JMU SHSRM students have the unique opportunity to apply to work the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans. Select students would be working:
- NFL Experience: NFL playground for adults/kids with games, simulators, contests, etc.
- Super Bowl Boulevard: Local street dedicated to entertainment and NFL festivities.
- Saturday of Service: A day of community service activities.
- Networking: Event for student volunteers to network with executives.
The deadline to apply is Friday, November 16. Please click here for more information.
From Athletic Business
Review by Korey Page in KIN 501
In the article by Michael Popke titled Healthier Concessions Menus Present New Booster Club Challenges presented the dilemma that some school districts are going through now that they are trying to fight obesity. Portland Public Schools in Maine announced in August of this year that they were doing away with high sugar and high fat foods and drinks at schools and at school events. This meant that you could not get your typical vending machine food such as chips, nachos, candy bars, Mountain Dew, and Coca-Cola from classrooms, cafeterias, field trips, and concession stands at school sporting events.
With them not being able to sell or have food items that are high calorie, high sugar, and high fat it puts a damper on what booster clubs can sell at sporting events and how they go about to raise money. This is the issue that was presented in the article and was talked about in briefly but there is another issue that was not touched on and could become a bigger issue: fan experience. In the article it stated that Portland Public Schools are to sell low calorie and healthier food instead of the nachos and pizza you would expect from a stadium while watching a high school sporting event. When going to a sporting event, you expect the staples like nachos, hot dogs, hamburgers, and pretzels. With the new polices you will now expect to get humus and reduced-fat string cheese and low to no calorie drinks. I find the lack of choice is what is going to hurt the boosters and the fans.
This article stated that Portland School System enacted the policy over the summer with little resistance. This was because during the summer the general public did not hear about it until school started. Also at Durham (N.C.) Public Schools there has been a wellness policy in place for six years like the one in Portland, Maine but they are looking to change their policy to help with more choices. The larger issue is the law that was passed recently in New York City banning large sodas. With the government cracking down on obesity by instituting these laws it could be only a matter of time before it reaches over into the world of professional sports. By evidence of the article it is already an issue for public schools. There are proponents and opponents to these measures just like any other issue. Some are for it but others would like to have a choice, not a ban.
Looking at the grand scheme, when and if this affects collegiate and/or professional this will affect the overall fan experience. With fewer choices of things people want could lead to unrest in the audience. This is a good thing for people who want to eat healthier because now they have more choices than what was previously offered but to the vast majority this will be a problem if they do not find a balance. These laws and policies also affect sponsorship relations. When looking for corporate sponsors your choices will become limited and you will have to find companies who appeal to the policy that are in place. Also having food sponsorships in place before such policies are introduced could lead to friction and redoing of the contract.
From The New York Times
Review by Jacob Harris in SRM 334
Augusta National Golf Club is one of the most historic golf courses and is currently the only home to the most popular major in golf, The Masters. A lot of sports fans didn’t realize exactly how huge of an event occurred in the golfing and sporting world this past fall with the first two women to ever become members of this prestigious club. With a lot of scrutiny and controversy over the pasted 80 years, the moment finally came with the introduction of Condolezza Rice and Darla Moore as the first and only two members of Augusta National at this point in time.
This past spring through fall wasn’t the first time that these issues and discussion have come up. It wasn’t till 1990 and after the club was almost 60 years old until the first African American gained membership. Martha Burk also fought hard and led a campaign to gain women membership in 2002. At that time the Augusta chairman, William Johnson, said that maybe one day the club might invite a female to join, but seeing that they are a private club, they can go about business the way they please. To gain membership into Augusta, one has to be invited by a small committee, there is no such thing as applying for membership like other golf courses. The spot of chairman changed hands in 2006 and talks began to stir up again this past spring. Finally the announcement came in August that the club hit a new milestone with its new female memberships.
As far as the media, this was nationally covered and it was a big deal to the public relations team at Augusta. Their beloved tournament was coming up when these talks began to arise and questions were starting to be asked. They also had to develop a plan on how to keep things calm because as mentioned before they are a private club and do things their own way, which didn’t really please the media. Instead of getting answers, the media got a lot of “no comment” responses which usually frustrates most fans and the media. Everything did end up turning out well and Augusta National even issued a news release for the announcement of the women members which is not something they usually do. Augusta is a very private club and is all about doing business their own way, but with this new addition, they may be opening up to the media more often. ---
Review by Ryan Dunn in SRM 334
Augusta National Country Club is well known for its privacy as well as its all-male membership. But as of August 2012 Augusta National has agreed to allow two women to join the club. Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore were formally invited to become members and will be the first two female members of this historic golf club.
Augusta National is well known as the host of The Masters golf tournament. It is an 80 year old club. Augusta added its first African American member in 1990. The membership to Augusta is closed meaning a person cannot apply for membership but has to be invited by a membership committee to join. They have had many prevalent members including former president Dwight Eisenhower.
The decision to add women members was one that many people had been waiting for, for a long time. In 2002, Martha Burke started a campaign in which she tried to convince Augusta National to add women members to its role. It took 10 more years for it to happen. Nancy Lopez who is in golfs Hall of Fame was quoted saying “This is a big steppingstone for women in golf and for women in general because of what Augusta stands for.” Ms. Lopez was right.
Augusta has always gone about their business by their own accord and this situation was no different. Augusta National has been publicly scrutinized by the media as well as such figures as President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. This did not make Augusta cave though as they waited until for a time when no one expected it to happen to announce the invitation to both Rice and Moore.
The media jumped all over this story when it came out. It seemed that every news station across the nation had a story about this. The question of when Augusta National would invite a woman to join was one that no one knew the answer to. So when Augusta decided to invite two it became national news and everyone jumped on it.
