A first-hand account of our MBA students’ first week in college and the visit of Mr. Benjamin Sorge, Professor and Head of the MBA Sports Management program.
After our orientation and induction concluded on September 6, 2018, we had a workshop about “Sports Sponsorship Game” by Mr. Benjamin Sorge on September 7, at the Jain University campus. Mr. Sorge is the CEO and founder of CooliD Consulting – a consulting firm in the fields of marketing, e-commerce, and business development and heads the Sport Management program at MBA ESG, Bangalore.
We were divided into 6 teams namely Manchester United FC, Chelsea FC, Air France, Qatar Airways, Emirates Airways, and the agency. Throughout the game, we learnt the minute details about how sponsorships work in professional football, the importance of activation fee, visibility, and branding, CSR activities of clubs, clauses, terms, and conditions in transfers and also about the involvement of agencies.
Regular classes commenced from Tuesday as there was a bandh across the country on Monday. We started with our introduction followed by sharing our ambitions when it comes to the sports industry. We came across the analysis of the Indian sports industry as well as looked at some key insights of sports broadcasting and media. The next day we looked at some of the key stakeholders in the sports business and how the respective sports federations, government bodies, media as well as private sector and fans play a key role in shaping the sports industry. We discussed some case studies and examples such as how Olympique Lyon benefits from having their own stadium, key analysis about the Mumbai marathon, etc.
On Thursday, we had to give a presentation about current trends in the running industry in Bengaluru as well as propose a unique idea about hosting an event on our own in the same field. We were evaluated on the basis of details such as sponsoring, marketing, activation, target audience, security, and revenue generation to name a few. Overall, it was a great learning experience and gave us some sort of belonging with the career we have chosen. Every team came up with a variety of unique ideas and we were thoroughly appreciated by Benjamin sir. The next day, being the last day of his stay in India, he arranged for pizzas and coke for everyone during lunch. We also learnt about different organizational structures present in different leagues across the globe. Comparing the NFL structure and the IPL structure along with few others, gave us a proper idea about how these big-money leagues unfold.
To sum up the week, we were privileged to get hands-on experience from an industry insider and expert such as Benjamin sir. It was the perfect head start to our new life as sports managers.
