The Business of Sports Awards

Every spring, “The Business of Sports” gives awards to the most prominent personnel in the sport business industry. These awards are given to people who have the best content, those who have made an impact on the industry, and those who have just entered. Here is the link for the nominees:

The Business of Sports Awards

I personally have looked into many of the nominees listed and my personal favorite is Lewis Howes. He runs a website called the Sports Networker, which is a very interesting site regarding sport, media and networking. It was nominated as one the “Best Sport Business Blogs.” They list several other blogs, which I would definitely suggest looking into. They are all informative sites that can help further your professional career if you have the ability to utilize the information.

They have awards for the Best Sports Business Blog, Best Sports Business Twitter Account, Best Sports Business Content (Company), Best Sports Business up and Comer, Best Alternative Sports Business Content and People’s Choice (Sports Business Social Media Contributor of the Year).

For those of you with Twitter accounts, I would definitely suggest following these people who have been nominated. Twitter is a great way to get information in an easy manner, along with share your own opinions. I personally follow most of them and find they provide great articles and information, which I find useful in my daily life and in my drive to further myself in the sport business field.

Visit the website and check out the nominees. I would definitely suggest looking into the different people and sites, and see what help they can be for you in your own professional career.

Just how popular is NASCAR?

NASCAR

It may surprise some to hear that NASCAR racing is the highest attended sport in the United States. I didn’t believe it when I first heard it, but it is true. People who do not watch NASCAR find it to be one of the most boring sports in the world, providing a close race  with Curling for the single most boring. I have never watched NASCAR racing but I switched it on today to catch the end of the Spring race in Texas. I saw the last 13 laps and it was actually more interesting than I had anticipated. Getting close to the end of the race provides for strategic moves with regards to deciding when to pit, drafting behind other racers, and making moves to pass. The end is exciting and Denny Hamlin took the race in Texas today (just a week and a half after having knee surgery).

"Boring"

What is it that draws people to automobile racing? Some would initially suggest that the crashes are the most attractive aspect. This can’t be the case because spectacular crashes don’t happen all that often. In my opinion, it is the competition and ability to relate to the sport that attracts people. People feel that auto racing is a sport they can personally do, since all you do is drive a car. There is much more that goes into auto racing than just this, such as knowing the car, understanding when to pit and deciding when to make passes (to name a few).

According to an article in USA today, written by Christine Brennan called “Forward-thinking NASCAR continues to surprise outsiders to the sport” (2007), in 2006, “seventeen of the 20 highest attended sporting events in the nation were NASCAR events.” ChaCha answers, as of 2009, says that NASCAR racing is the fourth most popular sport. The reasoning for this could be that less people watch it on television than watch other sports. People are constantly watching other sports on television, yet the rarity of NASCAR events could be a reason why they are so highly attended. Look at professional football games. Teams like the New England Patriots sell out most home games, yet teams like the Celtics, despite being equally competitive in their respective league, do not. The reason could be that less events mean more interest in attending one. It makes each game or event that much more special to attend. The Super Bowl only happens once a year and is very highly attended and watched. Each NASCAR race is almost like a championship game for another league, as they happen so rarely.

Lets take a look at something incredible. The Indianapolis 500 is the largest event in the world that takes place in a single day. The stadium capacity for seating is 257,000 people. There is additional infield seating which can bring the total capacity to around 400,000 people. That is unbelievable. The large sizes of the tracks is what leads to the spikes in attendance. For an organization with an arena that fits 40,000 people, it will take ten events to meet the attendance of a single Indianapolis 500. They sell out every race as well, for the most part, which is what drives up the attendance rates.

Another attractive factor of NASCAR racing is the idea of the pure competition. The ends of races are very cut and dry. Either you won, you placed, or you lost. Granted, the standings and finishing position do take a part in the rankings of drivers (with regards to points standings), yet the majority of points are taken from the top three finishers. In a basketball or a football game, either you win or you lose, but there are many games to choose from. With racing, every race is treated like a championship, which is what makes the competition that much more exciting.

No matter what the reason for popularity, NASCAR is one of the most popular sports in the United States and the single highest attended. It’s popularity greatly varies depending on region, as there is not much of a following in the NorthEast (only one track is present in New England- New Hampshire Motor Speedway). Out west and in the south, NASCAR has huge fan bases, yet its popularity is directly correlated to region. What are you feelings on why NASCAR is so popular?

The Decline of Boxing

Where has boxing gone? Boxing has slowly been declining in popularity over recent years and it is constantly slipping under the radar. Even when there are huge fights at hand, such as Floyd “Money” Mayweather fighting against “Sugar” Shane Mosely, we rarely hear much about them. Floyd Mayweather is a very popular fighter, and it seemed initially he would be able to revive the sport. Manny Pacquiao is another popular fighter. The Filipino born fighter sports a record of 53 wins (38 knockouts), 3 losses and 3 draws. Roy Jones Jr (last held a belt in 2004) fought Bernard Hopkins in the battle of the grandfathers (Jones Jr. is 41 and Hopkins is 45) and there wasn’t much pre-fight hype. These two fighters had very exciting boxing careers but have since declined with their old age. In a fight in which two legends are battling it out would usually be exciting, but compared to previous years the fight didn’t receive much attention from the media. The problem is the combined age of the two fighters is 86, which led to a boring fight, ending in a decision in favor of Hopkins.

We look at these seemingly interesting fights, yet many people never even heard of them, were interested in seeing them, or were able to watch. This begs the question of what has happened to boxing and why?

Boxing has clearly declined in popularity in the United States. One reason for the lack of popularity could be the absence of an American born heavyweight champion for some time. The last heavyweight champion from the United States was Shannon Briggs (won a WBO belt in 2007). I won’t lie, I am a huge sports fan, and I have never heard that name in my life. Other recent heavyweight champions have been Hasim Rahman (WBC belt in 2006), Lamon Brewster (WBO belt in 2006), Roy Jones Jr. (WBA belt in 2004) and Chris Byrd (IBF belt in 2006). Going through this list, I can only recognize the names of Rahman, Byrd and Jones Jr. The others are names I have never heard. This just shows how boxing has really dropped off the map. Current belt holders are Vitali Klitschko (WBC belt [Ukrainian born]), David Haye (WBA belt [British born]), and Wladimir Klitschko (IBF and WBO belts [Ukrainian born]). Yes, the Klitschko’s are brothers.

People from the United States tend to support their fellow countrymen more so than those of other places. This could be one explanation for the lack of attention boxing has been getting recently. Despite attempts at getting publicity, such as having Floyd Mayweather fight in the WWE against “The Big Show.” Fighters like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield in the late 90’s gained great attention, but their departure from the sport has marked the decline. Tyson has moved on to bigger and better things, like tattoo’s on his face and cameo appearances in movies like “The Hangover.”

Tyson v. Holyfield

The emergence of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) has been another reason for the loss of publicity for boxing. The UFC is a growing organization in which fighting rules are more broad than just boxing and kickboxing. Athletes incorporate fighting techniques from a broad range of cultures, such as Muay Thai, kickboxing, wrestling, Jui-Jitsu, Hapkido, Karate, and Taekwondo (to name a few). These different mixed martial arts methods are all unified to form a more complete fighter, with a more extensive set of skills. Boxing limits the fighters to standing up and throwing simply punches, while the UFC and mixed martial arts techniques incorporate kicks, elbows and submissions additionally. As the fighters are more highly trained, possessing a broader skill set, the fights become more exciting. Higher skilled fighters have the ability to manipulate other fighters and apply their skills to create exciting ends to fights.

I have previously addressed this idea of people enjoying violence in sports, which is another reason for the increase in popularity. The violent knockouts and submissions lead to UFC fights being very unpredictable. Any fighter, regardless of skill level, has the ability to end a fight against any other fighter (regardless of their skill level), by taking advantage of an opportunity that presents itself. One wrong move by a fighter, if recognized by the opponent, can be the end of a fight. A quick submission or a well placed punch can mean the demise of the opponent, no matter who was winning at the time. The unpredictability of the fights make the UFC very exciting, a potential reason for its spike in popularity over recent years.

UFC submission

As is clearly visible, the UFC is taking the place of Boxing as the most violent sport in the United States. The absence of an American born heavyweight champion can be another reason for the decline of the sport of Boxing. Regardless of the reason, it is gaining less attention from the media, and the UFC is slowly taking its place. Other organizations, focusing on mixed martial arts are also emerging, slowly overtaking the place of boxing. Some of these are Strikeforce, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), and Dream (Japan). It will be interesting to see in a few years how popular mixed martial arts have become, and where boxing will be. Boxing will continue to decline unless the owners of the sport can find a way to draw attention to it with new marketing techniques. They have a new rival on the block (the UFC) who is stealing all their thunder. Expect the UFC to explode in popularity and boxing to become obsolete in the coming years.

Debate: Big schools vs. small schools

As a college student, I am all wrapped up in the experience I am having. As I speak to other college students, I am coming to the conclusion that everyone is getting a different experience. I personally, go to Endicott College, a school with about 2,000 undergrads, while some of my good friends attend the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). The number of undergrads at UMass Amherst is about 25,000. Students enrolled there take classes with more than 500 students, which is the total number of students in my graduating class. Pretty crazy to think about.

Every student takes something different out of their college experience. Some can’t remember their four years, others can’t forget them. The main point is that the everyone decides what to take out of it through their own actions.The purpose of this post is to look at the advantages and disadvantages of attending a large versus a small school.

I have countless advantages of attending a small school. First off, on a social note, everyone is familiar with one another for the most part. The majority of kids in the grade know one another and there are large groups of friends. Attending parties means seeing a lot of your friends (depending on where the parties are) at a small school. A large school on the other hand is the opposite. It is difficult to go to parties without planning with your friends, and still see people you know. It is possible to meet a person on the first day of school and never see them again until graduation. The majority of people I have spoken to have found it more difficult to make close, tight knit groups of friends at big schools. Small schools force students to become friends because you see everyone everywhere. At the same time, larger schools have larger pools of students, which means that if you can meet enough of them you are bound to make some good friends.

Another benefit of such a large school is that there is always something to do. For people who are into partying, there is always a party to go to. College students are all wrapped up in the whole drinking and escaping from the real world concept. The result of this is that there is always a party happening somewhere, it just needs to be found. These parties, however, are often not very intimate, where people are constantly meeting simple acquaintances, rather than making good friends. Larger schools socially tend to lend themselves to lots of acquaintances, rather than the many friendships that are made at a small school, which has a tighter knit community.

With regards to classes, both choices and sizes, the opinions are differing. At a small school such as mine, classes range from having four students to having 30. Conversely, schools like UMass have classes with 500 kids or more. The benefit of attending a small school in this respect is the special attention with teachers. The majority of students are on a first name basis with the teachers. Since the teachers know the students in their classes, kids are more likely to attend. This can lead to a higher GPA and better attendance rates. Classes with 500 kids make it difficult for any student to build a rapport with a teacher, never mind try to get extra help. The extra help aspect is a great benefit of attending a small school. Teachers have office hours where students can attend and ask questions, however, at a large school there can often be problems in scheduling. With a small school there are fewer students, which lends itself to more one on one time with the teacher.

Sports are another huge pull for big name schools. There is a concept termed the “Flutie effect” in which excellence on the athletic field can actually lead to an increase in student applications. Although this is not necessarily completely true in all circumstances, some would argue that big sports programs are a very attractive factor which draws students to a particular school. Games are exciting at big schools, drawing huge crowds and lots of excitement. People who don’t even have affiliations with the schools often will attend. A small school, such as a Division II or Division III school doesn’t attract many people towards their athletic programs. A school such as the one I attend has facilities similar in size to those of many high schools I am familiar with. The games do not draw much attention, unless they have some importance to the school, such as a playoff game. Big schools have the ability to generate huge amounts of revenue from their sports programs, yet smaller schools do not have this luxury as the majority of attendees are parents of players or students.

Recognizability of big name schools is another huge benefit. It is not necessarily of utmost importance where an applicant goes to school, but at a job interview it is helpful to attend a school which is nationally recognizable. It can promote conversation and higher student rankings (with regards to GPA) is more meaningful at a school where the student body is so much bigger. At a big school, a person who is top of their class may be competing against around 10,000 other students, while at a smaller school they may only be competing against 500. Class rank would be more meaningful at a bigger school in that respect.

Larger schools generally provide more opportunities to students. This can be taken in several ways, such as with regards to extracurricular activities. At a school like UMass there are countless activities that students can participate in, such as hundreds of clubs and organizations. At schools with smaller student bodies, there are fewer organizations and less clubs to participate in. Career services are a great tool at both schools, however, larger professional organizations seem to be more inclined to give their services towards bigger schools. The reasoning for this could be that there is a larger student body to choose from. Smaller schools seem to get offers from less prominent organizations. I take this from my own experience, where I notice that the majority of jobs and internships present are from small, local organizations. Conversely, friends at big name schools say that the career services provide opportunities from huge organizations which are well known throughout the country.

I would be interested in hearing about the experiences that people are having (or had) at their own school, regardless of how big or small it is. Are there any after effects of the school you attended have had on your professional career (such as ability or inability to acquire a particular position you were going for)? I look forward to hearing your sides of the story.

Why Americans dislike soccer

Soccer (football) is the single most popular sport in the world. In the United States, however, soccer has failed to become very popular. I have my own ideas of the reasoning for this. It does not come down to publicity, but rather the nature of the sport.

People in the United States love exciting, violent sports. Some of the most popular sports in the US are american football, hockey, basketball and baseball. Baseball is one exception, but basketball, hockey and football are extremely physical sports. Lacrosse and the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) are two other up and coming sports, constantly growing in popularity, which are also very physical.

Soccer can be looked at as one of the least physical sports, when compared to these others. Most people assume it is not physical, however, a soccer fan can see that it actually is. Slide tackles can be extremely violent, sometimes resulting in graphic injuries. In any sport in the United States, injuries are taken very seriously. People do not act injured or pretend to become injured throughout the course of play. Soccer, on the other hand, is very different.

People, in my opinion, don’t like soccer because there are constantly stoppages in play for injury. Watching a game can be extremely frustrating when players embellish injuries in an attempt to get a call from the referee. Faking injuries is not part of the game in the United States, and seeing people fake injuries in soccer leads to stereotyping soccer players are babies or wimps.

I personally am a huge soccer fan and find the games to be very exciting. I also find it very frustrating to watch games in which players ‘flop’ to try to get calls. This usually doesn’t accomplish anything but slowing the game down. I feel like pulling my hair out seeing a player fake an injury and rolling around on the ground, as if they will lose their leg in the near future. Once they realize they aren’t getting the call, they get back into the game as if nothing happened.

They are taking away from the excitement and fast paced aspects of the game of soccer, which gives the game a bad reputation. Soccer will not gain popularity unless there are less players faking injuries. A rule change where players are penalized for faking injuries could be one solution to the problem, however, it seems to be very ingrained in the game. Here is a video of soccer players faking some injuries. Come to your own conclusion.

Mansfield High students will lose more than just sports

Yesterday, the Mansfield School Committee voted to eliminate all high school sports in an attempt to lower their budget. Mansfield high school has a history of excellence in sports, which will come to an end if this vote is upheld. According to the Boston Herald, “Cutting sports is expected to save the district $643,471. The elimination of other extra-curricular activities will save $20,000. Town Meeting has the final say on the school budget when it meets May 4” (Ventura, Crimaldi and Mason. “Mansfield votes to dropkick sports programs” April 15th, 2010).

In making these cuts, the students of Mansfield high school will lose more than just their athletics program. The benefits of sports are endless. Obesity rates in this country are out of control, with one in three adults being obese. Sports are important in keeping kids active along with teaching them life lessons. By cutting sports, the message sent is that they are low priority, along with the health of the students. High school athletics only require physical education for the first two years of attendance. By eliminating sports, along with the lack of physical education kids are receiving, these kids will have few ways to get their necessary exercise.

There are countless social benefits of playing team sports as well.

“Youth sport programs can be used to foster positive youth development and build character…youth sport also has the potential to provide several of the internal assets, such as achievement, motivation, integrity, honesty, responsibility and restraint (Wells & Banning, 2008, p.192).” There is more to this than just an activity for fun.

Furthermore, sports can be used for “…providing opportunities for enhancing self-concept and developing social skills, such as working with others; leadership; and interaction between peers. In addition to social skills, youth sports can offer educational merit because they are capable of proving the moral, physical, mental and cognitive development opportunities that can lead to a successful adulthood” (Wells & Banning, 2008, p.192)).

At a time when sports are starting to use captains and leadership is developed, it is important for kids to experience this. Working together, as a team is a concept that people learn at a young age and use for their entire lives. Teamwork is used in any business setting. The lessons they have learned from playing sports are directly related to their applications into their future lives in different settings. Taking responsibility, sportsmanship, and teamwork are just a few of the benefits that come from team sports participation.

The final thing that these kids are going to be losing is a time killer. It sounds silly but when given free time, kids are often going to do what they want. This can be bad news, as bored kids tend to get into trouble.

“Mahoney found that participation in extracurricular activities was related to lower levels of offending. (talking about criminal offenses) Furthermore, in a study investigating teenagers physical activity, Pate found that cigarette smoking, marijuana use and perception of low academic performance were associated with those who engaged in little to no physical activity. Pate noted that providing structures and supervised after-school activities may reduce adolescents’ exposure to potential risk behaviors” (Burton & Marshall, 2005, p.51).

These are all negative results that can come from lack of physical activity, which is something that is important to these youth. There is another vote on May 4th to see if the school district can find alternative ways of finding the money. Clearly there is more to high school sports than just having fun. The results of cutting all high school sports will have huge effects on the kids, which is why kids will be losing more than just sports.

Wells, M., & Arthur-Banning, S. (2008). The Logic of Youth Development: Constructing a Logic Model of Youth Development through Sport. Journal of Park & Recreation Administration, 26(2), 189-202. Retrieved from Hospitality & Tourism Complete database.

Burton, J., & Marshall, L. (2005). Protective factors for youth considered at risk of criminal behaviour: does participation in extracurricular activities help?. Criminal Behaviour And Mental Health: CBMH, 15(1), 46-64. Retrieved from MEDLINE database.

Video update

Thanks for all the support and keep reading! In the meantime, leave some suggestions of things you want to read about and for me to blog about.

My different soccer experiences in different countries

I have attended football (soccer) games on three different continents. I have been to two games in the United States, five games in England, and one game in Lima, Peru. The different experiences I have gained in the separate countries is striking.

Upon my attendance to the Revolution game Saturday night, I couldn’t help but notice who it was being marketed towards. The way it was promoted is as a family event. There were people of all ages at the game, playing upbeat music, with family-friendly chants. The Revolution section was chanting “Go Rev’s” and “Rev-o-lution!” It was great and a very fun time. Parents are encouraged to bring their young children and no one is afraid to show their pride. Everyone had jerseys on and attire sporting their favorite team. This experience at this game could not be any different than those I experienced in other countries.

The games I have attended in England were scary at times. I attended games of a couple of notoriously violent clubs, such as Millwall FC, West Ham United and Charlton FC. Very few people wear the jersey of their favorite team because if you are caught walking down the wrong street, you could be in serious trouble. Some people sported their teams colors, but very few. I couldn’t help but notice how different it is from over here. Everyone at sporting events in the US wears their favorite teams colors. You wear the jersey or anything to support them. Over there it is not like that.

Me at the Charlton grounds

At the England games it was anything but a family affair. I will spare the details, but let’s just say that I learned lots of new, colorful language. The games are extremely intense. The entire crowd is pulsating as the game moves on. Everyone is chanting in unison at all times. I took so many videos, and photos, but none of them can convey the environment like being there does. The people are so passionate about their sport it is unbelievable. Every time a goal is scored the place goes insane. People are so loud, chanting, cursing at the other team, and high-fiving all around. It is similar to a score here (minus the cursing of the other team and chanting). Everyone is jumping up and down. Soccer is a game in which one goal is crucial and can decide an entire match, which is why people get so emotional about each individual one.

Me at Charlton

One thing I noticed in the different games I attended is the fact that the game is almost a chanting match. Each side tries to out-chant or out-sing the other. They have countless numbers of different songs and chants specified to their specific club. When you think of a chant here in the US, most of them are just a few words that are repeated. Overseas there are chants that are entire songs, lasting for more than a minute. If the away team scores and they begin to chant, the home team will try to drown them out with their chants (since they have so many more people present at the game). These people live for their team.

Another thing I noticed was the frequency of fights. In England and Peru the police took measures to separate the fans, as they place the away fans in their own section. They are guarded by security and often have empty sections separating them from the home fans. Barbed wire is also used (in Peru). People still try to get to the other fans and fight them, however, their attempts were often thwarted and they were arrested. I witnessed a big brawl in a game in England, in which some away fans were sitting amongst the home fans. They must have begun to cheer when a goal was scored as a brawl broke out. The police arrested several people and it was very intense. In Peru, people were constantly fighting in the stands, striking at each other and then running away.

My friend Scott and I attended an away game that was Charlton FC v. Brentford. This game was at Brentford and Scott and I were supporters of Charlton. The away grounds only allocate a certain number of tickets for away fans and we were unable to buy any. The only option was to sit in the home grounds. We decided to sit in the front row and be as silent as possible. We were not allowed to cheer when Charlton scored and had to act disappointed. If Brentford scored we had to stand up and clap quietly, holding in our actual displeasure. I will not lie, it was very scary. A few supporters of Charlton were discovered behind us and they were rushed by angry Brentford fans. The police quickly surrounded the Charlton fans and escorted them off the premises. I was afraid for my life and knew that if we messed up once and let our emotions get a hold of us, we would be in trouble. We were surrounded by Brentford fans and we were in the front row. We were whispering that if we accidentally had an outburst of joy, we would run onto the field to escape the fans.

Millwall FC

The violence in soccer is unbelievable in other countries. People are probably familiar with the fact that there are firms (groups of fans of particular teams) who have their own territories and actually organize fights with other firms of other teams. This is evident in the popular movie Green Street Hooligans. I didn’t see any of this, but the people are definitely violent. Screaming obscenities and curses at the other team’s fans in the street is nothing unusual, along with in the games. If an away fan is discovered to be sitting in the home fan’s area, they are attacked and beaten until the police arrive. There is no mercy.

To me, I am shocked that people are willing to fight, be arrested, or even die for their clubs. It is clearly a way of life. I call myself a die-hard sports fan, but let’s not lie, the day I am faced with the ultimatum of Boston Bruins or my life… I’m taking my life and heading for the hills (where maybe I’ll discover they have a channel with the Bruins on). People over there see it differently.

The game is marketed completely differently. Here I see it being marketed as a family event, however, in other countries it is far from it. The games are violent and really are no place for a child. There are kids present at the games, however, they don’t seem to be the types of kids you think of here. Let’s just say they are not as “soft” as the kids around here.

Alianza Lima (Peru)

If you ever get the opportunity to go to a soccer game in another country, I would definitely recommend it. They are extremely fun (if you can get past the initial culture shock) and a great experience, not to mention the prices are not out of control over there like they are here.

If you have any personal football (soccer) or other sports stories from other countries feel free to share them in the comments section.

Recap of the New England Revolution home opener

Gillette Stadium

On Saturday night, after the career fair at Gillette Stadium, all attendees to the Sport Management and Entertainment Lecture and Career Fair received complimentary tickets to the New England Revolution’s season opener against Toronto FC. The game, the environment and the weather were all great.

The game started off slow, as Toronto had a 1-0 lead at halftime. The Revolution picked it up, however, as they managed to score four unanswered goals, including a hat trick by the Rev’s Zack Schilawski. The game and environment were both exciting and the fans were into it. In the section behind the home goal, it was packed with excited fans who were chanting, banging drums and singing. Their enthusiasm is exactly what has been missing from professional soccer in the United States for years.

There were groups of men who were walking around with huge drums, banging them, chanting and getting the crowd riled up. It was exciting and they were able to keep the fans into it, even as the Revolution were losing. All the fan enthusiasm worked, as the Revolution were able to take the lead and pour it on. They finished the game with a 4-1 win.

Rev's game

The organization has done a great job creating a positive environment at the games. There were families, young children and people of all ages attending. It was great to see lots of people sporting Revolution attire, showing support for their team.

After the lecture, I had been thinking about business techniques and how the organization is run, rather than the athletic aspects of the game. I began to look around the stadium to see tons of advertisements. They were well placed along the sidelines, for optimal viewing potential. There were also large advertisements throughout the stadium. They have done a great job of acquiring sponsors, which I’m sure was no feat with the athletic success of the Patriots organization.

The stadium is very well made. I am a Patriots fan so I have attended games there before. A fan can sit anywhere in the stadium and be able to see the field, which is a great design. The inside of the stadium is very easy to navigate. They have well placed bathrooms and the availability of food is never ending. They have tons of choices and the food is good.

The overall experience was great, and the game was much more exciting than I had thought it would be. I definitely would recommend going to a game.

An update on the colored resume dilemma

In the days before the career fair, I was seriously contemplating whether or not I wanted to bring some colored resume’s to give to the big organizations. In the end I decided against it, but I did wonder what the reactions would be. I took action and asked a few of the different representatives at various organizations how they would react upon receiving a colored resume. The results were mixed.

One representative said that it would make a good conversational piece and be a great way to start talking. It also shows personality. If you have a good elevator speech down pat that you can bring into play upon handing the rep a colored resume, then do it!

It would be pointless to mail in a colored resume, however, which was another response. I had no intentions of doing this, but it is a good point to address. The colored resume is only effective (if at all) in a big crowd. If a person at any job receives one single resume in the mail that is lime green, they are going to think it is a joke. There is no need to do that, as they are not receiving hundreds at a time.

The responses by the people I talked to were different. Some would be interested, others thought it would be silly. It comes down to the person who you are talking to and their personal view on the issue. Everyone is going to have a different take on it. Also, it seems that it would be more effective on younger representatives and employers, as (no offense to the older generations) they seem to be more open minded towards different things.

If you have the ability to support your case after handing the resume in, then by all means go for it. If you just hand in a green resume and can’t articulate your reason for doing so or how it can translate into your ability to work for that company, then it probably isn’t a good idea to do so. The prime place to do so would probably be at a career fair.

I have to say I wish I had tried it out, however, there is no use in dwelling on the past. Next career fair, depending on the setting, the companies present, and my need for a job, might be different!

What do you think about the idea? Give some feedback in the Comment section.

I think this might start a trend. You heard it here first.

THE COLORED RESUME IS A DAN SULLIVAN IDEA!

Recap of the Career Fair at Gillette Stadium

The career fair at Gillette Stadium, in my opinion, was less useful than the lecture. Career fairs in general are a difficult place to get attention from an employer, especially because there are so many people there. The lines for some of the organizations present were hundreds of people long, which is potentially hours of waiting. Each person gives a resume and talks a bit about the job/internship opportunities. It is very difficult to stand out, get all your questions answered and make a good impression all in such a short time. By the end of one of these job fair’s companies like ESPN could easily have 350 resumes, along with having talked to hundreds of applicants. What are the chances of remembering every single applicant? Basically none. This is the problem with career fairs.

I feel that it would be much more beneficial to speak to someone within an organization at another time, other than at a job fair. You will have more time (depending on their schedule) to speak with them, be able to make more of a connection and be able to hand in a resume alone (without 350 others).

I have to admit, when we began to walk around at the job fair, I was shocked at how many people were lined up in certain areas. Some of the big name organizations present were: the Boston Celtics, Eastern College Athletic Conference, ESPN, New England Revolution, and New England Patriots. The lines for each one of these organizations were very long, having waits that could have been up to a couple hours. I was pretty disappointed by this, seeing that I could not give in my resume or talk to a representative unless I waited for hours.

The end result was Nick (my good friend and fellow Sport Management student at Endicott College) and I decided to leave temporarily and come back for the New England Revolution game. We stayed at the actual career fair for only about a half hour. We visited a couple different booths, such as the Lowell Devils, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and Radio 850 WEEI. I think the funniest part about the career fair is I left my college with 13 printed copies of my resume. I was worried I would not have enough, since it couldn’t hurt to just give out the resume. I returned with 11. The lines were too long at most of the places for us to be interested in waiting. I want to get individual attention, not just be another face in the crowd.

Soon to come: Update on the Resume question and Revolution game recap.

Recap of the Sport Management Lecture at Gillette Stadium

Yesterday, I attended the Sport Management and Entertainment Executive Lecture and Career Fair at Gillette Stadium. There were around 500 attendees and the lecture featured four different speakers: Brian Bilello, Jennifer Ferron, Stacey James, and Murray Kohl. I enjoyed the lecture as it was good to hear some stories about how different people in management positions arrived there. Nothing groundbreaking came up, but it was informative. They put a lot of emphasis on networking. At the lecture, I took a few notes on the back of my program about some of the interesting pointers they had.

An interesting thing that I noticed was the common theme about not necessarily starting in sports. Several of the speakers did not get their break in sports, as they started in other areas, such as communications, engineering, and economics. Many of them also did not get their big break by joining a professional or even semi-professional sports team. This is an important thing to understand for myself and other similar young sport management and sport business professionals. It is important to work your way up into the industry, as it is impractical to think you will start out earning lots of money at some big name organization like the New England Patriots.

A question was asked about interviewing for a potential job at a big time organization and whether or not they had any advice. The main thing was to put your feelings and emotions as a fan behind you when interviewing and working at a job. When an employee has strong feelings for an organization, and has trouble putting their “fan side” behind them, they often lose touch of their purpose at the organization. You are not joining the organization to get closer to it, you are there to work, further their business, and help the organization grow. People who are focused on being a fan, rather than being a valuable employee lose sight of their job, which severely detracts from their performance and ability to positively impact the organization. They need to focus on what their job entails, not the fact that it is your favorite team and favorite players.

The importance of networking could not have been stressed enough throughout the duration of the lecture (which lasted about an hour). A major point was the need to call people in different organizations, get an idea of their job, and build a rapport with them. By simply reaching out, asking questions, and putting yourself out there, you can create a very positive relationship with various people. It is important to talk to the right people, however, and ask the right questions. If you go up to a random person who works security for the Patriots, chances are they won’t be of much help to you. Talking to the head of human relations, however, would be a different story. Don’t just ask what openings they have for jobs. You need to get information about what their job is, why they like it, and how they got there. By calling and asking for advice, you get the attention of important people in whatever organization(s) you talk to. In getting their attention, although they may not have openings at the current time, they may be more likely to call you later when jobs do open up.  It is also good to ask for suggestions, as a potential in the field, about what you can do to break into the industry. That leads me to my next point.

A question was asked about what some tips are for getting your foot in the door (for a young professional attempting to enter the sport business field). The answer was, “Networking, luck, get out there, stand out in the crowd, be prepared and be different.” They went on to say it is important to join organizations, which is a great opportunity to meet people. Another important thing to do is volunteer your time. By doing this, you get your name out and gain valuable experience in the field. This is a great way to improve your resume (through volunteer experiences).

In interviewing, the most important thing is to prepare. Do your research on the organization. This is very important, as you need to know the organization in and out. If you are interviewing for a job with your favorite sports team, they don’t want to know the fact that they have won three Super Bowl Championships in the last 10 years, they want to know what you can do to improve their organization. They don’t want sports nuts, they want good employees who are valuable to the organization.

The lecture was fun and interesting. It was great to hear some opinions of professionals in the field that I am looking to enter. I hope this recap is of help to you.

Upcoming articles: Recap of the career fair, update on the colored resume question, and a recap of the Revolution game.

Dressed for the lecture and career fair

Random question of the day

You are an employer, working at a job fair. At these job fairs, you are working for a large company which receives many applicants. At a given event such as the one you are working, you get 100 resume’s during the three hours you are working. It is going to be very time consuming to look through each and every resume and you are pressed for time. Here is the question:

How would you react if an applicant handed you a resume printed on lime green, orange, yellow, pink or light blue paper? (keep in mind this applicant is fully qualified for the job at hand, with a great resume)

From the applicants perspective, the name of the game is making your resume stand out. The resume is great, but when printed on white paper it could be lost in the sea of others, which just may be brushed over, so you decided to try to get the attention of the employer with something a little different. The colored paper is meant to get the attention of the employer, enough that they will read the resume and remember the applicant.

A little food for thought. Leave your response in the comments section!

My Youtube account

Here is my first video blog for my youtube account. For any of you with youtube accounts feel free to subscribe. My account is: “Dansullivansm”

I should have some new blogs up soon so check it out!

Making the most of your college experience

As my college education nears its end (May of 2011), I have recently been doing a lot of thinking about how I could have made more of it. Let’s be honest, college is expensive and it doesn’t take a private detective to figure that out. Since it costs so much to attend college, why not make the most of it?
I personally have recently begun to realize how I could have made better choices throughout my college experience which will shape my entry and employment in the professional job market. I realize that as a Junior I am not finished yet and can still make changes to my education, however, had I come to these realizations a year or two earlier I feel I would be much more comfortable. Granted, as a freshman or sophomore, the majority of kids are still caught up in the awe of being in college, being away from parents and being unsupervised. I personally did this as well, focusing more so on taking easy classes, filling the requirements, and doing just enough to get by.

If I could go back and change some things, thus far, in my college education here are a few things I would do:

1. Pick up at least one other minor. Right now I have a minor in Spanish (and a major in Sport Management). The real reason why I picked up the minor was because, all through high school I took spanish and found it interesting. When I got to college I decided to stick with it because I enjoy it. It was not brought to my attention until half way through my junior year that I only need six courses within this area to count it as a minor. My first reaction was, six classes? If I had known it was only six classes I would have taken up four other majors! In talking about this idea with a family member, who happens to be a Professor at Northeastern University, it was brought to my attention that taking all these minors gets lost in the shuffle. It is useful to have two minors, but after that it could be a little excessive. In the end, however, I do wish I had another minor. It is not difficult to pick up another minor (all colleges and universities are different with their minor requirements, so talk to your advisor) and it can definitely be beneficial in the long run. Take for instance an employer looking at two equally qualified applicants. One has only a Sport Management major, and one has a Sport Management Major and a Business minor as well. The Business minor is important in the sporting field where the business concepts are directly relevant to everyday operations. The bottom line is, talk to your advisor, think about what you want to do and if you don’t know, look at a few different things. I personally wish I had looked into a minor in Business or Marketing, to compliment my Sport Management concentration.

2. Make the most of your credits. In college, credits are expensive. Some can range into the thousands of dollars per credit. Don’t take useless classes, take things that are interesting to you and potentially useful in the field that you wish to enter. I would say one of the most useful courses I have taken is First Aid and Safety. I was CPR/AED Certified at the end of it, it was interesting, and it is directly relevant to sports, as we all know how frequent sports injuries occur. Every once in a while, it is okay to take a break or not have a semester that is going to kill you, but don’t drop the ball and lose sight of the ultimate goal of college: to prepare yourself for the real world.

3. Understand the purpose and importance of college. College is intended to prepare you for the real world and get you ready for the job market. College should not be used as a time to relax, enjoy yourself, drink excessively without being called an alcoholic or lounge around on the weekends. The time spent in college should be utilized making contacts, broadening your knowledge and making the most of it. With costs of college ranging from a few thousand to upwards of 50 or 60,000 dollars per year, make the most of what you are paying for. If you want to do drink and be lazy, take a year off and do it, then go to college after. I am not saying at all that kids should not have fun in college. College has been one of the best times of my life, but I do wish I had put just a little extra effort into my schoolwork.

4. Get involved. Balancing time is a huge problem for kids, especially for some who have never lived away from home with parents to push them along. Many students have time management issues, constantly having to fight off procrastination, resulting in late nights of studying. It has been proven that kids with more on their plate balance their time more effectively, resulting in an improvement of grades. This should not be the only reason for doing things outside of classes, but it is a legitimate point. Colleges and universities offer hundreds of different activities geared solely towards the benefit and enjoyment of the students, so make the most of it. Join some clubs, get involved, and get active. Intramural sports are a great way to expend some energy. I personally participate in an organization called REACH Peer Education which focuses on how to get college students to live in a more healthy manner. Another great point about joining these clubs is you get to meet other kids, who are often very similar to yourself. I have met some very close friends participating in intramural sports, along with other activities on campus. Talk to campus activities or go on the college website to find out more information about getting involved.

5. Get in touch. Although you may not think it right now, college professors are extremely intelligent people, who have a lot to bring to the table. This can be lost in the fact that the majority of students can’t get past the fact that their college professor just assigned 300 pages of reading due in two days. Looking past the work done in class, get to know your professors. I would say it is much easier at a school such as mine (only 1,800 students) to get in touch, but still make an effort. Professors like when students come after class for extra help or to ask questions because it shows they care and are interested. Professors are also great contacts to make, as many of them know a lot of people in the fields in which you wish to enter (a great networking tool right at your fingertips). If you find a particular job you may be interested in, ask your professors if they know anyone in that area, and maybe they can introduce you. Your professors are another great resource in attempting to shape your direction in which you wish to go (professionally). The majority of professors have held many jobs in their field of study, so go ask some questions and find some information.

6. Internships. My school requires three internships throughout the four year tenure of a student. Two of these internships are winter internships (120 hours long). The final internship, often completed during senior year, is a full semester long internship. Some schools do not require internships but they are extremely useful in helping you as a student gage what direction you wish to go in. My freshman year I had a major of Criminal Justice so I did my first internship at a court. I switched to Sport Management in my sophomore year, so I was a little bit behind. In choosing internships, I find that I was always waiting until the last minute to start looking. This would result in me having to settle for an internship that was not as potentially useful as I could have acquired. Start your internship search early and ask around. Ask people if they know of places you could work at or know people employed by potential internship sites. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Internships force you to accept the responsibilities you would normally take on working in the job, but for a shorter amount of time. They are great opportunities to meet people, learn to interact in the organization, and gain experience in the field (amongst many other benefits of internships). One other great benefit is they help you build a resume. Doing internships can help you decide whether or not you want to stay in this major, what direction you wish to go with it, and help you understand what you will be doing upon entrance into the workforce. The bottom line is do some internships and gain some experiences, as they will be extremely valuable to you in your professional career.

I hope these points can be of use to you, as I wish I had realized all of these things earlier. Enjoy and give me some feedback!

Networking events in New York, New Jersey, and Gillette Stadium Sport Management Career Fair

For any of you in the New York area… here is a new networking event. It is being hosted by “The Business of Sports” and taking place on April 28th from 6:30-9:30 at Slattery’s Midtown Pub, 8 East 36th St, New York, NY. I will not be attending but I believe you need to RSVP if you wish to. For more information copy and paste the link at the bottom of this blog into your web browser.

By the way: just bought my ticket for the Sport Management and Entertainment Lecture and Career Fair at Gillette Stadium. The ticket was $25 and I look forward to listening to the lecture, meeting some people at the career fair, and enjoying the New England Revolution game afterwards (complimentary tickets with the purchase of your ticket for the career fair and lecture).

Saturday will be a busy day for me. Going to the Boston Bruins game, heading straight to the career fair after at Gillette Stadium, then attending the New England Revolution game at Gillette. I will be spent. Lots of sports and lots of networking (hopefully).

LINK BELOW

Events

There is another event, which I discovered via my Twitter account. This is sponsored by the Lakewood Blueclaws, which are a minor league baseball team, an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The event is a Sport Management and Networking Night, taking place on June 17th between 4:00 p.m and 7:00 p.m. in Lakewood, New Jersey. There are limited numbers of tickets available, so get them as soon as possible. They will have guest speakers such as Joe Favorito, Russell Scibetti, Isaac Satten, and Julie Lanzillo to name a few. TIckets are $19.95, and they include food. Those who are interested should RSVP by May 31st. More information can be found at the link I have provided below.

LINK BELOW

Click to access sportsnetworkingnight.pdf

I hope you all had a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover! Enjoy your week!

Article review: “How LinkedIn will fire up your career”

How LinkedIn will fire up your career

The link is for an article titled “How LinkedIn will fire up your career,” which is written by Jessi Hempel on Money.CNN.com. It is a great piece expressing the importance of using the networking tool LinkedIn. For those who have never heard of it, LinkedIn is a great way to keep in touch with other professionals who you know and have met in the past. It is a social networking site, similar to Facebook, yet geared more towards professionals. In the article the author has a couple very powerful quotes. “To put a sharper point on it: If you don’t have a profile on LinkedIn you’re nowhere.” He later goes on to say “If you’re serious about managing your career, the only social site that really matters in LinkedIn.” Recently I created a LinkedIn account and have already begun to see the importance and use of it. By joining groups and introducing yourself you can get your name out to a large amount of people. There are so many opportunities to networking it is great. There are countless numbers of groups, geared towards basically any topic. I have joined several groups geared towards Sport Management in the Boston area, along with other groups for local professionals in general. I can already see the difference it has made, as in just a few days, I have made several valuable new connections. I would definitely recommend this article for anyone who is skeptical. The site also works off of using the connections that you are connected with. This is the whole idea of “a friend of a friend.” Take for instance that I am interested in getting a job at a particular company. I can search Jobs on LinkedIn and the results will show all of the employees of that job with profiles. Some of them will have numbers next to their name which dictates their degree. A first degree is someone who is a part of my network (one of my contacts). A second degree would be someone who is a contact of one of my contacts. If I find this particular job, and see there is a second degree contact, one of the tools of the site is I can ask for an “Introduction.” By asking for this, I request an introduction from the contact in my network to the one I am interested in meeting. This method can make it much easier to get connected. Try it out for yourselves! If you want to find my personal profile on LinkedIn, it can be found at the bottom of this post. Feel free to add me to your network or send a message with any questions, concerns or comments.

Enjoy the article and tell me what you think. There will be more to come!

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dan-sullivan/18/5b/a0b

(copy and paste the link above into your web browser to view my LinkedIn profile)

Events

Attending conferences, symposiums and other various networking events are a great way to meet new people. A major problem that I ran into in searching for these events, however, was finding one’s that are local. In order to find them, I often had to do lots of research, which was often frustrating and time consuming. I want to use this blog as a way for people to share events that they know of. Share the details in the comments section of this post, i.e. the location, date and time, and price of admission. A brief overview of the speakers, organization hosting the event, and other details would also be helpful. I look forward to hearing about these events.

The purpose of this blog

The main reason that I created this blog is because I have a new found interest in networking. Networking is crucial to success in almost any field, especially one pertaining to Sport Management. The industry is very selective, with many job seekers and relatively few available positions. Everyone wants a big time, high paying job, and as the old saying goes, “It’s not about WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know.” This blog is going to be used for networking mainly and attempt to improve upon that “WHO” aspect of the saying.

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