Trip to the United States MBA LaLiga Business School

The MBA of LaLiga aims to prepare professionals who will lead the transformation process in which the sports and entertainment industry is immersed. This training process is complemented by real practical cases, experiences, visits and national and international academic trips where students will be able to see first-hand how the industry moves.

During the last two weeks, the MBA Of LaLiga students traveled to the United States to enjoy and get to know some of the sports entities based in two of the most important sports and entertainment cities: New York and Miami.

The first stop on the trip was New York, where the students spent 5 nights visiting Relevent Sports Group on the first day where Matthew Kontos, Head of Global Soccer Properties, gave a presentation regarding the strategies and general concepts of the sports media company. The second visit of the day featured Alan Nissim, who works as Head of Business Operations at LaLiga North America, who shared with the student concepts on how strategies and operations are developed on a day-to-day basis in the organization.

The second day of the trip began with a session on concepts focused on the area of ​​associations and strategic alliances of the organization offered by Patrick Howe, Head of Partnerships at LaLiga North America, and then moved on to Dapper Labs where the Director of Sales, Malik Jiffry, spoke about the growing relationship of the world of crypto and NFTs with sports. The day concluded with two important visits where the MBA students were able to see and attend first-hand important venues and competitions. The penultimate visit of the day was to the NFL where students had the opportunity to tour the facility and listen and meet industry experts. Hannah Garelick (Senior Manager, Marketing Strategy & Planning), Sunny Mehta (International Marketing, Strategy and fan Development) and Emma Krueger (Senior coordinator, Consumer Insights) gave an important presentation in which they shared with the students their knowledge and experience regarding what is being done in terms of strategic marketing, new technologies and international expansion within one of the most important competitions in the world. The day ended with a visit to Madison Square Garden where Brendan Long, Vice President of Sales at MGS Sports, took the students on a tour in which he shared his experience and commented on the different operations behind the major sporting events that are held on the premises.

On the third day in the city that never sleeps, the students visited the facilities of Verizon, a leading mobile telephony company, where Richard Scheer, Sponsorship Manager, shared with the students an overview of the company, key points of sponsorship strategies and He ended the visit by engaging the students in a series of case study activations. The day ended full of sports since the students had the privilege of visiting the MLS facilities where Christopher Lebo, Senior Manager of Player Competition was able to share his knowledge in terms of business development and internationalization and the US Open facilities where Eric Butorac, former professional tennis player and current Director of Operations and Player Relations at Pro Tenis; He guided the visit by offering a tour and a very interesting presentation on the present and future of racket sports.

On the fourth and last day of academic visits in New York, the students visited the headquarters of one of the biggest sports industry giants in the world: The NBA. Already there the presentation was given by Héctor Arguelles, Vice President of Digital Alliances. During the visit there was a tour of the NBA facilities where the students were able to take photos with the trophies and historical articles of the competition and then attended a session where general topics on the operation, scope, present and future of the NBA were discussed. basketball in North America and the world.

The last academic visit of the day and from New York was to MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL Giants and Jets. The students toured the facilities of the impressive sports complex and had the opportunity to listen to Ron VanDeVeen, President and CEO of MetLife Stadium and Matt Dugan, Director of Partnership Marketing at MetLife Stadium, who shared all their knowledge and experience in the world of sports. In addition to this, the students had the privilege of witnessing a live Brooklyn Nets game played at the Barclays Center where they could live and enjoy the full NBA experience.

The second stage of the trip through the United States took place in Miami, where the students enjoyed a trip focused on the main sports entities of the city such as the Miami Heat basketball team, the Hard Rock Stadium and the University of Miami. .

On the second day in Miami, the students (already rested and renewed) visited the facilities of 777 partners where María Xing, Senior Associate offered a tour and a general presentation on strategic and operational aspects of the investment fund. The next stop of the day was CONCACAF and FIBA, where the students were able to learn more about the way the big sports organizations operate at the federative level.

After more than a week of travel, the students in Miami had one of the most eventful and enriching days of the trip, since they had the opportunity to visit the three most important sports actors in the city of Miami. The day began with a visit to the Miami Heat basketball team where Karina Moscu, Director of Sponsorship Strategies; He received the group and gave a very interesting talk about the strategic alliances that basketball clubs have with their sponsors. The day continued and the students visited the facilities of Inter Miami, a professional soccer club belonging to the British legend David Beckham, where they were able to learn how soccer clubs work in the MLS. Finally, the students visited one of the most important sports venues not only in Miami, but also in the entire North American territory: Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins and venue of the Miami Open and the Grand Prix of Miami of F1. Here the MBA students were able to get to know the facilities and have a vision of how a sports venue of such magnitude is managed and how each of the different events hosted is operated.

The last visit of the trip to the United States consisted of going to the facilities of the University of Miami, where the students were able to learn about how collegiate sports work and are managed, which is the main sports engine in the United States. that's where most of its stars come from.

LaLiga Business School would like to thank all the speakers, clubs, companies and organizations for helping us provide the best service to our students and thus be able to continue training the professionals of tomorrow.

See you soon!