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Working at Fireworks Sports and Entertainment this summer has provided me with great insights on many different fronts of sports marketing.
From writing a one page marketing presentation regarding the athlete that would best align with companies to researching organizations that athletes could partner with, my experiences at Fireworks have been outstanding.
Analyzing and matching athletes was at first a challenge; however, it was fun to identify a new company with a great fit. I couldn’t believe I was actually a part of an agency team brainstorming new ideas for athletes. Many times top athletes would come in the door, and the face time with those Olympians was unbelievable. Fireworks was a great team who gave me an inside look at agency life.
This past Wednesday, we visited GlideSlope and spoke with one of their founding partners, Eric Guthoff. Eric provided us firsthand how their marketing agency lives their tagline – “The Power of Sports Meets the Power of Brand”. His diverse background through working for IMG’s Olympics division and collaborating with Johnson & Johnson during the 2008 games has certainly helped shape their business foundation. What really stood out to me was their involvement with the Olympics. Olympic torches filled the room and provided an added charge to the conversation. Eric guided us through a history of the Olympic and pointed out how the rules and regulations had changed throughout the years.
As he detailed Olympic case studies, he helped me realize the many complex and diverse marketing opportunities offered by the games. Being introduced to a panel that works intimately with the Olympics was an unbelievable personal opportunity since the games have always been a passion of mine. Gaining firsthand insight was not only captivating but it further underscored my desire to pursue avenues within that segment.
What really excited me was that I knew people in the industry who lived my dream on a daily basis. Both Fireworks and GlideSlope were no longer faceless companies but people I knew who I could now network with to make my dream a reality. Learning to live in the city has been an experience in itself this summer. NYC is the ultimate urban environment for restaurants and events. Being able to learn more about the city from being a resident was an experience I will never forget.
What truly made the MSBA summer internship unforgettable was the chance to experience it with new friends just as passionate about sports as myself. Never would I have dreamed the opportunity to sit with executives from the NFL, NBC Sports, and NBA. Just the exhilaration of walking through their doors to the head office for a meeting were once in a lifetime moments but having these executives as future contacts is career changing.