The second leg of our East Coast trip featured a visit to Under Armour’s headquarters in Baltimore. MBA student Jaehwan Kim takes us through the day:

Adam Peake, Vice President of Sales at Under Armour, graciously greeted us off the bus when we arrived and showed our group around the office grounds. The scenery around headquarters was great with the nearby Baltimore harbor in view.

As we made our way inside the offices, the building and rooms looked about as sleek as the commercials that Under Armour puts on air and in print. With athlete portraits, full wall posters, and “Protect This House” slogans around every corner, we knew we were at the home of Under Armour.

Taking our seats in the conference room, we then had a round table discussion with a few executives from the company, including Chief Operating Officer, Wayne Marino and the Sr. Vice President of Marketing, Steve Batista. We discussed many aspects of the UA business including the launch into running, international plans,  Under Armour’s American-themed brand and the brand’s long-term goals.

After the meeting, we made our way back outside and toured Under Armour’s recently acquired building right next door to headquarters, where the company can host corporate events. To cap things off, we ran into the Chief Executive Officer of Under Armour, Kevin Plank, and had a quick chat with the man who started the company.

Under Armour really rolled out the red carpet for us for the day and we were provided with a great visit to one of the more powerful sports apparel companies in the business. Check back soon for a recap of our third leg of the East Coast trip, and our first day in New York City that included an industry luncheon and alumni networking night on the town.

We’re now about a week removed from our East Coast trip and it’s a great time to look back and examine a journey that was full of learning opportunities, alumni connections, and networking with some of the top executives in sports. Our city stops included Washington D.C., Baltimore, and New York. Warsaw MBA student Jonathan Riddle takes us through the first leg of the trip:

Monday morning, we started with a bus tour of each pro stadium in route from Baltimore to Washington D.C. Due to an unfortunate last minute schedule change from Ted Leonsis of the Washington Capitals, we ended up with the morning off and the opportunity to tour our nation’s Capital. It was a great experience since many of us had not been to DC in years - or at all.

Our first meeting of the trip was with the NFL Players Association. We met at their office, less than a ten-minute walk from the Whitehouse. After paying homage to Gene Upshaw, who is prominently displayed around the building, we sat in on a panel discussion facilitated by Allison Tucker, the VP of Sponsorship and Business Development.

The NFLPA is for the most part a union, representing the players of the NFL, but it also markets the rights to players. If, for example, EA sports wants every player in the league for their next NFL game, they have to get rights from the PA for the players (as well as from the league for logos, etc.). If a business wanted a player for a commercial, they too would have to go through the PA.

The two most interesting topics of the day were the future of the soon-to-expire collective bargaining agreement and the American Needle Supreme Court case that would be argued later in the week of our visit. The upcoming CBA renewal (or nonrenewal) could mean an NFL season without a salary cap and The American Needle case will affect all major sports leagues, as it will determine whether or not teams can be dealt with as single entities as opposed to competitive businesses.

After the chat with the NFLPA discussion panelists, we made our way back to Baltimore to prepare for our visit with Under Armour the following morning. Our first full day of our East Coast trip gave us a fantastic start to what would prove a fantastic week.  Stay tuned for a recap of the second leg of the trip in Baltimore.

The winter break is a great time to relax and see friends and family, but it’s also a valuable opportunity to accelerate job and internship searches. It is the first time in months (and for many, years) that three weeks are available for whatever you need to do. Many students use the time to fix resumes, reach out to industry contacts or just create a plan for the upcoming internship hunt. This year, first year student Dalia Ismail took it one step further and began getting experience over the break. I’ll let her tell the rest…

As I rode the Colorado Mountain Express (CME) into sunny Breckenridge, CO, I knew it was going to be an exciting weekend of events!  I was going to get to witness some of the best shredding around since I had the lucky opportunity to work for Alli Sports during their big Winter Dew Tour event.  It is numero uno of the Tour’s three stops and the first chance for each skier and snowboarder to earn points towards becoming the Dew Tour champion. 

As the second Warsaw student ever to get involved in action sports, I took advice from my predecessor Tom Czarnowski, and made myself as accessible as possible throughout the event.  I was initially only responsible for handling the Action Zone Pass holders - a $100 ticket that got fans special viewing areas for the competitions, an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the courses (which I led), athlete meet and greets, discounts, a bag of swag, free hot chocolate, and of course all the Mountain Dew anyone can drink -  but on day one, I was already helping out with responsibilities outside my role. 

Athlete registration this year had a huge turnout which is great for the sport, but left the organizers without enough volunteers. I spent the majority of my first day checking in the athletes, collecting payments for the open qualifiers, and registering each athlete with a coordinating bib number.  Then as soon as registration closed at 4pm, I went out with my AZ team to the festival village outside to set up our tent.  We worked until about 8pm at night on the cold mountain with only one head lamp to shine any light! 

The next day we were back up on the mountain at 7:45am to open up shop and get ready for the visitors and pass holders to pour in!  Each day consisted of manning the tent, taking one or two runs through the course to scope out our behind the scenes tour route, and hiking up the mountain a few hundred feet to make sure only our pass holders had access to the AZ area. 

Yes, that means little ol’ Dalia was acting as security!  Although my size wasn’t intimidating, my credentials and NYC attitude got the job done! 

So, other than being confused for a pro because of the oversized Dew Tour sweatshirt, and the early mornings and cold late nights with very little food, this was one of the best experiences of my life and a great start into my new career path!  Coming from an MBA program like Warsaw, I was more than able to juggle many responsibilities and perform more efficiently than the average volunteer. The people at Alli took notice too as they asked me to come back for the last two stops (in Utah and Vermont) and to possibly be the Portland representative for the summer tour! 

It’s nice to know that just a little effort can put the Warsaw name on the map in the Action Sports industry - where more MBA’s are definitely needed.

It’s Saturday in New York and we’re winding the trip down. Yesterday was our last day of visits in what was a monumental week of learning and networking. Some of the highlights include sitting in front of a candid group of execs from the NBA for 6 hours, visiting Sal Galatioto and hearing his many opinions, interactive branding exercises at Strand IP and a visit to Madison Square Garden that included insights into the New York ticket market (from the Knicks VP of Marketing) followed by a game.

Keep checking back to the blog for more specifics on each day, but for now, I’m turning it over to first year student JJ Own for his take on something oh so important to the NY trip (and one of Jim Warsaw’s many legacies): the Warsaw Network…

As many current Warsaw students and alums know, and many future Warsaw members will find out, researching and lining up internships is one of the more difficult tasks for first year MBA students.  The difficulty isn’t so much in the search for the internship itself, but rather all things associated with it.  It’s about making time in your already hectic schedule to track down the opportunities that pique your interest.  It’s a waiting game to hear back from people and the wondering of whether or not your email was spammed. These are just a couple of reasons why internship hunting takes some thick skin and perseverance.  That being said, there are ways to lighten your load and make the search a little less arduous.
 
One such way to do this is the use of your network.  You often hear people talk of the value of your network, and actually, it was one of the major selling points for me when I decided to come to Warsaw.  Over Christmas break, I took the three weeks of free time as an opportunity to meet with people within my network and the Warsaw network, and discuss with them their career paths and get their insights into the lay of the land in regards to the sports industry. 

I was able to set up a meeting with the San Francisco Giants through through their director of human resources and she in turn arranged four different meetings for me, two of which were with Warsaw Alums in the roles of VP of Consumer Marketing and VP of Ticket Sales.  My meetings with them were incredibly informative and gave me a great chance to hear about their experiences in the sports industry and with the Giants in particular.  In adition, I also had interesting conversation with the Director of Sponsorship Services, which gave me some great insights into the revenue model they used when opening AT&T Park in March of 2000.
 
After my visit to San Francisco, I had an opportunity to sit down with a Corporate Account Executive with the Los Angeles Angels as well as a Warsaw Alum, Cesar Sanchez, who is the Sponsorship Services Manager for the Halos.  Once again, it was great to see the value of the Warsaw network in action.  I had great conversations with both of them, and was given a different perspective on front office marketing operations.  It was interesting to note that they were being flooded with Japanese sponsorship inquiries given the recent signing of Godzilla, Hideki Matsui (1 year, $6M).
 
When I first committed to Oregon and the Warsaw program, I had some grand illusions of their alumni network.  Thus far, I can honestly say that Paul and the rest of the Warsaw Center have been worth their weight in gold when it comes to their network.  Without their help, it would be incredibly difficult to gain traction in my internship search. With their help, the process has become much more fruitful.

premiere networking and learning opportunities that sets the program apart from others around the country. Through connections created by our program’s founder - Jim Warsaw - staff and alumni we are able to visit and receive insider access to some of the country’s top sports marketing companies.

We have actually been on the trip for 3 days now, but just made it to NY. The last 2 days we were in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD where we scheduled meetings with the Washington Capitals, NFL Player’s Association and Under Armour. The visits were setup so that we could receive access to some of the companies’ top executives such as Ted Leonsis (owner of the Caps), the NFLPA’s sponsorship and communications directors and Under Armour’s COO and Brand Director. However, the highlight of the trip to date has to be a chance run-in we had on our way out the door of UA. We actually met UA’s founder and CEO, Kevin Plank, and he gave a great pep talk on the value of networking opportunities (like the ones on this trip) and how he started his business working connections from his football playing days. We were all thrilled by the experience and left with an increased sense of enthusiasm and excitement for the NY leg of the trip.

Coming up we have an industry luncheon, an alumni networking night, a full day with the NBA and visits to ESPN, NBC Sports, IMG and the Knicks amongst others. Stay tuned to the blog as we’ll soon have pictures and full descriptions of each day of the trip. It promises to be a memorable experience and we look forward to sharing it with you…

Good morning blog followers! While still mourning a tough Rose Bowl defeat (but a valiant effort), students returned to classes today to begin the second term.

Before moving forward and getting into the excitement surrounding upcoming events like the SF and NYC trips, the National Sports Forum, the Sports Law Conference and strategic planning projects, let’s take a look back at the first term from an angle that has yet to be covered — academics. I thus turn it over to first year student Judy Sheldon…

When I was a Warsaw prospective student, I was continually warned by former UO students and staff that the first quarter is all-consuming. But I figured I was coming from a quarter system, it hadn’t been THAT long since I was an undergrad student, and I used to balance so much more than just school (sports, internships, jobs). How hard could grad school be?

Management: Not only did we learn some great ways to become better managers through tons of case studies, we also got to try out our acting skills through different scenarios. Nate Kalaf and Matt Geshke acted out a hilarious skit about the follies of micro managing through our Keller study case.  Maddy Breskin also did an incredible job with our negotiations workshop; she got a killer deal on a piece of property!

Marketing: Even for those of us with marketing backgrounds, this class was full of new information. We now know more than we want to about metrics and ways to quantify marketing objectives! The best moment was trying to apply the metrics while on a trip to New Seasons Market in Portland; that was when we collectively realized how much we had all learned. 

Decision Sciences: If you ever need a beautiful and efficient decision tree make sure to give Travis Hansen a call! During this course we not only learned how to draw out extensive decision trees we also learned how to “talk to the computer” and use “slover,” definitely a fun and interesting class.

Accounting: This class was a blast even if we almost gave Prof Guenther an aneurism. We went from T accounts and balance sheets to how to account for different bonds and probable/reasonably possible/remote liabilities. We also all now know that the best cookies are in the very BACK of the shelf at the grocery store. And be sure to ask Dalia Ismail how to figure out free cash flow on a deserted island with a gun to her head. 

Finance: Reviewing for possible pop quizzes during lunch was one of the most nerve-wracking ways to spend an hour break, but upon reflection, it was also pretty funny. I can only imagine how everyone looked at different restaurants reviewing NPV, IRR, bonds, discount rates (both annuities and perpetuities), and the differences between preferred stock and common stock.

Throw in the incredible contacts we made through the sports business seminar (written about throughout this blog) and social events and you have one action packed quarter. I’ve learned more and met more influential contacts in 10 weeks than in my entire undergrad career. And it’s only the beginning. Next term we get our first taste of sports classes (marketing sports properties) and we can’t wait!

Students in the Warsaw undergraduate sports business class were asked this question and given the opportunity to prove which they felt was better through EA Sport’s Madden video game. Three first year MBA’s acted as Teaching Assistants and ran the lab portion of the class each week, guiding teams of undergrads through 10 seasons.

It sounded like a cushy position. Playing video games with undergraduates? In graduate school? And the winning team gets to go to a Seattle Seahawks home football game? Easiest job in the world! Right? Well as we came to find out, not exactly.

Each week, principles of sports business were taught to students who would then apply them in their lab sessions with us. Each lab consisted of decisions that each team made concerning front office and player personnel, signing individual contracts, sponsorship deals, and even determining stadium upgrades. After all of these decisions, the season is computer simulated. That’s right, the students don’t get to play each game, they just sit back and watch, hoping that the decisions they made equal more wins and more income each year.

This is where the hard part came in for us Warsaw TA’s. What can be said to a team that only has four wins in a season and loses millions of dollars, just because their star players get injured? Similarly, what advice is given to a team concerning decisions to be made next year, after they have just won the Super Bowl? Yet this was the whole point of the weekly lab each week: to teach students that managing an organization is all about making the best decisions possible and then sitting back and watching the team play.

And the best part of the TA experience? Watching the undergraduate teams understand that concept. Each week, every team came in with new strategies to make their teams better and more profitable. Every week, each team consistently won games and increased their yearly income. The team that only won four games one year? Yeah, they made three Super Bowls in their last three years and won two. The team that won a Super Bowl and couldn’t be complacent the next season? They won three in a row.

So in the end, which definition of success is the right definition of success when it comes to managing a sports franchise, wins or money? Well, you’ll have to ask the Warsaw Center’s new junior owners.

-Sean McDevitt, Warsaw ‘11

Last week, Harvard Business School Professor Dr. Stephen Greyser spent several days at the Center meeting with students and faculty. Dr. Greyser is a Distinguished Professor in Residence for the Warsaw Center and a consistent contributor and supporter of our mission. In this video, Dr. Greyser discusses what separates the program from traditional business schools and what makes it a program he is proud to be associated with.

Time to take a quick break and update you on the past few weeks here at the Warsaw Center. It’s been busy as we hosted an incredible slate of speakers from the industry, with an alumni event tossed in between, over the past three weeks.

Although they’ve been mentioned already, David Dunn (Agent, Athlete’s First), Jim Noel (VP, ESPN), Andy Dolich (COO, San Francisco 49ers) and Kelly Johnson (ESPN Audience Research) were all in the house for the final week of October. Unfortunately, classes and meetings intruded on my plans for several of the speakers, but I’ve had the pleasure of hearing David and Andy in the past. Last year, David mentioned the potential for a rookie pay scale to be instituted in the NFL and, lo and behold, the Sports Business Daily reported earlier this week that the NFL included one in their first collective bargaining session. Call the man a sage.

Despite competing with the Golf Industry Day in Portland, Kelly Johnson closed October with a bang. She showed us how ESPN has invested heavily in customer and audience research and backed it up with a presentation that highlighted the trends that shape programming and advertising. It was apparent that ESPN truly understands its customers and can communicate that to potential sponsors and advertisers. After hearing Kelly, the importance of analytics in sports becomes even more clear.

The following week, former Oregon star Joey Harrington stopped by to share his experiences in the NFL, and Nike’s Merryn Roberts followed with another great session. The next night, the Warsaw Center hosted about 50 staff, students and alums at an alumni event at the Rose Garden. The Hawks spoiled things for the Blazers, but it was an amazing opportunity to meet former Ducks in the industry.

Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Seattle Seahawks, dropped in later that week. Tod was instrumental in the creation of the First Tee, which teaches life values through the game of golf, and was a major player in the “fan-centric” model of the Seattle Sounders.

Finally, we get to this week where Portland Trail Blazers CMO Sarah Mensah visited on Wednesday, and today we saw Matt Levine of SourceUSA, hailed by ESPN as “the most valuable prophet to sports teams.”

Through all these visits, I learned a lot, but I have to admit I’m all tired out. Time for the weekend! Go Ducks!

Golf Day at Pumpkin Ridge was an amazing day-long event that included Communications Directors, CEOs, Founders, and Marketers from the LPGA, Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, Oregon Golf Association, Nike Golf, and Comcast. The entire day was dedicated to talking about the business of sports and golf, and it was a great experience. I gained a tremendous amount of understanding of the golf industry, as well as general sports marketing practices that can be applied across sports and industries.

The day started with our keynote, David Higdon, the Chief Communications Officer from the LPGA. He talked about the state of the golf industry and the LPGA’s strategies and tactics. After David, we had an excellent lunch preceeding two panels filled with golf industry professionals.

The first panel focused on recreational golf and grassroots developments and included Executive Director of the Children’s Course, Dennis Schrag (MBA Alum); Co-Founder of Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course, Gay Davis; CEO of Oregon Golf Association, Barb Trammell; and Director of Sales for Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course, Dylan Campy. All of these panelists had great stories as well as interesting insights into their work history and current jobs.

The second panel began shortly thereafter and it included Nike Golf Market Apparel Rep, Kim Nelson; Executive Director for Tournament Golf Foundation, Rob Neal; President of Pacific Golf Accessories, Mark Regalado; and Executive Producer for Comcast SportsNet, David Kamens. They focused on the professional game and consumer marketing and got deep into the nuances of selling golf merchandise to each gender.

The entire event was well put together, and I was very impressed. I learned more about the golf industry and the sports industry than I thought possible in one day.

Pumpkin Ridge was a great location for the event, as we were surrounded by a historic golf atmosphere and inspirational golf industry professionals. There were great panel members, great discussions, great networking and great tips and pointers for when we all join the work force relatively soon.

- Keri