After six months of hard work, West Virginia University graduate sports management students were rewarded with a trip to New York to present their research findings. Eleven students in the Sports Marketing Research Methods/Sports Poll class, taught by Dallas Branch, associate professor of sport management at WVU, showcased their work in a presentation for Kantar Media on March 2.
The presentation was a success, with Sports Business Journal deeming the findings from CPASS students worthy of publication in the upcoming edition.
The project was an opportunity for students to work in conjunction with the advertising and sponsorship company Kantar Media. The students were given access to data from Kantar regarding the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tournament, including media value for sponsors in the tournament as well as college basketball sponsorship awareness and product usage among sponsors.
Students utilized the data to make their own predictions for the 2015 tournament. Hannah Martin, Scott Fletcher, Alyssa Leonard, and Kristen Furlong were the students who presented.
“Having access to the data we did is something not many people get to do, and I think I speak for the class when I say it was one of the most interesting projects we’ve ever worked on,” said Martin. “The project helped to open our eyes to a new side of sport management.”
The trip kicked off with an NBA game at Madison Garden Square, which Branch described as “a real treat for many who had never been.” The students watched the New York Knicks play the Toronto Raptors and even enjoyed a private pregame tour. Sunday was free time for the students to explore the “Big Apple” as they split into groups to experience attractions such as Central Park and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
“Our trip to New York City was a great way to cap off the project, highlighted by some fun before we actually presented our findings to the company,” said Leonard.
Monday consisted of an hour-long presentation to the senior management and staff of Kantar Media, while Sports Business Journal, headquartered in Charlotte, listened via a teleconference call. The students’ data analysis work was found useful for editorial purposes, and will be printed in the journal in upcoming weeks.
For Fletcher, the project was a valuable learning experience on “analyzing large amounts of data, condensing our findings, and focusing on achieving objectives all into an hour presentation.”
Tracey Schoenadel, the vice president for Sport and Sponsorship Solutions at Kantar Media, is a CPASS alumna, who worked with the students all semester to develop the project.
“The students were fantastic and the quality of education and training showed,” Schoendal said. “As an alum of the program, it made me very proud,” she added.
Brandon McClung, another WVU alumnus, works with Sports Business Journal and was present for the teleconference. He said the presentation brought back memories of his own graduate ESPN Poll Sports project and that the students “did a great job.”
Fletcher explained that having WVU graduates who work for Kantar at the presentations helped the students comfort levels.
“Their hospitality and generosity made us feel at home in an unfamiliar place, and was a great example of Mountaineers taking care of their own,” Fletcher explained.
“It was a great experience to go and present our work professionally in New York and get a glimpse of what it takes to make a project of that magnitude cohesively come together,” Martin said.