A team of students from UNC Charlotte will travel to Arizona later this month to participate in a case-study competition held in conjunction with a conference of the sports industry’s top business leaders.
The UNC Charlotte team is comprised of Lindsay Jefferson (Clarksburg, W.Va.), Larisa Mackey (Fairfax, Va.), Owen Mullin (Amherst, Mass.) and Taylor Walker (Cary, N.C.). All are second-year students in the M.B.A. in Sports Marketing and Management (MBAS) program in the Belk College of Business.
The students will vie against seven teams from across the country in the National Sports Forum’s third annual NSF Case Cup Competition, a 24-hour competition to solve a business problem using the skills students have learned in their academic program. The winning team then presents its case results to conference attendees, comprised of approximately 800 executives from various sports teams and leagues across North America. The NSF conference takes place January 26-28 in Phoenix.
UNC Charlotte was selected by the NSF this year to join an elite group of universities that participate in the case competition. In previous years, the competition had been an invitation-only event built around six of the nation’s top sports masters and M.B.A. programs, including Arizona State University, the University of Oregon and Ohio University.Forty schools were invited to apply to be included for two additional spaces in the 2009 competition, and UNC Charlotte and the University of Memphis were selected.
“The case competition is not only a great learning and networking opportunity for our MBAS student team,” said Dr. Linda Swayne, director of the MBAS program and chair of the Department of Marketing in the Belk College of Business, “it also is significant recognition for UNC Charlotte.
“The six schools that have participated in the NSF Case Cup since its inception are recognized nationally for their programs that teach the business of sports,” Swayne continued. “It has always been our aspiration to be included in that elite group, and we expect that participating in the NSF event will be an important step in enhancing the reputation of the outstanding program we offer at UNC Charlotte.”
UNC Charlotte began offering the M.B.A. in Sports Marketing and Management in 2007. The full-time program admits 15 students per year and includes specialized coursework in sports to enhance the M.B.A. curriculum. Students participate in a full-time professional internship at the end of the program to gain valuable experience in the highly competitive sports-business industry. An advisory board of top industry leaders provides guidance on curriculum and professional development activities. Information on the UNC Charlotte Sports M.B.A. program is available at www.sportsmba.uncc.edu.
Information on the National Sports Forum or the Case Cup competition is available at www.sports-forum.com.