ASU's sports business graduate program is teaming up with the National Sports Forum to offer a student the opportunity to network with professional sports teams.
The W. P. Carey School of Business will provide an undergraduate with a scholarship that would cover the cost of attending the 2004 forum in Chicago Jan. 26-28.
"The biggest benefit for students is to have the opportunity to go out and network and meet guys from all over sports, where they probably never have that opportunity to do," said Jim Kahler, executive director of the Sports Business MBA program.
"It'll give the student the opportunity to meet senior-level officials and hopefully leverage the new relationships that they've hopefully cultivated into their career," Kahler added.
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, Chicago Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips and Chicago Cubs marketing and broadcasting Vice President John McDonough are among several executives who already have committed to attend next year's event.
Last spring was the first year that the scholarship was offered, and three graduate students from ASU and one undergraduate student from Duke University attended.
The 2004 scholarship is available to only one undergraduate student, and Kahler said the cost of admission to the forum would be covered for another eight to 10 graduate students. But the graduate students would have to pay for their stay and transportation.
"I get calls from undergrads at ASU about our graduate program because they are interested in a career in the sports industry," he said.
By offering the scholarship, Kahler said, "we're trying to get the word out to more undergraduates because someday, they are going to be applying to our program."
The scholarship is exclusive to ASU and was made possible because Kahler sits as a member on its National Steering Committee and the business school is a forum sponsor.
Before coming to ASU in July 2002, Kahler was the Executive Vice President of the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2000, Cleveland hosted the annual forum.
"He came to us and wanted to get his students out there a little bit more," said Dave Mullins, a spokesman for the forum. "They use the forum to increase ASU's prestige and also to get their students out there and hopefully have them get a job."
Reach the reporter at michael.miklofsky@asu.edu.
