- Academic Programs
- Faculty & Research
- Alumni
- Executive Education
- Corporate Connection
- Newsroom
- About MIT Sloan
Quite a lineup: Jarrod Boland, Abby Phelps, Chris Johnson, and Ken Weinstein (along with Joshua Miller and Michael Beaser) were responsible for the Sports Business Conference being a big hit.
The MIT Sloan Sports Business Conference is actually the brainchild of Daryl Morey MBA '00 and Jessica Gelman HBS MBA '03, the conference's two alumni advisors. Daryl used to teach a class at Sloan on sports management, but a few years ago his career whisked him away to Houston, and so he and Jessica developed the idea of this conference as a way to continue to build a sports industry brand at MIT Sloan. This year was Sloan's second such conference.
Ken Weinstein MBA '08 and Jarrod Boland MBA '08 were both first-year co-organizers of the inaugural event in 2007, and Abby Phelps MBA '08 had organized the career panel. Abby, Ken, and Jarrod joined up with Chris Johnson MBA '08, Joshua Miller MBA '09, and Michael Beaser MBA '09 to form the team that organized this year's conference.
The team began conference planning in April, 10 months before the actual date. Organizing the conference required coordination between sports industry professionals (who sat on panels), the Dean's office (for official invitations), the SAO (for event planning and regulatory decisions), the Media Relations Office, the Corporate Relations Office, event sponsors, caterers, facilities managers, and many other parties to ensure that the conference was fully planned and that the weekend schedule could handle whatever contingencies might arise.
As a result of all the careful planning and tireless preparation, the conference was a great success. The conference hosted over 300 attendees and more than 50 panelists who represented a plethora of roles in the sports industry, including team operations, media, brand and revenue, and technology. The event prompted rave reviews and feedback from panelists, from attendees, and also from media coverage. The conference was covered by the Boston Globe (in print and online forms), Sports Business Journal, The Washington Times, Football Outsiders, MIT Technology Review, Baseball Musings, and StatSheet.com. The conference also prompted a television feature by Comcast New England.
Also, with two successful events under its belt, the MIT Sloan Entertainment, Media, and Sports Club has established its Sports Business Conference as a premiere event for both industry executives and students who are interested in learning more about the sports industry. This year's conference included executives from the following teams:
The MIT Sloan team hopes to continue with this success in 2009 and to continue to promote MIT Sloan as a place for innovative thinking with respect to the sports industry.
© 2009 MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
