The Paris study trip is an integral part of the MBA in Sport Management program at MBA ESG, Bangalore. The trip enables students to immerse themselves into the culture and business of France. The main idea behind the trip is to transform students into professionals who are able to work with businesses at a global level. The two weeks are spent productively through visits to companies, stadiums, and different sports organizations.
This post provides an overview of week one of the Paris trip.
MONDAY
Stade de France
Agenda – To see the international football stadium and understand its dynamic functionality in the context of Olympics 2024.
The visit offered an understanding of how a multifunctional stadium is developed, taking future planning into account. We discovered how the stadium is maintained and the safety measures followed during and post a match. We learnt different sources of revenue generation from the stadium and the management of team players and fans during a match. The Olympics 2024 village, being developed nearby, helped us understand how planning is being done for the Olympics.
Parc des Princes (World Cup Match)
Agenda – To see how official world cup football matches are conducted.
The live match helped us understand how the stadium security, concessions, and the entire official management works behind the scenes during the entire match which includes commentary and official changes during the match.
TUESDAY
VIP-Consulting
Agenda – To understand the functioning of the player management agency.
Speaker – Frank Hocquemiller, CEO & Founder, VIP-Consulting
The meeting helped us understand the function and rules of player management, mainly how young players are identified and managed. Besides this, we learnt the terms and conditions of the company how it manages players, different ways of revenue generation of the company, and the difference in the player management business in India and France.
National Assembly (French Parliament)
Agenda – To understand laws and diplomacy in terms of sports in the French Parliament.
Speaker – Deputy of Lorient, Gwendal Rouillard
The visit gave us a brief understanding of the functioning of the French Parliament and offered insights into the importance of sports for France, the relationship between India and France, and future opportunities in the field of sports between both the countries.
WEDNESDAY
BET4FUN
Agenda – To understand the vision and mission of sports start-ups.
Speakers – Phillip L and Alix Andlauer
The meeting gave us a good idea about the company, BET4FUN. It also shed light on the ideation and planning behind the set-up of the company. We discovered the requirements to become an entrepreneur and how investors have to be approached for a start-up.
beIN SPORTS
Agenda – To understand media production, broadcast, and technical support of sports media and how different mergers and acquisitions happen in different parts of the world.
Speakers – Arnaud Decker, Head of International Legal Affairs and Erick Jover, Director of Media Acquisition, beIN
We learnt the essentials required to develop sports content and how the live stream of sports content is broadcast across the world. The speakers also mentioned the important acquisitions by beIN Sports. They included how media channels are fighting against illegal streaming and the need for different types of content for different regions across the globe.
THURSDAY
Velodrome
Agenda – To understand the cycling arena and its utilization in Olympics 2024.
The cycling arena will be used in Olympics 2024 for BMX and cycling events. The visit enabled us to understand how, before the Olympics, the public-private partnership is helping the stadium run and maintain the arena. We learnt about different sources of revenue generation for the benefit of the venue. The areas where the France cycling team practices and how their rooms are maintained were included in the tour.
FRIDAY
Session by Gerard Houiller
Agenda – To understand the importance of organizational behaviour in sports companies.
The meeting helped us understand leadership and managerial qualities required in an organization, factors important for motivation, and how different people with different mind-sets are managed to successfully implement a task. The session also touched upon what positivity is and how it can be included within the organization to ensure successful results for a given task.
Red Bull
Agenda – To understand Red Bull and its involvement in sports.
Speaker – Thomas Kerisit, National Events Manager, Red Bull
The interactive Q&A session allowed us to learn about the founding of Red Bull, the different functional areas of Red Bull, how it is different from the other energy drink companies, the reasons for investing in extreme sports, impact of investment in football clubs like Salzburg and Leipzig, the vision and mission of Red Bull in future, and plans and ideas of Red Bull in India and France.
Session by Renault F1 Team
Agenda – To know more about the F1 team and how sponsorship is important in sports.
Speaker – Achille Dulac, Business Developer at Renault F1 Team
The meeting enabled us to understand the complete tournament cycle of F1 races. It made us realise the impact of IT technologies for the development of F1. We gained insights into the scouting practices of F1. We also learnt Renault’s investment plan and sponsorship deals for their F1 team. The partnership and sponsorship renewal plan every year, how it is improving, and how it is different from the other sporting events were other important points discussed in the meeting.
See what our students were up to during week two of their Paris study trip.
