USM Students Head to National Sports Sales Competition in Atlanta

Thu, 02/23/2023 - 07:44am | By: Van Arnold

Left to right: Holden Hewes, John Michael Travers, Ryan Theriot

Three Sport Management students at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) have qualified to compete in the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship and Conference (NCSSC) on Feb. 27-28 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. State Farm Arena is home to the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.

The students, in USM’s College of Business and Economic Development, will be competing in a national sports sales conference against peers from around the nation.

NCSSC is hosted by Baylor University's Center for Sports Strategy and Sales (S3) and the Atlanta Hawks and presents opportunities for students in their final year of school to highlight their skills in a competitive sports sales environment. Students present a product to the buyer, and recruiters (typically inside sales managers) serve as buyers in a role-play competition.

CBED students attending include Holden Hewes (senior, Sport Management, Gulfport, Miss.), Ryan Theriot (senior, Sport Management, Vicksburg, Miss.), and John Michael Travers (graduate student, MBA, Bush, La). The championship includes two competition divisions in Sales: Tickets and Corporate Partnerships. Additionally, a Speed Selling Competition will occur with all three students participating.

In the Tickets Division, Hewes will be competing and finished with a No. 3 ranking nationally (130 students) after the fall virtual event. In the Corporate Partnerships division which is new to the event., Travers will be competing.

For preparation, the students worked with Dr. Chris Croft, Assistant Professor of Sport Management, and Kevin Buckley, Professor of Practice in Marketing. Training sessions included utilizing the CBED Sales Lab to practice and utilizing recordings for post-analysis. Additional training sessions were provided by NCSSC by Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and Arizona State Athletics.

“This is a great opportunity for our students to compete in a national sports sales conference,” said Croft. “NCSSC is a first-class event with the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena and affords students the ability to showcase their sports sales talents on the national level. Additionally, the conference will allow them to connect with sport industry professionals for upcoming job opportunities.”

Buckley added, “Competitions like these provide so much skills development and network opportunities for students. Receiving real-time feedback from industry professionals and experiencing the conference 'busyness' grants students the ability to gauge their interest in this business field."

The NCSSC Championship round will include the opportunity to display sports sales skills in a competitive face-to-face format, speed selling competition, interact with sports business industry professionals in job interviews, networking opportunities, and attend an Atlanta Hawks game versus Washington Wizards.

Additionally, fellow CBED and School of Marketing alumna, Courtney Campbell, BSE Global Director of Group Sales will be a featured panel speaker in Women in Sports.

This is USM’s second year to compete, and the conference is funded by the College of Business and Economic Development Business Advisory Council (BAC).

To learn more, visit: Baylor University's Center for Sports Strategy and Sales (S3) http://www.BaylorS3.com; National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship (NCSSC)

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