Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter pleading guilty to fraud charges, Glossier becoming the WNBA’s first beauty partner, the NWSL’s new collective bargaining agreement.
What do these events have in common?
They all involve sports business professionals — the kind of people the University hopes to provide the industry through the new sports business minor and graduate certificate.
Both the sports business minor and graduate certificate are 12-credit programs with classes such as sports marketing, sports business analytics and sports law to choose from — some of which are brand new courses specifically added for the program.
The new minor and graduate certificate started as a pitch made by marketing professor Ian Parkman during an interview with a University provost when Parkman was being hired. Parkman saw an opportunity for a sports business program to flourish in Portland, and though the idea was initially deprioritized, ten years after that initial pitch, the program is up and running.
The program was created by Parkman, sports law instructor Barbara Bloom-Groshong and Michael DeVaughn, dean of the Pamplin School of Business.
Alongside the creators, professor Eric Anctil of the School of Education will teach sports media and culture courses and instructor Natalie Abele — a consultant who is new to the university — will teach sports marketing courses.
Parkman says this interdisciplinary group is representative of the spirit of the program.
“So while this lives in the School of Business, it's actually people from all across campus,” Parkman said. “Just like any other minor, it is absolutely open to everyone who is thinking about how sports might be a part of their interest.”
One major motivation for the creation of the new program was to create content that would be appealing to student-athletes, several of which are interested in the program, according to DeVaughn.
“They know they're not going to play sports forever, but they are interested in being adjacent to sports in some sort of way,” DeVaughn said.
The program was also created specifically with employers in mind and in terms of what sporting organizations in the Portland area need. Parkman says industry leaders are looking for graduates with a broad spectrum of skills.
“When we have meetings with Adidas or the Blazers or the Timbers, they say we really need new hires with the analytical skills to look at spreadsheets and use data, but also to understand the cultural and societal,” Parkman said. “All that kind of stew that is sitting behind why this is such a meaningful industry to a lot of people.”
Real world experience is a heavily emphasized aspect of the program, and DeVaughn stressed that the university’s proximity to these sporting organizations is what makes it all possible.
“We’re 15 minutes from the Rose Quarter,” DeVaughn said. “We’re 20 minutes from Providence Park — our students can be there. That’s a lot more difficult to do if you’re an undergraduate intern down in Eugene. We’re well positioned geographically, and being close to these folks helps us out.”
Map illustrating the proximity of the University of Portland to various sporting organizations. Graphic by Maggie Dapp.
DeVaughn is, of course, referencing the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Business Center, which was the country’s first program of its kind. While UP’s program, like many others nationwide, drew inspiration from the University of Oregon’s in Eugene, UP seeks to draw a clear distinction between the two programs, not just in terms of location but also the kind of experiences the location offers.
These experiences require connections with the sports business community, a community that both Parkman and DeVaughn said came out of the woodwork in support of the new program once it was announced.
From minor league baseball managers to former student-athletes, the phone didn’t stop ringing.
Then, the Los Angeles Lakers called.
“The Lakers called and said, ‘What can we do?’” Parkman said. “‘What would you like of us?’”
One idea led to another, and eventually, the NBA franchise offered a visit to Los Angeles for faculty and students to learn about the inner workings of the NBA’s most iconic organization. Attendees will learn about topics such as marketing, ticketing and player development during a trip UP students and faculty will take Sept. 12-14.
“I think [the trip] will be a way to demonstrate to students that this is the kind of amazing experience they can have in the classroom, but also off The Bluff, engaging with organizations, engaging with really cool brands,” Parkman said.
This real-world experience is already taking place on The Bluff. In just the first two weeks of school, senior marketing major Ryden Shigeta, one of the first students to declare the minor, had the opportunity to hear from both a name, image and likeness specialist and a Nike employee as guest speakers in class — an aspect of the program that he’s enjoying.
“Getting inside information on what the industry is like has been really helpful so far,” Shigeta said.
The program is a big venture for the University, one that took 10 years to get off the ground. When asked, “Why now?” DeVaughn says the combined factors of the program’s content, the University’s location and industry interest made the University feel that it was the right time for the new sports business program.
“This is a signal that this is a good time,” DeVaughn said. “This is a signal that this is the right thing to do. We've got a fire in the bottle we're trying to catch.”
Maggie Dapp is the Sports Editor at The Beacon. She can be reached at dapp26@up.edu.
