Sport Business Field Trip Recap – Baseball, Basketball and Hockey in Milwaukee
I started the spring semester by leading 53 University of Iowa students on an educational and networking field trip to Milwaukee. The two-day program was open to any interested Iowa student and included panels and Q&A sessions with 23 executives from the Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee Brewers, and Milwaukee Admirals, four facility tours, and an NBA game between the Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.
A highlight of the trip for me was seeing some of my former students who have started successful careers and were eager to give back to the program by hosting us at different stops along the way. Connor Gorrell, a 2015 Iowa alumnus who is now the Brewers Manager of Ticket Partnerships, organized a superb lineup of colleagues from Ticket Operations, Marketing, and Business Development to visit with our group. Connor finished off our afternoon at Miller Park by taking us on an extensive tour of the stadium.
Austin Patrick and Ryan Kotek, 2016 Iowa alumni who are now Milwaukee Bucks Sales Associates, showed our group the Bucks Preview Center, which is set up with mock arena suites and models to show prospective customers what the team’s new arena and downtown entertainment district will look and feel like when completed. Austin and Ryan talked with students about what the past year has been like as they transitioned from finishing school and searching for jobs to starting their careers with an NBA team. Austin and Ryan also pulled together an illustrious panel of speakers, including Chief Marketing Officer (and Iowa alum) Dustin Godsey, Senior VP of Business Development Matt Pazaras, and VP of Ticket Sales Jamie Morningstar, among others.
The field trip program is something I implemented during my first year of teaching to give Iowa students opportunities to explore careers in the sport industry and network to find internships, jobs and mentors in a variety of cities. Over the years, I have led trips to Indianapolis, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Kansas City, and Des Moines. Interest from students continued to grow with each trip, and I eventually expanded the program to include trips to two cities each year.
To really get a feel for the variety of things we experienced during the field trip and its impact on students, please enjoy the brief accompanying video that was produced by my talented and creative wife, Bridget Matheson.
I do not yet have destinations picked out for the 2017-18 academic year – stay tuned for updates!