Harbus

Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Photo by: Chris Marinak (OD) Sports Trek at NFL Headquarters

The 2008 NYC Sports Trek kicked off at 8:30am on Monday at the National Football League's offices in midtown, where students met executives from corporate development, digital media, human resource, and operations. The NFL meeting ended with a tour of headquarters, highlighted by a visit to Commissioner Roger Goodell's posh office, equipped with its own personal gym and an endless supply of peanut M&Ms, as well as a presentation at the officiating Command and Control Center, which monitors officials and broadcasts during every NFL game on Sundays.

From the NFL, the group hustled to Madison Square Garden, one of the world's preeminent sporting and concert venues, which handles more than 6 million visitors per year. Steve Collins, General Manager of MSG's facility operations, discussed the varied challenges of the business of live entertainment, from the essentials of scheduling, ticket sales, and day-of-event operations to meeting unique and sometimes bizarre requests of celebrity performers (e.g., pink toilet seats, seriously). The MSG tour was another trip highlight, as students watched the MSG staff set-up for that night's Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood concert, drooled over the premium suites, and snapped photos in the locker rooms of the Knicks and Rangers.

Midway through the MSG tour, half of the trek's participants headed downtown to meet with Casey Close and Michael Levine of CAA Sports, who represent several of the biggest names in professional sports. Casey and Michael discussed many of the lessons they learned while building their careers in sports and shared some highlights from their recent success stories, including helping client Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies win the largest arbitration settlement in Major League Baseball history. Both Casey and Michael exhibited an effusive charisma and obvious passion for the business of sports, which has undoubtedly served them well in what Casey described as a "relationship-driven service business built on trust, listening, and experience."

Following CAA, the trek's participants split into two groups. The first group met with one of NASCAR's top marketing executives, Brian Corcoran, who has helped build some of NASCAR's most important corporate partnerships. The second group met Steve Greenberg, son of former baseball great Hammerin' Hank Greenberg. Mr. Greenberg leads the sports practice at Allen & Co., a boutique investment bank focusing on media and entertainment. Mr. Greenberg's stories were impressive, but the students could not leave without making their own mark - literally. As the students passed a trey of drinks around the table, RC Alex Herzlinger's eyes popped as he noticed a large, long gash on the conference room table left in the trey's wake. Mr. Greenberg laughed off the incident and continued his talk in stride.

Continued...

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