The annual SDSU International Sports MBA Case Competition features students from some of the top MBA programs in the world, pitted against one another in a sports business consulting exercise. Teams of four MBA students have 24 hours to develop a solution to an international sports-related case study. At the end of 24 hours, teams present their research to a panel of sports industry executives, who grade the presentations based on the creativity and efficacy of the proposed solutions. The cases are multidisciplinary, always focused on a global sports issue, and require the use of skills developed in core MBA curricula.

The first case competition featured teams from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, the University of California, Los Angeles' Anderson School of Management, and the San Diego State University Sports MBA program.  The case for this competition focused on the inaugural World Baseball Classic, the quadrennial “world cup” of baseball.  Student presentations took place at PETCO Park, home of the semifinal and final rounds of the 2006 World Baseball Classic.  Padres executives including Sandy Alderson, CEO, and Katie Pothier, Executive VP/General Counsel, assisted in the development of the case, which was written by Sports MBA student Scott Minto (SMBA ’06).  Mr. Alderson also served as the event’s keynote speaker, speaking to the students about the current state of international baseball and the significance of the WBC for the global growth of the game. 

“The Padres were eager to work with SDSU to develop a sports MBA case competition,” said Padres CEO Sandy Alderson. “We see a tremendous value to our organization in embracing the fresh perspectives of these future sports business leaders. We strongly believe that sports MBA students will benefit from the opportunity to analyze a case drawn from the experience of our front office executives and propose solutions to issues that could potentially face a Major League organization.”

A team of MBA candidates from UCLA (Anderson) took first place in the competition and received four tickets to the semifinals and finals of the 2006 World Baseball Classic as a prize for their winning presentation.

In its second year, the case study focused on international rugby, with teams of students developing an action plan and providing business development consulting for USA Rugby as they prepared to host the USA Sevens international rugby tournament at PETCO Park.  The case was developed by Sports MBA student Steve Gera (SMBA ’07), who was assisted by the USA Sevens Director of Rugby, Dan Lyle.  In just 24 hours, students developed comprehensive financial forecasts, detailed tournament budgets, and integrated marketing platforms for USA Sevens Rugby.  These ideas were judged by Dan Lyle (USA Sevens), Paul Tsuchiya (Wasserman Media Group), Bob Watkins, (SD County Board of Education), and Katie Pothier, (San Diego Padres). 

This competition featured a group of eight elite business schools:
-Columbia University
-Northwestern University (Kellogg)
-San Diego State University (Sports MBA Program)
-University of California-Berkeley (Haas)
-University of California- Los Angeles (Anderson)
-University of Southern California (Marshall)
-University of Virginia (Darden)
-Wilfrid-Laurier University (Ontario, Canada)

First place in the competition went to Cal-Berkeley (Haas), second place was taken by Northwestern (Kellogg), and SDSU’s Sports MBA took third place.

The third annual case competition took place in February 2008, and featured the most competitive and international grouping of graduate business schools to date:
-Bournemouth University (UK)
-China Europe International Business School (China)
-City University of London - Cass Business School (UK)
-ITESM - EGADE (Mexico)
-M.I.T. – Sloan
-Northwestern University – Kellogg
-San Diego State University - Graduate School of Business
-University of California-Berkeley – Haas
-University of California-Los Angeles – Anderson
-University of Michigan – Ross
-University of Southern California – Marshall
-University of Virginia – Darden

The case study focused on IMG, the global sports, entertainment and media giant, and specifically featured the Action Sports and Consulting Divisions of the company.

The judging panel for the event included James Leitz, VP, IMG Action Sports, JJ Hadley, VP, IMG Interactive Media, Steve Swope, Director Client Management, IMG Action Sports, Lisa Jenkins, Account Director, IMG Action Sports, Kevin Doidge, Account Executive, IMG Consulting, and Michelle Collins, Account Director, IMG Consulting.

“The SDSU MBA Sports Case Study Competition is an extremely valuable opportunity for any agency, team, league, brand or facility looking for intelligent, thorough and often out-of-the-box thinking around a key initiative,” says James Leitz, Vice President of IMG Action Sports.  “What these students were able to learn about our business, apply, and present as a real time solution was truly amazing.  I am confident that the recommendations from the winners and the runners-up alike will be further evaluated and quite possibly executed in the coming months.”

The competition was won by the team representing the Marshall School of Business from the University of Southern California, and second place went to the team from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

If you are an MBA student who would like to participate in the next SDSU International Sports MBA Case Competition in the 2008-2009 academic year, or if your organization would like to inquire about becoming a sponsor or case study topic, please contact smbainfo@sdsu.edu or call (619) 594-6023.

Second Annual Case Competition
First Annual Case Competition