has built over the past three seasons. The game was rough. The penalty flags were flying and men were being checked hard.

Taking a break from my operational duties, I ran to the stands to see how my classmates were doing. It was hard to get in a word because they were terribly busy starting the 'Lets Go Riptide' chants that were being picked up on by the rest of the stands (Although the Nor Cal natives were starting trouble cheering for the Dragons, but hey, whatever gets you into it, right?).  

The Riptide ended up losing that game. It was the first game they had lost to the Dragons ever. However, it might have been a great gain for the Riptide. Not only did they have a successful turnout at OCC (way better than HDC in my opinion), but might have even converted some sports lovers to lacrosse fans!

LA Tennis Trip

Benedikt (Benni) Stronk and I followed our love for tennis by making a trip to Los Angeles to watch the semi-finals of the Countrywide Classic LA ATP Tennis Open. This was our second visit to watch a major ATP tennis tournament this year, having gone to Indian Wells earlier in the year.

We made a pit stop at Irvine so Benni (Mr. GQ of the class) could do some shopping and look his best for the occasion.
Once we got to the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA, Sanjay Bhardwaj, who is an ex-SMBA SDSU student, showed us around the tournament site. We had fun hanging with Sanjay and he was reminiscing about the good times he had as an SMBA student.

Benni and I also had our fellow countrymen competing on Saturday. A good friend of mine, Rohan Bopanna (India) played the doubles semi-finals in the afternoon.

Knowing these top professional players has its perks because we were given access to the Player’s Box for Rohan’s match. Benni and I had a great time watching this nerve-racking tennis match and we kept thinking about similar battles during our professional tennis careers. We also could not help but act like experts while sitting on the sideline by giving a live play-by-play to each other on the mistakes made by the players.
After Rohan made it to the finals, we were able to spend some time catching up and having a chat over dinner at the official restaurant on-site. We had some great food, thanks to Rohan.
In the featured evening match, Benni got to see his fellow countryman and former sports Army companion Dennis Gremelmayr (Germany) go up against the crowd favorite, Andy Roddick. Roddick played a near perfect match and cruised to an easy win over the German. Of course, this did not please my temperamental German friend who was constantly fuming during the match.
In the end, we had a great time watching some exhilarating tennis. Watching these matches today definitely made us anxious to get back on the tennis court and try to emulate the guys we saw.
Update: Rohan went on to win his 1st ATP Professional doubles title the following day!

JCC Maccabi Games

After a busy week of marketing final and international business presentations some of us still had the energy to volunteer for the JCC Maccabi Games. The Olympic-style sports competition for Jewish athletes between the ages of twelve and sixteen was held in the San Diego area. Over 1600 athletes turned out to participate in the 14 sports and activities. These Jewish youngsters were competing in different age groups and playing levels, and the winners were given gold, silver, and bronze medals.


Fortunately, I was able to help out the tennis event and even though it got a little hectic at times it was great fun. I saw great tennis, emotions, sometimes-even tears but the sportsmanship these young kids portrayed was just amazing.


Although we were only a small group of the over 1000 volunteers but the effort we put into the event was definitely worth it, and our help was really needed and appreciated.

AVP Crocs Tour

What more can you ask for than working in the San Diego sun surrounded by hundreds of beautiful volleyball players and fans? The great scenery and location were not the only benefits of working at the Crocs AVP Tour this weekend at Mariners Point in San Diego. My fellow classmates and I worked with the Marketing Coordinator for AVP to help promote and run the weekend event. It was interesting to work with her and the Crocs marketing team, since we are currently discussing ways to activate event sponsorships in our integrated sports marketing class. The real world knowledge gained from being at this event helped me write my final paper on sports marketing.
The tournament ran from Friday to Sunday and featured some of the top volleyball stars from around the world, I even had a ten minute conversation with Olympian Holly McPeak. While meeting athletes is great, being part of the event enabled me to meet some of the major players on the business side of the sport. I ended up working with the AVP Commissioner Leonard Armato's daughter-in-law, registering players and organizing transportation. The chance to rub elbows with some of the most important San Diego sports business people in the VIP tents was a welcomed bonus as well (not to mention the free food and drinks).
Of course every event has its problems as there were numerous times of hectic running around the sand looking for a player who was supposed to be giving an interview. Another interesting problem was the California Coastal Commission stopping by and requiring that the stands be lowered by 3 feet because it could impact the hunting of a local bird of prey. You learn that if you want to work on events, you need to be ready for anything. Overall, it was awesome to be a part of the “behind the scenes” work that goes into creating an event like the AVP. From my work at the San Diego event, I was invited back to help with the Manhattan Beach Open next month, so look for the next blog about the sun, sex appeal, and sand of the AVP tour.

Friday = Golf

We have had several speakers talk to us about the importance of being able to not embarrass yourself on the golf course. This might sound ridiculous, but the reality is that people in the sports business tend to play a lot of golf. You never want to find yourself in a situation where the boss/potential client/potential employer wants to go on a foursome and you have to turn it down because you don't play golf. Most of the class has taken this to heart as most are golfing or going to the range whenever the coursework allows. Fortunately, San Diego offers perfect golfing weather the entire year, so there is always a way to find time to get out there and hack-it-up for a few hours.

We have been able to go out regularly on Friday mornings with a foursome of varying participants and have collected a decent set of records from those events:

Lowest Score 79 - David Stark Admiral Baker South Course

Highest Score Not sure.............after 120 strokes things get a little hazy

Longest Putt ~55 feet - JP Wainscott Sea N Air (blind squirrel finds the nut)

Longest Drive 280 - Drew Zinzer Sea N Air

Most Lost Balls (18 Holes) 9 - JP Wainscott Admiral Baker North

Closest to killing another golfer Brendan Wells Sea N Air (validating the life's work of the guy that invented the plexiglass window on the front of golf carts)

2nd Place in killing category JP Wainscott Sea N Air (proved that when our group yells "fore".............we mean it)

Best score on Par 3 using only a putter 6 Brendan Wells Admiral Baker North

Best Tin Cup Moment Scott Roegner Sea N Air Three consecutive shots into the water with Brendan (who if you haven't figured it out yet, isn't the best golfer in the world) giving Scott advice on how to improve his swing. Priceless.


Unofficial Rankings

1. David Stark
2. Scott Roegner
3. Tyler Ortiz
4. David Lloyd
5. Anthony Zazo
6. Drew Zinzer
7. JP Wainscott
8. Brendan Wells

Marketing Final

We just concluded a class in advertising from an Integrated Marketing Communications perspective. The class, taught by Dr. George Belch, was one of the most enjoyed classes based on class participation. We learned alot about advertising in various mediums: print, TV, internet, mobile communication, etc. We also learned about consumer behavior and the importance of building a solid brand through various media outlets. The final was a three-hour written exam (computers were allowed, thanks Dr. Belch) and we analyzed four different case studies. The questions were much more detailed and focused on specific concepts taught in the course, but here is a paraphrased version:

1. How should Under Armour go about marketing/branding a new line of basketball or running shoes? This is something they are considering, but not on the market yet.

2. There is a shoe company from Italy called Goex shoes. They plan to introduce a new running shoe in the US. Their shoe has thousands of tiny holes in the sole that allows air into the shoe without letting water in. This keeps feet dry and cool while running. Develop a marketing plan for Goex entering the US market with this new technology.

3. Starter wants to endorse Tony Romo. What are the pros and cons for each (Starter and Romo) for this proposed sponsorship? Do you think Starter should pursue this? So you think Romo should agree to a sponsorship from Starter as opposed to Under Armour, Nike, Reebok, etc.

4. An analysis of the US Olympic Team's marketing campaign around the upcoming Olympics.


It was a difficult but fair exam and we had to use knowledge taught from all modules of the course. Fortunately, Dr. Belch is going to be involved in future classes.

After the test was complete, a group of us relaxed on Fiesta Island in Mission Bay by making a bonfire on the beachfront and enjoying a few beverages.

Busy Weekend

Lots going on this weekend here in San Diego:

First, the Sports MBA program has an open house at PETCO Park from 1:00-3:00 on Saturday, August 2. We're expecting almost 50 attendees, so it should be a great event. This is a perfect weekend for prospective students to visit SD:

Some students will be attending the Padres-Giants game after the information session, where they'll receive a sponsor-heavy tshirt, the "Padres Fan-Selected T-Shirt presented by Bank of America and brought to you by KIFM "

Also, we'll be out at Total Combat 30, an event put on by a San Diego-based MMA outfit. This will be TC's first outdoor show, as it invades Balboa Park on Saturday night.

Finally, Sports MBA will be involved with the annual AVP Crocs Tour stop in San Diego all weekend long as it takes over Mariner's Point from Friday to Sunday.

Pardon the Interruption

A group of us met with the third base coach of the Florida Marlins, Bo Porter, over bagels and OJ at the athletic center before class the other day. Bo was a two-sport star at the University of Iowa in football and baseball and played professionally for Oakland, Texas, and Atlanta. Bo was very engaging and gave us the insight on how coaches deal with players and management. At one point our discussion was interrupted by SDSU's baseball coach, Tony Gwynn, who knew Mr. Porter and came in to say hello. Upon leaving, Tony Gwynn apologized for interrupting our meeting and I was thinking to myself, "Yeah, take your 3,141 hits and get the hell out of here!" Can you imagine? Tony Gwynn apologizing to a group of baseball nuts for coming into the room!?! It was a great way to start the day.

Events from the Break

We just recently enjoyed a well-earned week of time off to relax and enjoy San Diego. The break started with a happy hour with the two instructors of the classes we had just finished: Nelson Gayton for Sports Marketing and Kamal Haddad for Finance. It was fun to kick back with the profs at a Pacific Beach bar and also celebrate three birthdays that occurred that week.

Another highlight was the Ocean Beach Chili Cookoff and Street Fair. It was a wild time and we got to watch one of our own (Brett) play rugby that day as well. An estimated 70,000 people crammed the streets of Ocean Beach for music, drinks, food, amateur wrestling (strange but true), carnival rides, and of course chili! The weather was perfect as well.

The rest of the break was devoted to catching up on reading and relaxing and playing lots of golf. We are just getting started with a couple of new classes: International Business and Marketing. Dennis Green is also getting us primed for his course that starts at the end of August. Should be a great next couple of months!!

Sports MBA Returns from Break!

After a brief respite, members of Sports MBA IV have returned to sunny San Diego.  We just began a new set of classes: World Business Seminar with Dr. John Francis and Integrated Marketing Communication with Dr. Joe Belch.  This past week in WBS we have been discussing the viability of NBA expansion in Europe (within the broader context of globalization). Definitely some great ideas being thrown around...

In IMC, Dr. Belch introduced the concept of Integrated Marketing Communications, particularly as it is applied to sports businesses and organizations.  During yesterday's class, we discussed a case study on the short-lived XFL and heard from Steve Becvar, the former VP of Sales and Marketing for the Memphis Maniax who visited class.  He had some great stories from his XFL days and shared with us his first-hand experience of developing an strategic integrated marketing  plan for a new league.

Just in case you don't remember, here's a short clip from the XFL:  

Cal State Games

Fresh off our July 4 break, we're already busy with another major sporting event in San Diego. From July 10-13, nearly half of the Sports MBA Class of '09 will be scattered throughout San Diego County working in supervisory roles for the 20th annual California State Games. We're overseeing venues, coordinating event logistics, assisting with operations, and working with corporate sponsors.

Sports MBA does the NHL Draft

Here's a few photos I took at the NHL draft in Ottawa this past weekend...  Once we're done with our exams I'll make sure to post some of the details from my trip.

Crunch Time

Not much time for any of us to post right now, as we're currently finishing up both Financial Management and Sports Marketing this week before a much-needed break the week of July 4. Group presentations, final case study projects and a take home final to do in the next few days.

We'll be back with more updates over the break next week!

Viva Mexico!

On Wednesday, June 4th the Mexican National Team hosted Argentina in a friendly international football (soccer) match at Qualcomm Stadium. How is it that Mexico can "host" a game on American soil? Of the 68,000+ in attendance, I'd say 65,000 were loyal fans of Mexico. Red, white, and green blanketed both the lower stands and upper deck. I had witnessed football crowds of this magnitude bef0re (90,000+ for a Real Madrid Champion's League match at Santiago Bernabeu), but in the United States? This was not Italy-Brazil in the 1994 World Cup Final. It was a friendly match that meant nothing more than pure pride. With the recent culmination of the Champion's League, both sides were able to stack their squads. But Messi, Aguero, Julio Cruz, and Maxi Rodriguez proved too much for Mexico as Argentina coasted to an emphatic 4-1 victory, much to the dismay of the raucous crowd.

So how was the SDSU Sports MBA program involved? Several students of SMBA '09 including myself assisted Soccer United Marketing (SUM) with running the event. SUM is the North American soccer organization that owns the rights to the MLS, USSF and all Mexican National Team games played in the United States. CEO Don Garber is also the Commissioner of the MLS. So, to quote Ron Burgandy, SUM is kind of a big deal.

The day before the match, we helped the crew set up Futbol Fiesta, a massive outdoor marketing operation that takes place before every game. Major sponsors of the event such as McDonald's, Home Depot, AT&T and Budweiser set up stages and platforms in the parking lot to perform various promotional activities for the fans. Two 45-minute halves don't leave much room for television advertising so this is an interactive way for corporations to market their products and expose their company's services directly to consumers. We spent the late afternoon placing programs on seats throughout the stadium, not the most glamorous job but somebody's got to do it.

On game day, the eight of us spent our time managing Futbol Fiesta for the corporate sponsors and vendors before being summoned into the stadium for various operational and PR responsibilities. Juan Carlos assisted the main videographer, Judith led a Budweiser parade around the stadium while Drew and I escorted retired Mexican National players to their suites prior to kickoff. A select few of the SMBAers got to watch the entire 2nd half on the field right behind the photographers. Drew and I kept getting pelted with cups and programs from rowdy Mexico fans aiming for the Argentinian keeper. For someone who loves the game of football as much as I do, it was an awesome experience.

The day ended with a post-game celebration at Seau's (that's former Charger Junior Seau's restaurant) with the entire SUM staff who put on the event. It was a long day that ended with food, drinks, and fun stories to tell.

Brendan Wells
SMBA '09

US Open

Here are a couple photos from the US Open going on right now in San Diego. There are about a dozen of us working the event and we'll have more stories to share as the weekend progresses.