Wharton Launches Sports Business Initiative Program Targets Players, Executives, and MBA Students
Sports is big business. With revenues estimated at $375 billion a year, the industry ranks as the 11th largest in the United States. To take the lead in sports business knowledge, the Wharton School has launched the Wharton Sports Business Initiative (WSBI) as the center of all of its sports-related activities.
The WSBI brings together business leaders, faculty, and students, with the goal of creating and disseminating knowledge about the sports industry, through educational programs and research, corporate partnerships, student consulting, and global forums.
Wharton Sports Business Initiative
The WSBI is the brainchild of its Director, former sports agent Kenneth Shropshire, David W. Hauck Professor and chair of the Legal Studies Department. One of the world’s leading experts on the business and culture of sports, Shropshire, a former Stanford football player, is an author or editor of six books, including Sports and the Law, The Business of Sports Agents, and In Black and White: Race and Sports in America.
He has also been an executive with the organizing committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the chair of the Philadelphia Stadium Site Selection Committee, and a consultant for both Major League baseball and the National Football League Players Association.
“A key part of our mission,” he explains, “is attracting and educating students who will develop and demonstrate advanced business skills and a rich understanding of industry dynamics.
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.”
This effort has already begun, as Wharton has signed an agreement with The National Football League (NFL) and NFL Players Association to provide business education to NFL players, in partnership with Harvard Business School, to help them prepare for their post-playing careers.
“We are proud to be at the forefront of such a unique educational opportunity,” says Wharton Dean Patrick Harker. “This is precisely the type of high level project we anticipated for the newly launched Wharton Sports Business Initiative.”
Each program is open to 35 players, with priority based on years of NFL experience and level of business background. “This is one of many important steps that the union is taking to assist NFL players in their lives off the playing field,” reports Buffalo Bills cornerback Troy Vincent, president of the NFL Players Association. “Players realize that we all have different interests in our lives and what we want to do after our football careers.”
The Wharton curriculum will focus on a broad range of business topics, including financial analysis, entrepreneurship, real estate development, stock market investing, negotiation skills, risk management, and community reinvestment. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/Knowledge@Wharton will also provide content for the participants. Following the coursework, faculty will visit players to provide advice, counseling, and strategies for business and personal planning.
Looking to the Future
The WSBI has already hosted a wide variety of panels and events. Recent program speakers include George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports; Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast; Donald Blair, CFO of Nike; leading sports agent Rich Nichols; and top sports lawyer David Cornwell.
In October 2004, the initiative hosted a career panel for all MBA students, with representatives from such companies as ESPN, HBO Sports, the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and search firm Spencer Stuart. The lively discussion focused on what it’s like to work in the industry, how an MBA can break into it, the skills and experiences needed for success, salary structures, industry trends, the balance between work and life, and typical career paths.
The WSBI’s first conference, held on April 28-29 at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus, addresses the theme: “Turning Pro Young? The Business of Early Entry into Professional Sports.” In addition, an Alumni Weekend panel on May 13 will consider “Diversity in Sports Business Ownership: From Negro League Baseball to Today's NBA.”
The WSBI’s long-term goals include developing a Sports Brand Index, an annual ranking of the strongest brands in sports, and a Sports Business Review, dedicated to in-depth analyses of issues impacting the sports industry today.
