Sports Biz Camps Helps High School Students Take the 1st Step Towards A Career In Sports

The organization aims to level the playing field through expanded education and career readiness program for high school students at no cost.

By: Ryan Luong


Dear Faithful Readers,

The world is still facing challenging times, but one thing is for certain – I couldn’t be more excited that sports are BACK. With the NWSL leading the way, we are slowly getting our favorite teams back and enjoying live sports again. I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy and have been staying strong these past few months.

On this edition of the Selling It feature, we take you through Sports Biz Camps and the program they created for high schoolers looking to make it big in the sports industry.

Best,

Carlie Dawson

Marketing and Communications Manager

carlie@sports-forum.com

P.S. – Don’t forget to stay engaged with us on social media! Follow @NatlSportsForum on TwitterInstagramLinkedin and like us on Facebook!


PROGRAM TITLE

Sports Biz Camps Helps High School Students Take the 1st Step Towards A Career In Sports


Objectives: 

Every All-Star starts somewhere. They come from anywhere. From little towns, to big cities, or even different countries. The point is, everyone starts their journey somewhere. So why not help cultivate, mentor, and train the next wave of these pros? That’s what Sports Biz Camps aims to do for high schoolers looking to pursue a career in sports business. Sports Biz Camps’ leadership team consists of industry professionals turned professors. Patrick Stack, Jeff Longo and Sam Renaut each carved out careers working in the sports industry before transitioning to roles in higher ed at Johnson & Wales University & Arizona State University, respectively. An overarching goal is to help guide, inform, and teach students regardless of their financial situations, ethnicity, or gender preference. Sports Biz Camps acknowledges that not everyone has the privilege to take unpaid internships or attend master’s programs when pursuing a career in the sports industry. That’s why Sports Biz Camps is 100% FREE. Sports Biz Camps hopes to get young professionals started on the right path towards a career in sports. Hopefully, these rookies become tomorrow’s All-Stars. 160 industry professionals delivered content, which included LIVE and recorded sessions. A major part of expanding diversity is modeling — helping diverse students see people that look like them. 45% females. 50% of pros were diverse from an ethnicity standpoint. The mission statement of Sports Biz Camps is “To increase social mobility for high school students through education while expanding diversity within the sports industry.”

Program Description: 

Sports Biz Camps kicked off in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2019. Attendees mainly consist of high school students looking to pursue a career in sports. Last year’s in-person event drew in 120 students from 35 different high schools in the area. There are seminars and tours of professional sports venues in Charlotte when the event is held in-person. As many face unexpected hurdles during this global pandemic, organizations have been forced to redraw their game plans. Sports Biz Camps would have hosted their in-person, three-day event in new expanded markets, but this year they took to the web to keep everyone safe. The Sports Biz Camps’ online virtual platform even added an extra day, running from July 14-17, 2020. Their website displays the day-to-day programming with different sessions that attendees can register for individually. Sports Biz Camps offer six different “Career Pathway Pillars” as well as helping students with personal and professional development. The daily schedule is jam-packed with compelling and engaging sports career content. Starting the day are morning emails intended for the registering of sessions, followed by an 11 AM all team meeting, then 2 PM locker room chats, 4 PM all team meetings, and wrapping it all up are recap emails. Throughout the day, campers are invited to check out the pre-recorded Chalk Talks. These less than 12-minute interviews offer a quick glimpse into the life of sports business professionals. Building on that, the Speaker Series Videos tab on the site provides more in-depth interviews with even more business professionals in sports. Campers not only attended but were also encouraged to complete assignments and compete with one another as part of the Career Explorer Pass Program. 220+ students completed more than 1,300 challenges over the course of the camp with the top participants receiving awards including $2,500 in micro-scholarships and gift subscriptions courtesy of The Athletic and Work in Sports.

Partnership: 

Being 100% free requires some assistance to help keep the program running. Sports Biz Camps has a list of sponsors that help to teach the sports biz pros of tomorrow. There are many sponsors but there are some prominent ones centered around the sports industry. These include companies and organizations like NASCAR, Dollar Bank, Navigate Research, Prodigy Sports and Fiesta Bowl Committee.

Results: 

Even with a new playbook in the virtual space, Sports Biz Camps performed with great success! The event came out to nearly 1000 attendees and more than 210 hours invested by the sports business professionals presenting. Of the 1000 attendees, 744 were students that tuned in from 37 different states! The rest of the attendees being teachers, parents, coaches, and professionals. The 45 pre-recorded videos drew in 4,000+ views.

Looking Ahead: 

Sports Biz Camps looks to expand to more virtual programming in Q3 and Q4 of 2020. Teams of industry professionals in each city will lead these local events and spearhead this project. This project will feature industry professionals in nine markets to create virtual 1/2 day workshops for interested students in their community. Since these programs will be virtual, others from around the country will also be invited to attend. Some of the target markets include Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Jersey Shore (NJ), Phoenix, Washington D.C. Keep your eye out for a Sports Biz Camp coming soon to a city near you! If you’re interested in helping to develop programming in partnership with the Sports Biz Camps team in your respective market, the team would love to connect!

Contact: 

For more information regarding Sports Biz Camps, please contact Patrick Stack, Co-Founder, at patrick@sportsbizcamps.com

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SPORTS FORUM

The National Sports Forum is the largest annual cross-gathering of the top team sports marketing, sales, promotions, and event entertainment executives from throughout the broad spectrum of teams and leagues in North America. Visit www.sports-forum.com for more information.

THE NSF SALUTES OUR PARTNER

Founded in 1999, Advent Creates Experiences That Move People®. The Nashville-based firm partners with collegiate athletic programs, professional sports teams, universities and more, offering an array of creative services from consulting to design/build to digital experiences. Advent’s collaborative process focuses on design thinking, co-creating with clients and innovative problem solving which empowers partners to engage audiences through experiential moments and storytelling spaces. Advent has delivered more than 2,000 projects including The Star in Frisco – Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters, The University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame and the Stanford Home of Champions. Learn more at www.adventmovespeople.com.