Leadership Spotlight

Wharton recently launched the Wharton Sports Business Initiative (WSBI), a center School leaders believe will position Wharton as a premier player in the sports business industry.

The initiative will partner top-level business leaders, faculty and students to create and disseminate knowledge about the sports industry through educational programs, strategic corporate partnerships, student consulting assignments, global forums, and research. From internships to executive education, WSBI will serve as the nucleus for all sports business related activities at Wharton. Elements of the initiative will include executive education programs, a sports consulting practicum, company visits, independent study projects, mentoring, a speaker series geared toward executives and students, conferences, forums, and networking opportunities.

The WSBI's first conference will be held April 28-29 at the Wharton School's Philadelphia campus. The theme will be, "Turning Pro Young? The Business of Early Entry into Professional Sports." The WSBI also will continue the Wharton tradition of bringing executives to both the School's Philadelphia and San Francisco locations to speak with students. Recent executive visits have included Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, Donald Blair, CFO of NIKE , Rich Nichols, agent for multiple Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones, and David Cornwell, president of DNK Cornwell. Cornwell has served as the primary counsel for Leigh Steinberg, Jeff Moorad, Eugene Parker, Dan Fegan and Michael Gillis—agents who represent players and coaches in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League.

"This is an exciting new initiative," said Kenneth Shropshire, who is director of the WSBI, David W. Hauck Professor, and chair of Wharton's Legal Studies Department. "A key part of our mission is … attracting and educating students who will develop and demonstrate advanced business skills and a rich understanding of industry dynamics, leading them to provide sports business employers' career value commensurate with MBAs in other fields. This will occur not by adding coursework, but by focusing on industry and student interaction. We also are working with our executive education division to develop innovative educational programs for industry executives as well as current and former athletes."

In addition to Shropshire, other Wharton faculty will be involved with the initiative such as marketing professor David Reibstein, legal studies professor Georgette Poindexter, lecturers and alumni Mori Taheripour and Rob DiGisi, lecturer Scott Rosner, and senior fellows Charles Grantham and Jason Wingard.