Sixth Annual San Diego State Sports MBA Case Competition
Graduate business students develop their skills in grueling courses over several semesters, conduct internships to bolster their résumés, and network at every opportunity in order to be considered for a job upon graduation. For MBA candidates looking to break into the business of sports after graduate school, the path is arduous and the competition fierce for a prestigious position in the business of sports. Often, students get an opportunity as a result of one meeting, or capitalizing on one chance to demonstrate their talent in front of the right person.
For the participants in the Sixth Annual San Diego State Sports MBA Case Competition, one such opportunity took place on February 12, 2011, when teams of four MBA candidates representing some of the world’s top graduate business programs assembled in San Diego for the chance of a lifetime: presenting to sports business mogul Mark Cuban. The case centered around one of the most hotly contested topics in American sports, the reform of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and the creation of a college football playoff. Cuban has recently spoken out in opposition to the current system, and has even formed a company to explore alternative options that will give NCAA football fans the playoff they desire, generate more revenue for universities across the board, and serve as a sound investment for an entrepreneur.
Participants were instructed to make the business case for a playoff, and asked to propose a tournament structure and revenue-sharing strategy that would garner the support of every stakeholder in NCAA football. Representatives of some of these stakeholders served as the panel of judges, which included: SDSU President Stephen Weber; Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson; SDSU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk; veteran NFL executive Jim Steeg; and a representative of Mark Cuban, Brett Morris of Radical Football LLC. The team selected as the winner will have the opportunity to present their solution in a private meeting with Cuban in the summer of 2011.
Teams arrived in San Diego unaware of the challenge, or the prize, that would await them. On Thursday morning, the groups assembled at the prestigious San Diego Yacht Club, where they were given a case study and only twenty-four hours to propose a solution. The MBA programs represented in the competition included:
Duke University (Fuqua)
Georgetown University (McDonough)
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Oxford (Said)
San Diego State University Sports MBA
University of California – Los Angeles (Anderson)
University of Florida (Hough)
University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)
University of Southern California (Marshall)
University of Texas (McCombs)
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The team representing Oxford University placed first, and Oxonians Robert Arscott (Canada), Scott Lockhart (USA), Graham Fizer (USA), and Tony Williams (UK) will have the opportunity to impress Mark Cuban with their ideas this summer. The University of Florida placed second, 3rd place went to Duke University, followed by a tie for 4th place between hosts SDSU Sports MBA and the University of Texas.
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Please see below for more information on this event:
San Diego Union-Tribune, 2-17-11
Cuban starts business for college football playoff
ESPN, 2-22-11
Mark Cuban registers Radical Football
USA Today, 2-18-11
Mark Cuban forms company in quest to start major college football playoff
AOL, 2-14-11
Can BCS Reform Come from England -- Bloody Well Right
FoxSports.com, 2-18-11
Report: Cuban starts company to challenge BCS
National Football Post, 2-18-11
Cuban forms business for college football playoff
The Big Lead, 2-18-11
Mark Cuban Creates “Radical Football LLC” to Promote a College Football Playoff