San Diego Padres Participate in 5th Annual
Sports MBA Case Competition
SAN DIEGO (February 25, 2010) - The College of Business Administration at San Diego State University (SDSU) today announced the conclusion of the 5th Annual SDSU International Sports MBA Case Competition in which nine teams of sports business M.B.A. students from across the United States and from Hong Kong competed for a trophy and premium seats for a Major League Baseball game closest to their university’s city of origin.
Each student team was asked to write a strategic plan for the new management of the San Diego Padres. The panel of judges consisted of three Padres executives, including Tom Garfinkel, president and COO; Katie Pothier, EVP/general counsel; Laura Broderick, SVP of branding. The panel also included Dr. Martina Musteen, professor of management at SDSU.
Upon evaluation of each plan, the student team from Georgetown University was declared the winner with the teams from SDSU and Columbia University tied for second place. Teams from New York University, University of Michigan, UCLA, University of Southern California, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania rounded out the rest of the field
“The Padres were honored to host this special event with San Diego State University. Our organization is committed to continuous learning, and this case competition fostered innovative and insightful ideas,” said Garfinkel. “All the teams demonstrated great enthusiasm and provided creative recommendations on growth options for the San Diego Padres. Congratulations to Georgetown, Columbia and SDSU for their strong presentations. We look forward to incorporating several of these new ideas at PETCO Park in the near future.”
The competition was staged at the offices of the Padres’ home field, PETCO Park, from February 18 – 20, 2010.
SDSU College of Business Administration 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego, CA 92182-8230
Student Services East #3220 Tel: (619) 594-5259 Fax: (619) 594-1573 Email: business@sdsu.edu