Teaching Sport Sponsorship Activation through a Client-Based Experiential Learning Project

Abstract

Sport management programs continue to focus on developing innovative pedagogical strategies to prepare students to enter and successfully navigate the rapidly evolving, highly competitive sport industry. One effective tactic is to integrate experiential learning projects into the classroom. This paper describes a collaborative three-year partnership involving a sport management program, athletic department, and corporate sponsor. The relationship provided scholarships for the program, internship opportunities, research funding, and an experiential learning project. Specifically, the lead author applied the metadiscrete experiential learning model developed by Southall, Nagel, LeGrande, and Han (2003) to a client based sponsorship activation project for an upper-level sport marketing course. The paper offers a blueprint and specific recommendations for faculty who wish to develop a client-based collaborative effort that can provide a hands-on learning experience for students and generate programmatic resources, research possibilities, student scholarships, and funding opportunities for an academic program. Such projects can further prepare students as well as enhance the fit between sport management programs and the sport industry.

Holistic Education through Athletics: Health and Health-Literacy of Intercollegiate Athletes and Active Undergraduate Students

“…study abroad) (Shames & Alden, 2005;Younes & Asay, 2003). Experiential learning and metadiscrete experiential learning models have been extensively researched as effective methods of sport management education (Bruening, Madsen, Evanovich, & Fuller, 2010;Hardin, Bemiller, & Pate, 2013;Irwin, Hays & Irwin, 2011;McKelvey & Southall, 2008;Pauline, 2013;Pauline & Pauline, 2008;Pierce, & Petersen, 2010;Southall, Nagel, LeGrande, & Han, 2003;Spence, Hess, McDonald, & Sheehan, 2009;Walker & Lim, 2007), but there is a lack of literature applying the theory to education through athletics.…”

Qualitative Analysis of Satisfying and Dissatisfying Factors in a University–Industry Cooperation Programme

“…The close connection will allow education institutions to identify industry needs [13]. In addition, academic researchers will be able to work with the industry and to develop and enhance the relationship between the academe and business [14,15]. Internships have proven effective in integrating education and work experience and assisting students to transition from a classroom to an actual workplace [16].…”

Examining The Application Of Experiential Learning Techniques Across Sport Management Programs

“…In regards to his experiential philosophy to education, Dewey (1916) once stated, "Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results" (p. 181). For the handful of scholars within sport management that have implemented and studied experiential learning frameworks into their courses (Pauline & Pauline, 2008;McKeylvey & Southall, 2008;Pierce, Petersen, & Meadows, 2011) it is evident that student learning outcomes do tend to be positively impacted, as Dewey had long suggested they would be.…”

“…Studies have shown that participation in a client-based project can help students develop real-world skills that are valued by recruiters (Bush, 2009). Examples of client-based projects in sport management are evident in Pauline and Pauline's (2008) Practicum. Practicum experience is defined as a field experience designed to meet specific academic objectives, often in exchange for academic credit.…”

“…Other scholars within sport management have applied experiential learning models to in-class assignments and projects with success. In their application of a clientbased experiential model within a semester long sport marketing class, Pauline & Pauline (2008), found that students were not only able to understand the concepts by the end of the course, but were able to directly apply their knowledge successfully. McKeylvey & Southall (2008) found that students benefited from the applied nature of their semester long sport marketing course in which students were assigned the task of selling sponsorship packages for a local baseball team.…”