The Wharton Club Hosts Sports Business Summit Featuring Tobias Harris

On Friday, the Wharton College Sports Business Club and the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative held their annual Wharton Sports Business Summit. The conference will give students interested in sports business and analytics the opportunity to learn from, and pen and network with, industry luminaries. A graduate of sports business.

The Summit was originally established in 2017, but due to COVID-19, it will be the first in-person event since 2019. Planning for the summit was an extensive process, according to Sarah Abbe, her senior at the university, WUSBC co-president and event organizer.

“We started planning for the summit as soon as school started in August 2022 and completed all of our outreach, logistics, finance and marketing initiatives within the last week before the event. ‘ she said. “Planning for the summit required strenuous work and constant communication with WUSBC board members and her WSABI.”

The event kicked off with a morning chat with Mark Lasry, CEO of Avenue Capital Group and co-owner of the 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. Lasry spoke at length about his journey from growing up as a Moroccan immigrant, through law school, to managing a hedge fund, to moving on to the Bucks. He finished the previous season with his 15-67 record, buying the team at perhaps the lowest point when a new stadium was needed and the threat of relocation was rampant.

Lasry oversaw the development of the new state-of-the-art arena, the team’s net worth growth, and the Bucks’ rise to NBA champions. He closed the conversation by talking about how he’s been an advocate for analytics in sports, especially basketball, and his experience with the 2021 playoffs. The event itself was hosted by WUSBC member and sophomore Kate Solomon, and Abbe was thrilled.

“Until this year, no current undergraduate has attended our summit,” she said. “It was very special to see her one of our club members facilitate such an important and incredible conversation…and I would definitely recommend [that] The club will recruit more students as moderators over the next few years. ”

After Lasry’s conversation, attendees were invited to participate in a variety of panels, including industry-recognized Penn alumni and local Philadelphia sports executives. Panel topics ranged from tracing the footsteps of recent Penn graduates to sports betting and analytics, sports networking and sports investment opportunities.

Additionally, during the lunch break, attendees were able to sign up for coffee chats and network with many panelists from organizations such as IBM Sports and Entertainment, MLB and the Philadelphia Eagles. WUSBC considered many factors when selecting speakers and panelists, focusing on different aspects of the sports business and each speaker’s unique background.

“As co-chair, I have used this opportunity to prioritize racial, ethnic, gender and thought diversity among our panelists,” Abbe said. “The people who spoke at each panel brought a different background to the table with their own story. I understand.”

Notable panelists from Penn include Eric Babitz, manager of baseball operations for the Milwaukee Brewers. Former Quaker basketball player Matt McDonald, scouting operations coordinator for the Brooklyn Nets. and Kelly Schrader, his manager in the NBA’s Global Strategy & Innovation division. They all stressed the importance of having a willingness to learn on the job and of networking and cold emailing to break into the industry.

Additionally, another notable panelist was Ani Kilambi, Assistant General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, who won the National League championship. Amanda Herald, Vice President of Marketing Strategy, Insights and Planning, NFL. and Chief of the Washington Commanders, who oversaw the team’s rebranding over the past three seasons, his creative his officer, Will Micellbrook.

The summit concluded with another chat with keynote speaker and current Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris. The conversation centered on Harris’ life before the NBA, what he’s learned in his career so far, his plans and building his personal brand after finishing his business career. .

Harris talked about what he wanted from the business before making the investment. He touched on recent sports business topics such as college names, images and caricature trades. And we talked about how he’s a big proponent of basketball analysis. He closed his remarks by encouraging those in attendance to keep working hard at what they love and be proud of what they have achieved so far.

Overall, the conference was a great success, according to Abbe. Abbe and the rest of his WUSBC were thrilled by the interest in the summit, even though they hadn’t met in person in three years. Many of the participants were from outside Pennsylvania.

“Attendance has been amazing,” Abbe said. “More than 275 tickets were sold for the event, with attendees coming from a wide variety of universities and companies.”

WUSBC and WSABI look forward to continued success from this year’s Summit into the future, and WUSBC will continue to host events with some of the biggest names in the sports business throughout the year.