Selling Fathead

The SMBA 2010 class has been doing some creative marketing work with our Sports Marketing professor Dan Bruton. Recently, we were tasked with generating ideas for Fathead on how they might license their brand to other companies with similar values and target markets.

After much research and discussion regarding demographics, fit and the like, each group presented their laundry list of ideas to Dan and he gave us feedback on which ideas to pursue further and what he thought Fathead was looking for.

Over the weekend, the best ideas were flushed out completely and formulated into a presentation and take away deliverable for Linda Castillon, Chief Licensing Officer at Fathead, LLC.

Linda’s visit to class was tremendous, it was fascinating to hear about Fathead’s start-up phase and how they managed to became an industry leader and licensing giant in such short time. Linda talked about Fathead’s vision and where she sees sports marketing and licensing heading in the future. It was extraordinary to learn about Linda’s career and how licensing is such an intricate and cooperative part of the sports industry from a first-hand executive perspective.

This was our second formal presentation to an industry executive in Dan Bruton’s class. To be honest I was just as nervous the second time round. It was great to feel the pressure of a work environment again, and to now know what it’s like to be staring out at the Chief Licensing Officer of Fathead is truly priceless.

The presentations were great and our ideas were well received by Linda and Dan. There was even talk of Linda taking the proposals back to Fathead headquarters. Just another example of how the SMBA program is helping to teach us about - and connect us to - the sports industry.

David Carter, SMBA 2010

Aflac All-American Baseball Classic

SDSU Sports MBA students had an opportunity to work on-site at the 2009 Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic, which took place at PETCO Park while the the San Diego Padres were on the road. This highly scouted event consists of approximately 40 of the nation's top high school baseball stars who face off in an East vs. West match-up.

This was the third year the event was hosted in San Diego, and this year's event established a new record for attendance. The Sports MBA students worked closely with the San Diego Sports Commission, Aflac's sponsorship team and Blue Ridge Sports & Entertainment. This experience offered the students exposure not only to event operations, but also sponsorship activation and implementation.

With VIP access to Petco Park, students were granted the opportunity to experience hospitality lounges, media rooms, press boxes and on-filed access, gaining exposure to the various sectors in sports management. After a full day's work, the students watched the nationally televised game of some of MLB's most high anticipated future stars.

The game was closely contested, with the West scoring in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to an extra frame, only to see each team score in the 10th to end in a 4-4 tie. The box score is here.

An overwhelming amount of positive feedback and continued success in growing the event has given San Diego significant leverage to host the 2010 Aflac All American High School Baseball Classic next year. SDSU Sports MBA looks forward to being a part of the event in the future.

-Erika Lamiell (SMBA '10)

Erin Garvey (SMBA '10) prepares the giveaways for Aflac

I prepare some posters for the fans

BP prior to the game

Great seats!

Post-Game

USA - Mexico

After a long morning working on a market project, a group Sports MBA classmates got together to enjoy one of the most passionate challenges in international soccer: Mexico vs. USA. With the room being split between Mexico fanáticos and US supporters, Diego’s normally quiet neighborhood experienced the true stadium-like atmosphere that the sport creates all around the world...

As the US took an early lead, tension rose on the green side of the room, completely silencing Hugo Jimenez (SMBA '10), our classmate from Mexico for nearly ten minutes. When Castro scored a wonder of a goal to bring La Tricolor back to the game, the mood immediately changed and the noise level went back up.

The end of the first half and the entire second half were pretty much dominated by Mexico and I recall hearing one of the American students say “I should just start studying for Marketing now” at least a handful of times - we had a midterm scheduled for the following day. Since I'm from Brazil, I had no favorite team in the game, it was a relief that Mexico only scored at the very end of the game. This meant that as the host of the game watch party, I only had to deal with upset fans for the last few minutes, and we were all able to enjoy a very decent soccer game.

-Diego Masiero (SMBA '10)

Guest Blogger: Prof. John Francis

Prof. Francis teaches SMBA's International Business course, and led our trip to the Dominican Republic last month. The following is excerpted from his "Featured Professor of the Month" write up for the program e-newsletter, sent to alumni and current students.

SDSU SMBA 2010 with Ozzie Virgil, first Dominican to play in the Major Leagues, at the Mets facility.

“As you all have heard, for MGT 710 this year I had the unique opportunity (thanks to Scott [That's program director Scott Minto -ed]) to take Sports MBA V [class of 2010 - ed] to the Dominican Republic June 29 through July 10, for the purpose of assisting the San Diego Padres in their efforts to provide economic development and assistance to the community of Najayo.

Najayo, on the south coast of the DR, is the location of the Padres recently completed $9 million baseball park. The DR is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere with over 60% of its population living on $2/day and it’s even worse in Najayo with extreme poverty, poor sanitation and a lack of educational opportunities as just some of the prevailing norms.

I envisioned this class as meeting at the cross-section of international business, entrepreneurship and social responsibility. Scott and I wanted the class to be more than just a tour of a developing nation so we put the students in problem solving mode. And as you all know, I’ve always been keen on my classes taking a toolbox approach to developing their MBA skill set. Therefore, we created a field-based experiential class that leveraged the partnership with Padres and used the trip as a means for creating business cases that would provide tangible economic benefits for the community.

Part of the course overviewed the international business environment with an emphasis on understanding how an organization like Major League Baseball interacts with the unique culture, political and legal issues of a developing country. The students participated in a walking cultural and historical tour of Santo Domingo, saw the inner workings of Major League Baseball’s Dominican Republic front office, and met with MLB’s various business and media partners. We also got a visit from the U.S. ambassador to the DR who was an SDSU alum.

The group toured the N.Y. Mets and Detroit Tigers team facilities to get an idea of the different approaches MLB teams take. (Tiger fans should feel embarrassed, by the way.) All of these activities were designed to provide a context to the students for the importance of baseball in the DR, where one in seven major league players originate, and to highlight the various issues that MLB faces as it operates in this region.

The students also observed the business models and operations of several NGO organizations that are involved in MLB’s Dominican Development Alliance. The students walked through the barrios of Boca Chica observing micro-credit interactions with community entrepreneurs, were guided up coffee growing mountains by an alliance of growers, and lastly, saw a successful sustainable community development model created by IDDI and Arturo Fuente’s Cigar Family Foundation.

The final stage of the course centered on the Padres facility and the Najayo region. In teams, the students studied the community and its needs and then developed business ideas that would address the various needs and opportunities that were discovered. After multiple rounds of five minute elevator pitch presentations, the “final four” most feasible and impactful ideas were chosen by a panel of Padre, USAID, and NGO officials. Now the group is back in San Diego working to develop full blown business plans with the intention of implementing them with funds raised by the students and matched by a grant from USAID. On the last night of our trip, it was announced that Sports MBA IV graduate Veronica Nogueira was hired by the Padres to more fully develop community relations in the DR and to assist in the implementation aspects of these projects.

I think we all expect this type of field-based experiential course to become a mainstay of the program in the future. We can all see the benefits to the students for this type of unique “real world” international experience and how it can be used in recruiting and promoting our program. Some very interesting and creative ideas have emerged.”

If you have any questions, or would like to hear more about the projects and plans we put together, let us know in the comments!

Megan Moyer, SMBA 2010

Guest Speaker: SDSU Director for Compliance

A few weeks ago our class was fortunate enough to have Jay Larson, Associate Athletic Director for Compliance at San Diego State, come in to talk to the class about athletic compliance issues as well as the general structure and functions of the athletic department. Jay is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, and a former Division II basketball player. After graduating law school he was the Assistant Compliance Director at Minnesota for nearly four years. Last year he took over as the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance here at SDSU and is now one of the youngest Division I head compliance directors in the country.

The compliance office has become one of the most important and visible offices within major athletic departments in recent years and for a number of reasons. One is that college sports are seen by university administrators as the “front porch” of the university. In this capacity, athletics often serve as a powerful marketing tool for reaching potential students, soliciting donors and bringing visibility to the school at large. Poor monitoring and training of athletes and coaches within the athletic department often result in NCAA infractions which puts a black-eye on both the athletic department and the university for what is perceived as a, “lack of institutional control.” We need only look as far as USC, Florida State, and Alabama to see recent examples of how weak compliance oversight can have adverse affects on institutions, their athletes and coaches, and athletic departments.

What was great about his talk was that -- in addition to discussing general compliance issues -- Jay gave those of us interested in other aspects of the athletic department a broad picture of the administrative, marketing, business, academic and counseling functions. After Jay finished he fielded questions from the class and we didn’t disappoint. Jay spent an additional half hour talking with us about pressing issues in college sports today: remaining gender inequities despite Title IX, whether student-athletes should be paid, the disparities in revenues among college sports, whether the NBA age requirement is hurting college basketball, the prospects of a having a football playoff system, the APR and more. Since his talk to the class, Jay has brought two of us on board in the compliance office and another classmate has been brought on to help in the Athletic Business Department.

Matt Hiler
SMBA '10